The members of WNEP Theater were as surprised as anyone when, in late November, they were informed by the City of Chicago Dept. of Revenue that the PPA (Public Place of Amusement) License hanging on the wall in their resident venue was invalid (and later referred to as “counterfeit” in the media). The incident, however, was essentially the final straw on a pile associated with the venue at 3209 W. Cuyler #1.

“Our relationship with the building owners was strained at best,” says Don Hall, Founder and Executive Director of WNEP. “For as much energy we spent on creating our productions, we spent at least that much energy keeping the venue habitable.”

On November 30, the theater that Jack Helbig called “...an edgy theater making machine...” voted to leave the venue after three and a half years of residency (and over 35 original productions ranging from fully scripted plays to performance art to sketch comedy and improvisation) and once again produce shows without the limitations of the tiny black box they had grown accustomed to.

Amazingly, Chris Ritter (General Manager of the 340-seat Lakeshore Theater on the corner of Broadway and Belmont and a recent addition to WNEP’s Board of Directors) stepped up to the plate and offered WNEP an opportunity to continue their eleventh season in Chicago without so much as a hitch in the proceedings.

“In my opinion, the only thing holding WNEP back from becoming a major player in American theater was the venue,” says Ritter. “The work they do is fantastic and more people need to see it. The Lakeshore is ecstatic to have WNEP on our stage.”

As it stands, the only production canceled was “Christmas My Ass III,” scheduled to go up in December. All other productions scheduled will go on without so much as a lost date.

- THE ARMAGEDDON RADIO HOUR NEW YEAR’S EVE - Wednesday, December 31 at 10:00 p.m.

- The Around Midnite Series (including The Gong Show - Freaks on Parade, The Sickest Fucking Stories I Ever Heard, WILD CARD!, and Cinema 2.0) - Saturdays at midnight through May 29.

- BAD JUDGMENT DAY by Clay and Nate Sander - Thursday through Saturday at 7:00 p.m., January 15 - February 28

- Defending Your Life: An Improvised Trial - Saturdays at 10:30 p.m., January 24 - February 28

WNEP will also be hosting The Fifth Annual SKALD Competition on Wednesday, January 28 at the Bailiwick Arts Center, the location of the first SKALD five years ago.

So, what’s next for WNEP Theater?

“We’re going to take advantage of the situation,” says Jen Ellison, WNEP Artistic Director. “We’ll do a number of traditional fundraising events, take some our critical hits to festivals [this fall’s “Let There Be Light..!” and last spring’s “The Mysteries of Harris Burdick” being top contenders], and continue to create “What No one Else Produces”.”

Other plans include bringing some of WNEP’s improv-based productions to festivals here in Chicago as well as abroad, offering a master class in the creation and production of original theater, and working on projects that simply wouldn’t fit in the venue at 3209 W. Cuyler #1.

“Our last production prior to taking the space at 3209 W. Cuyler #1 had a set with four building facades and a makeshift rolling car onstage [2000’s “Wise Blood”].” says Hall. “Without the constraints of a black box stage, we’ll be able to expand our visions artistically to include a broader palette.”

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FOLLOWING UP

Saturday, January 17, 2004

After being shut down by the City of Chicago Dept. of Revenue just prior to Thanksgiving weekend, the subsequent vote to vacate their venue, and being maligned in the press with the unsubstantiated charge of counterfeiting their license, WNEP Theater was vindicated by the DoR on Friday, January 16 in court.

Following a brief discussion with the city prosecutor and four DoR investigators, the scrappy little theater was fined a grand total of $200.00 (plus a $25.00 ourt fee) for operating without a valid PPA. Charges of Cease and Desist and Failure to Display a License were dismissed. No charges of forgery were on the table. It was made clear in the side room discussion that the DoR believed that WNEP had nothing to do with the situation that ended their tenancy at 3209 and had committed no wrong-doing. The fine was for the one thing WNEP Theater was guilty of regardless of the company’s obvious lack of knowledge about the legitamacy of their PPA.

“ It's a shame that once the implication is thoroughly spread around (the "counterfeit" charge was proliferated in the Chicago Reader, WBEZ, NewCity, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Daily Herald, Inside Publications, WBBM, as well as assorted web blogs, and printed press releases) it becomes, in most minds, indisputable fact.” comments Executive Director Don Hall.

WNEP recently opened a World Premiere comedy, “Bad Judgment Day”, at the Lakeshore Theater and will open a new improvised play, “Defending Your Life” on Saturday, January 24, also at the Lakeshore. It’s acclaimed “Around Midnite Series” will continue at the Lakeshore and “The Fifth Annual SKALD” will be hld at the Bailiwick Arts Center Studio on January 28.

One Chicago-area critic, in a personal email to Hall, is “glad to see that the WNEP juggernaut is back in full swing, permanent home be damned.”

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NEW!
Follow up Information - 1/17/04

NEW!
June 19, Update

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Purchase a "BUSINESS CLOSED" Shirt exclusively from CafePress

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On the matter of the "counterfeit" license:

Was the license a fake?
Nope. It turns out that the license was not counterfeit as was reported so frequently. Representatives of the DoR will not identify where the rumor started and how it was so consistently proliferated.

Did you guys try to get away with not paying the licensing fee?
Nope. It was paid, in graduated payments, to our landlords as a part of our regular rent. That money has been taken out of the back rent we owe as settlement to vacate the lease.

Yeah, but it was in the paper...
So was the charge that Saddam had "weapons of mass destruction". Bottom line is that certain theater companies dodged compliance for YEARS and after all was said and done, are getting help from the League and the City. WNEP was in compliance for years and as soon as a government official tacks the word "counterfeit" on our case, we're somehow pariah. Last I read, it was innocent until PROVEN guilty, rather than guilt by accusation in the paper. See Follow Up.

So why leave your space?
After three and half years of beating our heads up against the building (fighting for proper heating and cooling, battling rat infestations, and spending thousands of dollars a year on building repairs) we had had enough. It was more fun without the building, so we voted to leave.

Was it also because it was "impossible to break even"?
Not quite. We came extremely close to breaking even for three years. At a certain point, it wasn't enough to break even - we want to actually be able to pay our people. That was never going to happen at 3209 without jacking up our ticket prices or watering down our artistic goals.

To stay would have meant we would have had to generate between $5,000 - $8,000 (if we had accepted a very generous proposal from Mark Henderson) or $8,000 to $16,000 (if we went it alone) without being able to do shows until we had a new license. To put that kind of energy into fundraising for a venue we were no longer happy in seemed ridiculous.

But I heard...
Ignore what you heard.

Certain folks gain prestige and power by tearing down others. Those people malign the character of others without the balls to confront the issue or those they malign head on. Consider the source...is he trustworthy? Does he have a habit of backstabbing? And what happens when he turns the bile on you?

Who...?
Not really the point, is it?

WNEP Theater has been through some tough times in the past and I have no doubt that there will be tough times in our future. The sole factor that remains relevent is that WNEP has been around for over eleven years and will continue to create and produce bizarre, highly imaginative, kickass cutting edge theater long past the time that this particular page of information is necessary.

And now...?
WNEP was informed in an e mail on Saturday, June 20 that a group of property owners and businesses who recently purchased buildings in Chicago from Wellington Properties (our former landlords) are involved in a class action lawsuit against Wellington Properties due to "...fraudulent inspection practices and invalid permitting on buildings previously owned by Wellington Properties..." It seems this goes back for years. You do the math...

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