Chicago Shakespeare Theatre News

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley continues its 2015/2016 season with David Auburn's brilliant contemporary drama Proof, winner of the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. This riveting masterpiece tells the still timely tale of a young woman caught in a quest for legitimacy in the male dominated world of high-level science. It is a mystery of family instability and fledgling romance, an exhilarating, funny, and fulfilling tribute to the humanity that permeates our world of equations, equivocations, and codes. Proof will be directed by TheatreWorks Associate Artistic Director Leslie Martinson and features a talented cast including L. Peter Callender, Michelle Beck, Ashley Bryant, and Lance Gardner.

Strawdog Theatre Company and Artistic Director Hank Boland are proud to announce the first main stage production in its 2015 - 2016 season, Patrick Marber's After Miss Julie, has been extended through October 3, directed by Elly Green, at Strawdog Theatre Company, 3829 N. Broadway St. The performance schedule is Thursdays, Fridays and Todays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m.  Single Tickets are $28 and on sale now. Subscriptions, group, rush, senior and student discounts are also available. Tickets may be ordered online at strawdog.org or by calling OvationTix toll-free: 866-811-4111.

The Fulton Theatre kicks off its 166th season, in deliciously ghoulish fashion, with the creepy, kooky hit THE ADDAMS FAMILY. Gomez, Morticia, and their family of misfits, prove that you can pick everything but your family...THAT you're born with.

Paul Crewes, the pioneering head of Great Britain's innovative Kneehigh Theatre group, will take the artistic helm next month at the two-year old performing arts center in the heart of Beverly Hills.

Hailed as "the theatrical equivalent of a page turner" (The Daily Mail), An Inspector Calls is a gripping, psychological thriller. The respectable Birling family is at home hosting a dinner party in honor of their daughter's recent engagement, when an unforeseen knock at the door brings a sudden stop to the celebration. Enter Inspector Goole, who brings word of the unexpected death of a young woman. The questioning of each family member begins, dark secrets are uncovered and slowly the mystery surrounding the untimely death unravels.

The Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire, wraps up their sensational 40th Anniversary 2015 Season with one of Broadway's newest holiday comedies, ELF, previewing October 21, opening Sunday, November 1 and running through December 31.

Jack Eidson & Sally Lindel present the World Premiere of THE LILLIPUT TROUPE, a new play with music by Gaby FeBland. Directed by Alex Benjamin, performances begin November 6 at Off-Broadway's Chernuchin Theatre at the American Theatre of Actors.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley continues its 2015/2016 season with David Auburn's brilliant contemporary drama Proof, winner of the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. This riveting masterpiece tells the still timely tale of a young woman caught in a quest for legitimacy in the male dominated world of high-level science. It is a mystery of family instability and fledgling romance, an exhilarating, funny, and fulfilling tribute to the humanity that permeates our world of equations, equivocations, and codes. Proof will be directed by TheatreWorks Associate Artistic Director Leslie Martinson and features a talented cast including L. Peter Callender, Michelle Beck, Ashley Bryant, and Lance Gardner. Performances will be presented October 7 - November 1 (press opening October 10) at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro Street (at Mercy), Mountain View. For tickets ($19-$80) and information the public may visit www.TheatreWorks.org or call (650) 463-1960.

 Irish Theatre of Chicago is pleased to launch its 2015-16 Season with the Midwest premiere of Geraldine Aron's touching and comedic one-woman show MY BRILLIANT DIVORCE, directed by Siiri Scott and featuring ensemble member Barbara Figgins*. MY BRILLIANT DIVORCE will play October 7 - November 1, 2015 at Chief O'Neill's Pub & Restaurant, 3471 N. Elston Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are currently available at www.irishtheatreofchicago.org.  The press opening is Thursday, October 8 at 7:30 pm.

