March 08--On Tuesday, Harmony France and Danni Smith, who will serve as co-artistic directors, announced the launch of Firebrand Theatre, a new Chicago-based musical theater company dedicated to gender parity.
"Danni and I have been doing this 10 to 15 years in Chicago and we've both had a decent amount of success but there's room to grow in this community," said France on Tuesday. "We want to do inclusive casting, not only representing equality with women and men but with different races. We want to be a part of the solution and not just a cog in the machine."
Firebrand will focus on employing women in all areas of artistic production, on stage and behind the scenes. France and Smith, currently in talks with Actors' Equity Association, plan to grow the number of Equity guest contracts offered each year. The itinerant company's first production is slated for March 2017, to be performed at an rented space, with a full season announcement coming this summer.
France and Smith plan to produce a wide-range of musicals in their first season of programming. "We're looking forward to re-interpreting existing works ... where women aren't just the afterthought but actually the hero," said France. The company also plans to commission new works, adding women-focused productions to the musical theater canon.
France added, "We know it's going to take a lot of diligence on our end to stick to our mission."
The company plans to focus on fundraising efforts over the coming year, combining crowd-sourcing with experiential events. Programming will include a gender-bender concert series, with female performers taking on traditional musical theater shows and the work of popular musicians.
A launch party is planned for March 27 at Underground Lounge, 952 W. Newport Ave., featuring performances by Rashada Dawan, Bethany Thomas, Steven Perkins, Danni Smith, Missy Aguilar, Sydney Charles, Jasondra Johnson, Lili-Anne Brown, Amanda Horvath, Angela Alise, Christina Hall, Khaki Pixley, Annie Passanisi Ruggles and Melissa Young.
