SHOW INFO
Besties: stories about friends
Wednesday, June 24 7:30-9:30 (doors open at 6:30)
Hey Nonny / Arlington Heights
Besties: whether they’re with us for a crucial moment, or the rest of our lives, these are the people we never forget. This month, you’ll meet them in stories about lost dogs, clairvoyant siblings, compassionate strangers, triangulated lovers, closeted Nazis, and a date with the Haitian militia.
This show is appropriate for age 18* unless accompanied by an adult.
All sales are final - no refunds or exchanges.
Producer & host, First Person Live
Carpenter & handy(wo)man
Mortgage manager
Chef & writer
Journalist
Nurse midwife
Public policy & environment writer
Social provocateur
Diane Kastiel is the producer and host of First Person Live. A writer and storyteller from Chicago, she’s a three-time winner of the National Public Radio’s Moth StorySLAM; her work has been featured on the Moth Radio Hour, its podcast, and at special events for WBEZ, NPR’s Chicago affiliate. Diane has told stories on stage at The Second City, Steppenwolf, the Park West, Victory Gardens and other theaters as well as comedy clubs, art galleries, the basement of a tattoo parlor - she even did a show in the middle of the woods! Diane works with libraries, schools, community centers and homeless shelters to bring storytelling to a wider audience, and leads storytelling workshops at Northwestern University. Diane is an alumna of The Second City Conservatory and the University of Chicago’s Great Books program. She also has an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management…just in case.
Katie Kopecky is a handyman/carpenter in the western suburbs and has been fixing up houses for the past decade. When she is not up on a ladder or under a sink, she enjoys watercolor painting, bouldering, or listening to the same five bands she’s been obsessed with since high school. As of a few months ago, she added storytelling to her list of favorite hobbies. Katie has successfully through-hiked the entirety of the Appalachian Trail and, once she completes her environmental science degree, she intends to celebrate with an attempt at a through-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail.
By day, Perfecto Diaz works at a mortgage company. By night, he answersmails for his job at a mortgage company. Perfecto loves to write and tell stories, whether it’s on social media or through meeting new people, and had started sharing stories live in 2020, before Covid hit and shuts down all the fun (he swears it wasn’t because of his storytelling skills!). Besides storytelling, Perfecto loves to walk all over the city, so if you drive down Milwaukee Ave in Chicago, chances are you’ll run into him (just don’t do it literally).
Dinah Grossman is a chef and writer originally from Maine. She has spent the last decade opening and operating a small restaurant with a wonderful crew on Chicago’s west side. A former Argentine tango teacher, she still enjoys dancing socially, as well as gardening, travelling, and thinking of ways to make the world a more beautiful place.
Nikki Campbell is a proud native of Los Angeles who moved to the Chicago 'burbs for love. She's an award-winning former journalist who's now in her Real Housewives of the Great Lakes era. Nikki has shared stories at the Moth and won a spot in the Mortified storytelling show, which went much better than her turn on the game show "Win Ben Stein's Money." (She got $150 worth of lobster as a consolation prize.) Nikki loves music - especially new wave and yacht rock - artsy movies and Scrabble, and used to be in a double-dutch jump rope club. Her special skill sets include being able to rap the first verse of Public Enemy's "Bring the Noise" and knowing the location of every Wendy's within a 20-mile radius of her house.
Whitney Abbott is a nurse midwife with a background in community and refugee healthcare. When she’s not catching babies, she enjoys storytelling, reading, dinner parties, travel, and accidentally finding herself in situations that later become very good stories. Whitney’s excited to make her First Person Live tonight!
Mary O’Connell is a Chicago writer. Before she retired, she wrote about public policy and environmental issues for numerous publications and nonprofit organizations. These days Mary is part of the Goodman Theater’s GENarrations storytelling program, leads a writing group at a Chicago senior center, and is engaged with other volunteer programs. A longtime resident of Rogers Park and a proud mother of two and grandmother of three, Mary likes to read books, bake brownies, ride her bike, walk Leo (the dog), tend her garden, and share stories.
FPL special correspondent Chad the Bird is a journalist, podcaster and contributing writer to several publications including the Chicago Reader. He has been bringing so much logic and truth to his Op-Ed columns and other writing, you'd think he has a mission. And you'd be right but you gotta figure it out for yourself, so follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Chad the Birdcast - or you could get your lazy butt off the Weekend Couch and head to the Green Mill EVERY Saturday at 3:00 for the Paper Machete and catch him live in the pink with opinions made just for you.
Chad the Bird is brought to you by Josh Zagoren - social provocateur, voice actor, and host of the Chadcast.
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