Company raising its Profile with new hits
Profiles Theatre, the intimate storefront operation at 4147 N. Broadway that has been selling out two productions in recent months (it had to rent a second storefront three doors down from its home to accommodate the success), seems to have developed an uncanny knack for keeping its box office hot.
Ellen Fairey's world-premiere play "Graceland," a bittersweet tale of love, loss and arrested emotional development (already set for a New York production next spring), opened in May and has become one of the theater's most successful runs ever. It has now been extended for an additional five weeks, playing through Dec. 20 at National Pastime Theatre, 4139 N. Broadway.
Meanwhile, the Midwest premiere of Neil LaBute's "The Mercy Seat," a post-9/11 tale, has been extended through Dec. 13. But it must close to make way for Profiles' next show, a revival of "Killer Joe," the 1991 gonzo trailer-park thriller that put Tracy Letts (author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning "August: Osage County") on the map.
Steppenwolf's Rick Snyder will direct a cast featuring Somer Benson and Darrell W. Cox. Previews start Jan. 8; the show runs through Feb. 28.
For tickets to all three shows, call (773) 549-1815 or go to www.profilestheatre.org.