APTP Transforms Warehouse Into Setting For Immersive Immigrant Stories

WDCB’s Gary Zidek catches up with some of the creatives behind Albany Park Theater Project’s world premiere immersive production, PORT OF ENTRY.

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WDCB 90.9 FM · The Arts Section: Albany Park Theater Project Transforms Warehouse to Tell Immigrant Story

“Don’t get me wrong, we’re not trying to teach you what it’s like to be an immigrant. APTP has always told stories without beating (you) over your head ‘how to feel, what to think, what to believe’ and sometimes those stories happen to be at a dining table, or while making a sweet Filipino treat in the kitchen. The experiences and the stories themselves, are there to transform you.” - Miguel Angel Rodriguez, Albany Park Theater Project co-executive director, talking about his hopes for what audiences take away from PORT OF ENTRY.

Albany Park Theater Project ensemble members Isabella Fiscal & Ari Salgado talking to WDCB’s Gary Zidek on set of PORT OF ENTRY.

Residents of Chicago’s of Albany Park neighborhood have likely walked by 3547 West Montrose many times without giving it a second glance. Those same residents have probably also recently noticed groups of people lining up and entering the 3-story cement-brick structure on certain nights. That’s because the warehouse at 3547 Montrose is the home of Albany Park Theater Project’s world premiere immersive theatrical production titled PORT OF ENTRY. The new immersive project transports audience members from outside a seemingly empty building to inside the homes of immigrants, who have made their home in the Albany Park neighborhood. The project is the result of a collaboration between APTP & New York-based Third Rail Projects.

The replica apartment courtyard audiences members encounter as they enter PORT OF ENTRY.

Each night, the APTP cast of young actors guides a small audience through a series of stories set in this fictional apartment building. But the stories are based on the real lives of people who live in the Albany Park neighborhood. The experience for many of audience members will be different from each other.

“There’s these incredible layers that you just can’t see if you’re sitting in a seat and looking at a proscenium. Being in an immersive environment gives you that 360-degree experience, so you feel like you’re not outside looking in, but you’re inside, it’s happening around you and you’re a part of it. I think that’s the secret sauce.” - New York-based Third Rails Project artistic director Jennine Willett talking about why immersive productions have the capacity to resonate so deeply with audiences.

Samantha Gallegos in PORT OF ENTRY. Photo Credit: Eric Strom and Sarah Joyce.

PORT OF ENTRY is in the midst of what appears to be an open-ended run, however all the tickets between now and December 16 have been sold. A new batch of tickets will be released on September 6, and it seems like PORT OF ENTRY will be around for a while. Go to portofentrychicago.com for all the details, you can sign up to be part of the waiting list for tickets.