The University of Iowa’s Hancher will present Lucky Plush Productions' The Queue at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday, Sept. 17-18, in Space Place Theater in North Hall on the University of Iowa campus.
Founded in 1999 by artistic director Julia Rhoads, the Chicago-based company has toured worldwide presenting more than 30 original works. The company’s work is known for its complex choreography, broad accessibility, surprising humor, and clever commentary on contemporary culture. Hancher presented the company performing Punk Yankees in a sold-out performance in 2012.
Tickets, which are $35 for nonstudents, $10 for college students and youth, and $31 for senior citizens, are available from the Hancher Box Office, located on the first floor of the south end of the Old Capitol Mall near the parking ramp.
The box office is open for phone (319-335-1160 or 800-HANCHER) or walk-up business from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays. Tickets may be ordered online at hancher.uiowa.edu. Any remaining tickets will be available for sale one hour before show time at Space Place Theater.
Some of Lucky Plush Productions’ honors include being named to The Boston Globe's list of "10 Best Dance Performances of 2013" and Time Out Chicago's list of "The Decade's 10 Best Original Dance Works."
The ensemble’s members—who hail from around the globe—are experienced and integrated in the world of dance and theater with wide and varied credits. Member of the company Cassandra Porter appeared on the CW network TV show The Pussycat Dolls Presents: Girlicious. Two other members, Michel Rodriguez Cintra and Benjamin Wardell, were featured among Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch in 2014,” and the company’s newest member, Daniel Gibson, has performed on The Oprah Winfrey Show and with pop icon Kanye West.
The musical duo the Claudettes provide energetic live music for The Queue. Pianist Johnny Iguana and drummer Michael Caskey fuse blues and soul-jazz to create a unique. Iguana has played on Grammy-nominated albums while Caskey is a Downbeat magazine award winner. Both have toured internationally, individually and as a duo. The Claudettes will perform a free Club Hancher at the Mill concert at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16 (see related story).
Lucky Plush Productions will have a four-day residency in Iowa City, working with UI classes in departments including dance, theatre, arts management, rhetoric, and gender, women’s, and sexuality studies. They will also work with two Iowa City Community School District schools.
Lucky Plush Productions’ performances and residency are supported by the Hancher Partners and gifts to the Hancher Circle through the University of Iowa Foundation. The residency and performances are also supported by the Arts Midwest Touring Fund, a program of Arts Midwest that is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional contributions from Iowa Arts Council and General Mills Foundation. Additional funds provided by the F. Wendell Miller Fund.
Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact the Hancher Box Office in advance at 319-335-1158.