Strangeloop returns to Fight Night!

Strangeloop is excited to once again be part of Nothing Special Production's Fight Night!

This time we bring you Fight of The Bumblebee, conceived and directed by Strangeloop Company Member Holly Robison and starring company members Maria Burnham, Carrie Campana and Michael Houghton Wagman. Violence is once again designed by Justin Martin Fill.

Fight Night is a one-night, (now in prime-time!) violent cabaret celebrating the art of stage combat through original storytelling and violence design...and this time, it’s MUSICAL!

Fight Night: A Little Fight Music challenges eight Chicago theater companies to each create a 10-minute play combining violence design with musical elements.

The event takes place at 8 p.m. Friday, March 20 at the Mayne Stage in Rogers Park.

In addition to Strangeloop, other companies are: Live Action Theatre, To The Point, Walkabout Theater Company, Wayward Productions, Robert Frosty and Bare Knuckle Productions.

The evening also includes the opening act and house band Realife Dinosaurs.

Tickets are $15 online, and $18 at the door.

Thank you from Strangeloop

Thank you to everyone who made it out to French With Me: A Classic Affaire. We had a lot of fun with all of you and the tubas (if you are wondering what that means, you weren't there and we feel very sad for you).

We'd especially like to thank our event sponsors: Finch's Beer Company, Honey Baby Bakery, 525 Executive Sweets and Cafe Bella.

We'd also like to thank our auction donors: Sarah Satre De Reyes at Salon 833, The Mistress, Second City, MAKA Designs, M Henry, Albina Tritina, Universal Wellness Source, Bollywood Groove, Sweets by Meghan McClure, Good & Honest Natural Soaps, Jaclyn Garland, Your Edible Backyard, The Burlington, Starbucks Coffee, Adriatic Cafe and New England Seafood Company.

And thanks to all our volunteers who helped things run smoothly and all the actors, directors, writers and musicians (We're looking at you, Aces of Basses: William Russell, Aden Beery, Ben Darneille and Chris Smith!) who donated their time to put on such a successful event.

If you missed our fundraising gala, but would still like to donate you can do so through our website,  strangelooptheatre.org. Simply click on the donation button and you'll be able to set up the amount you wish to give. Or you can do it the old-fashioned way by sending us a check to made out to "Strangeloop Theatre, NFP" to 2616 N. Spaulding Ave. #2, Chicago, IL 60647.

*Photos from French With Me: A Classic Affair by Jaclyn Garland

French With Me: French With Me (A Mime Love Story)

Mimes in love from 2014's French With Me: French Quarter. 

An inept, but beautiful mime enlists the help of a briliant and charismatic (but nasally afflicted) Mime Master to help her woo a handsome, intellectual mime with whom she has fallen in love. But the Mime Master has her work cut out for her! Further complicating matters, the Mime Master is secretly in love with the mime she's been taxed with helping woo. How will tale of unrequited love, love at first site and love of mime end?

French With Me (A Mime Love Story in Six Parts) stars Enan Heneghan and Stefanie Johnsen as Mimes 1 and 2 and Jean E. Burr as the Mime Master. The piece was conceived and directed by Strangeloop Company Member Maria Burnham.

The title piece is part of French With Me: A Classic Affaire. The gala event begins at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at the The Charnel House in Logan Square, 3421 W Fullerton Ave., with a reception and silent auction. The performances begin at 8 p.m. with live music from Hollywood's golden age and dessert to follow.

Tickets are $25 and available at the door or in advance at Brown Paper Tickets.

French With Me: Married Bliss

A woman finds herself unable to cheat on her husband even in her dreams — even when the other man is George Clooney. The less-than-satisfactory dream leads to a less-than-satisfactory answer to the real question of "do you think you could be unfaithful?"

Married Bliss stars Strangeloop Associate Company Member Allison McCorkle as Sylvia and Ben Campana as Ryan. The play was written by Jean Koppen and is directed by James Sparling.

