John Kaufmann and Dan Dennis, Writer/Performers of "Starball"

The Ethereal Mutt Limited and the Adler Planetarium will present the return of the
critically acclaimed theatrical production Starball: A Dreamy Musical Astronomy Show on Thursday, April 19, in the Grainger Sky Theater at the Adler Planetarium, 1300 S. Lake Shore Drive. The show is part of the museum’s monthly evening event, Adler After Dark, and will be performed at 7:00 and 9:00 p.m.

Specifically designed for planetarium performance, Starball combines theater, improv, original music, cosmological inquiry, and an exploration of human consciousness into an entertaining performance that challenges audiences to deepen their understanding of the universe and its inhabitants, and reawaken their wonder for the sky.

Written and performed by veteran performers John Kaufmann and Dan Dennis, and directed by Rachel Katz Carey, Starball invites audience members of all backgrounds to forge a visceral connection to the night sky using their own dreams as the vehicle for their journey.

Read Chicago media previews of this upcoming, and out-of-this world theater experience:
Chicago on the Aisle

Examiner.com

WBEZ 91.5 FM ”Space Jam” story on “848″ program

Chicago Tribune

Gaper’s Block

Keep an eye out for the Starball Boys to orbit back to Chicago in the near future.

"Chesapeake" actor Greg Matthew Anderson photo by Johnny Knight

Remy Bumppo Theatre Company closes its 2012/13 season during the midterm elections with the political and playful one-man show Chesapeake by Lee Blessing. The production stars Remy Bumppo Artistic Associate Greg Matthew Anderson as performance artist, politician and pooch.  Check out reviews from this critically-acclaimed and Jeff Award nominated play:

CBS TV review by Chris Jones
Chicago Tribune – 3 stars

Kick Start Marketing Chicago will present a free one-hour workshop on Collaboration during the Creative Chicago Expo. All workshops take place at the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington Street. 

Workshops on Friday, March 23, target the needs of organizations and established creative businesses. Workshops on Saturday, March 24. workshops target the needs of individual creatives and start-ups.

Missed the workshop?  All workshops will be audio recorded and available on www.chicagoartistsresource.org.

FRIDAY, MARCH 23

12:00pm – 1:00pm

Keys to Collaboration
Lara Goetsch (TimeLine Theatre Company) and Stephanie Kulke (Kick Start Marketing Chicago).
How can you maximize publicity and marketing with limited resources? Dynamic industry leaders explore how collaborative marketing efforts can yield bigger audiences with no increase to the budget.  Learn key elements of a winning collaboration via case studies from Fugard Chicago 2010 and Evanston 150.
Claudia Cassidy Theater

Skokie Village officials and First Bank & Trust CEO Robert Yohanan celebrate the grand opening of the 4007 Dempster branch.

First Bank & Trust officers and staff hosted a ribbon-cutting and grand opening reception for over 200 business leaders and bank customers on Dec. 6th at the bank’s newest branch office at 4007 Dempster Street in Skokie. The 3,600 square foot branch was designed to meet the requirements of a LEED® gold-certification as established by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and verified by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI). Amidst an economic environment that has seen an increase in banks closed by regulators, and a decrease in new bank openings in the Chicago area, First Bank & Trust has opened eight branch locations in 16 years.

Designed by Behles+Behles architects of Evanston, the building which includes geothermal heating, a live roof and 100% LED lighting, is believed to be the first bank in the region designed and built to achieve LEED® gold-certification.

Read press coverage highlights on the new branch:

Evanston Review

Opening Day: Money isn’t all that’s green

Skokie bank office on the cutting edge of green

New bank in Skokie keeps environment a priority

TribLocal

The green branch of First Bank & Trust to open soon

First Bank & Trust celebrates grand opening of eco-friendly branch

Grand Opening photo gallery

Skokie welcomes green bank

Evanston RoundTable

In Green Building, What’s Old is What’s New

First Bank & Trust Goes Green in Skokie

Evanston Now

First Bank opens green office in Skokie

First Bank & Trust building branch in Skokie

Jewish Business News

Skokie bank breaks ground on green branch

India Post

First green facility by First Bank & Trust

India Tribune

First Bank & Trust celebrates grand opening of eco-friendly Skokie branch

Daily Northwestern

Green bank nears completion

Evanston architect breaks ground on Skokie bank; aims for LEED gold-certification

Piccolo Theatre and MIC present Evanston150's Final 10 Ideas. Photo by Karen Kring

Kick Start Marketing Chicago provided marketing planning, project management and media relations services for Evanston150, a community-wide grassroots initiative to identify and create 10 visionary projects to celebrate Evanston’s 150th anniversary in 2013. The final 10 ideas, from a total 2,201 submitted by community members, were unveiled November 10, 2011 at the Black Tie & Blue Jean Party held at the Levy Center. Over 300 residents joined Northwestern University theater professor Rives Collins, the Natural Trumpet Ensemble of the Music Institute of Chicago, Piccolo Theatre actors and community leader presenters to celebrate the unveiling and get to work on implementing the ideas.

