John Ostrander’s ‘Bloody Bess’ Retakes The Stage
Way back in the dark ages, Stuart Gordon directed a play for his Organic Theater written by ComicMix’s own John Ostrander and our pal William J. Norris called Bloody Bess. It starred Dennis Franz, Joe Mantegna and Meshach Taylor along with writer Norris – writer Ostrander was pressed into service once when he wasn’t performing at the Goodman Theater with Del Close. The play was about this lady pirate’s revenge on her kidnappers and had lots of swashbuckling and mystery and terror. I saw it only about nine times.
It toured all over the world, but eventually, like all stage plays, it faded. And like all good stage plays, Bloody Bess is making its triumphant return.
Between June 13 and July 20, Chicago’s BackStage Theater Company will be presenting Bloody Bess at The Storefront Theatre Gallery 37, 66 East Randolph Street, downtown near Lake Mighigan. It stars Eva Swan, Ron Kuzava and Scott Graham. They work on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm and on Sundays at 3 pm.
Hmmm… This will be going on during Wizard World Chicago. If you’re around, check it out.
I think when it is all done, we’re are going to call this season Catch Up Summer. It seems that every time we sit down, it’s a race just get caught up to where we should be starting! Here’s our notes from this week’s Big ComicMix Broadcasts, some items dating back to our visit to Wizard World Chicago last weekend:
The Big ComicMix Broadcast winds up Wizard World Chicago with a roll of the dice and an in-depth look at the many sides of the new gaming product previewed here at the show – from the new 24 game based on the TV show to a peek at the 40th Annual GenCon starting up ion just a few days. And did you know there is a red hot new pro wrestling organization that is on TV and toy shelves but isn’t spelled W-W-E? Then it’s a a quick shot from the Planet of the Apes guy from the day when he used to travel with a different bunch.
Today the Big ComicMix Broadcast is at Wizard World Chicago, where the US Post Office kicked off the way by unveiling the Marvel Stamp Collection, plus the debut of the Ultimate Spider-Man Project from the Hero Initiative which was unleashed here as well. DC dropped a few news bombs which we cover and then there’s a new Venom series to talk about from Marvel and so much more.
The ComicMix staff has landed at Wizard World Chicago just in time for tonite’s exclusive Preview Party. But even before the doors open, Wizard World Director of Communications Drew Seldin (on the left; I’m the other guy) gives a sneak peek of the weekend. Plus The Big ComicMix Broadcast showcases a new "relationship comic" that you can see on line right now, and gives you a quick trip back to when a west coast band made noise by covering The Monkees!
