Stage-lovers, attention! The vibrant Chicago theater scene is bringing another much-anticipated production to you in November. Don Clark, Chicago-based Film and Theatre Producer and Co-Owner of the Chicago Magic Lounge, presents the World Premiere of WHEN HARRY MET REHAB – a comedy that takes sobriety seriously, based loosely on the real-life experiences of Chicago sports radio personality, Harry Teinowtiz.

Dan Butler will star as Harry. Butler is best known for his role as “Bulldog” for seven seasons on the legendary television comedy Frasier, as well as “Art” on Roseanne. WHEN HARRY MET REHAB previews November 24 and opens December 5 at Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Avenue, for a limited engagement. Co-authored by former ESPN personality and playwright Spike Manton (Leaving Iowa), WHEN HARRY MET REHAB chronicles in a humorous yet poignant way how an alcoholic on the edge of clueless annihilation ended up in the hands of a magician whose greatest trick was making his denial and excuses disappear.  

In addition to his much-loved role on Frasier, highlights from Butler’s long and illustrious stage career include Broadway productions of Travesties, Biloxi Blues, Twentieth Century as well as the world premiere of Terrence McNally’s Lisbon Traviata with Nathan Lane and John Slattery.    

Butler is surrounded by a powerhouse Chicago cast that includes Ora Jones (Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Goodman Theatre, as well as Broadway productions of Les Liaisons Dangereuses and Matilda), Elizabeth Laidlaw (Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Goodman Theatre, Court Theatre, Steppenwolf), Keith D. Gallagher (Steppenwolf, Lookingglass, Northlight), Chiké Johnson (Steppenwolf, Goodman Theatre, Broadway production of Wit), and newcomer Richard Gomez (Columbia College, Chicago).

 WHEN HARRY MET REHAB is an evening in the theater that will leave a mark that is flat-out funny, moving, and unforgettable. It is a story of redemption, perseverance, and hope. It is estimated that over 22 million Americans are in recovery. This show is for them, their families, and their friends. 

 WHEN HARRY MET REHAB will run at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Avenue in Chicago previewing November 24 and opening December 5 for a limited engagement through January 30. The performance schedule is as follows: Wednesday through Saturday evenings at 8:00 pm, Sunday evenings at 7:00 pm, with additional matinee performances on Saturday and Sunday at 3:00 pm. Tickets range from $42 to $85 plus processing fees. For tickets and more information, visit www.whenharrymetrehab.com or call the Greenhouse Theater Center Box Office at 773-404-7336. 

Cast 

Dan Butler – Harry
Ora Jones – Barb
Elizabeth Laidlaw – Andrea
Keith Gallagher – Isaiah
Chiké Johnson – Vince
Richard Gomez – George 

Creative Team 

(Co-writer) Spike Manton
(Co-writer) Harry Teinowitz
(Direction) Jackson Gay
(Dramaturg/Creative Consultant) Jack Viertel
(Scenic Designer) Regina Garcia
(Costume Designer) Caitlin McLeod
(Lighting Designer) Simean Carpenter
(Sound Designers) Ray Nardelli & Chris Laporte
(Projection Designer) Chris Commendatore
(Casting Director/ Consulting Producer) Laura Stanczyk
(Associate Director) Maggie Spanuello
(Stage Manager) Shannon Golden-Starr
(General Manager) Pemberley Productions 

Image Credit: New Neighborhood

About Jackson Gay, Director

Jackson Gay is a director and co-Producing Artistic Director of New Neighborhood https://www.newneighborhood.net.

Upcoming work includes the new musical SCKBSTD (book by Mike Rafael with music by Bruce Hornsby); God’s Ear (Juilliard); New Neighborhood’s Endless Loop of Gratitude (REP); Goldie, Max & Milk by Karen Hartman (59e59), and Partnership (Mint Theater). Directing work includes Lucy Thurber’s Transfers for Audible, MCC and New York Stage & Film; Endless Loop of Gratitude with New Neighborhood (New Ohio’s Ice Factory); The Seagull (Juilliard); Kleptocracy by Kenneth Lin (Arena Stage); Lover Beloved with Suzanne Vega and Duncan Sheik (Alley Theater); These Paper Bullets! By Rolin Jones with music by Billie Joe Armstrong (New Neighborhood, Atlantic, Geffen, Yale Rep – Critics Pick Time Out NY, Best Production and Adaptation LA Sage Awards, Time Out Los Angeles, Connecticut Critics Circle Award Best Production and Best Director).

