‘Royko: The Toughest Man in Chicago' at Chopin Theatre lets the man and his words take center stage - Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune 9/9/24.

 

"A pessimist sees the glass as half-empty," Mike Royko once wrote. "A Cub fan wonders when it's gonna spill."

 

A review of a new solo show at the Chopin Theatre about Michael Royko Jr., a newspaper columnist in this town for some 30 years, would appear to demand a lede with something juicy between quotation marks, if only to draw in a reader with Royko's own words - being as all else ever written for this publication, or for the Chicago Sun-Times, or for the Chicago Daily News (Royko wrote for all three of them) lacks his flair and panache.

 

The problem, though, is that a man who wrote 7,500 columns, not to mention his must-read 1971 book, "Boss: Richard J. Daley of Chicago," penned many similarly pithy and punctilious lines. Take, for example, when Sen. Carol Moseley Braun was caught not just saying ketchup belonged on a Chicago hotdog but overlooking celery salt. "It is said that power corrupts," Royko wrote. "I didn't know that it brings on utter madness."

Ergo, I've wasted at least two hours looking for the right encapsulatory Royko quotation. A Sisyphean task. No such thing. Too many of them. And, as was always true for Royko, a deadline looms.

 

I suspect the man himself would have been initially suspicious of Mitchell Bisschop, the actor-writer-director who created "Royko: The Toughest Man in Chicago" (more accurately, a bit of a softie, like all the great Chicago scribes from Nelson Algren to Roger Ebert). For one thing, Bisschop lives in Los Angeles, where this show premiered; for shame. For another, he was born in Evanston, not in an apartment above a Humboldt Park family tavern to Polish and Ukrainian parentage, bonafides for a career in Chicago journalism, at least anywhere other than the Tribune, which is where Royko ended up after he declined to tap on a typewriter in service of Rupert Murdoch.

 

He need not have worried; Bisschop clearly is a Royko lover and his show, filled to the brim with Royko's own words, is a celebration of the man's journalistic brilliance, not a dissection of his ideological shifts over the years, sometimes matching the changes in Chicago itself, sometimes not so much. As Tribune columnist Rick Kogan has written, the piece had the blessing of Royko's family. You can see why.

 

How much you will enjoy the piece depends, I think, on your interest in Chicago history and how much you find the humor in mayoral malapropisms (of father and son), aldermanic antics and ethnic stereotypes. Royko worked mostly in an era when you could write of Chicago, as in "Boss," "the neighborhood-towns were part of larger ethnic states. To the north of the Loop was Germany. To the northwest was Poland. To the west were Italy and Israel. To the southwest were Bohemia and Lithuania. And to the south was Ireland ..."

 

I'm a sucker for all that stuff, as demonstrably was Bisschop's opening-night audience, a who's who of Chicago journalism (the living, at least) and a show unto itself.

 

Royko's genius, of course, was manifested in two main ways, both of which thrive here. One was the singular deliciousness of his language, for years as much a part of a thinking Chicagoan's morning routine as coffee and existential dread. The other was his ability to use the stressed-out art of daily journalism to tease out major themes from minor events, to elevate the kindnesses and wisdoms of ordinary folks and pull the prickly and the pompous from their podiums. Royko was not so in love with Chicago that he could not see its sins. Take for example, what Royko wrote about Richard J. Daley riding to a third term in 1963 thanks to Black voters (his Republican opponent, Ben Adamowski, having received a majority of the white vote): "The people who received the fewest campaign promises and who were ignored as part of the campaign trail, had given him his third term. They had done it quietly, asking for nothing in return. Exactly what they got."

 

The show doesn't answer some salient questions: Can a newspaper columnist like Royko exist on the Internet? (Not really). What happens as a columnist ages and views harden? (Cynicism seems to be an occupational hazard.) How did this man cure these gifts and did they bring him happiness?