The piece is part of French With Me: A Classic Affaire. The gala event begins at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at the The Charnel House in Logan Square, 3421 W Fullerton Ave., with a reception and silent auction. The performances begin at 8 p.m. with live music from Hollywood's golden age and dessert to follow.

Tickets are $25 and available at the door or in advance at Brown Paper Tickets.

French With Me: OK Stupid

OK Stupid, originally staged in 2013, returns to French With Me.

On the advice of her roommate, Maggie reluctantly joins an online dating service and preceeds to go on a series of increasingly bad dates, which culminate with one guy almost dying. But surprising things can come from the shared experience of near death and bad dates.

OK Stupid stars Maggie Gottlieb as Amy, Bobby Hoffman as Patrick, Charlie Madsen as Mark/Ralph and Noah Applebaum as Pete. The play was written by Strangeloop Co-Artistic Director Letitia Guillaud and is directed by Jessica Kent.

The piece is part of French With Me: A Classic Affaire. The gala event begins at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at the The Charnel House in Logan Square, 3421 W Fullerton Ave., with a reception and silent auction. The performances begin at 8 p.m. with live music from Hollywood's golden age and dessert to follow.

Tickets are $25 and available at the door or in advance at Brown Paper Tickets.

French With Me: Purple Girl Faces Reality

Relationships make people forget about friendships all the time. But what if that friendship is the only thing that makes you visible in the real world? Literally. Lenna has one person who can see her and now she's seeing someone else...

Purple Girl Faces Reality stars Kara Charlton as Lenna and Renee Lynn Jackson as Julie. The play was written by Strangeloop Company Member Keith Gatchel and is directed by Dante Charlton.

The piece is part of French With Me: A Classic Affaire. The gala event begins at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at the The Charnel House in Logan Square, 3421 W Fullerton Ave., with a reception and silent auction. The performances begin at 8 p.m. with live music from Hollywood's golden age and dessert to follow.

Tickets are $25 and available at the door or in advance at Brown Paper Tickets.

French With Me: Kitchen Sink Drama

If you think finding true love is hard when you're a healthy, human male walking around on two feet, imagine how hard it is when you're a dirty knife in a sink with a sponge as your matchmaker.

Kitchen Sink Drama stars Max Ryan as Sponge, Ken Miller as Knife and Melanie Kibbler as Fork. The play was written by Seattle-based playwright John C. Davenport and is directed by Kit Ryan.

The piece is part of French With Me: A Classic Affaire. The gala event begins at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at the The Charnel House in Logan Square, 3421 W Fullerton Ave., with a reception and silent auction. The performances begin at 8 p.m. with live music from Hollywood's golden age and dessert to follow.

Tickets are $25 and available at the door or in advance at Brown Paper Tickets.

French With Me: Violent Femmes

A scene from the 2011 production of Violent Femmes.

This week, we'll be previewing the plays that make up French With Me: A Classic Affaire. First up is Violent Femmes.

Some women will go to any length to get a man's attention: buy a sexy new dress, practice their yoga moves in the hallway at work, kidnap the girl he's been dating-dating for a year and strap a bunch of dynamite to the chair she's tied up in...but even that doesn't always work.  Dating in the world of superheroes is never an easy thing. Sometimes all you can do is buy a new tin of boot wax and move on.

Originally staged in 2011, Violent Femmes is one of the "classic" pieces making a return appearance in French With Me this year. It stars Maria Burnham as Exile, Juliana Brecher as Purity Jones, Cristiana Barbatelli as Shining Star and Carrie Campana as Tassel. The play was written by Joe Janes and directed by Chad Wise.

The piece is part of French With Me: A Classic Affaire. The gala event begins at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at the The Charnel House in Logan Square, 3421 W Fullerton Ave., with a reception and silent auction. The performances begin at 8 p.m. with live music from Hollywood's golden age and dessert to follow.

Tickets are $25 and available at the door or in advance at Brown Paper Tickets.