About Don Clark, Producer

Donald Cameron Clark, Jr., Esq. is a renaissance man who believes in the power of storytelling, whether to a jury, in a theater, or to his grandchildren. Clark began his professional career as a trial attorney at some of Chicago’s most venerable law firms. His memoir, Summary Judgment, was recently published. Clark is Executive Producer of the award-winning feature film “Guest Artist,” written by and starring Jeff Daniels. He produces plays on Broadway and in regional theaters.

Clark co-owns the Chicago Magic Lounge—a nightlife venue that is top-rated on TripAdvisor and one of “Chicago’s Best” according to Chicago Magazine. He is also a member of Chicago’s Cultural Treasures grant program. 

Featured Image Credit: When Harry Met Rehab

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Bruce Zolna tosses one of the early white bass into the cooler while guide Bill Stoeger works at the front of the boat on the Wolf River. | Dale Bowman

Fishing started slow, but turned great with multiple species during a day on the Wolf River with Bruce Zolna and guide Bill Stoeger

FREMONT, Wis.–Bill Stoeger had good reason to become a guide on the Wolf River in 1995.

“I got tired of listening to people cry into their beer about not catching any fish,” he said as Bruce Zolna and I fished with him.

I met Stoeger when he had Riverside Bar in Fremont, which he owned until 2003. Every few years I fish with him for white bass, crappie or walleye.

Last Wednesday turned into a multi-species action, out of Red Banks Resort.

We started hunting and pecking (four white bass at the first stop, a smallmouth bass at the second, blanked at the third.)

Dale Bowman
Guide Bill Stoeger prepares to land the biggest smallmouth bass of the day while fishing white bass with Bruce Zolna and Dale Bowman on the Wolf River.

At the sixth stop, action turned on at a bend with a deep hole coming up shallow with multiple current seams.

After a slow hour, the white bass started schooling minnows and busting the surface. Stoeger switched to a jig to get higher in the water column and went back-to-back-to-back, so I switched, then Zolna. Action came so fast I lost count of our fish and doubles. When action slowed after lunch there, we had caught dozens of white bass, two walleye and a freshwater drum.

“The jigs are more fun, but the river rig is very effective,” Stoeger said. “My wife loves to go if it is a jig bite. When there is surface action, they are suspended and the river rig on the bottom is useless.”

Our early catches were with river rigs: 4-5 feet of line behind the snap with about a 6-inch dropper sinker. With river rigs the cast is downstream or across current, so that the line stays tight and you can feel or see the bites.

Stoeger had us using fathead minnows, which are the closest bait sold that looks close to the banded darter. White bass attack them in schools. But nearly all the fish we cleaned had perch in their stomachs, not darters.

The water was 63 degrees. “It should be in the upper 40s or the low 50s,” Stoeger said.

Most action was associated with sand bars.

“I’m guessing a couple weeks yet,” Stoeger said. “There’s some weather coming in, but days are to be in the 60s.”

The company matched the fishing.

Zolna is a born storyteller; or, as a doctor described him in her visit notes, “loquacious.”

The Wolf River was the third leg of the semi-retired lawyer’s Post-Covid Cabin Fever Breakout Tour. He told about putting together a trip for Paul Newman at a charity event in Florida, where Newman caught his first fish, a mahi-mahi.

Between stories and fish, the day went fast.

Back at Red Banks, we cast the wall and boated four good smallmouth. Then Stoeger caught our only northern pike.

It was time. . . . to clean white bass and walleye–three gallon bags stuffed with fillets.

We totaled around 100 fish and seven species. Most were white bass, but also 11 smallmouth bass, four walleye, three rock bass, a crappie, the drum and the pike.

Reach Stoeger at (920) 570-1187.

Dale Bowman
Fall scene on the Wolf River during white-bass time.