 

But the thing here is that to look back on Royko is to look back on the last third of Chicago's 20th century - and that for me is worth a couple of hours of anybody's time, especially since the show, directed by Steve Scott, has cool video projections from Smooch Medina (a name Royko would have spun into a column).

 

To be perfectly frank, and with genuine admiration for how well he put this thing together, I think Bisschop should think about stepping out of his own show (writer and co-producer is honest work aplenty) and letting a veteran Chicago actor have a crack at this man. I kept thinking of many who would lift the energy, more richly vocalize his words and draw from their emotional wells to dive deeper into the complicated soul of this greatest of Chicago newspapermen. That's really what the piece needs; but if you are a Royko fan, I still wouldn't miss going now"

3 Stars - 'Royko' star gets the look, the voice, the heart of the great Chicago columnist: While it loses focus when covering Royko's later, weaker years, actor-writer Mitchell Bisschop's one-man show nails the biting one-liners and compelling storytelling of his glory days." - Jack Helbig, Chicago Sun Times 9/8/24

" To call Mike Royko a legend in Chicago journalism is an understatement. When he died in 1997, at 64, he towered over all other columnists, locally - and nationally. Syndicated in more than 600 newspapers across the nation, he had millions of readers who loved him for his caustic wit and his heart; he always sided with the little guy.

 

My mother, for one, a Chicago expat living in St. Louis, never missed his column in her local daily (The Post Dispatch). She loved him because he made her laugh. And because, as a former Chicagoan, she loved how Chicago he was. Royko may have made it big, but never forgot his roots; he grew up in an apartment above a bar in Humboldt Park, the son of a Polish mother and a Ukrainian immigrant father.

 

Royko wrote a column a day, five days a week, for 30 years, first for the Chicago Daily News, then the Sun-Times and finally the Tribune. He had turned in more than 7,500 columns when he died in 1997. Studs Terkel said he was "possessed by a demon."

 

Royko was possessed by something; that's for sure."

 

 

Broad shoulders and pointed words:  Legendary columnist Mike Royko casts a tall shadow in Mitchell Bisschop's solo docu-play. - Dan Jakes, 9/11/24

 

"Here's the thing about icons: they're not known for their flexibility. Take Pablo Picasso's towering, untitled 1967 Core-Ten steel sculpture outside Daley Plaza. It's been featured on so many postcards, B-roll clips, and travelogues that it's easy to overlook just how many residents rolled their eyes at the thing when it was first unveiled.

 

Truth be told, when I heard Los Angeles-based artist Mitchell Bisschop would be performing a self-written solo docu-play about legendary Pulitzer Prize-winning Chicago columnist Mike Royko in Chicago-to an opening-night house full of Royko's family and journalists old enough to have known him personally, no less-I was worried it would be coated in the same nostalgic wax as Picasso's angelic, aardvark-y whatchamacallit.

 

And yet, Bisschop's solo show is far more than a eulogy to an exceptional writer and beloved local. It's a nuanced and thoughtful look at quintessential Chicago history, Royko's exacting and incredibly funny way of capturing cultural milestones, and the cynical relationship between power and the people who criticize it for a living from the comfort of their office. "I never wanted to bring anyone down," says Bisschop's Royko. "I'm a fisherman . . . I wanted to catch them, get columns out of them and throw them back, let them get bigger."

 

Directed by Steve Scott, Royko: The Toughest Man in Chicago, manages to honor Royko's incredible legacy while laying bare the reasons why media institutions and their readers moved away from the village elder columnist model, before it devolved into a holdout vestige for right-wing cranks to take potshots at college kids and public school teachers. Informative and entertaining, Bisschop's play encourages viewers to appreciate the temporality of greatness-and the everlasting value of a perfect snapshot"

 

 

Highly Recommended - "Royko: The Toughest Man In Chicago" - Alan Bresloff, AroundTheTownChicago.com 9/6/24

 

"I have been around the newspaper business for many years. First, as a reader ( and delivery boy), then as a rep selling ad space and in my latter years, a writer doing reviews of theater and dining experiences as well as entertainment in and around the city. Members of my extended family worked for the Daily News, The Tribune and The Sun-Times, so I was well aware of one Mike Royko, a Chicago legend. Not only was he a clever and witty columnist, he was also one heck of a softball player. Not "softball" by other cities standards, but "Chicago Softball" with a 16″ "Clincher" that would , or could break a few fingers during the early innings of a game. I do believe that during our "softball" days, we might have clashed at Grant Park.

