SHORT STORY THEATRE EVENING OF STORYTELLING & MUSIC NOV.17, WILMETTE THEATRE

Short Story Theatre presents an evening of storytelling and song with stories from Cyn Vargas, Rick Leslie, Joel Ramsey, and Elizabeth Brown, with a special appearance by singer/songwriter Al Day. The show begins at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, November 17, at the Wilmette Theatre, 1122 Central Avenue in Wilmette. Tickets are $20 and are available for purchase on the theatre’s website www.shortstorytheatre.com.

Cyn Vargas, a new member of the troupe, has a very hard time restraining herself from mouthing off in her story “Locked Up.” Rick Leslie’s story “The Untold War Story” focuses not only on World War II, but on a father-son relationship. In his story “Online Dating,” Joel Ramsey, also new to the troupe, details a post-divorce disastrous date. Elizabeth Brown bemoans what to buy the baby in her “Bad Baby Shower” story. Singer/Songwriter Al Day will be singing his stories for added entertainment.

Musician Rich Logan accompanies the storytellers with original music, highlighting the mood in each story, like a soundtrack in a film. Introductions by David Edler are excerpted from Mike Lubow’s In a Chicago Minute.

Short Story Theatre was founded in 2012 by Donna Lubow of Riverwoods and Rick Leslie and Susan Block of Highland Park and is dedicated to promoting storytelling as a vibrant, contemporary art form. Co-founder Donna Lubow says, “Stories are creative non-fiction, based on personal experiences. Our troupe of more than twenty members from Chicago and the northern suburbs melds writing skills and performance skills to entertain and inspire audiences.”

For story submissions, contact rick@shortstorytheatre.com. Guidelines for submission are on the website: www.shortstorytheatre.com. For other information: donna@shortstorytheatre.com.

BIOS OF PERFORMERS: (in alphabetical order)

Elizabeth Brown is a pathologist who has recently turned her attention to the infinitely more lively field of creative nonfiction. Her essays range from memoirs to curiosity-driven explorations of whatever catches her fancy, including a discussion of what it was like to retake the SAT exams after a 45-year hiatus. Her essays are all posted on her blog site www.fanagrams.net.

Al Day has performed in clubs and colleges throughout the United States and on such radio and TV shows as WFMT’s “Midnight Special,” WFMT’s “Studs Terkel Show,” WBEZ’s “The Earth Club,” and WTTW/Channel 11’s “Sound Stage.” Hailed as most “Most Promising Songwriter” by Chicago Magazine when he entered the music scene, his songs have supplied many other artists with original material. Additionally, Al has composed several concert theater pieces and wrote the libretto for the opera “Two Soldiers,” which was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

Rick Leslie is a former songwriter, adman and network news producer. Rick has been telling stories of one kind or another for over 35 years. Recently, he retired from the communications business and enrolled at Northwestern University. It inadvertently led him to an unexpected fourth career in the communications business - storytelling.

Rich Logan has been performing musically since vinyl was still popular. He has done sound design for theatre as well as live performance for improv and staged readings. He managed a theatre space called the School Street Cafe for 8 years in Chicago in the 90’s, providing essentially free space for over 100 productions. He has graced many a Chicago stage over the years as an actor (Trap Door, Oracle, Famous Door, Victory Gardens, and Touchstone). He is excited to be invited to share “the sound track” to the stories that inspired them.

Joel Ramsey has been a speech and communications instructor for over 5 years. He has been onstage and performing throughout his life as a speaker, instructor, actor, murder mystery dinner performer, stand-up comedian and improvisational comedian. Joel currently resides in Northern Illinois with his children and teaches speech, communications, English and marketing both in online and onsite university classrooms.

Cyn Vargas’ short story collection is being published by Curbside Splendor Publishing in Spring 2015. She was named one of Guild’s Literary Complex’s 25 Writers to Watch, won the 2013 Guild Literary Complex Award in Fiction, and has received two top citations in Glimmer Train’s Short Story Award for New Writers contests. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing-Fiction from Columbia College Chicago. Her work has appeared in Word Riot, Split Lip Magazine, Hypertext Magazine, and elsewhere. She teaches creative writing workshops around Chicago and online.