AIN'T GOT NO HOME by Steve Feffer at Whole Art December 6, 7, 8, 14 and 15

Reservations are now being accepted for the Whole Art Theatre’s full-production of Steve Feffer’s play AIN’T GOT NO HOME, a new play based on the story of Chicago’s legendary Chess Records. Performances of the play are December 6, 7 and 8 (Thursday, Friday and Saturday) and 14 and 15 (Friday and Saturday) at 8 PM at the Whole Art’s 246 N. Kalamazoo Mall space. Tickets for the Friday and Saturday performances are $10.00.

Opening Night, Thursday, December 6, is a special Blues Bash Benefit for the Whole Art, featuring a performance of the play, followed by drinks and appetizers accompanied by a live blues band. Additionally, Steve will be digging deep into his Chess Records vault to DJ a Rock and Roll, Blues and Soul Dance Party. Tickets for this special evening are $50.00 with all proceeds going to the theatre.

For reservations please call 269-345-7529. Please reserve early as seating is very limited.

AIN’T GOT NO HOME, which received (along with the Whole Art as sponsoring theatre) the 2007 New Jewish Theatre Award from the National Foundation for Jewish Culture, tells the story of Leonard Chess, a Jewish immigrant from Poland who founded the Chess Records label on Chicago’s Southside in 1950, and his relationship with Muddy “Mississippi” Waters, the legendary bluesman from Rolling Fork, Mississippi, with who he made music history. Set between the years 1945 and 1969 the play traces the rise of Leonard Chess, and Chess Records, from out of a Southside liquor store; through his transformation of modern music with artists such as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley; to his battle with his son Marshall over the label’s future in the turbulent 1960s. The play reveals the story of two immigrants, each man attempting to stake a claim in an America where they may not otherwise fit or be accepted, as they negotiate racial and religious perceptions in the 1950s and 1960s, and those that continue to shape the cultural present in our own communities.

The production is directed by Western Michigan University theatre professor Mark Liermann, and features Western Michigan University theatre professor Von Washington as Muddy “Mississippi” Waters.