 

Viewing "Royko: The Toughest Man In Chicago" written by and starring Mitchel Bisschop at The Chopin Theatre brought back many memories. I know that my dad would read Royko before even checking the sports, and I could not wait to read it and see who he was going after or picking on today. Royko was indeed a genius and did not care who he might insult, after all, the people who bought the paper wanted to see what he had to say. Yes, there were many who hated him and took exception to his views, but that made it even more fun.

 

This two act play, a one man show where Bisschop truly takes on the persona of Royko is sharply directed by Steve Scott, who truly understands Chicago and the man that is being depicted. On a set designed by Eric Luchen, we find ourselves either at Royko's desk or his other office , also known as The Billy Goat Tavern, under Michigan Avenue and very close to both newspaper offices at the time. For those unfamiliar with the newspapers of Chicago ( we had many), the Daily News and the Herald American were "afternoon" papers and the Sun-Times and Tribune, "morning". The Times and Daily News were connected and the Tribune and Herald likewise.

 

This play is roughly two hours and 20 minutes with one intermission that takes us into the life , trials and tribulations of this man, who for many was their link to understanding Chicago and the government of same. In this story, we learn a great deal about Chicago politics, and the world and plain people. Slats Grobnik was a name he frequently referred to as his friend, but I for one believe that he used this character to resemble "everyman" and Slats was indeed a symbol. The story that Bisschop brings to the stage is a series of anecdotes that make you want to know even more. He refers to famous Chicagoan Studs Terkel, The Daley "machine", Bilandic, Jane Byrne and much more. There are some great videos (Smooch Medina) to supplement the script and a great love for not only his city ( born and raised here) but for his Cubbies.

 

You also will learn more than you ever wanted to know about "Chicago" pizza and what truly should carry that name as well as several scolding's about "Ketchup on a hot dog" ( not in Chicago!!!). This is a sort of biography of a man who could be called a Chicago legend when it came to opinions, attitudes, and truths. His columns are still accurate today in what he spoke about as many of them can be applies to today's world. While I am pretty sure he never anticipated people still talking about him 25 + years after his death, they do and I suppose they will for years to come"

 

Review "Royko: The Toughest Man in Chicago" Steve Pasek, Splashmags.com 9/9/24

 

Newspaper columnist Mike Royko was an iconic figure in the Chicago press, a neighborhood guy who authored the definitive book on Chicago Machine politics ("Boss"). The broad influence of his irreverent style is still evident today, in the work of pseudo-journalists like Jon Stewart and John Oliver, journalist-screenwriter David Simon, as well as comedian commentator Bill Maher.

 

Royko's commentary columns in 3 Chicago newspapers over 29 years often portrayed fictionalized characters to illustrate a point. Conversely, he would also simply quote politicians and other public personalities, letting them illustrate their own incompetence, crookedness, or callousness by giving them the rope to hang themselves with. His wry and mocking commentary confronted hypocrisy, hubris, and ignorance.

 

"Royko: The Toughest Man in Chicago", staged by Toughest Man Productions, showcases Royko's satiric wit as well as his love affair with Chicago's working class people. The script is drawn from the enormous catalog of Royko's Pulitzer Prize winning daily columns, as well as his multiple books, including "Boss", a masterpiece of investigative journalism.

This ambitious production, written and performed by Los Angeles native Mitchell Bisschop, pays tribute to Royko's trenchant style with a pastiche of short monologues frequently letterboxed by video and audio recordings that provide context, amplifying elements of the script.

