Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department alumni and faculty members are featured in the 21st annual Fillet of Solo Festival, presented January 12-28 by Lifeline Theatre. Celebrating the breadth of Chicago’s enduring storytelling and live lit scene, the event brings together a dozen storytelling collectives and numerous solo performers for a three-week, multi-venue selection of powerful personal stories. Performances take place at two venues, located a block from each other in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood: Lifeline Theatre, 6912 N. Glenwood, and Heartland Studio Theatre, 7016 N. Glenwood. Tickets to individual shows are $10; festival passes are also available. For tickets, call 773-761-4477 or click here.
Among the performers:
Carly Jo Geer
* alumna Carly Jo Geer ’13, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s BA Program in Acting. In her one-woman piece I Come From Hoarders, Geer shares her story of what it’s like to grow up in a family who are hoarders but also – just like any other family – fight and love, grow and get sick, live and pass away. Geer’s performance is presented by The LIVINGroom, an ensemble of solo writer/performers founded by Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department alums. I Come From Hoarders plays Saturday, January 20, at 5:30 PM and Friday, January 26, at 7 PM at the Heartland Studio Theatre.
* The Kates, an all-female comedy showcase organized and hosted by Columbia College alum Kelsie Huff ’03. The Kates provides an intimate night of comedy dedicated to showcasing talented and hilarious female-identified performers by creating inclusive and positive environments. Artists are encouraged to express their comic point of view in unique and non-apologetic ways — proving that women are equal in the eyes of comedy. Huff was recently profiled by the Columbia Chronicle, Columbia College Chicago’s student newspaper. The Kates performs Saturday, January 13, at 8:30 PM; Friday, January 19, at 7 PM; and Friday, January 26, at 8:30 PM at Lifeline Theatre.
Ligia Sandoval
Allison Cain
* The Lifeline Storytelling Project, featuring Columbia alumna Ligia Sandoval ’16, who graduated with a double major — a BA in Musical Theatre from the Theatre Department and a BA in Live and Performing Arts Management from the Columbia College Chicago Business and Entrepreneurship Department — and former Columbia College Theatre Department student Allison Cain. Their show Unknown Territory plays Saturday, January 13, at 5:30 PM and Saturday, January 27, at 4 PM at the Heartland Studio Theatre, as well as on Sunday, January 21, at 5:30 PM at Lifeline Theatre.
Clare Nolan (upper left) with The Sweat Girls
* The Sweat Girls, an all-female ensemble that includes Columbia College Theatre teacher Clare Nolan. Their show, Total Eclipse of the Sweat, plays Sunday, January 14 and 28, at 5:30 PM at Lifeline Theatre.
