"Dear Jack, Dear Louise" at the Black Box Theatre -- February 14 through March 1.
Friday, February 14, through Saturday, March 1
Black Box Theatre, 1623 Fifth Avenue, Moline IL
Hailed by Chicago Theatre Review as "a not-to-be-missed production" that "will take audiences out of their own troubles and concerns and focus on a heartwarming, personal history," Ken Ludwig's Dear Jack, Dear Louise makes its Valentine's Weekend area debut at Moline's Black Box Theatre. The show's February 14 through March 1 run is sure to demonstrate why, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, this "warm, gently comedic" tale "will "have you rooting for both the Army medic and the aspiring showgirl of the title."
In this intimate work by the Tony Award nominee and two-time Olivier Award-winning playwright, Ludwig tells the joyous, heartwarming story of his parents’ courtship during World War II, and the results are anything but expected. The 2020 Helen Hayes Award Winner for Best New Play, Dear Jack, Dear Louise finds two strangers meeting by shared correspondence during World War II, when a love story officially begins. U.S. Army Captain Jack Ludwig, a military doctor stationed in Oregon, begins writing to Louise Rabiner, an aspiring actress and dancer in New York City, hoping to meet her someday if the war will allow. But as the war continues, it threatens to end their relationship before it even starts.
Lora Adams, the Black Box Theatre's artistic director and co-founder, said of Dear Jack, Dear Louise's area debut, “I think it’s appropriate to open the show on Valentines Day, as it is a heartfelt, funny, and sometimes sad look back at World War II. We typically think of this time as big, but it is these small, earnest moments that truly define the sacrifice these families made.”
Making her directorial debut for the Black Box with Dear Jack, Dear Louise is frequent area actor Elizabeth Melville, whose recent performances have included roles in the Playcrafters Barn Theatre's Sense & Sensibility and Rabbit Hole and the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre's Exit Laughing and Silent Sky. With Lora Adams serving as set and costume designer, Jennifer Kingry created the show's lighting design, while Reader theatre reviewer Alexander Richardson designed its sound.
Portraying the roles of Jack and Louise, meanwhile, are two fellow veterans of Moline theatres: Zach Zelnio (Quad City Music Guild's Fiddler on the Roof, the Spotlight Theatre's Puffs) and Kassidy Holdridge (Playcrafters' Little Women and Harvey).
Dear Jack, Dear Louise runs in Moline from February 14 through March 1, with performances Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m., and an added Thursday performance on February 27 at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $18, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)284-2350 and visiting TheBlackBoxTheatre.com.
