New Comedy Launches TADA Theatricals, a New Chicago-Based Theatrical Producing Company

The new Stan Zimmerman and ChristIan McLaughlin play, Knife to the Heart: The Circumcision Comedy, held a starry private reading on May 8, 2017, at Chicago's The Second City, the iconic institution home to some of the world's greatest comedy, produced by Steve Abrams, Tony D'Angelo, Stefani Nicole von Huben, Kim Stafford and Tommy Lipnick. Readings for potential investors and invited industry members are in preparation for a slated Chicago run in Spring 2018 at the Broadway Playhouse (exact dates to be announced), and mark the launch of new Chicago-based commercial producing team TADA Theatricals, led by Chicago theatre veterans Steve Abrams and Tony D'Angelo. TADA Theatricals will bring vibrant new work to audiences in Chicago and beyond, with a commitment to creating job opportunities for Chicago's world-class arsenal of theatrical talent.

The cast for the Chicago reading of Knife to the Heart included Marilu Henner ("Taxi"), Esteban Andres Cruz (Domesticated), Jürgen Hooper (Brighton Beach Memoirs), Kierra Bunch (The Sun Always Shines for the Cool), and Chelsea Kane ("Baby Daddy"). Gary Griffin (Broadway's The Color Purple, Associate Artistic Director of Chicago Shakespeare Theatre) directed and is scheduled to direct the world premiere in Chicago.

The play attracted much attention last fall following a Los Angeles reading at the Lex Theatre. That cast included Wendie Malick ("Hot in Cleveland"), Todd Sherry ("Parks & Recreation"), Katie Walder ("How I Met Your Mother"), and Josh Zuckerman ("Desperate Housewives").

The debut of Knife to the Heart marks the first of many projects currently in development for TADA Theatricals as they forge a new era in Chicago's vibrant theatrical legacy, and aim to galvanize its wealth of world-class theatrical talent to provide a launching pad for new commercial theatrical work. TADA's Steve Abrams has been a force in Chicago theatre for more than two decades, at Steppenwolf, Harris Theater for Music and Dance at Millennium Park, Chicago Children's Theatre and is the guest Artistic Director of Chicago's massive Navy Pier. Tony D'Angelo brings over 35 years as the co-founder, producer and Managing Director of Candlelight Dinner Theatre and Forum Theatre and has produced numerous commercial productions.

For more about investment opportunities, and to sign up to receive additional production details as they are announced, visit www.knifetotheheart.com.

When Marshall and Julie Ann Katz discover that they have twin boys on the way, no one is kvelling more than Marshall's mother Rhonda-queen of Texas organic foods, and the 21st century Jewish mother we've been waiting for. But when it's time to decide whether or not to circumcise the twins, the whole family is pulled into an uproarious tug-of-war, with a little help from YouTube, a meddling gay schoolteacher, and more than a few centuries of tradition. By the time it's over, there's no telling who (or what) will be left intact.