About Busted City Productions

 

Busted City Productions LLC was founded for the express purpose of creating the film Busted City. Written by Paul L. Carr and produced as a stage play in both 2008 and 2012 by Prop Thtr in Chicago, the plays were directed by Prop Thtr co-artistic director Stefan Brun. Since the theme of Busted City is racial politics, the play was mounted on both occasions during the Presidential Election race, which featured many of the same racial undercurrents. A black man as mayor of Chicago? A black man as President of the United States? Could such a thing really happen?

Busted City is a story told from the neighborhoods, from the street. The visceral tension is authentic to the election season of 1983, when Harold Washington was elected as mayor of Chicago, the first black man to attain the office. It was an extraordinarily bitter and divisive contest, pitting him against the incumbent and first woman elected as Chicago’s mayor, Jane Byrne, while the race also included the favorite son of many, Richard M. Daley. It was man against woman, black against white, North Side Irish against South Side Irish, the lakefront against the Bungalow Belt, and everyone got dirtied up. It was nasty.

Just 15 years earlier in 1968, vast areas of the city went up in flames after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. And in spite of the ugly racial battles that rocked the city and scarred it and in some ways defined it, Harold Washington was able to overcome intense opposition to win an historic victory. And while Chicago is still a city divided and segregated in too many ways, in 1983 it was unabashedly and matter-of-factly a city of Lines. Everyone knew of a Line that was a cut-off for one race’s territory. It might be Western Avenue on the South Side, but that was just one of many. And everyone knew you better look out if you crossed The Line.

After an incredibly hostile campaign that featured plenty of fear-mongering and race-baiting, where racist flyers and watermelon lapel pins were not uncommon, Chicago did what many considered unthinkable and elected Harold Washington. Since then, a black man and another Chicagoan named Barack Obama went on to win the Presidency, breaking yet another barrier. But in 1983 it was a man named Harold Washington who first made history. If you lived in Chicago you surely remember the intensity and turmoil, the fear and hysteria, the disbelief and hope. Because if it could happen in Chicago, it could happen anywhere.

 

The actors

Mike Byrne (Jimbo) is a retired Chicago Police Lieutenant with 28 years of service and approximately 400 Department awards, and a former Infantry Captain in the USAR with ten years active/reserve. Besides playing a retired cop in Busted City, he played a Chicago Police Detective in the ABC 6 person show by Jerry Bruckheimer, Take the Money and Run, in 2011. In 2013 he was CPD Detective Murphy in the Tru tv show Chicago Hard Core Pawn. He has also appeared in two films, received training for voice-overs and completed a voice-over demo by Angelo and Kathy Bosco. Byrne is a member of SAG-AFTRA.

Guy DiBenedetto (Theo) is a graduate from Columbia College. His early interest in film led him to become a stand-in in several films that passed through Chicago. He has been a stand-in for such actors as George Clooney, Mel Gibson, Robert Downey Jr. and Peter Gallagher. Since that time, Guy has studied at Victory Gardens, Act One, Center Theater, The Actors Center and most recently, The Green Room. He has appeared in productions of The Dining Room, Hapgood, Spring Dance, Ikke Ikke Nye Nye Nye, The Seagull and The Works of Tennessee Williams. Guy took a break from acting to obtain his Masters Degree. He now works at Fox-TV as a freelance floor director and is a member of The Directors Guild. In 2011, Guy returned to acting and was in the independent film, The Executioner. Guy is thrilled to be working with Prop Thtr for the first time and excited to be a part of Busted City. Guy is a member of SAG, AFTRA and DGA. A special thanks to Turk Muller. Your memory lives on.

Veteran actor Arch Harmon (Ace) has been a well-known presence in Chicago theatre for decades. He is currently a member of both Halycon Theater and the National Pastime Theater companies and is an associate member of the Prop Thtr. ensemble. Whether playing Ace the mailman in Busted City or Sigmund Freud, Arch is known for bringing intensity, intelligence and commitment to every role he performs.

Nick Leininger (Johnny Jr.) is a well-seasoned actor who has been performing and studying in Chicago since 2005. A graduate of Roosevelt University, where he received his BFA in Theater Performance, he has been seen in over 30 shows. Nick has worked with the likes of The Factory Theater, The Bruised Orange Theater, The Curious Theater Branch, Dog and Pony Theater, Chicago Shakespeare, The Silent Theater, and the Prop Thtr, with whom he has been a company member for over 10 years. Nick is also very involved with his agents at BMG! In the growing film world in Chicago, he has appeared in a dozen commercials and continues work with independent film projects, many of which are in association with We're So Screwed Productions.

Tony Pulgine (Al) is a part-time actor, full-time husband and father, and will always be "Al da cop." Having been blessed with the opportunity to bring Al to life in both the original 2008 stage production and the play remount & film in 2012, Tony will always carry a piece of Al in his heart. He thanks his beautiful wife and children for humoring his thespian aspirations and says God Bless Turk Muller, the original Jimbo.