Blue in the Right Way is raising $30,000 to mount our second work: a radical revival of Max Shulman and Robert Paul Smith’s 1954 comedy THE TENDER TRAP. Directed by Kevin V. Smith and featuring a team of over 30 artists, THE TENDER TRAP will run from July 3 - July 12, 2025 at The Edge Off-Broadway Theater in Chicago. We invite you to explore our campaign and give.

WATCH THE OFFICIAL MOVIE TRAILER OF THE TENDER TRAP (1955)

The original Broadway production of THE TENDER TRAP, adapted into a 1955 Technicolor comedy featuring Frank Sinatra and Debbie Reynolds, provides an unfiltered comedic snapshot of a crucial period in American history with lasting contemporary relevance. Our 2025 revival, radically reimagined by Kevin V. Smith and the Artistic Design Team of Blue in the Right Way, will examine the haunting legacy of the rigid social constructs of mid-century America. Our abstract and surreal staging, centering the women in the story, challenges the text's romantic perspective and addresses our essential need to critically examine our cultural past, creating a startling work of visual performance art from an iconic piece of comedic American pop culture.

“Innovative…radical…courageous. [Blue in the Right Way is] unquestionably a theatre company to watch.” - Buzz Center Stage (May 2024)

Kevin V. Smith and Daiva Bhandari founded Blue in the Right Way in 2019. Presenting radical storytelling as visual art is what sets us apart in the Chicago theatre scene. The company's debut work, a queer deconstruction of the Renaissance tragedy Women Beware Women, engaged a team of 45 artists and premiered at The Edge Theater in Chicago on April 29, 2024.

Our total budget for THE TENDER TRAP is $80,000. This will account for all expenses required for the show: theater rental for performances and rehearsals, stipends for every artist and team member, and all design material costs, as well as marketing and public relations. We’ve set high goals for audience development, but, even so, ticket sales will only make up a small portion of our budget.

This is where you come in. We’ve outlined seven levels of giving in our campaign in seven shades of blue. We invite you to give as you are inspired and able. No contribution is too small or too big, and every tax-deductible dollar will go toward making this production an unforgettable, boundary-breaking theatrical experience. Let’s make it happen.

The artistic and production team includes Jeremiah Barr, Daiva Bhandari*, Tianxuan Chen*, Maxime Chudeau*, Jay Donley, Adelina Feldman-Schultz, Sam Flipp*, Cameron Jarrett, Katie Klocke, Emma Ladji*, Claire Michalak*, Alaina Moore*, Eme Ospina-López*, Ethan Smith, Kevin V. Smith*, Baylee Speer*, Vee Villareal*, Becky Warner, and Huhao Yang.

*denotes a returning artist from Women Beware Women

“Blue in the Right Way, Chicago’s newest theatre company, makes a lasting impression in its ambitious debut.” (The Fourth Walsh) Women Beware Women

"The company [takes] on work few others dare to do." (Chicago Reader) Women Beware Women

"At once haunting, sad and beautiful. A work of both real life and pure poetry."

— WTTW on András Visky's Juliet

"Kevin V. Smith directs deftly, unapologetically and in search of a new paradigm for what is considered acceptable theatre in America."

— Chicago Critic on The Misunderstanding

"Stylized and imaginative."

— Chicago Tribune on Exiles

Thank you for taking the time to explore our campaign. The artistic fabric of our society is enriched because of individual donors like you. We would be so grateful to have you as a supporter of this meaningful endeavor.