Created by BILL ODENKIRK and SARAH EDWARDS

Directed by COREY BRADBERRY

Video production by FUSE

Projection and screen design by OLIVIA SEBESKY

Music Direction by GRAHAM EDWARDS

Presented by the Champaign Park District

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THE SHOW:

WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM
In this premiere performance of a new stage play by four-time Emmy Award-winning writer and producer Bill Odenkirk ("The Simpsons", "Futurama", "Mr. Show"), a small midwestern radio station is set to rebroadcast Orson Welles’s “War of the Worlds” on the anniversary of its original October 1938 airing but is interrupted by some important news...

...an actual alien ship has been spotted above an Illinois cornfield...




Followed by THE TELL: IS THE TRUTH OUT THERE?
A discussion featuring Ahmed Best, Avi Loeb, and Bill Odenkirk, moderated by Sarah Edwards

With immersive projections by Olivia Sebesky Design

Are we completely alone in the universe? Are aliens watching us and visiting Earth? How does the potential existence of alien life change how we think about time, surveillance, and the meaning of our place in the cosmos?

In this spirited, immersive conversation, we discuss these heady questions with “Star Wars” star and Afrofuturist Ahmed Best and another special guest.

Integrating immersive projections of archival footage and photos, our guests will discuss the illusive nature of the evidence, the arguments for and against extraterrestrials and UAP, and how our own biases, cultural influences, and beliefs color our perspectives. Finally, we consider the future: how would knowing aliens exist impact who we are as humans, our goals and how we treat each other They mull the potential impact on international human cooperation and our goals as a species.

Moderated by Emmy-winning host Sarah Edwards (PBS), this creative, no-holds-barred discussion is as entertaining as it is thought-provoking. The goal is to challenge – or reaffirm – what we think we believe about extraterrestrial life and its relevance to our lives.

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INTERGALACTIC VIP PACKAGES

VIP Level 1 ($289.50) includes:

• One premium reserved ticket
• Meet and greet with playwright Bill Odenkirk and special guests
• Limited edition poster 
• Special Out of This World merchandise pack
• Commemorative show laminate
• VIP early entry into venue
• Priority merchandise shopping
• Limited availability

VIP Level 2 ($189.50) includes:

• One premium reserved ticket
• Special Out of This World merchandise pack
• Commemorative show laminate
• VIP early entry into venue
• Priority merchandise shopping
• Limited availability

VIP ticketholders will receive an email approximately three days prior to the show date with VIP details, sent to the address submitted at time of purchase. All packages and package contents are non-transferable; no refunds or exchanges; all sales are final. Package elements are subject to change. VIP merchandise items will be distributed at the show.

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THE CAST:


BOB ODENKIRK grew up in Naperville, IL, the second of seven children. He worked as a DJ for WIDB college radio at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, but, just three credits shy of graduation, set out for Chicago, where he participated in local improv workshops and did open-mic stand-up. Bob's first writing job, for "Saturday Night Live", led to his first EMMY Award for comedy writing in 1989. He worked for SNL from 1987 to 1995 while also writing for "Get a Life" starring Chris Elliott (1990) and "The Dennis Miller Show" (1992). On that show he made his acting debut and was noticed by Ben Stiller, who later hired him as a writer and actor for "The Ben Stiller Show", where he won a second EMMY for his writing.

Following "The Ben Stiller Show", Bob made recurring appearances from 1993 to 1998 on "The Larry Sanders Show" and also wrote for "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" during its 1993-1994 season. During this time Bob hooked up with fellow "Ben Stiller Show" writer David Cross, also a stand-up comedian, to work on writing sketch-comedy together in LA. In 1995, they got their own show on HBO, "Mr. Show with Bob and David", which ran for four seasons and 30 episodes.

