Uncle Dan's offers free socks!

Beat Chicago's Arctic Blast with free socks from Uncle Dan's, the official outdoor apparel and equipment sponsor of Victory Gardens Theater's A Big Blue Nail

CHICAGO, January 22, 2008 – Have cold feet due to Chicago’s current blast of Arctic weather?

Then head over to Uncle Dan’s, The Great Outdoor Store, 2440 N. Lincoln Avenue, the Official Outdoor Apparel and Equipment Sponsor of A Big Blue Nail, Victory Gardens Biograph Theater’s new North Pole docu-drama. Say BLUE NAIL when you sign up for Uncle Dan’s E-Club newsletter, and get a free pair of Smartwool socks, a $17 value.

Likewise, Uncle Dan’s E-club subscribers will get an exclusive offer for 2-for-1 tickets to A Big Blue Nail, Victory Gardens’ world premiere play about the first successful polar expedition.

Why the promotional link-up? For one, A Big Blue Nail chronicles the celebrity of Robert Peary, the ambitious explorer who lost several toes to frostbite on his way to becoming the first man to reach the North Pole back in 1909.

Additionally, Victory Gardens hopes Uncle Dan’s customer base of winter sports enthusiasts will be intrigued by playwright Carlyle Brown’s bracing account of Peary’s first successful polar expedition, and his frigid relationship with his African-American guide, Matthew Henson, who received little acknowledgement but should have rightfully shared Peary’s glory. Directed by Loy Arcenas, A Big Blue Nail unfolds through a series of scenes shifting between the past, the present, the chaotic world of ice and snow on the Polar Sea, and the surreal landscape of Peary's guilt-ridden mind.

Uncle Dan’s free socks offer is available at their 2440 N. Lincoln Avenue location only – directly across the street from the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater - during the run of A Big Blue Nail, January 25-March 2, 2008. There is a limited supply of 200 socks – first come, first served.

Low-priced previews of A Big Blue Nail begin January 25, 2008. Press opening is Monday, February 4 at 7:30 pm. Regular performances continue through March 2 at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago. For tickets and information, call the Victory Gardens box office, (773) 871-3000, or purchase tickets online at Victory Gardens newly enhanced website, VictoryGardens.org.