Thompson Street Opera Company kicks off 2026 with the world premiere of OFF-NIGHTS AT THE SOMETIMES CAFÉ, a joyful queer cabaret work by non-binary composer Dave Walther. This campy parody of a noir mystery will be performed March 19-22 on the Beatrice Stage of the Bramble Arts Loft, with a cast of singing actors, actor-musicians, and professional drag performers.
Instead of following a detective solving a crime, the “hard-boiled” narrator of Off-Nights is a cabaret pianist, taking the audience through the murky paths of desire and attraction that draw the characters towards (or away from) each other, resolving just in time for the final bow. In the role of the Narrator is Chicago stalwart and Jeff Award winner Kingsley Day, accompanying the cast live at the piano each night. The married couple who manage the titular café will be played by local favorites Katherine Petersen and Brian Pember, just weeks after appearing onstage with Chicago Opera Theater in the ensemble of DER SILBERSEE. Playing a dubiously qualified psychic is mezzo-soprano Jade Dashá, fresh from understudying in KATIE: THE STRONGEST OF THE STRONG with Lyric Opera Unlimited. Baritone Alexander Quackenbush returns to the TSOC stage as Drew, a new cafe patron who catches nearly everyone’s eye.
While TSOC has performed a great many works by, for, and about the queer community, SOMETIMES CAFÉ marks the first official collaboration with local drag performers. Queens Delta Badhand and Kimberly Summers and kings Mx. O’Lydianand Wes Andy Sims will be featured in the drag roles of Ms. Daffodil & Joe, alternating performances during the run. Jordan Ricks acts as choreographer.
After proving their gay theater bonafides with Theo Ubique’s THELMA LOUISE; DYKE REMIX, TSOC Artistic Director Claire DiVizio returns to stage direct this poignantly unserious celebration of queer joy and desire.
LISTING INFORMATION
OFF NIGHTS AT THE SOMETIMES CAFE
Music & lyrics by Dave Walther
Stage Direction by Claire DiVizio
Bramble Arts Loft, Beatrice Stage
5545 N Clark St, 2nd Floor
Thurs 3/19, 8pm, Fri 3/20, 8pm,
Sat 3/21, 2pm* and 8pM
Sun 3/22, 3pm
*3/21 matinee features understudy cast
70 minutes, no intermission
Tickets: $40 cabaret table seats (limited);
Pay-as-you-can general admission
www.thompsonstreetopera.org/events or at the door
The Bramble is physically accessible including an elevator, ADA-certified bathroom, and flexible seating.
OFF NIGHTS AT THE SOMETIME CAFÉ is a campy parody of a noir mystery that follows a cafe pianist in lieu of a detective. As this narrator plays his way through the show, he guides the audience through the tangled web of attraction, seduction, and general silliness that occurs when a bunch of attractive queer people end up in the same place. Dave Walther’s Off-Nights at the Sometimes Café is a delightful, poignantly unserious celebration of queer joy and desire.
BIOS
Claire DiVizio (Artistic Director, Stage Director, they/them) is a multi-disciplinary artist, administrator, and educator whose body of work includes stage direction, theatrical design, performance, poetry and prose, visual art, and music composition, along with administrative leadership and arts education. Claire founded Thompson Street Opera Company with the desire to create a space where singers, composers, and production personnel could take risks on truly new operas in a safe, supportive, joyful environment. Using their background as a classically trained singer, Claire approaches productions with a respect for the skills and needs of performers, and encourages all artists to take ownership of the act of creation. Claire has been on the faculty of Northeastern Illinois University’s School of Music since 2022, directing their opera workshop program and teaching both classes and private students in the Voice area.
Dave Walther (ze/zim/zis) is a gay, non-binary composer, performer, artist, and activist based in the Boston area. Zis work for the stage and screen includes musicals, opera, ballet, puppetry, and musical films, and often highlights queer stories. Walther's CRAZY DINOSAURS, a stop-motion animation film with original music, received a full-page feature in Advocate Magazine, and zis video musical PHONE SEX became locally infamous in Boston after the original prime-time broadcast was censored and moved to an overnight timeslot. Other stage work includes THE SWALLOW AND THE PRINCE (opera), BIG EDDY (musical theater), GAYNOCCHIO (ballet/musical parody), and several musicals for young audiences including ALICE, PETER CROCODILE, REIGNING CATS AND DOGS, and WHINNIE-THE-POOH.
ABOUT THOMPSON STREET OPERA COMPANY
Thompson Street Opera Company (TSOC) is a Chicago-based, queer-led storefront company dedicated to intimate productions of new works by living composers. Both inside and outside the theater, the company is focused on transforming the culture of opera to be more inclusive, equitable, and relevant, and on building a community with art. TSOC received an honorable mention in Chicago Classical Review's "Best of 2019", their pandemic-era film production of GHOST VARIATIONS (Manfredonia/Feldkamp) was featured in the Chicago Tribune, and artist alumni have gone on to perform with Chicago Opera Theater, Lyric Opera, and theaters around the country.