Wild things

Fallen hedge apples splotch backroads. . . . Christian Howe’s annual fall-color report from southern Cook County to Iron County, Mich. is at posted at chicago.suntimes.com/2021/10/18/22733647/christian-howes-annual-fall-color-report-southern-cook-county-iron-county-michigan.

Illinois hunting

Over-the-counter sales of firearm deer permits went on sale yesterday. . . . Weather looks almost too nice for the north-zone opener of duck and Canada goose seasons on Saturday.

Stray Cast

Having the Bears interesting during postseason baseball is like catching walleye while fishing white bass.

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The Netflix logo is seen on the Netflix, Inc. building on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. | ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images

Ted Sarandos noted that Dave Chappelle follows in the tradition of comedians who push boundaries.

The controversy surrounding Dave Chappelle’s transphobic remarks in his latest stand-up special intensified late Tuesday, as Netflix’s Ted Sarandos did a flurry of phone interviews in which he admitted he “screwed up” his response to staff but reiterated his support of the comedy show.

While the embattled co-CEO allowed that storytelling can sometimes negatively impact society, he said he did not feel Chappelle’s “The Closer” needed a disclaimer.

“I should have first and foremost acknowledged in those emails that a group of our employees were in pain, and they were really feeling hurt from a business decision that we made,” Sarandos told The Hollywood Reporter. He also spoke with Deadline and Variety. “And I, instead of acknowledging that first, I went right into some rationales.”

Sarandos noted that Chappelle follows in the tradition of comedians who push boundaries, but speaking of the show he told Variety “I do not believe it falls into hate speech” because the jokes weren’t intended to cause physical harm.

The executive’s comments arrived just hours before Wednesday’s planned virtual walkout by Netflix’s trans employees. The protest stems from complaints about Chappelle’s “Closer” jokes about trans people and his re-alignment with those who believe a human’s sex at birth is immutable. Employees have expressed concern that such rhetoric can lead to violence against marginalized communities.

The negative spotlight on Netflix stands in stark contrast to a recent glow: The content-creating powerhouse, responsible for hits ranging from “Tiger King” to “Squid Game,” won 44 Emmys this year and hit 200 million subscribers. On Tuesday, Netflix reported third-quarter profit and subscriber growth numbers that beat Wall Street expectations.

Here’s what’s at issue and how we got here:

Dave Chappelle describes gender as ‘a fact’ in his new Netflix comedy special, ‘The Closer’

On Oct. 5, Netflix started streaming “The Closer,” a highly anticipated new special from Chappelle that quickly became one of the service’s most-watched shows. In it, the Emmy winner reacted to complaints that his 2019 stand-up special “Sticks & Stones” was “punching down” on the trans community.

Here’s what’s at issue and how we got here:

Dave Chappelle describes gender as ‘a fact’ in his new Netflix comedy special, ‘The Closer’

On Oct. 5, Netflix started streaming “The Closer,” a highly anticipated new special from Chappelle that quickly became one of the service’s most-watched shows. In it, the Emmy winner reacted to complaints that his 2019 stand-up special “Sticks & Stones” was “punching down” on the trans community.

The LGBTQ+ community calls Dave Chappelle’s remarks transphobic, Netflix suspends several employees

“The Closer” generated backlash on social media from both the LGBTQ+ community and some Netflix employees, who voiced concerns that the special promoted transphobic attitudes at a time when violence against such Americans is on the rise. There were 44 killings of trans people in 2020, according to the Human Rights Watch.

Last week, Terra Field, a Netflix software engineer who is trans, was among three employees who were suspended for joining a virtual quarterly meeting of top executives without an invitation. They later were reinstated, according to The Hollywood Reporter. On Friday, Netflix fired an unnamed employee who leaked how much Netflix had paid for “The Closer” (a reported $24.1 million), along with the special’s viewership (10 million).

In a series of tweets, Field said the special “attacks the trans community, and the very validity of transness.” In the course of two memos to staff, Sarandos defended the company’s association with Chappelle, declined to remove the special and questioned the need for alarm. “While some employees disagree, we have a strong belief that content onscreen doesn’t directly translate to real-world harm,” he wrote.

