Mainstage |
| The Au Pair Man |
Feb. 18 - March 13, 2011 |
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$25 Adults
$23 Seniors over 62/Students
$22 Groups (of 10+)
plus $2.50 service charge per ticket |
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Friday |
Feb 18 |
8.00pm |
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Saturday |
Feb 19 |
8.00pm |
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Sunday |
Feb 20 |
3.00pm |
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Friday |
Feb 25 |
8.00pm |
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Saturday |
Feb 26 |
8.00pm |
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Sunday |
Feb 27 |
3.00pm |
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Friday |
Mar 4 |
8.00pm |
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Saturday |
Mar 5 |
8.00pm |
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Sunday |
Mar 6 |
3.00pm |
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Friday |
Mar11 |
8.00pm |
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Saturday |
Mar 12 |
8.00pm |
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Sunday |
Mar 13 |
3.00pm |
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Our dark comedy, The Au Pair Man, is the captivating story of Elizabeth Rogers, a wealthy English woman of “a certain age” (Donna Steele, SBT Founder and Executive Director), and her roughhewn boy toy, the low-class Irish bill collector Eugene Hartigan (Jim Poole). The show is directed by Bernie Weiler.
Written by Irish Playwright Hugh Leonard, author of the Broadway hit play Da, The Au Pair Man is a reverse My Fair Lady that is both an exploration of a complicated interpersonal relationship and an allegory of the centuries-old conflict between England and Ireland.
The Au Pair Man opens with Hartigan, a neophyte bill collector, ringing the doorbell at the London home of Elizabeth Rogers, a married woman whose husband is often away on business. Through cunning and seduction, Mrs. Rogers cleverly manipulates the unsophisticated bill collector and he ends up trapped into her “service” as an au pair man.
She dresses Eugene in the finest clothes, teaches him proper diction and English history. While at first he is enthralled by his good fortune, and grateful for her benevolence, it slowly dawns on Eugene that he is a prisoner, stripped of his own identity, and that escape is futile.
Nominated for a Tony® award, The Au Pair Man has been called “a witty comedy of Anglo-Irish manners, full of amusing observations reminiscent of the styles of George Bernard Shaw and Oscar Wilde.”
Long a respected figure in Chicago-area theatre, Donna Steele’s most recent Steel Beam characters include Sheree in Dixie Swim Club; Sister Aloysius in Doubt and Shirley in Shirley Valentine. Other roles include Ann (US) At Home at the Zoo, Victory Gardens; Betty/Sheila (US) A Guide for the Perplexed Victory Gardens; Lady (US) Superior Donuts, Steppenwolf Theatre, and the Duchess of York, Richard III, First Folio Shakespeare.
Ms. Steele holds an MFA in acting from Southern Methodist University, and a BA and MA in Theatre from Northwestern University. She studied with Alvina Krause, the legendary acting teacher who helped create the acclaimed theatre program at Northwestern. Ms. Steele is an accomplished director, having directed many Main Stage and Children’s Theatre productions over Steel Beam Theatre’s 10 year history.
A native of Chicago and a Wheaton College graduate, Jim Poole is a member of Chicago’s Steep Theatre ensemble and has been involved in numerous theatrical, improvisational and sketch comedy groups. Of Mr. Poole’s appearance in Steep Theatre’s The Hothouse, The Daily Herald’s Jack Helbig raved, "Jim Poole is nearly perfect as Roote, the morally bankrupt stuffed shirt who runs the asylum.” Other Steep Theatre credits include Harper Regan, Bang the Drum Slowly, and Catch-22. Mr. Poole has also recently appeared in Twelfth Night, Greenstick Summer Theater; How Gertrude Stormed the Philosophers Club, Bailiwick and A Lie Of The Mind, Strawdog Theater.
Director Bernie K. Weiler is an Aurora attorney who holds degrees in theatre and law from Loyola University Chicago. Mr. Weiler most recently directed last season’s popular SBT Main Stage production It Could Be Any One of Us and SBT Children’s Theatre 10th Season Opener Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
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