City Lit Theater’s 42nd season will begin in October with the world premiere of THE MARK OF KANE, by Chicago playwright/actor Mark Pracht, directed by City Lit Artistic Director Terry McCabe. Pracht's play, ranging in setting across eight decades, begins in 1939 as Bob Kane and Bill Finger create the comic book character Batman; one of them goes on to fame and fortune while the other languishes in obscurity. THE MARK OF KANE is the first play of "The Four-Color Trilogy," a set of plays Pracht is writing for City Lit that will make their world premieres over the next three seasons and will highlight major turning points in the history of the comic book industry, once a denigrated art form but now at the center of American pop culture. Pracht has appeared in lead roles at City Lit in PROMETHEUS BOUND, FRANKENSTEIN, and THE COPPERHEAD, and won a Jeff Award for Performer in a Principal Role – Play for REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT with The Artistic Home, where he is an ensemble member. The second play of the trilogy, THE INNOCENCE OF SEDUCTION, about the 1950s Congressional investigation of horror comics, will premiere in 2023; the third, THE HOUSE OF IDEAS, about the 1960s rise of Marvel, will premiere in 2024. THE MARK OF KANE will open to the press on Sunday, October 30 at 3 pm, following previews from October 21 and will play through December 4, 2022.
Top Row: L-R: Josh Zagoren, Todd Wojcik, Adam Bitterman, Annie Hogan.
Second Row L-R: Lee Kanne, David Valenta, Michael Sherwin, Sean Harklerode.
Third Row L-R: Laura Coleman, John Wehrman, Zoe Deprez, Linsey Falls.
Bottom Row L-R: Dakota Pariset, playwright Mark Pracht.
McCabe announced his cast and production team today. Appearing as Bob Kane will be Josh Zagoren, who has credits with Chicago’s Interrobang Theatre, The Factory, and other companies. He has appeared on NBC’s CHICAGO FIRE, CHICAGO MED and is also known as “Chad the Bird” in his podcast “Chad the Birdcast.” Kane’s creative partner Bill Finger will be played by Todd Wojcik, who recently appeared in THE PAVILION and as the “Nasty Interesting Man” in Sarah Ruhl’s EURYDICE, both with The Artistic Home. City Lit veteran Adam Bitterman, who earned raves as “Old Mahon” in City Lit’s THE PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD this past summer, has been cast as Kane and Finger’s fellow DC Comics writer Arnold Drake, creator of Marvel’s GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY. Annie Hogan, who has appeared at City Lit in FORTY-TWO STORIES and earned a Jeff nomination for her role in REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT with The Artistic Home, will play Finger’s wife Portia.
Playing other notable creators of the DC Comics universe are Lee Kanne as Jerry Robinson (co-creator of Robin and the Joker for the Batman comics), David Valenta as Shelly Moldoff (co-creator of Batgirl and Batman super-villains Poison Ivy and Mr. Freeze). Michael Sherwin will play Jim Steranko, best known for writing and drawing NICK FURY, AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D.
Completing the cast are Sean Harklerode (Vin Sullivan/Charles Sinclair), Laura Coleman (Tessie Finger/Augusta Kahn/Lily Uslan), John Wehrman (Louis Finger/Herman Kahn/Jack Liebowitz/William Dozier), Zoe Deprez (Lottie/Gilda Finger/Doris Kahn/Michael Uslan/Veronica), Linsey Falls (Harry Donenfeld/Sam Singer), and Dakota Pariset (Randy/Jerry Bails/Fred Finger). The production team, in addition to McCabe as director, includes Jeff Award nominee G. "Max" Maxin IV (Set/Lighting/Projections Designer), Rachel S. Parent (Costume Designer), and Jeff Award Winner Petter Wahlback (Composer).
Subscriptions for City Lit’s three-show season are available at $75.00, good for all performances, or $58.50 for preview performances. Subscriptions may be ordered online at www.citylit.org. Single tickets for THE MARK OF KANE and other productions in the ‘22-‘23 season are priced at $30 for previews and $34 for regular performances and are on sale now at www.citylit.org . Senior prices are $25 for previews and $29 for regular performances. Students and military are $12.00 for all performances.
HEALTH PRECAUTIONS AT CITY LIT
Everyone at City Lit--casts, crews, and office staff alike--is or will be fully vaccinated by the time performances begin. Patrons will be required to show their vaccination cards and wear masks at all times while in the building. We will also be following CDC ventilation guidelines on a daily basis to ensure a complete exchange of air in the theatre between performances. City Lit will of course comply with the full set of whatever official health guidelines are in place at any time.
