On an Average Day August 2, 2008

Stef Tovar, Jeff Award-winning actor, American Theater Company ensemble member and former resident of Los Angeles, announced today that he has launched The Route 66 Theatre Company. Its mission is to cultivate dynamic, relevant and provocative stories that bridge the 2,448 miles of cultural divide, seeking to be the leading arts organization for both national artists and audiences along the historic highway. Along with Artistic Director Tovar, the company also includes Judge Gloria Coco, Heather Meyers, John Mohrlein, Jenniffer Weigel and Gwendolyn Whiteside.



The Route 66 Theatre Company’s first production will be the Chicago premiere of John Kolvenbach’s ON AN AVERAGE DAY, co-produced with the Vs. Theatre Company of Los Angeles. The show will preview July 30, open Saturday, August 2 at 7:30 p.m., and run through August 31 at the Victory Gardens Greenhouse Theater Upstairs Mainstage, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. Ron Klier will direct. ON AN AVERAGE DAY received huge critical acclaim during its March 2008 sold out run in Los Angeles. The highly praised cast and artistic team have remained the same with the addition of Lighting Designer Jesse Klug.



ON AN AVERAGE DAY first premiered in London’s West End in 2002, starring Woody Harrelson and Kyle MacLachlan and directed by John Crowley. Both black comedy and psychological drama, ON AN AVERAGE DAY tells the story of the emotional fog surrounding the relationship between two estranged brothers. Robert is clearly in desperate trouble and unraveling, just as his neat and controlled brother Jack arrives after a long absence. The piece evokes the tension of a mystery thriller though the lens of brutal family dysfunction.



Variety called ON AN AVERAGE DAY “A searing, often hilarious history of family disintegration that benefits from helmer Ron Klier’s relentless, in your face, staging…Clark offers a tour de force portrait of a chaotic, paranoid soul victimized by jagged shards of memory, rendering him incapable of providing direct responses to anything...Tovar communicates the weight of memory and guilt that finally reduces Jack to a level of hopelessness that far outdistances that of his younger sibling.” The Los Angeles Times raved that the show is “…authoritatively rendered by director Ron Klier and performers Johnny Clark and Stef Tovar, who give performances of virtuostic volatility and depth...Critics Choice!” BackStage said “…the piece evokes the tension of a crafty mystery thriller, though its ultimate payoff is profound emotional resonance. A riveting emotional duel.” CurtainUp.com called the production "mind-boggling in its intensity...a play that is beyond awesome!"



ON AN AVERAGE DAY stars Los Angeles-based actor Johnny Clark along with Chicagoan Stef Tovar. Clark and Tovar will be reprising their roles from the critically acclaimed, sold-out run in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles production was also directed by Klier, which The Route 66 Theatre Company co-produced with the Vs. Theatre Company in March 2008. The production company includes Fight Choreography by Ned Mochel, Scenic Design by Danny Cistone, Lighting Design by Jesse Klug, Sound Design by Ron Klier, Costume Design by Gelareh Khalioun and Erin Mueller and the Stage Manager is Carole Ursetti. The Vs. Theatre is under the Artistic Direction of Johnny Clark and Kimberly Rose-Wolter.



Johnny Clark (Robert) is a co-founder and Artistic Director of the Vs. Theatre Company in Los Angeles. His Vs. Credits include ERIC LARUE, THE CREDEAUX CANVAS, NAVY PIER, BEGGARS IN THE HOUSE OF PLENTY, MODERN DANCE FOR BEGINNERS and WASTE OF SHAME. Clark found and performed with THE BARKING SQUIRRELS, a Chicago improv troupe that played in the Chicago area for two years. Clark attended University of Chicago, but now makes Los Angeles his home.



