Broadway In Chicago Announces 2011 Spring Season Series

Broadway In Chicago is proud to announce the complete 2011 Broadway In Chicago Spring Season Series. This season will include LES MISÉRABLES, WORKING, HAIR, THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, Wishful Drinking and NEXT TO NORMAL. Off-Season Specials include RAIN: A TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES, SPRING AWAKENING and DISNEY'S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.

The 2011 Spring Season Series emphasizes Broadway In Chicago's long-standing commitment to bringing the best of Broadway to Chicago. The complete season lineup, including performance dates, is as follows:

Les Misérables
February 2 - 27, 2011
Cadillac Palace Theatre
Cameron Mackintosh presents a brand new 25th anniversary production of Boublil & Schönberg's legendary musical, LES MISÉRABLES, with glorious new staging and spectacular re-imagined scenery inspired by the paintings of Victor Hugo. This new production has already been acclaimed by critics, fans and new audiences and is breaking box office records wherever it goes. The London Times hails the new show "a five star hit, astonishingly powerful and as good as the original." The Western Mail says "an outstanding success."

Working
February 15 - May 8, 2011
Broadway Playhouse
WORKING is a vital new musical based on the book by Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Chicago's own Studs Terkel. Newly adapted by Stephen Schwartz (WICKED, PIPPIN and GODSPELL), WORKING is the working man's A CHORUS LINE. It is a musical exploration of people from all walks of life, with twenty-six songs by all-star composers Craig Carnelia, Micki Grant, Tony Award^TM winning Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mary Rodgers, Susan Birkenhead, Stephen Schwartz and Grammy Award^TM winning James Taylor. WORKING celebrates everyday people, fills you with hope and inspiration and is the perfect musical for anyone who has ever worked a day in their lives.

Hair
March 8 - 20, 2011
Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre
The Public Theater's 2009 Tony-winning production of HAIR is an electric celebration on stage! This exuberant musical about a group of young Americans searching for peace and love in a turbulent time has struck a resonant chord with audiences young and old. Its ground breaking rock score paved the way for some of the greatest musicals of our time. HAIR features an extraordinary cast and dozens of unforgettable songs, including "Aquarius," "Let the Sun Shine In," "Good Morning, Starshine" and "Easy To Be Hard." Its relevance is UNDENIABLE. Its energy is UNBRIDLED. Its truth is UNWAVERING. It's HAIR, and IT'S TIME.

Merchant of Venice
March 15 - 27, 2011
Bank of America Theatre
From the acclaimed Theatre for a New Audience, the first U.S. theatre to be invited to the Royal Shakespeare Company, comes Shakespeare's tragicomedy following command runs Off- Broadway and in Stratford-Upon-Avon. Starring Oscar winner F. Murray Abraham in his riveting portrayal of Shylock, and directed by Darko Tresnjak (former Artistic Director, Old Globe), the play has been arousing controversies for centuries with raucous and gentle comedy, tender poetry, and its struggle with mercy and justice. In this riveting update, religion, race and sexuality collide with love, family and justice and the currency of society and humanity has never been so changeable.

Wishful Drinking
April 5 - 17, 2011
Bank of America Theatre
Wishful Drinking, Carrie Fisher's autobiographical solo show, follows Fisher's life. Born to celebrity parents, Fisher lands among the stars when she's picked to play a princess in a little movie called ‘Star Wars.' But her story isn't all sweetness and light sabers. As a single mom, she also battles addiction, depression, mental institutions, and that awful hyperspace hairdo. It's an incredible tale-from having her father leave her mother for ElizaBeth Taylor to marrying and divorcing singer/songwriter Paul Simon, from having the father of her baby leave her for a man to waking up one morning and finding a friend dead beside her in bed. Don't miss this opportunity to see Carrie Fisher's hit Broadway show.

