About the Show

At the Brooks & Reilly Public Relations agency, owner Bud Brooks is determined to regain the top spot among the PR agencies in town. Shedding the agency’s standards, he takes any client he can find, from The Penguin Council (the other white—and black—meat) to talking silverware and Screaming Ninja Ballet Baby dolls. As things spin wildly out of control, Bud stakes his future on regaining Cellphonetics from the clutches of his former partner. Can he pull his team together, regain the top spot and entrust leadership of the agency to his slacker son? It all comes together in Pitching Penguins.

Characters In The Show

1) BOB MORRISON, 42, senior vice president at Brooks and Reilly. The go-to guy at the agency, he’s saddled with the accounts nobody else could keep and the task of supervising his boss’s son.

2) SUE ROGERS, 43, senior vice president at Brooks and Reilly. Sharp and focused, knows the business, but she can’t get out from under the shadow of her boss, Jerry, who gains credit for everything she does.

3) WILLIAM “BUD” BROOKS, 56, owner of Brooks and Reilly. Somewhat behind the times, both socially and technologically, but a genius at dealing with crises—including those of his own making.

4) BILLY BROOKS, 29, Bud’s son and an account manager at Brooks and Reilly. Is simply out of his depth as he tries to show that he’s got the stuff to take over the company.

5) STEPHANIE ELLIS, 27, account manager at Brooks and Reilly. Not fully seasoned as a professional, but what she lacks in experience she makes up in enthusiasm and drive, even while pitching penguins.

Show Photos

Billy Brooks (Scott Cupper) begins his pitch for the Cellphonetics account as Sue Rogers (Julie Cowden) and Bob Morrison (Thom Goodwin) try to maintain their composure

Bud Brooks (Larry Carpenter) shows Sue Rogers (Julie Cowden) and Bob Morrison (Thom Goodwin) their new client, The Pumpinator, in Pitching Penguins, now playing at Victory Gardens Greenhouse Theater, 2257 N. Lincoln, Chicago.

Bud Brooks (Larry Carpenter) tells his son, Billy, (Scott Cupper) about Billy’s future in the public relations business.

 

 Stephanie Ellis (Jules Lambert) tries to convince reporters that penguin is the next taste sensation to sweep the countryStephanie Ellis (Jules Lambert) describes her penguin wing disaster to Bob Morrison (Thom Goodwin) and Billy Brooks (Scott Cupper)
 

MILESTONES IN
PENGUIN CUISINE

1468
Norwegian Vikings are stranded on Penguin Island after their ship runs aground. Nearly dead from hunger, they begin harvesting penguins and roasting them slowly over dried kelp and driftwood. The taste is delicious and they use snow to freeze-dry supplies to bring home. They discover too late that penguin meat does not keep and after a run of dysentery nearly scuttles the trip home, they agree never to speak of penguin again. Penguin is a delicacy only whispered about by ancient mariners for nearly 100 years.

1551
Ivan Grozny IV, the first czar of Russia, bored by bowls of borscht at every meal, sends ships south to find new meal options. The crews return with dried penguin meat that finds favor with the czar. He rules for 75 years, living on a diet of penguin, herring and other small fish.

1773
In January, James Cook circumnavigates Antarctica. Though he doesn't sight land, his crew snares penguins diving nearby, and uses them in a stew. They yearn for more but the Captain refuses to turn the ship around. Months later, sailors continued to carve ivory scrimshaws in the shape of penguins, but depicting Cook’s face.

1845
Moved by the great Irish Potato Famine, Inuit natives load kayaks with penguin meat and sail to Ireland. The grateful Irish name a territory County Kilpenguin.

1864
Queen Victoria visits Lapland and is served Penturducken at a welcoming feast. The dining sensation, made from a chicken stuffed in a duck, stuffed in a turkey, stuffed in a penguin electrifies the queen’s appetite and she has three portions. The royal physicians are able to restore her digestive system, but she returns to England enamored with the taste of penguin. Sir Walter Raleigh is dispatched back to Lapland to collect penguin. He returns with 1,000 pounds of the meat, but he soon relives the maladies of his Viking forbears. Queen Victoria demotes him to First Mate.

1902
Captain Scott, UK, leads his first expedition to the South Pole, with Ernest Shackleton and Edward Wilson. They are forced to turn back two months later, having reached 82 degrees south, suffering from snow blindness and scurvy. Despite prompting from Shackleton to “eat your penguin or you don’t get dessert,” the crew ignores his pleas. Many do not return.

1912
Clarence Birdseye begins working in Labrador and spends the next five years traveling by dog sled and collecting penguin furs for sale. He finds no market for the fur, but many Native Americans consider the meat a delicacy. In 1923, he revolutionizes the frozen food industry by successfully inventing an electric freezer that preserves food for an extended period of time. He remembers his experience with penguin meat and actually succeeds at selling freezers to Eskimos as the Inuit Packing Company begins exporting penguin to France.

1935
Caroline Mikkelsen, Norway, is the first woman to set foot on Antarctica when she accompanies her husband, a whaling captain. She opens Mikki’s Penguin Pantry, but the venture goes under when an e-coli outbreak forces her and her husband to beat a hasty retreat back onto their ship.

1944
Russian troops take a wrong turn as they pursue the retreating German army, leading them all the way to Antarctica. Fortunately, a young corporal brings along an antique cookbook from the royal court of Grozny IV. They prepare penguin meals and eat heartily through the remainder of the war. When they return to Russia and share their penguin dining adventure, they are labeled as “mad” and die in a gulag, ironically only 3 kilometers from the tomb of Grozny IV.

1947
During Operation Highjump, the U.S. sends the largest ever expedition of over 4,700 men, 13 ships and 23 airplanes to Antarctica. A deli owner from the Bronx, Max Glibstein, begins pickling penguin meat and he soon opens a thriving outpost diner where penguin sandwiches are an instant hit. The U.S. Army shuts down the operation after he fails to present health department permits. Hundreds of sailors return to the U.S. and begin searching for penguin meat.

1985
Cruise ships begin regular voyages to Antarctica, where tourists experience penguin dishes for the first time. A gastronomic love affair begins, and the cruise ship cooks are forced to add a penguin dish during formal night. U.S. Customs reports that smuggled penguin meat is the number one contraband confiscated by their officers.

1995
Buoyed by the demand for penguin, the Penguin Council is formed and begins an international breeding program that makes it possible for diners worldwide to enjoy the unique flavor of penguin, the other white (and black) meat. During its first year, so many inquiries are handled, that the staff grows to 97. The Penguin Council website registers 2,500 hits a day. Brooks & Reilly public relations is hired to help manage exploding interest in penguin.