IN THE NEWS

The Towle brings theater to East Chicago schools
The Times, October 21, 2011
Last year, Towle Theater in Hammond partnered with Block Middle School and Communities in Schools in East Chicago to bring theater to a school with no actual theater program.

Led by mentors from Towle Theater, the program worked with 10 to 15 students in the after-school tutoring program to provide a creative outlet for young people interested in the performing arts. The students had an opportunity to play theater games with mentors, participate in script readings and even performed choreographed numbers from Broadway musicals at a special performance at the Towle Theater in May.

Upcoming theater season highlights Hitchcock, 'Brooklyn' and 'Iowa'
By Philip Potempa, The Times, September 2, 2011
When announcing the new season for Towle Theater, managing director Jeff Casey decided to include a surprise.

"One of our shows for 2012 is so new and fresh from New York, there are still licensing deals being made, so officially, we couldn't even share it with our subscribers in mailings," Casey said. "We decided we would just make this a surprise as part of our marketing."

Towle's latest production a world of 'Wonder'
By Tim Shellberg, The Times, September 2, 2011
If area theatergoers are initially confounded by what they see onstage in Hammond's Towle Theatre's production of the comedy "Wonder of the World" director Sally Selwan will have done her job successfully.

"I believe that people come out of the play thinking 'What was that?'" she said. "I don't think that most people have seen a play quite like this one. I think it's a unique piece.

'Good Boys and True' a must-see production
By Carol Moore, The Times, May 13, 2011
As "Good Boys and True," the new production at the Towle Theater, opens, a personable student leads a tour around the campus of Joseph's School for Boys, an exclusive prep school.

Inside this idyllic setting, a coach, Russell Shea (John Tebbens) has summoned Elizabeth Hardy (Suzanne Nyhan), a busy doctor, because a disturbing video has been found of a girl and a boy, and the boy resembles her son, Brandon (Eric Casady). Of course, when confronted, Brandon denies that it's him on the tape.

Towle bringing 'Boys' home; Show heads to Chicago's Theatre Wit next month
By Tim Shellberg, The Times, May 6, 2011
If pressed to describe the acclaimed drama "Good Boys and True" in five words, "teenager embroiled in videotape brouhaha" could arguably be apt. But to Jeff Casey, co–director of Hammond's Towle Theater's production, the above description merely grazes the surface.

"It's dealing with a lot of different social levels and social issues," he said. It's all of those underlying questions that the audience leaves with that makes it a powerful piece."

'Ruthless' looks behind the scenes
By Tim Shellberg, The Times, February 25, 2011
Keeping a straight face during rehearsals for Towle Theater's musical comedy "Ruthless" has been a struggle for director Jeff Casey.

"There are few shows that I can say that I've ever worked on in my lifetime where I can say that I've laughed during every single rehearsal, and this is one of those shows," he said. "I giggle the whole time. It's hilarious."

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