Since "Mr. Show with Bob and David", Bob has written two feature films, "Run Ronnie Run" (2002) and "Girlfriend's Day" (2017), and directed three feature films, "Melvin Goes to Dinner" (2003), "Let's Go to Prison" (2006) and "The Brothers Solomon" (2007). He's also made numerous guest appearances on TV shows such as "Just Shoot Me!" (1997), "3rd Rock from the Sun" (1996), "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (2000), "Ed" (2000), "Everybody Loves Raymond" (1996), "Less Than Perfect" (2002), "Arrested Development" (2003), "How I Met Your Mother" (2005) and "Weeds" (2005). From 2009 to 2013, he appeared in 43 episodes of "Breaking Bad" as lawyer Saul Goodman and, starting in 2015, reprised that role as the title character in "Better Call Saul".

Bob has taken supporting roles in films like "Nebraska" (2013), "The Post" (2017), "Incredibles 2" (2018), and "Little Women" (2019), while starring in and producing the action film "Nobody" (2021) and its sequel, "Nobody 2" (2025), as well as his latest movie, "Normal" (2026). On stage, he received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play with his Broadway debut in "Glengarry Glen Ross" (2025). In addition to his two EMMY Awards, Bob has received three Critics' Choice Television Awards and a Screen Actors Guild Award while being nominated for five Golden Globe Awards and six Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.



JILL TALLEY has played hundreds of characters in both animation and live-action and, as one of the main cast members of "SpongeBob SquarePants" (1999), has been the voice of Karen (Plankton's sarcastic computer-wife) since the show's very first season. Jill's husband, Tom Kenny, plays SpongeBob himself.

She started her career in acting at the famed Second City Main Stage in Chicago, where she worked alongside Chris Farley, Tim Meadows, Steve Carrell, Amy Sedaris, and many others. She was a regular cast member of HBO's critically-acclaimed and cult classic sketch show, "Mr. Show with Bob and David". Prior to that, she was a regular on FOX TV's "The Edge" opposite Jennifer Aniston. She has been seen as the anchor in "Not Necessarily the Elections" (HBO) and has guest-starred on "The Sarah Silverman Program" (Comedy Central), "The Bernie Mac Show", "Drew Carey", "Seinfeld", "Frasier", "Ellen", "3rd Rock From the Sun", and many more.

On film, Jill starred as Tammy in New Line Cinema's "Run Ronnie Run", as Candy in Paramount's "The Ladies Man", along with various roles in "Little Miss Sunshine", "Sky High", "Sour Grapes", "Jack Frost", "Dumb and Dumberer", and the award-winning "Comic Book the Movie". She was the lead along with husband Tom Kenny in two music videos: Smashing Pumpkins, "Tonight Tonight" (MTV Best Video of 1995) and the Travis video for "Sing".

As a voice-over actress, Jill has lent her talents to many characters, most notably Karen the Computer in "SpongeBob SquarePants". She also voiced Ramona in "American Dad", "Gretchen", Nina and Miss Mucus on "Camp Lazlo", Gisell in Pam Anderson's "Striperella", Mrs. Sidvarsky in "Clifford Puppy Years", Sarah in "The Boondocks" (on Adult Swim) the Mother in "The Animatrix".



AHMED BEST is an actor, musician and dancer. Born in New York City, he studied percussion at the Manhattan School of Music and, in 1994, joined the acid jazz group The Jazzhole, co-writing and co-producing three albums for the group, including "The Jazzhole", "And the Feeling Goes Around", and "The Beat is the Bomb". In 1995, Best co-wrote and co-produced "Escape" by Bill Evans.

In 1995, Ahmed joined the legendary Broadway stage show "Stomp" and later toured with the cast throughout the US and Europe. In 1997, after being spotted in "Stomp" by "Star Wars" casting director Robin Gurland, Ahmed was offered the voice role of Jar Jar Binks in "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace" (1999), a role he would later reprise in the rest of the prequel trilogy, video games, and cartoons as well as on "Robot Chicken Star Wars" specials.

He's also voiced Louis Booker from "Kangaroo Jack: G'Day U.S.A" and Cloak from "Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2". His choreographed body movements provided "reference points" for the digital creators at Industrial Light and Magic as they animated the Jar Jar character for the screen.

Ahmed Best has worked as an adjunct professor at Stanford University and in 2008 wrote, directed, and produced the pilot for a television show called "This Can't Be My Life".



