Chicago Shakespeare Theater News

Founding Artistic Director Jessica Beth Redish and Co-Artistic Director Jess McLeod are pleased to announce The Music Theatre Company's (TMTC) 2014-2015 season, which begins December 4, 2014 and runs through August 2015.

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. Monday night's Jeff Awards at the Drury Lane, and 'Amazing Grace' at the BOAT! Plus 2014's other Broadway In Chicago shows, The Grinch at the Chicago Theatre, local productions of 'Parade,' 'Camelot' and 'Mary Poppins,' the new 'A Christmas Memory,' and the sold-out Humanities Festival tribute to the Tonys!

On the heels of their critically acclaimed hit ALL OUR TRAGIC, The Hypocrites are pleased to continue their 2014-15 Season with another world premiere: a playful re-imaging of Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera H.M.S. PINAFORE, adapted and directed by Founding Artistic Director Sean Graney, co-directed by Thrisa Hodits with new arrangements by Matt Kahler* and Andra Velis Simon.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) presents CPS Shakespeare!, a transformative arts-in-education program that engages Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students and teachers in creating an original Shakespeare production with CST theater and education professionals.

At the gala 46th Annual Equity Jeff Awards held at Drury Lane Oakbrook on Monday, October 13, awards were spread among numerous theatres honoring a season of outstanding productions. From Writers Theatre, "The Dance of Death", a battle of wits between a tyrant and his manipulative wife, received the Production-Play award for a large theatre, along with its two principal actors Larry Yando and Shannon Cochran. "The Normal Heart", Larry Kramer's tale of the early indifference in N.Y. about the HIV/Aids crisis, presented by TimeLine Theatre Company, was honored with awards for Production-Play for a midsize theatre and for Director Nick Bowling.

The 46th Annual Jeff Awards ceremony honoring excellence in professional theatre produced within the immediate Chicago area is tonight, October 13 at Drury Lane Oakbrook, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace.

WAM Theatre's Artistic Director Kristen van Ginhoven is pleased to announce the cast and creative team for the New England premiere of In Darfur, by Winter Miller. A timely, compelling drama, In Darfur will run from October 30 - November 16 at Shakespeare & Company in the Berry Family Studio of the Elayne P. Bernstein Center.

American Theater Company (ATC), 1909 W. Byron Street, continues its 30th Anniversary season with the World Premiere of The Humans, written by Pulitzer Prize finalist and ATC signature playwright Stephen Karam and directed by ATC Artistic Director PJ Paparelli,November 14 - December 21; with an official opening night of Monday, November 17. The Humans is produced here under special arrangement with New York's Roundabout Theatre Company where it will premiere in New York next season.

John Douglas Thompson will lead a company of 19 actors playing 60 roles in the first major New York production since Broadway 1956 of Christopher Marlowe's 1587 epic Tamburlaine, Parts I and II, Jeffrey Horowitz, Founding Artistic Director of Theatre for a New Audience, announced. Directed and edited by Olivier Award-winner Michael Boyd, former Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Marlowe's two-part drama will be performed as one 3.5-hour play, plus a 30-minute intermission.

Light Opera Works will present COLE PORTER'S GREATEST HITS today, October 3 through 12 at the Nichols Concert Hall in Evanston.

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) opens its 2014-15 Mainstage Series with William Shakespeare's dark and twisted tragedy Macbeth. Under the direction of Brant Russell, Assistant Professor of Drama, Macbeth will make its CCM debut Oct. 2 through 5 in CCM's Patricia Corbett Theater, with a preview performance at 8 p.m. tonight, Oct. 1.

Quintessence Theatre Group launches its fifth season of progressive classic theatre with an all-male Shakespeare repertory: AS YOU LIKE IT presented in rotating repertory with RICHARD II. Bringing together the best professional actors and designers from Philadelphia and across the country, Artistic Director Alexander Burns leads this collective of artists on a mission to ignite the classics through visceral, actor-focused and text-driven productions. AS YOU LIKE IT will begin previews today, October 1 at 7pm and open on Saturday, October 4 at 8pm. RICHARD II will begin previews on Thursday, October 9 at 7pm and open on Saturday, October 18 at 8pm. All performances are at the Sedgwick Theater, 7137 Germantown Ave in Mt Airy, Philadelphia, PA.

MetLife Foundation and Theatre Communications Group (TCG) announce the seventh round recipients of the MetLife/TCG A-ha! Program: Think It, Do It, which empowers TCG Member Theatres to take groundbreaking approaches to artistic, managerial, production and/or technological challenges and opportunities. Six theatres were awarded grants totaling $200,000 to either research and develop new ideas, or experiment and implement innovative concepts.

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) opens its 2014-15 Mainstage Series with William Shakespeare's dark and twisted tragedy Macbeth. Under the direction of Brant Russell, Assistant Professor of Drama, Macbeth will make its CCM debut Oct. 2 through 5 in CCM's Patricia Corbett Theater, with a preview performance at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 1.

Due to popular demand, Route 66 Theatre Company's hit world premiere The Downpour, by Caitlin Parrish, directed by Route 66 Theatre Company's Associate Artistic Director, Erica Weiss is adding one additional week of performances, extending through October 19, 2014. The Downpour is playing at the Greenhouse Theater Center: 2257 N Lincoln Avenue in Chicago. Tickets are at www.greenhousetheater.org, by calling 773.404.7336, or in person at the Greenhouse Theater Center box office. Press comps are still available for reviews.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) presents Isango Ensemble's The Magic Flute (Impempe Yomlingo), bringing thirty actors and musicians from South Africa to Chicago as part of CST's celebrated World's Stage Series. The Magic Flute reimagines Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's most beloved operatic work, incorporating African singing, pulsating beats and spirited storytelling into this 223-year-old classic. Based in Cape Town, the vibrant company of the Isango Ensemble unites the diverse nation of Africa by reinventing classics from the Western theater canon within a South African setting. Adapted and directed by Isango co-founder Mark Dornford-May, The Magic Flute took London by storm, garnering London's prestigious Laurence Olivier Award. The production will be performed at Skyline Stage on Navy Pier (next door to CST) for a limited engagement, September 25-28, 2014. Check out highlights below!

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) presents Isango Ensemble's The Magic Flute (Impempe Yomlingo), bringing thirty actors and musicians from South Africa to Chicago as part of CST's celebrated World's Stage Series. The Magic Flute reimagines Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's most beloved operatic work, incorporating African singing, pulsating beats and spirited storytelling into this 223-year-old classic. Based in Cape Town, the vibrant company of the Isango Ensemble unites the diverse nation of Africa by reinventing classics from the Western theater canon within a South African setting. Adapted and directed by Isango co-founder Mark Dornford-May, The Magic Flute took London by storm, garnering London's prestigious Laurence Olivier Award. The production will be performed at Skyline Stage on Navy Pier (next door to CST) for a limited engagement, today, September 25-28, 2014.

Primary Stages in association with Susan Dietz (Fela!, Mothers and Sons), presents the world premiere of While I Yet Live by the Tony-winning star of Kinky Boots and Angels in America, Billy Porter, and directed by Tony Award nominee Sheryl Kaller (Mothers and Sons, Next Fall, Adrift in Macao). While I Yet Live plays a limited, six-week engagement, tonight, September 24, through October 31 at Primary Stages at The Duke on 42nd Street - a NEW 42ND STREET project (229 West 42nd Street). Opening night is Sunday, October 12 at 5PM.