 

Bisschop's characterization hews closely to Royko's real-life persona, even though his physical resemblance is slight, but it's not an impression or strict biographical play. It is an impressive tribute that both celebrates a great writer, and at the same time laments the loss of the newspaper era.

 

Royko, in addition to being a gifted satirist in the mode of Mark Twain (a comparison which the newspaperman humbly rejects within this script), was also an astute political analyst who understood big-city politics and foresaw many trends. He quit the Sun-Times when Rupert Murdoch bought it, decrying the monetization and politicization of news reporting which is now standard practice. He understood urban working-class voters intuitively, having grown up in several of Chicago's ethnic neighborhoods, in an era when city politics was driven entirely by ethnic coalitions and a proportional distribution of the proceeds of graft. The ‘Royko' script, perhaps for entertainment reasons, leans on his humor more than on his keen political knowledge.

 

This two-act, one-actor play includes audiovisual media projected on 5 screens behind the set. Those media segments are inventively deployed, evocative without being intrusive or gimmicky. Laughter makes the 2 hour running time pass quickly, with a brief intermission between acts. Bisschop's performance is relaxed and conversational, like talking politics with some random guy in a bar, if that guy actually knew something

 

This two-act, one-actor play includes audiovisual media projected on 5 screens behind the set. Those media segments are inventively deployed, evocative without being intrusive or gimmicky. Laughter makes the 2 hour running time pass quickly, with a brief intermission between acts. Bisschop's performance is relaxed and conversational, like talking politics with some random guy in a bar, if that guy actually knew something

 

The Chopin Theater, where this world premiere is staged, is a cozy home for such tribute. It is located in a neighborhood that was once one of the ethnic enclaves that Royko both celebrated and satirized, and even has a small lounge with a bar that he would have enjoyed.

 

This play casts Royko in a heroic light, as a warrior for journalistic integrity and a plain spoken satirist (he is quoted saying "I never used a thesarus"). It also credits him for being an early advocate for civil rights and racial justice in a very segregated city.

 

The script includes a recitation from his damning column after the assassination of Martin Luther King, in which he held up a mirror to haughty northerners who thought racism was only the province of the southern states, elucidating his fervent support of racial justice.

 

It's therefore surprising that the play seems to skip over the fact that Royko was among the few Chicago political analysts who believed that Harold Washington could be elected mayor after winning the Democratic primary of 1983. (Royko correctly inferred that there were enough lifelong Democrats in Chicago who would rather vote for a black man they had not supported in the primary than vote for a Republican).

 

One can quibble with the vignettes selected for the script, but obviously Bisschop, a Los Angeles native, conducted a gargantuan research project, for which Royko's family provided invaluable assistance, since he had no first-hand experience of his subject's life. This is an entertaining two hours with a fascinating subject, and a vibrant portrayal of Royko's legacy.

 

Royko's era valued context, and its citizens were willing to pay money for investigative journalism, analysis, and a depth of daily reporting on the mundane elements of government. That engaged the average person to demand more of their government.

 

The politically divisive, narrowcasting news era initiated by Murdoch has few equivalent eye-pokers with such mass reach as Royko had, and our politics is worse for it. Bisschop has performed a great service. He reminds us how powerful laughter is in political discourse, and how true journalists with integrity are an indisposable asset to a functioning democracy.

 

Special panel discussions after several performances at the Chopin Theater will add context for the audience, and are included in the price of admission. An exhibit at Newberry Library also coincides with the run of the play"

 

3 Stars - "Royko: The Toughest Man in Chicago Tells the Story of Chicago in the '60s and '70s" - Kathy D. Hey, ThirdCoastReview.com 9/9/24

 

"If you lived in Chicago during the Richard M. Daley years, you lived in what I call, the real Chicago. We were a bare-knuckled city where people were born with tough hides. It was a city with taverns on every corner and people who asked what parish you were from because everyone was Catholic. This is the city where Mike Royko was born, and he is one of my writing heroes. Royko: The Toughest Man in Chicago was brought to life by writer and actor Mitchell Bisschop at the Chopin Theatre. Bisschop with director Steve Scott regale an appreciative audience with music and projections of the Sun-Times and Tribune buildings on the Chicago River.

