Jonathan Berry

American Blues Theater‘s new production of Side Man, Warren Leight’s drama about a jazz musician’s troubled marriage, begins previews this Friday, April 24. The show is directed by Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department faculty member Jonathan Berry. Heather Gilbert, interim associate chair of the Columbia College Theatre Department as well as a faculty member, is designing the lights for the show, which begins previews Friday, April 24.

“This family’s story, taking place between 1953 and 1986, takes us from the height of the Jazz wave to the moment where it has crashed on the shore and is receding back into the sand,” says Joseph Jefferson Award-winning director Berry in his director’s note on the production.

Kate Buddeke

Jason Epperson

The show’s cast includes Joseph Jefferson Award-winning actress Kate Buddeke, a former Columbia College faculty member. Side Man opens Thursday, April 30, and runs through May 24 at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln, Chicago. Greenhouse’s executive director, Jason Epperson, is a Columbia College Theatre Department alumnus and faculty member. For ticket information, click here or call 773-404-7336.