Trans employees plan virtual walkout to protest Netflix’s support for the special

Not much is known about how extensive the walkout will be. According to The Verge and The Hollywood Reporter, a virtual walkout is being organized by Netflix’s trans employee resources group and is focused on Netflix’s Los Angeles offices. In an Instagram post, organizer Ashlee Marie Preston encouraged others to join an in-person rally outside Netflix’s building on Sunset Boulevard.

The goal of the walkout is to “use this moment to shift the social ecology around what Netflix leadership deems ethical entertainment, while establishing policies and guidelines that protect employees and consumers alike,” Preston wrote.

A list of demands the group plans to submit to Netflix will be made public during the walkout, the post says. But Field wrote in an essay Monday on her Medium blog that pulling the special isn’t at issue. Instead, Field wants media companies to “stop pretending” transphobia in media has no impact and “put a content warning in front of existing content that contains transphobia.”

Celebrities assemble for a PSA

In the wake of Chappelle’s special, “Dear White People” series producer Jacklyn Moore tweeted last week that she would not work with the streaming service as long as it continues to “put out and profit from blatantly and dangerously transphobic content.”

Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby, who was cited by Sarandos in a widely disseminated memo to staff, blasted the CEO on Instagram, writing, “Now I have to deal with even more of the hate and anger that Dave Chappelle’s fans like to unleash on me every time Dave gets 20 million dollars to process his emotionally stunted partial world view.”

As part of the walkout Wednesday, organizers also plan to present Sarandos with a public service announcement that will include stars such as Angelica Ross, Jonathan Van Ness, Jameela Jamil and Colton Haynes.

Read more at usatoday.com

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Celine Dion performs during her Courage world tour in Quebec City, Montreal, Canada on Sept. 18, 2019. | AP

A statement posted on her website on Tuesday said the singer has been having severe and persistent muscle spasms and she is being evaluated and treated by a medical team.

LAS VEGAS — Celine Dion is delaying the opening of her new Las Vegas show due to muscle spasms that have kept her from performing.

A statement posted on her website on Tuesday said the singer has been having severe and persistent muscle spasms and she is being evaluated and treated by a medical team.

“I’m heartbroken by this,” Dion said in a statement. “My team and I have been working on our new show for the past eight months, and to not be able to open this November saddens me beyond words. My partners at Resorts World Las Vegas and AEG have been working around the clock to get this brand new state-of-the-art theatre ready, and it’s absolutely beautiful. I feel so bad that I’m letting them down, and I’m especially sorry for disappointing all the fans who’ve been making their plans to come to Las Vegas. Now, I have to focus on getting better… I want to get through this as soon as I can.”

Shows scheduled for the Resorts World Theatre on Nov. 5 through Nov. 20 and Jan. 19 through Feb. 5, 2022, are being canceled.

Tickets purchased with a credit card through axs.com or Resorts World Las Vegas will be automatically refunded within 30 days. Ticketholders for the canceled dates will receive a pre-sale opportunity for first access to new show dates when they are announced.

The statement also said that her world tour is still scheduled to resume in March 2022.

Contributing: USA Today

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The Hawks’ sellout crowd of 20,276 at Tuesday’s home opener was a welcome sight for those who run the United Center’s event presentation. | Ben Pope/Sun-Times

From adding players’ song suggestions to the playlist to bringing back the popular “Orchard” intro video, the Hawks’ fan events and experiences team has revamped the in-game presentation.

With a sellout crowd in attendance for the Blackhawks’ home opener Tuesday, the United Center finally felt like the United Center again.

Nobody appreciated that atmosphere more than the Hawks’ fan events and experiences team — the people behind the videos, graphics, music, pregame ceremonies, intermission programming and everything else that complements the hockey on Hawks game days.

After all, they just survived a full year without any fans at all.

“One of the biggest rushes I get is hearing the crowd get into whatever we’re doing — whether we’re doing something silly . . . or playing an intense song right before a key faceoff,” said Mike Horn, the Hawks’ manager of event presentation.