 

Bisschop plays Royko with a blend of "this is the naked city" vibe and channels Royko through his words and inimitable Chicago style. It's a good performance with scenes divided between a re-creation of Royko's desk and the Billy Goat Tavern on lower Michigan Avenue. I emphasize lower because Chicago had a whole world underground that lit my imagination as a kid. Eric Luchen's scenic design makes a good frame for the projections by Smooch Medina. Garret Bell's lighting design with hues of blue and red bathe the stage in the familiar vision of a newspaper office and tavern from the old days.

This is a good show because of Royko's words. To his credit, Bisschop did not attempt to imitate Royko's deep voice but did pretty well with the Chicago accent. I grew up in a house where reading was mandatory and my mother worked for Richard J. Daley's personnel department aka human resources. Every newspaper was delivered to our apartment including the maligned "Republican" Tribune. Royko's columns in the Daily News and later the Tribune exposed the contradictions that made Chicago a great city.

 

I felt enveloped in the feel of Chicago in the '60s and '70s. The bebop sounds of Charlie Parker play as an intro and I could almost smell the city. Bisschop gives us the Royko who smoked and drank a couple of beers or shots after work. Royko grew up working in his father's tavern, where they lived upstairs. He was 13 years old and his dad cut the local bagman in on the profits to not squeal about an underaged tavern worker. I have been in a similar tavern with Naugahyde booths where my uncle would plop while he talked to his girlfriend who tended bar.

 

BIsschop's script follows a timeline rather than a typical dramatic style. The words are adapted or straight from Royko's columns. Everyone in the audience appeared to be my age or older and knew the autobiography and times when Royko got in trouble with his no-bullshit style. He took on Frank Sinatra-and his toupee-over a 24-hour police guard. Royko received threats and faced angry readers including the Boss, Richard J. Daley. He wrote a book titled Boss that told the story of Chicago power and how Daley and mob boss Sam Giancana got John F. Kennedy elected. "Vote early and vote often" was more than a pithy saying. It was real with dead people on the voter rolls to meet a precinct captain's quota.

 

After Daley died right before Christmas 1976, Royko was there to document how the machine would carry on. That is when Royko hit his stride on political observations and ways that Chicago was still the city that worked. The Machine was still at work with Daley's goons (Vrdolyak, Burke, et al) as the power behind the next mayor Michael Bilandic. Wilson Frost was president pro-tem of the City Council and was supposed to step in as mayor should anything happen to Daley. Frost was Black so that was not going to happen with Daley and his cohort being special Chicago bigots. Bisschop includes the ugly side of Chicago with its strict segregation; Daley lived in Bridgeport where no sane Black person would be caught after dark. The 1979 blizzard finally broke the Machine and gave us Mayor Milquetoast (my nickname for Bilandic) and then Jane Byrne, nicknamed Bossy by Royko. The eyes of the world were again focused on Chicago almost as much as when Daley died.

 

The private side of Royko was rarely seen. He wrote characters who were amalgams of childhood friends like Slats Grobnik. Bisschop tells Mike and Carol Royko's love story with a projection of her on the screen. I remember when she died and felt that same need to give condolences as the photo slowly faded leaving Bisschop in the spotlight. That was another Chicago contradiction because even the people who would spit in Royko's direction shared his grief. He was one of us and Royko: The Toughest Man in Chicago did right by his memory. I felt the same grief again when the clips of the real Mike Royko played with photos from Ribfest and that wry smile.

 

I got my first dog as an adult because of Royko's column on the AKC dog show, on February 11, 1983. I'm a Chicagoan and would not dare entertain the ignominy of a "dustmop dog." I got a German shepherd and named him Jake instead of "Pain Inflictor of Old Chicago." Royko was right. I could walk that dog any time of the night and the sea would part.

