by Ellen Shubart, class of 2006
CAC Docent Catherine Thomson, Class of 2023, and her partner Anita Kallen, will present “HERstory: Trailblazing Female Firsts,” a musical review that salutes “gutsy gals” who defied society’s conventions and went “where no women had gone before.” The performance will be on Sunday, Nov. 12, 6:30 p.m. at Mrs. Murphy & Sons Irish Bistro, 3905 N. Lincoln Avenue.
Thomson met Kallen in the summer of 2010 at a Cabaret Conference at Yale University, where they first wrote and presented an original review. The duo spent 2017 and 2018 as part of quartet celebrating Leonard Bernstein’s 100th birthday, and in 2019, premiered HERstory: The 19th Amendment Turns 100!,” a celebration of women’s right to vote.
In 2022, they launched the second show in the HERstory series, Trailblazing Female Firsts. A third work in the series, A Center of Songwriting Sisters, will open March, 2024.
Thomson has a long list of performance credits, including playing Velma in Hairspray and Penny in Urinetown. Her bio notes her passion for the arts extends beyond the stage. She spent many years as an arts educator and as a docent at the Art Institute of Chicago. More recently she counts leading tours as a CAC docent as her joy.
Information is at: https://www.eventcombo.com/e/Solo-Sunday-Presents-HERstory-Trailblazining-Female-Firsts-by-Anita-Kallen-and-Catherine-Thomson-69011
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