LISTING INFORMATION
THE MARK OF KANE
By Mark Pracht
WORLD PREMIERE
Directed by Terry McCabe
October 21 – December 4, 2022
Previews October 21 – 29, 2022
Friday and Saturday at 7:30 pm, Sunday at 3 pm.
Preview ticket prices $30.00, seniors $25, students and military $12.00 (all plus applicable fees)
PRESS OPENING Sunday, October 30, 2022 – 3 pm
Regular run October 30 – December 4, 2022
Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Sundays at 3 pm. Mondays November 21 and 28 at 7:30 pm
Regular run ticket prices $34.00, seniors $29.00, students and military $12.00 (all plus applicable fees)
Performances at City Lit Theatre, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. Chicago 60660 (Inside Edgewater Presbyterian Church)
Info and tickets at www.citylit.org and by phone at 773-293-3682.
In 1939, two young friends huddled in a Bronx apartment and created a legend – the comic book character Batman. One, Bob Kane, goes on to fame and fortune while the other, Bill Finger, languishes in obscurity. THE MARK OF KANE is the first play of "The Four-Color Trilogy," a set of plays Mark Pracht is writing for City Lit that will make their world premieres over the next three seasons and will highlight major turning points in the history of the comic book industry, once a denigrated art form but now at the center of American pop culture.
BIOS
Mark Pracht (Playwright, THE MARK OF KANE) has worked as an actor, director and playwright in Chicago since 2001. He has appeared on stage at City Lit in the title role of PROMETHEUS BOUND, as The Creature in FRANKENSTEIN, and as Milt Shanks in THE COPPERHEAD, among other roles. He was a company member of the Shelterbelt Theatre in Omaha, where he helped develop and produce seven world premiere productions, including his own full-length play, NEON. He is an ensemble member of The Artistic Home, where he won a Jeff Award for Leading Performer in a Play for REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT. Beyond THE MARK OF KANE, his "Four-Color Trilogy" includes THE INNOCENCE OF SEDUCTION, about the 1950s Congressional investigation of horror comics, and THE HOUSE OF IDEAS, about the 1960s rise of Marvel.
Terry McCabe (Producer, Artistic Director, Director) has been City Lit’s artistic director since February 2005 and its producer since July 2016. He has directed plays professionally in Chicago since 1981. He was artistic director of Stormfield Theatre for four years, resident director at Wisdom Bridge Theatre for five years, and worked at Body Politic Theatre three separate times in three different capacities over a span of 14 years. His City Lit adaptations of HOLMES AND WATSON, GIDGET (co-adapted with Marissa McKown), THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, SCOUNDREL TIME, and OPUS 1861 (co-adapted with Elizabeth Margolius) were Jeff-nominated. He won two Jeff Citations for directing at Stormfield and has been thrice nominated for the Jeff Award for Best Director, for shows at Court Theatre, Wisdom Bridge, and Victory Gardens. He has directed at many Chicago theatres either long-gone or still with us, as well as off-Broadway at the Cherry Lane Theatre and at Vienna’s English Theatre. His book MIS-DIRECTING THE PLAY has been denounced at length in American Theatre magazine and from the podium at the national convention of The Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas but has been used in directing courses on three continents and is now available in paperback and Kindle e-book.
ABOUT CITY LIT
For over four decades, City Lit Theater has been dedicated to the vitality and accessibility of the literary imagination. City Lit produces theatrical adaptations of literary material, scripted plays by language-oriented playwrights, and original material. City Lit Theater was founded with $210 pooled by Arnold Aprill (at the time the Body Politic Theatre’s box office manager), David Dillon, and Lorell Wyatt on October 9, 1979, and was incorporated on March 25, 1980. There were still so few theatres in Chicago that at City Lit’s launch event, they were able to read a congratulatory letter they had received from Tennessee Williams.
City Lit is in the historic Edgewater Presbyterian Church building at 1020 West Bryn Mawr Avenue. We are two blocks east of both the Bryn Mawr Red Line stop and the #36 Broadway and the #84 Peterson buses. We are one block west of the #147 Sheridan and #151 Sheridan buses. Divvy bike stations are located at Bryn Mawr & Lakefront Trail, and at Broadway & Ridge at Bryn Mawr. The metered street parking pay boxes on Bryn Mawr have a three-hour maximum duration and are free on Sundays. There are additional details about parking and dining options at www.citylit.org.
City Lit is supported by the MacArthur Funds for Arts and Culture at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Ivanhoe Theater Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council Agency and is sponsored, in part, by A.R.T. League. For more information and to donate, visit www.citylit.org and by phone at 773-293-3682.