 

I highly recommend Royko: The Toughest Man in Chicago to get a history lesson in journalism, why the Chicago hot dog should never have ketchup, and that deep-dish pizza is not a Chicago thing. Bisschop does a great job of giving enough of Royko as an invitation to pick up one of the many books about him. Should you want to continue that Royko buzz, see the exhibit called Chicago Style: Mike Royko and Windy City Journalism at the Newberry Library."

 

"One-man show ‘Toughest Man in Chicago' brings Mike Royko back to the city" - Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune 8/21/24

"When I wrote the obituary of Mike Royko in late April 1997, I did not expect to ever spend time with him again, except in the pages of his books, those many collections of his newspaper columns and in his magisterial 1971 biography of Richard J. Daley, "Boss," or in some of the audio or visual items that exist to provide a bit of internet immortality.

 

But here he is again, in the human form of a 46-year-old actor named Mitchell Bisschop, who was born in Evanston, grew up in Barrington and lives in Los Angeles. He says, "I know, I know. I don't look anything like Mike. I'm not tall like him. My voice isn't as deep as his and I have a lot more hair ... no offense to him."

 

And there he will be, beginning Sept. 5, on stage at the Chopin Theatre, performing in a one-man play titled "Royko: The Toughest Man in Chicago," a 90-minute show based solidly on many of the nearly 8,000 columns Royko wrote for the Daily News, Sun-Times and Tribune, some other information taken from interviews, and all embellished by historical video, multimedia and photos.

 

Bisschop has been in town for weeks, rehearsing with the show's director, Steve Scott, who had a distinguished 30-year career at the Goodman Theatre. "I am so grateful to be working with Steve," Bisschop says. "He's pulling things out of me as an actor that I never knew I had. He has opened so many doors."

Until a few years ago, Royko was barely a whisper to him.

"I had heard the name but that was about it," he says. "I was looking around for a new project and almost accidentally stumbled into his work. I thought this might be an exercise in nostalgia but I immediately discovered the power and poetry of these masterworks. I would read one and laugh, turn to the next one and cry."

 

He read and read, and from the pile of potent material, Bisschop fashioned a show. It had a short run in Los Angeles in the summer of 2022. Then there was a one-night workshop last year in New York City. His friends liked the show and some critics did too, one of whom wrote, "Bisschop has not only found Royko's purist nuggets, but he wears them well too, capturing the gruff, impassioned reporting of perhaps one of the few neo-Renaissance men ever to sit at a press desk with perfect perfection."

Encouraging words those, but New York and Los Angeles are not, needless to say, Chicago. Though he has been dead for a generation, Royko remains a part of the city's fabric. For instance, the Newberry Library has a fine and lively exhibit, unrelated to Bisschop's show, titled "Chicago Style: Mike Royko and Windy City Journalism" and running through September"

 

*****

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Cathy Taylor Public Relations
cathy@cathytaylorpr.com
Instagram: @RoykoChicago

Photos available HERE.

THE WORLD PREMIERE OF ROYKO: THE TOUGHEST MAN IN CHICAGO
WRITTEN BY AND STARRING MITCHEL BISSCHOP,
DIRECTED BY STEVE SCOTT,
TO PLAY IN CHICAGO FOR A LIMITED RUN

SEPTEMBER 5-29, 2024

CHICAGO - Toughest Man Productions and producers Lecy Goranson and Beth Kligerman announce the world premiere of Royko: The Toughest Man In Chicago at Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St. in Chicago. Tickets for the limited run, September 5-29, 2024, are now on sale at https://royko.brownpapertickets.com/. The press opening is scheduled for September 6, 2024.

Royko: The Toughest Man In Chicago tells the story of cantankerous Chicago columnist Mike Royko, a 34-year newspaper veteran who wrote 7,500 columns in his career. Love him or hate him, he was a fixture amongst Chicago newspapers. Royko wrote about the city the way people like to think of themselves: cynical, humorous, and with compassion for the little guy.