AVI LOEB, Ph.D is the Frank B. Baird, Jr., Professor of Science at Harvard University and a bestselling author (in lists of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, Die Zeit, Der Spiegel, L'Express and more). He received a PhD in Physics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel at age 24 (1980-1986), led the first international project supported by the Strategic Defense Initiative (1983-1988), and was subsequently a long-term member of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton (1988-1993).

Loeb has written 8 books, including most recently, Extraterrestrial (HarperCollins, 2022) and Interstellar (HarperCollins, 2023) and over a thousand papers (with h-index of 133 and i10-index of 631) on a wide range of topics, including black holes, the first stars, the search for extraterrestrial life and the future of the Universe.

Loeb had been the Director of the Institute for Theory and Computation (2005-2026) within the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and serves as the Director of the Galileo Project (2021-present). He had been the longest serving Chair of Harvard's Department of Astronomy (2011-2020) and the Founding Director of Harvard's Black Hole Initiative (2016-2021).

He is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the American Physical Society, and the International Academy of Astronautics. Loeb is a former member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) at the White House, a former chair of the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National Academies (2018-2021) and a current member of the Advisory Board for "Einstein: Visualize the Impossible" of the Hebrew University.

He chaired the Advisory Committee for the Breakthrough Starshot Initiative (2015-2024) and served as the Science Theory Director for all Initiatives of the Breakthrough Prize Foundation. In 2012, TIME magazine selected Loeb as one of the 25 most influential people in space and in 2020 Loeb was selected among the 14 most inspiring Israelis of the last decade.

In 2025, Loeb was ranked number 3 in publication record and impact of research among all astronomers worldwide over the past 5 years by ScholarGPS. Loeb's latest TED talk was among the top five most popular TED talks in 2024.

CREATED BY:


BILL ODENKIRK is a four-time Emmy-winning television writer and producer, getting his start as a writer on the ‘90s sketch comedy series “Mr. Show.” He went on to write for “Tenacious D” and many seasons of “The Simpsons.” More recently, he has written for the Netflix animated series “Disenchantment” and “Futurama.” Bill is a graduate of Loyola University. He holds a Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from the University of Chicago.



SARAH EDWARDS is a Mid-America Emmy-award winning producer, director and host. She has received five Mid-America Emmy Awards for her work directing, hosting and producing the popular Midwest PBS docuseries show “Prairie Fire” (Illinois Public Media).

Edwards directed, produced, and edited short and long-form documentaries in Los Angeles before coming to the Midwest. Sarah’s extensive footage of a young Katy Perry appeared throughout the 2012 film “Katy Perry: Part of Me” (Paramount Pictures). In 2011, Sarah directed the documentary “On the Road with Blink-182” for AT&T and Uverse. Sarah has directed music videos and EPKs for artists including Korn, Katy Perry, Ferras, Palaye Royale, Above & Beyond, country artist Mo Pitney and more. Other notable clients include BMI, NPR (KPCC), Forbes, Disney, Microsoft, AOL, Monocle, Penguin Books and The Discovery Channel. She began her career as a writer, producer, and fill-in anchor at CNN in Atlanta and is a graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.



COREY BRADBERRY is a Texas-born, Atlanta-reared, Chicago-based director, producer, writer, and performer. He is a Kennedy Center National Directing Fellow, and a grant recipient from Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), the Illinois Arts Council, IDEA Capital, the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, the University of Southern Mississippi, and the City of Atlanta’s Office of Cultural Affairs. Corey is also an active director, teacher, writer, and performer in Chicago’s sketch comedy scene, where he directs and teaches with The Second City.

From 2019-2024, Corey was the Producing Artistic Director with startup A Theater in the Dark. He pioneered innovative production methods during the COVID-era and received recognition from the City of Chicago and the Illinois Arts Council for his contribution to post-COVID theatre making. He has been Assistant Director on many major projects with Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre, Theatrical Outfit, and the Kennedy Center MFA Playwrights Workshop.