“It invigorates me to elevate what we do here in-game. And to not have that last season, it was like, ‘Well, I hope what we’re doing is at least making the players happy.’ ”

The department’s three main functions are to “inform, entertain and create a home-ice advantage,” department director Brian Howe said. But last season, there was no one to inform or entertain besides themselves and a handful of others dotted around (scouts, front-office executives, reporters, etc.).

So other than a few self-aware gimmicks to make themselves laugh, they primarily focused on the home-ice advantage aspect. Horn, with his radio background, handled the music and Ryan Curtin the “crowd” noise.

“The synthetic crowd noise was important for us,” Horn said. “You have to know the game. If you’re playing an ‘Ooh’ at the wrong moment, it just seems awkward. [Curtin] did a phenomenal job.”

Mascot Tommy Hawk became extra-valuable as the only “live entertainment vehicle” the department had at its disposal. His half-baked attempts to catch Patrick Kane’s end-of-warmups puck flips were social-media hits.

And the Hawks turned to their players for more feedback. When Ryan Carpenter suggested some good rock songs, Horn added them to the playlist. When Duncan Keith on Feb. 1 called the arena “pretty dead,” Horn turned up the volume — the fake fans were downright deafening Feb. 2.

“It was interesting to have that dialogue,” Horn said. “I don’t want to sell anyone out, but [sometimes I’d] go, ‘Really, he likes that song?’ It was also cool to get texts from the bench saying, ‘Hey, can you turn it up during warmups?’ [I’d reply,] ‘There’s no one else here. You want it louder? Sure.’ ”

Outside of the games themselves, the department used the sans-fans season as an opportunity to reset and rejuvenate its approach.

The event marketing and game presentation departments were subsequently combined into one. No longer will there be two DJs. No longer will fans encounter an “inconsistency in messaging” when walking from an atrium event into the lower bowl. No longer will someone in the sponsorship department select the “Shoot the Puck” contestants, then transfer them to the game presentation folks for the puck-shooting itself.

“In the past, it was a game of telephone,” Howe said. “Now you have one team that is in charge of planning and executing all live fan experiences.”

“We changed a lot of things we used to do just because we’d always done them this way,” Horn said. “Last year was a justification — ‘It’s COVID [times], things are different, let’s look at everything.’ ”

That same logic applied to the in-game presentation. A familiar Hawks-game sound — the Foo Fighters’ “The Pretender” as the second-period intro — was retired last season, and the “Ice Girls” crew won’t return this season.

But two new pregame hype videos debuted Tuesday, one portraying the Hawks as part of the Chicago community fabric and the other a welcome back from Jonathan Toews. The previously beloved “Orchard” video — depicting the stitching of the jersey — returned because of fan demand, as well.

New in-game scoreboard video segments give deeper glimpses into players’ off-ice personalities rather than montaging on-ice highlights. In one segment, players eat “awkward food combinations” like Twinkies with Cheese Whiz. Another segment spotlights the minor-league affiliate Rockford IceHogs, whom the Hawks will promote more now since purchasing them in April.

With so much turnover in the Hawks’ roster since March 2020, there’s a lot of ground to make up to refamiliarize ticket holders with players and prospects.

“There are a lot of fun and easy-to-work-with guys on this team, and their character and personality are going to shine through,” Horn said.

“That was important, especially with having fans back. Some of these guys are newer, and casual fans might not know their backstories. So to develop them as people, you grow a connection with someone — ‘Oh, he’s a funny guy’ or ‘He likes the same songs I do.’ If you feel more connected, it makes you want to cheer for them more.”

And in a sense, the same goes for Howe, Horn and their whole department, too. After a season of emptiness, they’re also finally reconnecting with the fans.

“It’s a really good feeling,” Howe said, “to have people back in this building again.”

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The Chicago Bears have been a pathetic franchise for a long time now. They can’t hire the right coach, find the right quarterback, or evaluate talent to save their lives. They also can literally never beat their biggest rival in the Green Bay Packers. Aaron Rodgers yelled to the crowd that he owns them during […] Chicago Bears: This Aaron Rodgers head-to-head stat is disgusting – Da Windy City – Da Windy City – A Chicago Sports Site – Bears, Bulls, Cubs, White Sox, Blackhawks, Fighting Illini & MoreRead More