In this multimedia solo show, writer/performer Mitchell Bisschop takes us back in time on a nostalgic journey told through the eyes of Royko as he is pitted against "The Daley Machine," corruption, and the changing face of the newspaper business.

Helmed by veteran Chicago director Steve Scott, this blending of video with live action completes the portrait of a man who was tough, but also understood what the working class was up against. Royko: The Toughest Man In Chicago shows you that through Mike Royko's Chicago, we will learn something about today's America.

Mitchell Bisschop is a theatre artist living in Los Angeles. His past solo work has garnered him two Encore Awards and two Fringe Award nominations for best solo show, as well as successful runs in Los Angeles theaters. He is a seasoned theatre artist and playwright with over 20 years of experience with a background in sketch and improv (Second City, Annoyance, UCB, and The PIT). He is known for his previous solo works "I Can Hear You Now" and "Pit of Goblins." His career spans stages in Chicago (Over the Tavern, Mercury Theater Chicago), New York and Los Angeles.

Steve Scott (director) was the producer for more than 30 years at Goodman Theatre, where he oversaw more than 200 productions; he is now a member of Goodman's Artistic Collective. His Goodman directing credits include Ah, Wilderness!; Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike; Horton Foote's Blind Date; Rabbit Hole; Binky Rudich and the Two-Speed Clock and No One Will Be Immune for the David Mamet Festival; Dinner With Friends; Wit; the world premiere of Tom Mula's Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol; A Midsummer Night's Dream (co-directed with Michael Maggio) and the 2011 and 2012 editions of A Christmas Carol. Other directing credits include productions at Northlight Theatre, Silk Road Rising, American Blues Theater, A Red Orchid Theatre, Redtwist Theatre (where he is a company member), Shattered Globe Theatre, Eclipse Theatre Company (where he is an ensemble member) and many others. He is a member of the Jeff Committee's Artist and Technical Team, a board member of Season of Concern and an advisory board member at Congo Square Theatre; he also teaches on the faculty of the Theatre Conservatory at Roosevelt University. His recent projects include a stages reading of August Wilson's Radio Golf at Alley Theatre, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night at Skokie Theatre and The Outgoing Tide at Buffalo Theatre Ensemble.

Beth Kligerman (producer) has more than 26 years of experience as a producer and casting director at Chicago's famed The Second City comedy. She is a consulting producer for multi-award winning HMS Media, a Casting Director for Norwegian Cruise Line, and a producing consultant for Just for Laughs in Montreal. Since January 2024 Beth has been the Road Producer for Tim Meadows, Matt Walsh, Joe Canale and Brad Morris performing improv shows as Meadows, Walsh & Friends. Beth has been part of countless national and international artistic partnerships, including the U.S.O., Vienna's English Theatre, Denver Center for the Performing Arts and the John F. Kennedy Center, Washington D.C.

Lecy Goranson (Producer) is a Chicago-area native best known for her role of Becky on Roseanne and The Conners. She has guest starred on Law & Order: Special Victims Unity, Sex and the City, Damages and Fringe.

FACTS:

Royko: The Toughest Man In Chicago

Dates: September 5-29, 2924
Preview: September 5, 2024, Pay-what-you-can performamnce
Opening: September 6, 2024
Thursdays, September 12, 19, 26, 2024 • 7:30PM
Fridays - September 6, 13, 20, 27, 2024 • 7:30PM
Saturdays - September 7, 14, 21, 28, 2024 • 7:30PM
Sundays - September 8, 15, 22, 29, 2024 • 3:30PM

Location:
Chopin Theatre, 1543 W Division St in Chicago

Tickets:
$60, https://royko.brownpapertickets.com/

Synopsis: A bittersweet multimedia portrait of a newspaperman who stood up for the little guy against the City's most oppressive powers.

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