CPA Theatricals and Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre today announced a co-production of the play with music SENTINELS, which imagines a secret society of women that supports and promotes each other’s talents in the same way secret societies have provided powerful networks for men. The piece authored by Writers Theatre co-founder Marilyn Campbell-Lowe, with music by Kim D. Sherman and lyrics by Campbell-Lowe and Sherman, was commissioned by CPA Theatricals, the non-profit corporation founded by Larry Little in 2002 that is dedicated to the development of new plays and musicals. Little today announced the special limited engagement, which will open Theo’s 2025-26 season in a two-weekend run from August 1 -10, 2025. Theo will announce the remainder of its upcoming season on April 23. Press is invited to review SENTINELS at any of the three performances opening weekend: Friday August 1 and Saturday, August 2 at 7:30 pm, or Sunday, August 3 at 3 pm.
In this play with music, the Sentinels are an all-women secret society of five graduate students at the fictional “Joan of Arc University” in Milwaukee. They have been meeting clandestinely in an abandoned university room since 1945. Over the years, the Sentinels have been secretly assisting Sentinel alumni who are key contributors to such monumental achievements as the NASA moon launch and the development of a polio vaccine. As the play begins, the present-day Sentinels are facing the dissolution of their society due to the impending razing of the building in which they’ve been meeting. Reviewing documents in their archives on what they fear will be their final evening together, they reflect on their society’s history, looking back on events from 1945, 1952, 1967 and 1973. These were years in which women made lasting contributions to scientific advancement but were also turning points in progress for women – moments when they gained greater agency and autonomy and moved closer to full equality with men. In flashbacks to those five years, we see the developing sisterhood among the Sentinels of each era as they experience the societal sea changes of those periods.
The inspirational story of SENTINELS will be enhanced by original musical underscoring. Sherman’s music will evoke the spirit of “ordinary women doing extraordinary things” and will also include an uplifting closing anthem with lyrics co-written by Sherman and Campbell-Lowe. Casting and production team will be announced later.
Performances for the two-weekend run from August 1 -10 will be Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 3 pm. Tickets are $30.00 and will be on sale beginning April 23 at www.theo-u.com.
LISTING INFORMATION
SENTINELS
A new play with music
A co-production of CPA Theatricals (Larry Little, lead producer and Nicholas Reinhart, Assistant Producer) and Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre
Written by Marilyn Campbell-Lowe, Music by Kim D. Sherman, Lyrics by Marilyn Campbell-Lowe and Kim D. Sherman
Story created for the stage by CPA Theatricals
Directed by Christopher Pazdernik
WORLD PREMIERE
August 1 -10, 2025
Performances Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Sundays at 3 pm
Performances at Howard Street Theatre, 721 Howard Street, Evanston
Tickets $30.00, on sale beginning April 23 at www.theo-u.com
We've all heard about the all-male "secret society" at Yale. But, what if there was an all-female secret society that makes its home out of an abandoned dome room at a university in Milwaukee? Since 1945, this group of brilliant, courageous college women have made it their goal to ensure women are at every table where important stuff happens. From their refuge overlooking the campus, they've been involved with such monumental events such as the first Black woman to star at the Met Opera, the election of the first female leader of a Muslim country, and the discovery of polio vaccine. This is their story. The Sentinels.
