Category: Event

Niles North Theatre presents “As You Like It”, William Shakespeare’s romantic comedy about love and forgiveness, dukes and shepherdesses, and country life and courtly etiquette. Rosalind, the daughter of a banished duke falls in love with Orlando. When she is banished from the court, Rosalind calls herself Ganymede and travels with her cousin Celia and the jester Touchstone to the Forest of Arden, where her father and his friends live in exile. New friends are made and families are reunited. By the end of the play Ganymede, once again Rosalind, marries Orlando. Orlando and Rosalind, Oliver and Celia, Silvius and Phebe, and Touchstone and Audrey all are married in the final scene.

Watch a promo here:

“As You Like It” will be performed in the Drama Performance Center at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Friday, April 29 and Saturday, April 30. Tickets are $10. Call the Box Office at (847) 626-2122 or go to www.nntheatre.com. There is a free community performance at 10 a.m. on Thursday, April 28.

The cast:  Violette Shearer as Duke Senior, Ari Bearman as Amiens, Yourtana Sulaiman as Melancholy Jacques, Joseph Nagler as Duke Frederick, Florence Loach as Le Beau, Ari Bearman as Charles, Joseph Nagler as Jacques de Boys, Callie Folke as Adam, David Stasevsky as Touchstone, Tiselle Talaboc as Sir Oliver Martext, Lizzy Soglin as Corin, Michael Small as Silvius, Vaughn Celdran as William, Katie Bean as Rosalind, Nina Codell as Celia, Anajé Silva as Phebe, and Lena Folke as Audrey. Ensemble:  Mary Awaysho, Vaughn Celdran, Oren Efergan, Sara Gentry, Florence Loach, and Tiselle Talaboc.

Production Staff:  Annaliisa Ahlman, Director; Barbara Reeder, Scenic Designer and Technical Director; Teresa Ripley, Costume Designer; Michael Rourke, Lighting Designer; Linda Room and Anita Scanlon, Costume Assistants; Hannah Doherty, Assistant Technical Director; Brian Fallon, Hair Designer; Dani Brown, Stage Manager; Kati Yau, Assistant Director; Kylie Smith, Assistant Stage Manager; Jimmy Fraus, House Manager; Ken Otsuka and Zach Zirlin, Promotional Materials; Debbie Neitlich and Anne Zavell, Production Assistants

Stage Crew:  Jessica Hansen, Master Electrician; Jacob Bernstein, Sound Crew; Hannah Brown, Costume Mistress; Zain Dababneh, Properties Crew; and Jessica Hansen, Carpenter. Set construction:  Mika Alexander, Ari Bearman, George Big, Vaughn Celdon, Kayla Chinitz, Hugo Cruz, Zain Debabneh, Hannah Doherty, Beatrice Draghiceanu, Yoni Eisenstein, Callie Folke, Lena Folke, Jimmy Fraus, Jessica Fucik, Sara Gentry, Jessica Hansen, Sam Hirsch, Florence Loach, Olivia Morales, Lia Moreno, Joseph Nagler, Allison Newman,  Uche Nwansi, Antonia Papanikolaou, Emaurie Pelt, Bryanna Plaisir, Esho Rasho, Alphonso Riddick, Nathaniel Schetter, Margaret Selinger, Anajé Silva, Nick Slanks, Michael Small, Lizzy Soglin, Spencer Soglin, Mikki Stotter, Shane Tolentino, Tiselle Tolobos, Karen Wallace, Marty Wiviott, Mary Ellen Youseph and Ben Yusen.

Don’t miss this exciting celebration of Vocal Jazz at Niles North on April 16.

Saturday, April 16, will bring over 50 of Dan Gregerman’s former vocal jazz students from locations throughout the U.S. to return to their roots, as well as reconnect with former classmates. The concert will begin at 7 p.m. in the Auditorium at 9800 Lawler, Skokie. Tickets are $10.  Niles North vocal jazz groups Take One, Sound Check and Harmonic Motion will perform several numbers.  There is also a free community performance at 10 a.m. on Friday, April 15.

The evening’s performances will include Take One, under the direction of Daniel Gregerman, singing “I’ve Got The World on a String,” arranged by Paul Langford, “”Teach Me Tonight,” arranged by Kelly Kunz, and “Mister One-Take,” by Gary Fry. Harmonic Motion, directed by Kathryn Lachey, will perform “Long Ago and Far Away,” arranged by Paris Rutherford and “Rather Be,” arranged by Mark Brymer. Sound Check, under the direction of Logan Farris, will sing “Song for My Father,” arranged by Raymond Roberts and “In My Life,” arranged by Steve Zegree.

The program was started in 1991 by Daniel Gregerman, and under his direction the program has grown and flourished. Although definitions of vocal jazz may differ, it can commonly be agreed to be a style of singing, either a cappella or accompanied by a rhythm section, that embellishes the melody with ornamentation or improvisation, with the ability to transform a song into something distinctive and personal. Since the vocal jazz program began, the program has gained recognition beyond Niles North’s borders, for instance, headlining the Puerta Vallarta Jazz Festival in Mexico.  In 2014, Gregerman was the recipient of the John LaPorta Jazz Educator of the Year award, an accolade for an outstanding educator with a focus on jazz education.