Barbara Gaines News

Back by popular demand, Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) announces the highly anticipated return of the cheeky holiday classic Q Brothers Christmas Carol, from hip-hop sensations the Q Brothers Collective and developed with CST Creative Producer Rick Boynton. After three wildly successful runs in 2013, 2014, and 2015 to sold-out houses, the raucous and irreverent musical event now takes the stage of the Theater's innovative third venue, The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare, November 21-December 31, 2017.

Greenhouse Theater Center has launched its 2017-18 season with Artistic Director Jacob Harvey and Elizabeth Margolius' bold reimagining of Sophie Treadwell's most celebrated play, MACHINAL.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) Artistic Director Barbara Gaines stages Shakespeare's raucous comedy The Taming of the Shrew with a powerhouse, all-woman cast-setting up a witty and thought-provoking debate on politics, power, and love. Framed as a performance by a band of Suffragettes with additional dialogue by Second City's Ron West, The Taming of the Shrew launches Chicago Shakespeare's 2017/18 Season in the Courtyard Theater, September 16-November 12, 2017.

Audiences will be swept away by the life-changing, four-day love affair in the lush musical 'The Bridges of Madison County' at Peninsula Players Theatre July 26 through August 13, 2017.   One of the most romantic stories ever written, 'The Bridges of Madison County' first captured the nation's attention in 1992 as a best-selling novel, then again in 1995 as a major motion picture.  It is now an irresistible, two-time Tony Award-winning musical.

Greenhouse Theater Center has launched its 2017-18 season with Artistic Director Jacob Harvey and Elizabeth Margolius' bold reimagining of Sophie Treadwell's most celebrated play, MACHINAL.

On Today, July 1, from 7 pm to 10:30 pm, Brookfield Theatre presents Christmas in July: Battle of the Christmas Musicals. This festive event treats audiences to 45-minute previews of 3 brand new holiday-themed musicals. At the end of the evening, audiences vote for their favorite and the winning show will be performed as a full-length staged reading in December. Come meet the writers, enjoy the shows, and vote for your favorite musical!

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) announces a World's Stage production in its soon-to-be-completed new venue, The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare: Teatro Linea de Sombra's evocative Amarillo, October 17-29, 2017. Devised by one of Mexico's most celebrated and forward-thinking ensembles and directed by Jorge A. Vargas, Amarillo will be the largest international theatrical event of the inaugural Chicago International Latino Theater Festival - Destinos (d?-stee-noce).

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) celebrated the culmination of the 30th Anniversary Season with GALA 2017 on Friday, June 9, 2017 at the Theater's home on Navy Pier-raising a record-breaking $1.74 million for Chicago Shakespeare in Classrooms and Communities initiatives.

On Saturday, July 1, from 7 pm to 10:30 pm, Brookfield Theatre presents Christmas in July: Battle of the Christmas Musicals. This festive event treats audiences to 45-minute previews of 3 brand new holiday-themed musicals. At the end of the evening, audiences vote for their favorite and the winning show will be performed as a full-length staged reading in December. Come meet the writers, enjoy the shows, and vote for your favorite musical!

In a high-risk world of quick profits and borrowed luxury, Timon is a financial god among men. But when the tides of monetary fortune turn, and his former friends become ruthless creditors, Timon is left in an all-too-familiar financial freefall. The cast of Artistic Director Barbara Gaines' staging of Shakespeare's powerful, rarely produced dark satire is led by Tony Award winner Ian McDiarmid-an internationally celebrated actor whose credits range from performances with the Royal Shakespeare Company and on Broadway, to a turn as Senator and Evil Emperor Palpatine in the Star Wars films.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) celebrates the culmination of the 30th Anniversary Season with GALA 2017 on Friday, June 9, 2017 at the Theater's home on Navy Pier, and offers attendees a first look at the Theater's dynamic new performance venue in-progress-The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) announces the cast and creative team for the summer family musical production Madagascar - A Musical Adventure, at the Theater's home on Navy Pier, July 13-August 27, 2017. Newly announced, Rachel Rockwell will take the helm as the production's director and choreographer. Based on the DreamWorks Animation motion picture, this wild and wacky musical is written by Kevin Del Aguila-the Emmy Award-winning writer of the animated PBS hit Peg Cat-with original music and lyrics by creative duo George Noriega and Joel Someillan, who have developed music for popular children's series, including Dora the Explorer and Go Diego Go.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST), the City of Chicago, Chicago Park District and Boeing partner to present the annual citywide summer tradition, Chicago Shakespeare in the Parks. Made possible by production sponsor BMO Harris, 25 performances of Shakespeare's timeless classic Romeo and Juliet, adapted and directed by Marti Lyons, will tour to 18 neighborhood parks across the City, July 26-August 27, 2017.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST), the City of Chicago, Chicago Park District and Boeing partner to present the annual citywide summer tradition, Chicago Shakespeare in the Parks. Made possible by production sponsor BMO Harris, 25 performances of Shakespeare's timeless classic Romeo and Juliet, adapted and directed by Marti Lyons, will tour to 18 neighborhood parks across the City, July 26-August 27, 2017.

The Greenhouse Theater Center is pleased to announce its 2017-18 Season, kicking off this summer with Artistic Director Jacob Harvey and Elizabeth Margolius' bold reimagining of Sophie Treadwell's most celebrated play MACHINAL, inspired by the first woman to be executed by the electric chair. 

Chicago Shakespeare Theater announces nine productions of the 2017/18 Season-which will engage audiences with timeless stories in transformational settings. The season also marks the introduction of the Theater's new and innovative third performance venue, The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare. Additional productions are to be announced this summer.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater  (CST) continues its summer tradition of vibrant family programming with Madagascar - A Musical Adventure, directed and choreographed by Matt Raftery at the Theater's home on Navy Pier, July 13-August 27, 2017. Based on the DreamWorks Animation motion picture, this wild and wacky new musical is written by Emmy Award-winner Kevin Del Aguila with original music and lyrics by George Noriega and Joel Someillan.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) brings to the stage one of the most popular romantic films of all time, Shakespeare in Love-in an enchanting, music-filled theatrical event staged by acclaimed director Rachel Rockwell. Based on the Academy Award-winner for Best Picture with screenplay by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard, Shakespeare in Love is adapted for the stage by Tony and Olivier Award-winner Lee Hall. Culminating the Theater's 30th Anniversary Season, this high-spirited romantic comedy is magnificently rendered onstage in the magical intimacy of Chicago Shakespeare's Courtyard Theater, April 15-June 11, 2017.

Chicago Shakespeare presents the world premiere of The Book of Joseph, a new play by award-winning playwright Karen Hartman that chronicles three generations of the Hollander family. Richard Hollander was devastated when his parents were killed in an accident. While cleaning out their attic, he discovered a suitcase of letters written in Polish and German during World War II by a family he never knew-his father's mother, three sisters, and their husbands and children-depicting day-to-day life under the most painful of circumstances in occupied Poland. Richard went on to discover that at the time the letters were written, his own father, Joseph, was fighting the United States government to avoid deportation and death.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) announces the cast and creative team for Short Shakespeare! Romeo and Juliet, a 75-minute abridgment of William Shakespeare's classic tale of true love found-and tragically lost. Adapted and directed by Marti Lyons and featuring a dynamic ensemble cast, the production speaks to today's young people about their own lives. In addition to public performances on Saturdays, this production welcomes 1,000 students each day during its five-week run in the Courtyard Theater, followed by an extensive tour to schools across the region through April 28, 2017. Short Shakespeare! Romeo and Juliet will be performed for the public Saturdays at 11:00 a.m., February 25-March 25, 2017.