Marilyn Campbell-Lowe (Author, Co-Lyricist) is a co-founder of both the Writers Theatre-New York and the Writers Theatre in Glencoe. She is also an Original Core Founder of New Classics Collective, (Paul Oakley Stovall, Artistic Director). Her co-adaptation with Curt Columbus of Dostoyevsky’s CRIME AND PUNISHMENT (Joseph Jefferson Award for New Adaptation) has enjoyed over 100 productions across the country and internationally from London, Greece and Hungary to Australia and Indonesia. It has been produced at such distinguished US theaters as Berkeley Rep, Intiman Theater, 59E59th Street Theater, Cleveland Playhouse, Actors Theater of Louisville, Indiana Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse, Baltimore’s Center Stage, Trinity Rep, and numerous productions on the West Coast where in 2009 the play won an L.A. Backstage Garland Award and a nomination from the L.A. Drama Critics Circle for Best New Adaptation. Other plays include THE BEATS (based on the writings of the 1950 beat writers) first produced at Writers Theater in 1997, starring David Cromer and named one of the best productions of the 1997 Chicago theater season by the Chicago Sun-Times. Its revival in 2011 at 16th Street Theater was named one of the best shows of the season by Kelly Kleiman of WBEZ radio. MY OWN STRANGER a co-adaptation with Linda Laundra, based on the writings of Pulitzer Prize winning poet Anne Sexton, was first produced off Broadway in 1981 and won a Villager Downtown Theater Award for “Best Production.”
Kim D. Sherman (Music, Co-Lyricist) composes for the theater, opera, the concert stage, and film. Her music-theater works include LOVE’S COMEDY (a chamber opera based on the play by Henrik Ibsen with libretto by Rick Davis,) and several musicals, among them: HEARTLAND (book and lyrics by Darrah Cloud) O PIONEERS! (book and lyrics by Darrah Cloud) HONOR SONG FOR CRAZY HORSE (book and lyrics by Darrah Cloud) and THE TWO ORPHANS (book by Theresa Rebeck and lyrics by Theresa Rebeck and John Sheehy) On Broadway, she wrote incidental music for Paul Rudnick’s hilarious play I HATE HAMLET. She has written incidental music for many plays in regional theaters throughout the United States. Her many compositions for piano, solo vocalists, choruses, and chamber music can be found at www.kdsherman.com/bio.
Christopher Pazdernik (any, Director) is a Jeff Award winning director and producer who has been active in Chicago theatre since 2007. Described as having “a near encyclopedic knowledge of musicals,” they were recently named to New City Stage’s Players 2024: The Fifty People Who Really Perform for Chicago. In addition to their creative pursuits, Christopher has held staff positions at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Porchlight Music Theatre, Refuge Theatre Project, and most recently, Producing Director at Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre. An openly HIV+ artist, Christopher is also active in AIDS advocacy work, producing the annual benefit concert ‘Belting for Life,’ leading a team at AIDS Run/Walk Chicago, and volunteering on committees with both AIDS Foundation Chicago and Howard Brown Health. He is currently the Managing Director for Season of Concern.
ABOUT CPA THEATRICALS, INC.
Creative Productions and Theatricals is a non-profit corporation, founded by Larry Little in 2002. Our shows have been performed hundreds of times all over the world. A major focus of our shows has been to feature female performers, writers, and characters. Our shows include 57th NATIONAL MATHLETE SUM-IT, which premiered Off Broadway at the New York Musical Festival and was subsequently licensed by Theatrical Rights Worldwide; THE LAND OF FORGOTTEN TOYS, GIRLHOOD, THE MYSTERY OF CUSTODIA; and MILEY CHASE THE SCIENCE ACE, now licensed by Broadway Licensing. Shows in development include THE MOMENT and SENTINELS. The Leadership Team of CPA Theatricals includes Timothy O’Connell (Associate Producer), Julie Bossidy (Associate Producer), Nicholas Reinhart (Assistant Producer), and Sarah Wilkinson (Assistant Producer). Also collaborating in pursuing our mission is LCG Entertainment, LLC.
ABOUT THEO UBIQUE CABARET THEATRE
Theo was founded in 1997 by Artistic Director Fred Anzevino. Productions were first staged at the Heartland Studio Theatre, and from 2004 to May 2018, at No Exit Café, where the company began focusing on musicals and revues, reigniting the cabaret theatre trend in Chicago. The company moved to the Howard Street Theatre, a venue owned and developed for Theo by the City of Evanston, in fall of 2018. Theo has produced more than 60 shows and won 68 Jeff Awards, having received nearly 200 nominations. Learn more at www.theo-u.com.