Read media coverage of the Nov. 10 celebration:

The Evanston Review / Chicago Sun-Times

Evanston150 makes no small plans

Citizens Get to Work on 10 Ambitious Ideas

TribLocal / Chicago Tribune

Time for Work: Evanston150 unveils final 10 ideas

Evanston Now

Party lets big idea fans get to work

Evanston150 unveils top 10 ideas

The Daily Northwestern

Evanston150 unveils top 10 ideas for city’s future

Evanston150 reveals selection jury members

I was reviewing some ad copy with a client this week.  It was a wall of text.  The ad included a comprehensive list of  services offered including details in the fine print.  What are the most popular services?  Those that bring new customers in and keep them coming back?  An analogy sprang to mind: Why advertise the full menu, when folks really come for the hamburgers and fries?  An effective ad tells your target customer, they can get what they want most here.  Once they are inside, they can contemplate the rest of the menu.

Timothy Douglas photo by Kimberly Aileen Scott

Timothy Douglas officially took the reigns July 1, 2011 as Remy Bumppo Theatre Company’s new artistic director. Mr. Douglas, age 49, has built a career as a stage director, actor and educator, proving his versatility as both an acclaimed interpreter of the classics and contemporary drama. Mr. Douglas counts among his credits the world premiere of August Wilson’s Radio Golf for Yale Rep, his critically acclaimed Caribbean-inspired Much Ado About Nothing for the Folger Shakespeare Theatre, and the premiere of a new translation/adaptation of Ibsen’s Rosmersholm off-Broadway. He worked in the Chicago area from 1989 – 1991, before going on to serve as a resident director at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles from 1994 – 1997, and associate artistic director at Actor’s Theatre of Louisville from 2001 – 2004. He has been a company member with Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Mass. since 1986.  With this appointment Douglas becomes first African American Artistic Director in Chicago to helm an Equity theater dedicated to modern classics.

His first creative project with the company was a July 3rd concert reading of the Declaration of Independence in collaboration with the Grant Park Music Festival.  See event photos on the Remy Bumppo website. Over 100 Chicago theater and cultural leaders participated in the reading including Peter Sagal, host of NPR’s “Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell me,” Golden Globe-winning Actress Regina Taylor, Goodman Theatre Associate Artistic Director Henry Godinez, Court Theatre Associate Artistic Director Ron OJ Parsons, Lookingglass Theatre Artistic Director Andrew White, Chicago Public Radio’s “848” Dueling Critic Kelly Kleiman, Victory Gardens Theater Executive Director Jan Kallish, and Christopher Piatt host of “The Paper Machete Show.”

Read Timothy’s appointment announcement in the Chicago Tribune,  Chicago Sun-Times and in PerformInk.  Hear a podcast interview with Timothy Theater in Chicago.

First Bank & Trust Director Jay Lytle addresses groundbreaking crowd

First Bank & Trust broke ground May 9, 2011 for the construction of a 3,600 square-foot LEED® certified branch office at 4007 Dempster in Skokie. LEED is an acronym for Leadership for Energy and Environmental Design. Designed by Evanston architectural firm Behles+Behles, the cutting-edge facility will be among the first financial institutions in the Midwest designed to achieve the rigorous requirements of a LEED® gold-certification as established by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and verified by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI).

For media coverage on the event see the links below:

TribLocal

Sun-Times

Jewish Business News Chicago

Evanston Roundtable

Evanston Now

Daily Northwestern

The Chicago Reporter is an award-winning investigative news magazine that covers issues of race, poverty and immigration in Illinois.  The not-for-profit news source is part of the larger 501(c)3 entity The Community Renewal Society.  The staff’s expertise hunting down and analyzing data which can then be used by lawmakers, educators, non-profit leaders and the media, has brought to light systemic problems and led to major reforms in city, state and national legislation.

Here is the video brochure Kick Start Marketing Chicago and Stagechannel created for The Chicago Reporter – which was a component in a larger subscription marketing plan, to inform the public of its mission and impact.

Evanston150 is a community-wide initiative that engages all of us in imagining our future, resulting in 10 visionary ideas to celebrate Evanston's 150th anniversary in 2013.

Approximately 700 Evanston community members and leaders attended the March 26 Evanston150 Community Kick Off Rally at the Levy Center, and another 130 community leaders and members of the media attended the Kick Off breakfast briefing on March 22 at the Hilton Garden Inn.  Kick Start Marketing Chicago provided project direction for marketing and media relations for this unique grassroots community-wide initiative.  You can visit the evanston150.org for more info, or read highlighted media coverage below.

Read the Chicago Tribune March 25 Evanston150 Kick Off story.

Read the March 26 Chicago Sun-Times / Evanston Review Kick Off feature.

Read the Daily Northwestern Evanston150 Preview feature.

Read the March 29 Evanston Now Community Rally feature.

Read the Evanston RoundTable March 28 Community Rally feature.

Read the Evanston Patch March 27 Community  Rally feature.

Read the March 22 Evanston Now Kick Off Breakfast feature.