Next to Normal
April 26 - May 8, 2011
Bank of America Theatre
From the director of Rent comes the most talked about new show on Broadway, NEXT TO NORMAL, winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and three 2009 Tony Awards including Best Score. Alice Ripley who received the 2009 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, will reprise her acclaimed performance in Chicago. Having been chosen as "one of the year's ten best" by major critics around the country, NEXT TO NORMAL is an emotional powerhouse of a musical with a thrilling contemporary score about a family trying to take care of themselves and each other. The New York Times calls NEXT TO NORMAL "a brave, breathtaking musical. A work of muscular grace and power. It is much more than a feel-good musical; it is a feel-everything musical." Rolling Stone raves, "It is the best musical of the season - by a mile. It'll pin you to your seat."

The lineup will also feature the opportunity for priority purchase of the following 2011 Off-Season Specials:

Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles
February 8 - 13, 2011
Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre
RAIN, the acclaimed Beatles concert, returns by popular demand, direct from Broadway! They look like them and they sound just like them! "The next best thing to seeing The Beatles," raves the Denver Post. All the music and vocals are performed totally live! RAIN covers The Beatles from the earliest beginnings through the psychedelic late 60s and their long-haired hippie, hard-rocking rooftop days. RAIN is a multi-media, multi-dimensional experience...a fusion of historical footage and hilarious television commercials from the 1960s lights up video screens and live cameras zoom in for close-ups. "A thrilling bit of time-warping nostalgia...Boomer Heaven!" raves The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "Uncanny! RAIN are a quartet of fine musicians in their own right...as The Beatles, they triumph!" cheers the Boston Herald. "An adoring Valentine to The Beatles," declares the Washington Post. Sing along with your family and friends to such favorites as "Let It Be," "Hey Jude," "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Come Together" and "Can't Buy Me Love," and relive Beatlemania from Ed Sullivan to Abbey Road!

Spring Awakening
May 3 - 8, 2011
Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre
The winner of 8 Tony Awards, including Best Musical - told by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater through "The most gorgeous Broadway score this decade" (Entertainment Weekly) - SPRING AWAKENING explores the journey from adolescence to adulthood with poignancy and passion you will never forget. The landmark musical SPRING AWAKENING is an electrifying fusion of morality, sexuality and rock & roll that is exhilarating audiences across the nation like no other musical in years. Join this group of late 19th century German students on their passage, as they navigate teenage self-discovery and coming of age anxiety in a powerful celebration of youth and rebellion in the daring, remarkable SPRING AWAKENING. "Broadway may never be the same again!" NY TIMES

Disney's Beauty and the Beast
June 28 - July 10, 2011
Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre
The romantic Broadway musical for all generations, NETworks presentation of DISNEY'S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, the smash hit Broadway musical, returns to Chicago! Based on the Academy Award-winning animated feature film, this eye-popping spectacle has won the hearts of over 35 million people worldwide. Hailed by the Chicago Sun-Times as "warm and winning performances, a tuneful score, and real heart," the classic musical love story is filled with unforgettable characters, lavish sets and costumes, and dazzling production numbers including "Be Our Guest" and the beloved title song. Experience the romance and enchantment of DISNEY'S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST!

2011 Broadway In Chicago Spring Season Series ticket holders will receive a multitude of special benefits, including savings up to 64%, priority seating at each venue, ticket exchange privileges, pre-paid and discounted parking, access to gift cards to give tickets as gifts, as well as the first opportunity to purchase additional tickets to future Broadway In ChicaGo Productions, including those not currently listed in the 2011 Season Series. 2011 Season Series subscription packages are on sale now, and are available by logging onto www.BroadwayInChicago.com or calling the Season Ticket Hotline at (312) 977-1717.

Group tickets are currently available for all of the 2011 Season Series shows. Groups of 15 or more may receive a discount on most shows by calling (312) 977-1710. 2011 Season Series subscription packages will go on-sale to new subscribers on September 12, 2010. Broadway In Chicago gift certificates, which can be redeemed for any production or for season ticket packages, can be obtained at Broadway In Chicago box offices, www.BroadwayInChicago.com or by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 775-2000.