Peninsula Players Theatre, America's Oldest Professional Resident Summer Theater and Door County's theatrical icon, continues its 80th season with the hilarious musical comedy 'Nunsense,' with book, music and lyrics by Dan Goggin. The lighthearted musical has a six-week run starting tonight, Sept. 9, through Oct. 18. 'Nunsense' received the Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Musical, Best Book, Best Music and Best Off-Broadway Musical.

Peninsula Players Theatre, America's Oldest Professional Resident Summer Theater and Door County's theatrical icon, continues its 80th season with the hilarious musical comedy "Nunsense," with book, music and lyrics by Dan Goggin.    The lighthearted musical has a six-week run starting Sept. 9 through Oct. 18.  "Nunsense" received the Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Musical, Best Book, Best Music and Best Off-Broadway Musical. 

The Fulton Theatre kicks off its 166th season, in deliciously ghoulish fashion, with the creepy, kooky hit THE ADDAMS FAMILY. Gomez, Morticia, and their family of misfits, prove that you can pick everything but your family...THAT you're born with.

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. It's a Super September Preview! We've got the low-down on 16 musical productions you will want to see this month, from city to suburbs, big theaters to small, premieres and old favorites galore! 'Side Show,' 'Dogfight,' 'Next To Normal,' 'Oklahoma!,' 'Spamalot,' 'Blood Brothers,' 'October Sky,' CST's 'Ride The Cyclone' and much more!

Strawdog Theatre Company and Artistic Director Hank Boland are proud to announce the first main stage production in its 2015 - 2016 season, Patrick Marber's After Miss Julie, has been extended through October 3, directed by Elly Green, at Strawdog Theatre Company, 3829 N. Broadway St. The performance schedule is Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m.  Single Tickets are $28 and on sale now. Subscriptions, group, rush, senior and student discounts are also available. Tickets may be ordered online at strawdog.org or by calling OvationTix toll-free: 866-811-4111.

Quintessence Theatre Group launches its sixth season of progressive classic theatre with Shakespeare's romantic tragedy ROMEO AND JULIET presented in rotating repertory with Wallace Shawn's celebrated translation of Machiavelli's sex comedy THE MANDRAKE. A nine actor repertory ensemble comprised of Quintessence's best and director Alexander Burns will continue to establish Quintessence's brand of full throttle epic classic theatre for today. ROMEO AND JULIET will begin previews on Wednesday, September 30 at 7pm and open on Saturday, October 3 at 8pm.  THE MANDRAKE will begin previews on Wednesday, October 14 at 7pm and open on Saturday, October 17 at 8pm. All performances are at the Sedgwick Theater, 7137 Germantown Ave in Mt Airy, Philadelphia, 19119. To purchase tickets visit www.QuintessenceTheatre.org or call 215.987.4450.

Actor Becca McCoy's entertaining and heart-warming tour-de-force cabaret will be presented again by popular demand at American Stage.

California Shakespeare Theater concludes its 2015 Main Stage season with King Lear, Shakespeare's most brilliant and profound tragedy, helmed by nationally-acclaimed director Amanda Dehnert, and featuring two-time Tony nominee and film star Anthony Heald (Silence of the Lambs, Broadway's The Elephant Man with Bradley Cooper) in the title role. King Lear plays at the BART-accessible Bruns Amphitheater from September 16 through October 11.

The Nevada Conservatory Theatre (NCT) will present the new musical 'ACE' in a fully-staged concert setting for two performances only today and tomorrow, August 22 and 23, 2015 at 1 p.m. in the Judy Bayley Theatre.

Becca McCoy went from being a working actor in Chicago to a stay at home mom in Palatka, Florida, and lived to tell the tale, as a cabaret. The award-winning national performer, a native of St. Petersburg, crafted a taut hour-long solo-show giving the universal story of 'blooming where you're planted' a fresh and engaging treatment in THE PEARL IN THE HOGWALLER, whose title comes from Palatka's wildly popular and best-known attraction: a mudbog.