Free Readers Ensemble

08/11/2025

It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I share the news that Jerry Bloom has died.

I've known Jerry since the early 80s. He was such an outstanding actor and playwright. His voice could be heard in so many radio and TV commercials over the decades. I was always so thrilled to hear it.

Jerry was a member of the Free Readers Ensemble in Oak Park since 2006. He often attended our readings. Then we started asking him to perform with us occasionally and finally invited him to become a part of our FRE family. He was a wonderful addition. Twice we performed a marvelous swashbuckler play he wrote called "Swordplay."

The world has lost someone special. Jerry was such a kind, generous and gracious person. He was a true Mench. Farewell, dearest Jerry. We shall miss having you perform with us. But I know you will continue to watch us from your new realm while sipping a cup of tea. May your memory be for a blessing. 💔

Internment is Wednesday 8/13 at 1 PM at Waldheim Cemetery, 1400 N Des Plaines Ave, Forest Park
Enter at Gate 37

Immediately following there will be Shiva and a luncheon at West Suburban Temple Har Zion, 1040 Harlem, River Forest

06/02/2025

And that's a wrap for season 31. Thank you all so much for your continued support. We love performing for you. Have a wonderful summer. See you in October for our 2025-26 (32nd)! season!

05/29/2025

Join us this Sunday, June 1st, at 3:00 pm for our final show of the season - "Pygmalion" by George Bernard Shaw! Featuring Larry Baldacci, Paulette Cary, Ray Cunha, Larry Dahlke, Barbara Eulenberg, Randall Hoole, Kit O'Kelly, Stephanie Samuel and, guest artist, Megan Brennan.

05/19/2025

Join us for the final show of the season - Sunday, June 1st at 3:00 pm!

“Pygmalion” by George Bernard Shaw, Coordinated by Randall Hoole – Sunday, June 1 at 3:00 pm
“Pygmalion” was first performed in England in 1914. The play is a humane comedy about love and the English class system. Henry Higgins, a phonetician, accepts a bet that simply by changing the speech of a Cockney flower seller he will be able, in six months, to pass her off as a duchess. Eliza undergoes grueling training. When she successfully “passes” in high society, Higgins dismisses her abruptly as a successfully completed experiment. Eliza, who now belongs neither to the upper class, nor to the lower class, rejects his dehumanizing attitude. The play became famous as the beloved stage musical “My Fair Lady” (1956), with a musical score by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe. A 1964 film version of the musical starred Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn.

04/11/2025

Join us this Sunday, April 13 at 3:00 pm

04/05/2025

Next up - "Earth and Sky" by Chicago playwright Douglas Post. Sunday April 13 at 3:00 pm

“Earth and Sky” by Douglas Post, Coordinated by Larry Dahlke – Sunday, April 13 at 3:00 pm
A poetic thriller about a would-be poet and part-time librarian, named Sara McKeon, whose lover of ten weeks, David Ames, is found dead one hot August morning in the City of Chicago. It appears that David, owner and manager of an expensive art-deco restaurant, may have been involved in several illicit activities. Unable to believe that the man to whom she gave her heart was a killer, and outraged that the police seem to have closed the book on the case, Sara begins her own investigation of the crime and is led deeper and deeper through the urban labyrinth into the contemporary underworld.

03/16/2025

Today's the day of the show, y'all! Join us at 3pm!

03/08/2025

Join us on Sunday, March 16 at 3:00 pm - featuring Ensemble Members: Ray Cunha, Keith Davis, Larry Dahlke, David Krajecki, Kit O'Kelly and
guest actor Desmond Murphy

“A Thousand Clowns” by Herb Gardner, Coordinated by Larry Baldacci – Sunday, March 16 at 3:00 pm
The play tells the story of Murray Burns, a cheerful eccentric raising his nephew, a twelve-year-old genius, in New York City. Murray believes in living life fully, even if that means going to the movies instead of looking for a job. When social workers from the Bureau of Child Welfare come to investigate, he must decide whether to accept some level of conformity in order to show himself a fit guardian. The play is episodic and funny, as Murray meets all challenges to his lifestyle with irreverent humor.

03/07/2025

Next up: A Thousand Clowns by Herb Gardner. Join us on Sunday March 16 at 3:00 pm.

02/16/2025

The weather is perfect for seeing a great play. Join us at 3pm today! Coordinated by Paulette Cary and featuring Raymon Cunha and Thad Anzur

02/11/2025

RED
by John Logan

Featuring ensemble members Ray Cunha and Thad Anzur, coordinated by ensemble member Paulette Cary.

Sunday, February16th 3:00pm

As mid-century expressionist artist Mark Rothco and his assistant Ken paint, they challenge each other to ask big questions about life and art... what it takes to create and what its role should be in the world. Set in the 1950s and based on a series of real events, the play takes a compelling look at the ever-changing relationship between an artist and his...art
~ RED

The 19th Century Charitable Assoc.
1st floor
178 Forest Avenue
Oak Park, Illinois

02/03/2025

Coming up next on Sunday February 16 at 3:00 pm:
"RED" by John Logan
Coordinated by Paulette Cary
Featuring Raymon Cunha and Thad Anzur

A play in one act - approximate running time is 90 minutes with NO intermission.

“Red” by John Logan, Coordinated by Paulette Cary – Sunday, February 16 at 3:00 pm
Master abstract expressionist Mark Rothko has just landed the biggest commission in the history of modern art - a series of murals for New York’s famed Four Seasons Restaurant. In the two fascinating years that follow, Rothko works feverishly with his young assistant, Ken, in his studio on the Bowery. But when Ken gains the confidence to challenge him, Rothko faces the agonizing possibility that his crowning achievement could also become his undoing. Raw and provocative, “Red” is a searing portrait of an artist's ambition and vulnerability as he tries to create a definitive work for an extraordinary setting.