Notes & Letters, a new musical by Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department alum Annabelle Lee Revak ’19, who graduated with a double BA in Musical Theatre from the Theatre Department and Music Composition from the Columbia College Chicago Music Department, will receive its world premiere from Underscore Theatre Company May 10 through 28 at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theatre’s Richard Christiansen Theatre, located at 2433 N. Lincoln in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. For tickets, click here.
Based on letters written by Revak’s great-great grandfather, the show follows one man’s journey from war-torn Prague to a Chicago piano shop in 1917. When the United States enters World War I, businesses, relationships, and lives are put to the test. Based on a true story and set to a jazz-contemporary score, Notes & Letters — with book, music, and lyrics by Revak — is a musical portrait of four young people struggling to make choices amid chaos.
Caitlin Dobbins in “Notes and Letters.” (Photo: Carlito Chavez)
Katy Campbell in “Notes and Letters.” (Photo: Carlito Chavez)
The cast includes Columbia College alums Caitlin Dobbins ’20, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s BA Program in Musical Theatre, and Katy Campbell ’19, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s BFA Program in Musical Theatre Performance.
Aaron Reese Boseman
Understudies include Columbia College alum Aaron Reese Boseman ’12, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s Theatre Directing program, and Nate Hall, a former student in Columbia College’s fiction writing program.
Benjamin Carne
Columbia College alum Benjamin Carne ’18, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s Theatre Design program, is the show’s lighting designer. Lauren Downing Peters, a faculty member in the Columbia College Chicago Fashion Studies Department, is the production manager.
Caitlin Dobbins and Katy Campbell in “Notes and Letters.” (Photo: Carlito Chavez)
As previously reported in this blog, the work was presented in a workshop production by Underscore Theatre Company in 2019. This fully staged production marks the show’s world premiere.
