Closing night, September 27, 2015 at The Tank NYC.
Thanks to everyone who came out to the New York shows.
Thanks to Jessica Sherman-Prince for the photo.

Happiness in New York! from Theater Oobleck on Vimeo.

Get tickets to There A Happiness That Morning Is in New York

Tickets are now on sale for the one-night-only Chicago performance of There Is A Happiness That Morning Is to benefit the New York City run.

BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW
Friday, AUGUST 28 at 7pm at The Neo-Futurarium in Chicago.

After three acclaimed runs in Chicago, Theater Oobleck presents the New York City premiere of Mickle Maher’s THERE IS A HAPPINESS THAT MORNING IS at The Tank, as part of their annual Flint & Tinder theater series. Featuring the original cast (yay!) and carpet (shudder).
The show runs September 11–27. TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE.

The folks over at the City of Chicago’s Theater on the Lake have invited us to bring back Mickle Maher’s There Is a Happiness That Morning Is for one final week. Diana Slickman and Colm O’Reilly will reprise their roles, and the wonderful HB Ward (who played Oscar Madison in our “Strauss at Midnight”) will fill the shoes of the wonderful Kirk Anderson.

“Back by Popular Demand” is a theater-marketing cliché, of course, but in this case we can back it up. Fans of the show have been dropping us notes on Facebook, and you can read what they said about the first two runs of the show.

Oobleck’s runaway hit, There Is A Happiness That Morning Is, is currently enjoying not one, but two, national productions. The Catastrophic Theatre in Houston is reprising their 2011 production from May 10-May 25, and the Cleveland Public Theatre is offering a brand-new production, May 9 – May 25.

You can read the Cleveland Plain Dealer review here and the Houston reviews here

Oobleck will also be bringing back our own production for one final weekend, at the City of Chicago’s Theater on the Lake, July 10 – 14.

Happiness playwright Mickle Maher talks about the power of public sex, the actor’s prerogative, and why the play was almost about mummies in this half-hour podcast from Talk Theatre in Chicago. Includes bonus stale bread metaphors!

Listen here!

Pencil This In: Happiness Is … A Benefit For Soup And Bread

Proceeds from the performance of There Is A Happiness That Morning Is on Thursday, February 28 will go toward the amazing and worthy Soup and Bread.

“This. Play. Is. Killer.”

Such a book nerd seemed to like the show.

WBEZ’s Dueling Critics Kelly Klenman called Happiness “the most remarkable mix of poetry and drama that you are ever likely to see.” Listen to the segment on theatre week.

“If the American theater harbors a precedent for Mickle Maher’s astonishing 2011 play There Is a Happiness That Morning Is, I’ve never found it . . . “

“ . . . richer, funnier, and more heartbreaking than ever.”

— Justin Hayford, Chicago Reader

READ THE WHOLE THING HERE:

There is an astonishment that There Is a Happiness That Morning Is is

Thanks to Time Out’s Kris Vire, for including us on the teevee in his roundup of notable shows.

ABC 7 NEWS: What’s Playing at Local Theaters

Allison Cuddy’s previews Happiness and interviews Mickle.
READ AND LISTEN HERE

“one of the most emotionally stirring works in the company’s distinguished history.”

Read the rest.

NOW BUY YOUR TICKETS.

Our production of There Is a Happiness That Morning Is has received five 2011 Orgie Theater Awards:

Kirk Anderson (Acting, Agility)
Mickle Maher (Literary Genius)
Colm O’Reilly (Acting, Gusto)
Diana Slickman (Acting, Grace)
Theater Oobleck (Production)

Orgie Theater Awards
Time Out reports

Words by Mickle Maher, music by Chris Schoen.

“ There Is a Happiness That Morning Is confirms again Theater Oobleck’s reputation as one of the most creative and original troupes in town. FUNNY, WITTY, LITERATE, and PROFOUND… It’s the actors who make it a slam-dunk” -Windy City Times

“one of the year’s most extraordinary offerings that you cannot afford to miss. Genius writing requires genius acting and this spellbinding ensemble realizes the peculiar reality of the story with fascinating and riveting effect.” -Chicago Stage Review

“Find a stranger or more thought-provoking evening and it’s bound to be another Oobleck show.” -WBEZ

“This play explores the depths of romantic involvement in a way that engages and thrills the audience… I expected great things from There Is a Happiness That Morning Is, and I wasn’t disappointed. You won’t be either.” -Gapers Block

Justin Hayford:

“Maher’s ludicrous, heartbreaking There Is a Happiness That Morning Is…is his most powerful play to date.

Three of Chicago’s most intelligent, flexible fringe actors make up the cast… and whether ruminating on 18th-century poetry, academic minutiae, or love’s transience, they make Maher’s intricate, demanding text ring true at nearly every turn.”

Read the rest

“Goosed by precise, masterful performances, Maher’s text is almost endlessly engaging and frequently hilarious… It’s a tantalizing examination of love’s dark secrets.”

Read the whole review at Time Out Chicago.

Monica Westin lays it out for you:

“This is Oobleck at their best: an unorthodox premise that oscillates between rapid-fire madcap humor and unexpected enlightenment, with playwright Mickle Maher’s rhymed verse a study in contrast between passion and wit.”

Read the rest.

There Is a Happiness That Morning Is photos by John Sisson.