Gertrude Stein News

As previously announced, Beautiful Soup's critically acclaimed production of Little Wars returns for an extended engagement at The Dorothy Strelsin Theatre. The play will run in repertory with a workshop of McCasland's latest play, Shades Of Blue: The Decline and Fall of Lady Day.

A dramatized reading of 'Gertrude Stein and a Companion', a play by Win Wells, will be performed by Judith Rane and Judith Kendall and directed by Lynn Hamrick on Sunday, June 1 at 2:00 pm at Teatro Paraguas.

Lookingglass Theatre Company announces an extension of In the Garden: A Darwinian Love Story, the World-Premiere production by Artistic Associate Sara Gmitter and directed by Jessica Thebus. The show now runs through Sunday, June 29, 2014. The two-week extension goes on sale to the public on Thursday, May 15, 2014. In the Garden runs at Lookingglass Theatre Company, located inside Chicago's historic Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. at Pearson.

COMPAGNIA DE' COLOMBARI and THE STUDIO FOR ART, FAITH AND HISTORY are pleased to announce the international production of ORFEO IN ORVIETO, conceived by Karin Coonrod and John Conklin, based on the opera Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi, with musical arrengements and conducted by Gina Leishman, directed by Coonrod. ORFEO IN ORVIETO will play Friday, July 4th, Saturday, July 5th and Sunday, July 6th at 8:30 PM at the Palazzo Simoncelli in Orvieto, Italy.

Nancy Rhodes, artistic director of Encompass New Opera Theatre, announced today that Klea Blackburst, actress, singer and comedienne best known for her award-winning tribute to Ethel Merman, Everything The Traffic Will Allow, will be the featured performer at the Encompass Jazz Cabaret Gala in Manhattan on June 25th, 2014. The benefit will take place at 7:00 PM in a spacious penthouse with panoramic views at 66 Leonard Street.

SimonSays Entertainment, helmed by Ron Simons, a three-time Tony Award nominee and a two-time Tony Award winner, has joined the producing team of "5 Lesbians Eating A Quiche.' SimonSays Entertainment is a production company which develops projects of underrepresented communities for film, television, and live theatre, has joined lead producers Chicago Commercial Collective and Pinckard Production Partners. The show having previously run to rave reviews in Chicago and New York City opened today at the Chopin Theatre in Chicago. The New York Times said the work's "raw and magnetic dementia seems destined to attract a cult following."

Skylight Music Theatre is premiering a new work by Milwaukee native Daron Hagen titled I Hear America Singing. The production runs tonight, May 9 through June 1 in the Studio Theatre at the Broadway Theatre Center (158 N. Broadway, Milwaukee WI).

As a highlight of its 2014 Spring Festival, 'Sleeping Around: the Cultural Lives of New York's Hotels,' Symphony Space presents Virgil Thomson and Friends at the Chelsea Hotel tonight, May 8 (7:30 pm) in the Leonard Nimoy Thalia.

Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma announce Writers Theatre's World Premiere production of Days Like Today, with music and lyrics by Alan Schmuckler and book by Laura Eason, directed by Artistic Director Michael Halberstam, music direction by Doug Peck and choreography by Tommy Rapley. The production runs today, May 6-July 13, 2014 at 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe. The press opening is May 22, 2014 at 7:30pm.

The hilarious send-up of 1950s cold war repression and kitsch culture, '5 Lesbians Eating Quiche' was an original critically-acclaimed creation by The New Colony. This remount featuring the original off-Broadway cast is presented by the Chicago Commercial Collective, running today, May 1 to June 8 at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division Street.

The manicured life of an actor-turned-politician and his impeccable wife is upset when relatives arrive at their Palm Springs home for the holidays - including daughter Brooke who's about to publish a tell-all memoir. caryn desai [sic] directs Jon Robin Baitz's Other Desert Cities, opening June 6 at International City Theatre in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. Two low-priced previews take place on June 4 and June 5.

Skylight Music Theatre is premiering a new work by Milwaukee native Daron Hagen titled I Hear America Singing. The production runs May 9 through June 1 in the Studio Theatre at the Broadway Theatre Center (158 N. Broadway, Milwaukee WI).

As a highlight of its 2014 Spring Festival, 'Sleeping Around: the Cultural Lives of New York's Hotels,' Symphony Space presents Virgil Thomson and Friends at the Chelsea Hotel on Thursday, May 8 (7:30 pm) in the Leonard Nimoy Thalia.

Beautiful Soup Theater will present the World Premiere workshop production of Steven Carl McCasland's Little Wars. The limited engagement will play Roy Arias Stage II Theatre beginning tonight, April 23rd. Beautiful Soup is best known for reviving lost or oft-forgotten works, but occasionally presents workshops of new plays and musicals.

After winning two FringeNYC Overall Excellence Awards last summer, Theater Plastique returns to New York with an updated production of its acclaimed pop opera Gertrude Stein SAINTS! Preview performances of this limited engagement begin June 12 at Abrons Arts Center with opening slated for June 17.

Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma announce Writers Theatre's World Premiere production of Days Like Today, with music and lyrics by Alan Schmuckler and book by Laura Eason, directed by Artistic Director Michael Halberstam, music direction by Doug Peck and choreography by Tommy Rapley. The production runs May 6-July 13, 2014 at 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe. The press opening is May 22, 2014 at 7:30pm.

In Ionesco's absurdist masterpiece, 'The Chairs,' an elderly couple set out chairs for an audience to listen to a world-changing pronouncement from an orator who turns out to be a deaf-mute. Puppet theater maestro Theodora Skipitares wondered what would happen if the chairs themselves were world-changers. Her newest work, 'The Chairs,' presented by La MaMa E.T.C. May 22 to June 8, is a response to Ionesco, but that's where the similarity ends. Skipitares' chairs are incarnations of people like Malala, Stephen Hawking and Nelson Mandela and their messages are, well, not absurd.

Ahrens and Flaherty's 'Nice Fighting You: A 30th Anniversary Celebration Live At 54 BELOW' will be released on June 3rd, 2014. The double CD set is now available for pre-order at http://amzn.com/B00JPWSJOI. This star-studded double album features performances by (in alphabetical order): Lynn Ahrens, Annaleigh Ashford, Stephanie J. Block, Liz Callaway, Kevin Chamberlin, Quentin Earl Darrington, Stephen Flaherty, Lewis Grosso, Julie Halston, Jeremy Jordan, LaChanze, Kecia Lewis, Rebecca Luker, Marin Mazzie, Sean McCourt, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Jessica Molaskey, Bobby Steggert and Mary Testa.

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. 'Cats,' 'Les Miserables' and 'Songs From An Unmade Bed,' rake in the reviews, 'Road Show' and 'Passion' will be followed by 'Assassins,' Theo readies 'The Andrews Sisters,' Kokandy brings back 'The Full Monty' and 'Loving Repeating,' plus two kids shows and more!