Monmouth College - Department of Theater Arts

Release Date: November 7, 2007

Better hope that Matt Fotis '01 isn't your Secret Santa this year!

MONMOUTH, Ill. � There are people who cherish the upcoming holiday season � who think of December and have visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads, not to mention halls decked with holly and chestnuts roasting on an open fire.

If that�s you, you might want to stop reading now. However, if you associate December much more with this question � "What�s worse than buying presents nobody wants, getting homemade gift-cards, going to mandatory office parties and spending time with your creepy uncle who has been unemployed since 1973?" � then read on.

Matt Fotis, a 2001 Monmouth graduate, authored the question above, as well as much of "No-EL: Or How The BlagojeGrinch Stole Christmas." The holiday sketch show will be performed Dec. 7 though 23 at Chicago�s Gorilla Tango Theatre, 1919 N. Milwaukee Ave. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 10 p.m. and Sundays at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $10 and are available by phone at 773-598-4549 or online at www.gorillatango.com.

"Heck, nobody really likes the holidays anyway, so why not laugh about it?" said Fotis, the head writer for "BlagojeGrinch" and the executive director of Chicago�s Shantz Theatre. Fotis was also the head writer for last year�s critically acclaimed "Requiem for a Department Store: Or How Jesus Taught Me to Shop at Macy�s." He is an improv coach for London Cabbie and The Jerry Azumah Players, as well as an improv/acting instructor at Moraine Valley Community College.

"Shantz Theatre has found the true culprit behind the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) crisis," Fotis said of the show. "Shoddy planning? Inept management? Failure to invest in infrastructure? Um, yeah, those too, but the real reason is that somebody with a certain haircut lost that holiday spirit � The BlagojeGrinch!"

Fotis is not the only MC link to the production, as his former schoolmates, Vicki Kunz �02 and Jeanette Nielsen �03 are also in the cast. Kunz is returning to the Shantz Theatre stage, while Nielsen is making her 10th appearance with the company.

Now in its sixth season, Shantz Theatre is dedicated to producing original works that explore the human condition through humor and by stretching the traditional notions of narrative storytelling.

A veteran of many Fringe Fests across the country, Shantz Theatre was named a finalist in the Guthrie Theatre�s Fringe Encore program in 2006, and has been Recommended by The Chicago Tribune, The Kansas City Star, City Pages, Nuvo, The Daily Herald, New City Chicago, and Midwestbusiness.com � that�s right, Midwestbusiness.com.