OLIVIA SEBESKY is an award winning multimedia art director and motion graphics designer for concerts, film, special events, theater, public art installations and television. Selected clients include Lainey Wilson, James Taylor, Aerosmith, Carrie Underwood, Melissa Etheridge, Hootie & The Blowfish, Widespread Panic, Darius Rucker, Tyler Childers, Nike, Bloomberg, Peloton, Soho House, TEDTalks, Fairgrounds Art Museum, Universal Studios, Jane Goodall, STREB Extreme Action Dance Company, Fordham University, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and more.



GRAHAM EDWARDS took the pop charts by storm as a songwriter and producer in 2002 as a member of the songwriting/production team The Matrix — writing and producing “Complicated”, “Sk8er Boi” and “I’m With You” for Avril Lavigne — a feat that earned him five Grammy nominations, including Producer of the Year and Song of the Year. He followed with a string of hits for Jason Mraz (“The Remedy”), Hilary Duff (“So Yesterday”) and Liz Phair (“Extraordinary” and “Why Can’t I”).

He has written and produced songs for a veritable ‘who’s who’ of top artists including KORN (“Coming Undone” and more), Justin Bieber (“Out of Town Girl”), Shakira (“Don’t Bother”), Britney Spears (“Shadow”), Ricky Martin, Palaye Royale, The Mooney Suzuki, Tokio Hotel, Christina Aguilera, Busted (“3AM”), David Bowie, Michael Franti, Miranda Cosgrove, Leah Marlene, Mo Pitney and many others.

He appeared in “Katy Perry: Part of Me” from Paramount Pictures which depicted a portion of his extensive work with Perry in 2004.

He was ASCAP’s Songwriter of the Year in 2004.

In 2021, he won an Emmy for the song “Backroads”, which was recorded by Mo Pitney.

Graham began his career as a bass guitarist and singer in his hometown of Aberdeen, Scotland. In the 1980s, he moved to London and became a member of many of the most popular bands of the time, including Adam and the Ants, Nick Heyward, The Foundations, ABC, and Go West. In the 1990’s, we wrote and performed extensively with The Rembrandts. Graham has played and performed with many legends including Robert Palmer, Mick Jagger, Robbie Nevil, Celine Dion, Jeff Beck, Roger Daltry, Simon Phillips, Bill Bruford and Jack De Johnette, among others.



RYAN GROFF been a musician and private music teacher and mentor since moving to Champaign-Urbana in 2005. His long-time band, Elsinore, made multiple albums and toured the country for several years. He then joined forces with some of his closest pals to form the “power pop” band Modern Drugs in August 2020. In addition to writing, producing and singing in his current band, he also engineers and produces for other artists at his home studio, Perennial Sound. Groff is a family man who works hard to find the perfect balance between being a partner, a dad, and a full-time musician.

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SHOW & TELL PRODUCTIONS
Traversing the line between comedy and drama, the imagined and the real, SHOW & TELL PRODUCTIONS creates immersive live theater experiences combining theatrical works with moderated discussion around a single theme. Co-created by Bill Odenkirk and Sarah Edwards, SHOW & TELL is an elegant blend of the elements audiences crave in an evolving entertainment landscape.




The Champaign Park District is proud to welcome Big Grove Tavern to the historic Virginia Theatre for bar service.

Located just two blocks from the Virginia in the heart of downtown Champaign, Big Grove Tavern has been providing upscale casual American classics, elevated dishes with a Latin flair, and a legendary Sunday brunch menu since 2012. Big Grove also offers an extensive bar menu of craft cocktails, regional draft beers, and curated wines to loyal locals and curious visitors to C/U alike

Big Grove Tavern brings its regional expertise and a commitment to inclusivity, seamless service, and unmatched quality to every experience. At the Virginia, you’ll find their servers in the theatre’s lobby both before the show and during intermission (when included), offering a special selection of wine, local beer, and the occasional custom-themed cocktail!

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A VT SERIES EVENT

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PLEASE NOTE: The Virginia Theatre is pleased to bring diverse programming to the stage and screen. The Theatre cannot always provide advisories about subject matter for events, as sensitivities vary. Not all events may appeal to, or be appropriate for, every person. Patrons are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the shows offered in order to make informed decisions prior to purchasing tickets.