April 7, 2018 Event Details

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“Fools for Love: A Dramatic & Musical Tribute to Sam Shepard” Marks His Masterpiece’s 35th Anniversary, Combats ALS

GLENVIEW, IL—On Saturday, April 7, 2018, (7:30 PM Doors, 8:00 PM Show) at Rock House, in memory of Sam Shepard (born just up the road in Fort Sheridan), Chicago actors Megan Corse and Paul McComas tackle the acclaimed playwright/actor’s alternately funny and fiery one-act, Fool For Love, which debuted 35 years ago this month. Suggested donation of $5 or more for the all-ages show (12-and-up suggested) at the North Shore’s hippest live-music cafe benefits the Les Turner ALS Foundation in combating Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (aka Lou Gehrig’s Disease), which ended Shepard’s life last July.

Opening for the duo’s propulsive 40-minute adaptation of the challenging dark-comic drama (Pulitzer Finalist; 1983 Obie winner for Best New American Play) are two acts:

Musical performance by Corse (vocal; rhythm guitar), McComas (bass; vocal), Phil Circle (guitar; vocal) and Peter Van Eck (drums) of the haunting Western songs Shepard’s sister Sandy Rogers wrote for the film version of Fool for Love
Reading by writer Heather McComas from Shepard’s stirring final work

Per Shepard, his play “is to be performed relentlessly without a break.” As star-crossed lovers “May and Eddie,” Corse and McComas comply, taking the audience on a heartfelt, evocative and bumpy ride.

Says McComas: “With his sister’s gracious blessing, her kind permission to perform her peerless cowgirl songs and the chance to combat ALS, how could we not do this show?”

“It’s unjust that so many lives are shortened by this horrendous disease,” says Les Turner ALS Foundation CEO Andrea Pauls Blackman. “We’re honored to be a part of this production that pays tribute to Sam Shepard’s valiant fight against ALS.”

For two years, Corse and McComas have mounted two-person dramatic and musical shows ranging from an original Shakespeare revue to A.R. Gurney’s Love Letters in cabarets, cafes, retirement homes and music venues, and for inmates studying theatre.

Join five area performers in honoring one of Chicagoland’s favorite sons, and one of the towering artists of our time, by supporting a heroic organization—and a vital cause.

Megan Corse is an on-camera and stage actor with award-winning independent film and TV-series credits. Paul McComas is a two-time Chicago Reader Critic’s Choice recipient in Theater, an award-winning author/filmmaker and a CAUDog Records recording artist. Phil Circle is a critically acclaimed singer-songwriter-guitarist and author: “a staple of Chicago music.” – CenterStage. Peter Van Eck has drummed for McComas’ Unplugged suicide-prevention show. Heather McComas won 2014’s Univ. of Chicago Graham School Writing Prize and a Pam Houston Scholarship.