Stef Tovar (Jack) most recently was seen as Knute Rockne in the world premiere musical KNUTE ROCKNE: ALL AMERICAN at Theatre at the Center. In the fall of 2007, he served as interim Artistic Director of American Theater Company and was seen on stage as Michael in I DO! I DO! opposite Heidi Kettenring. Other ATC credits include A STONECARVER, THE THREEPENNY OPERA and HALF OF PLENTY. In Chicago, Tovar has worked at The Marriott Theatre, Drury Lane Oakbrook, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Northlight Theatre, Organic Theater, Briar Street, Bailiwick Repertory Theatre and Apple Tree Theatre, where he won a Jeff Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Play for BLADE TO THE HEAT. His Los Angeles credits include George in SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, Jamie in the LA premiere of THE LAST FIVE YEARS, Homer in FLOYD COLLINS, Che in EVITA and Kip in WONDER OF THE WORLD.



Director Ron Klier recently wrote and directed the play, LAST CHANCE GAS, as part of the critically acclaimed CAR PLAYS in Los Angeles. He wrote and directed WASTE OF SHAME, which had its world premiere in Los Angeles with the Vs. Theatre in 2007 and earlier in 2008 received a stage reading in New York as part of the Impetuous Theater Group’s Imbryo Reading Series.



Kimberly-Rose Wolter is a co-founder and Co-Artistic Director of VS. Theatre Company. Prior VS. productions include BEGGARS IN THE HOUSE OF PLENTY, NAVY PIER, MODERN DANCE FOR BEGINNERS, WASTE OF SHAME and THE CREDEAUX CANVAS. Wolter graduated Magna Cum Laude from The School of Theater at the University of Southern California.



Playwright John Kolvenbach is the author of LOVE SONG, ON AN AVERAGE DAY, GIZMO LOVE, FABULOSO and THE GRAVITY OF MEANS. LOVE SONG premiered at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in the spring of 2006, directed by Austin Pendleton, and then went on to the West End, where it was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best New Comedy. The London production was directed by John Crowley, with Neve Campbell, Cillian Murphy, Kristen Johnston and Michael McKean. GIZMO LOVE premiered on Cape Cod in 2004 and THE GRAVITY OF MEANS premiered in New York at MCC. Kolvenbach’s newest play GOLDFISH, will have its world premiere at South Coast Rep in March of next year.



The Route 66 Theatre Company members include Honorable Judge Gloria Coco, who retired from the bench after thirty years in domestic violence court and received her BA in Theater from Northwestern. Her solo piece, FINDING UNCLE ALFIO, will be performed at Live Bait’s FILET OF SOLO Festival this August and in New York City in November.



Heather Meyers will be heading new play development for The Route 66 Theatre Company. She has stage managed some 15 productions at American Theater Company and has been the producer of Chicago’s BIG SHOULDERS FESTIVAL since its inception in 2003.



John Mohrlein has been an actor in Chicago for over 40 years with numerous theaters such as Body Politic, Goodman Theater, Northlight Theatre, Organic Theater and American Theater Company, where he has been an ensemble member since 1999. He is a Jeff Award nominee and After Dark Award winner.



Jenniffer Weigel, daughter of the late Chicago sportscaster, Tim Weigel, is an Emmy Award winning broadcaster and published author whose book, STAY TUNED, chronicles twelve years of research and interviews with the likes of James Van Praagh, don Miguel Ruiz and Deepak Chopra to answer some of

life’s most important questions. This August she will bring this book to the stage with her one-person show I’M SPIRITUAL, DAMMIT! It will be produced by The Route 66 Theatre Company at the Viaduct Theater, directed by Scott Cummins. The show opens Friday August 15 and runs through Sunday, September 14.



Gwendolyn Whiteside is a three-time Jeff Award nominee and American Theater Company ensemble member. She has worked on television (COLD CASE, SIX FEET UNDER, THE EDUCATION OF MAX BICKFORD), and in theater with About Face Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre Company, Northlight Theatre, Defiant and American Theater Company. She recently played Emily in OUR TOWN for Indiana Repertory Theater and is an After Dark Award winner. She will return to Indiana Repertory Theater this winter for A CHRISTMAS CAROL.



Previews for ON AN AVERAGE DAY will be on July 30 at 7:30pm ($20) and August 1 at 7:30pm ($20). The show opens August 2 at 7:30pm and runs through August 31. The regular schedule is Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays at 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.; and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $25. Victory Gardens Greenhouse Theater is located at 2257 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago. For tickets or more information call (773) 871-3000.

Official Website: http://www.route66theatre.org