The House of Blue Leaves presented by ICC Theatre

Written by John Guare, The House of Blue Leaves takes place in 1965 on a day when the Pope visits the home borough of a middle-aged zookeeper. The show portrays events that take place in the main character’s family on this day, which turns out to be an explosive combination of a lifetime of dreams and realities.

The show takes place September 23-25 and September 30-October 2. Performances on Fridays and Saturdays begin at 7:30 pm and Sunday matinees begin at 2:30 pm.

The lead character in The House of Blue Leaves, Artie Shaughnessy, is a songwriter with visions of glory. He toils by day as a zookeeper and suffers in seedy lounges by night, plying his wares at piano bars in Queens, N.Y., where he lives with his wife. On the day the Pope is making his first visit to the city, Artie's son goes AWOL from Fort Dix, stowing a homemade bomb intended to blow up the Pope in Yankee Stadium. Mix in a mistress along with a visiting school-chum-turned-successful-Hollywood-producer with his starlet girlfriend in tow, the protagonist’s promise of glory evaporates amid the chaos of ordinary lives.

Cast members in The House of Blue Leaves, their roles and their hometowns include: Austin Shaw of Washington as Artie Shaughnessy; Andrew Gray of Washington as Ronnie Shaughnessy; Vanessa Hesh of Pekin as Bunny Flingus; Gillian Strachan of East Peoria as Bananas Shaughnessy; Amilia Dierks of Morton as Corrinna Stroller; Brit Pearl of Hannah City as Head Nun; Daisy Breitbarth of Metamora as Second Nun; Cass Bermijo of Green Bay, Wisc., as Little Nun; Alek President of Rushville as M.P.; Nate Elder of Dunlap as The White Man; and Francis Drew of Peoria as Billy Einhorn.

The ICC production is directed by Doug Rosson. The show is rated PG-13 for adult themes and is produced by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.