Light Opera Works News

On Saturday, April 16, 2016, Light Opera Works will host its annual spring benefit, 'A Night at Ascot,' at the Sunset Ridge Country Club in Northfield, Illinois, celebrating the 36th year of the company. 

Cleveland Play House's (CPH) monumental 100th Season continues with the regional premiere of LUNA GALE. CPH welcomes back film and stage legend Austin Pendleton to direct this contemporary drama that begs the question 'To whom do you belong?' Written by Rebecca Gilman, recipient of the 2015 Roe Green Award, LUNA GALE runs February 27 - March 20 in the intimate Allen Theatre.

Lyric Opera of Chicago announced today casting for the remaining principal roles in its grand-scale production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I, featuring Broadway stars Kate Baldwin and Paolo Montalban as Anna Leonowens and the King of Siam. Additional Broadway artists Ali Ewoldt (Tuptim), Alan Ariano (The Kralahome) and Rona Figueroa (Lady Thiang) join the cast, along with Sam Simahk (Lun Tha) and Chicagoland artists Charlie Babbo (Louis Leonowens), Jomar Ferreras (Interpreter), John Lister (Captain Orton), David Parkes (Sir Edward Ramsay), Peter Sipla (Phra Alack) and Matthew Uzarraga (Prince Chulalongkorn). All but Lister make their Lyric debuts with The King and I.

Puccini's most popular opera, this immortal tale depicts the tragic love affair between penniless poet Rodolfo and his equally impoverished seamstress neighbor Mimi, living in a community of young, bohemian artists. In this modern, new production by Opera Columbus, its cast of emerging, young artists, including soprano Talya Lieberman, winner of Opera Columbus' 2014 Cooper-Bing Vocal Competition, find themselves navigating the wreckage of post-Katrina New Orleans.

Light Opera Works' 2016 season will open with MY FAIR LADY starring Nick Sandys as Henry Higgins (June 4-12), followed by MAME (August 20-28), LET ME ENTERTAIN YOU: JULE STYNE'S GREATEST HITS Songs from GYPSY, FUNNY GIRL and more, (October 7-16), and DIE FLEDERMAUS (December 26-January 1, 2017).

Updated this week! Check out upcoming Non-Equity Auditions from Sunday, January 17, 2016 for productions in your area and around the country.

Writers Theatre, under the leadership of Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma, presents the first production in the Theatre's new home, Arcadia by Tom Stoppard, directed by Michael Halberstam. The show runs March 16 - April 24, 2016 at the Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Theatre in Writer Theatre's new theater center at 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe. The Press Opening is Wednesday, March 23 at 7:30 p.m.

Porchlight Music Theatre and Artistic Director Michael Weber have announced the second production in the third smash season of Chicago's "lost" musicals in staged concert series, PORCHLIGHT REVISTS...APPLAUSE, featuring book by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams, with direction and choreography by Porchlight Artistic Associate Christopher Pazdernik, music direction by Nick Sula.

Light Opera Works is currently taking applications for the summer teen production of MY FAIR LADY. Rehearsals are June 11 through 27, at the Light Opera Works rehearsal center, 516 4th Street in Wilmette. Technical rehearsals on June 28 and 29, and the free public performance on Thursday, June 30, at 7:30 pm, are at Cahn Auditorium, 600 Emerson in Evanston.

Updated this week! Check out upcoming Non-Equity Auditions from Sunday, January 10, 2016 for productions in your area and around the country.

Squeals of delight and blood-curdling screams of fright will fill the Allen Theatre as Cleveland Play House's (CPH) Centennial Season continues with a humorous and heartfelt production of Little Shop of Horrors. Hearkening back to its very first productions in 1915 that featured sophisticated marionettes, CPH is bringing the cheeky and blood-thirsty plant Audrey II to life in a production that will be every vocal coach's dream - and every hemophobic's worst nightmare!

Silk Road Rising proudly presents the World Premiere of Jamil Khoury's Mosque Alert. All performances will be presented in the company's venue in Pierce Hall at The Historic Chicago Temple Building at 77 W. Washington St. in Chicago.

As Light Opera Works' 35th season recently concluded with December performances of GUYS AND DOLLS, general manager Bridget McDonough and artistic director Rudy Hogenmiller announced the company will debut a new name, to become official in its 2017 season.

The Broadway World Chicago team of critics looks back on the 2015 theater season for what we were most thankful for. Here's our list:

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. 'Gotta Dance' makes announcements, and 'My Way' and 'Christmas Dearest' extend. 'A Midwinter Mummers Tale' sells out, as'Guys And Dolls' rounds out the year. DePaul hosts a new children's musical, Northwestern hosts the Sarah Siddons Society, and 'Nunsense' aims for series regularity. And vote for the BWW Chicago Awards!

Squeals of delight and blood-curdling screams of fright will fill the Allen Theatre as Cleveland Play House's (CPH) Centennial Season continues with a humorous and heartfelt production of Little Shop of Horrors. Hearkening back to its very first productions in 1915 that featured sophisticated marionettes, CPH is bringing the cheeky and blood-thirsty plant Audrey II to life in a production that will be every vocal coach's dream - and every hemophobic's worst nightmare!

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. 'The Wiz Live!' has arrived, as have the casts of three tours to the Loop. 'Bridges' is in Iowa, though. The Marriott takes on 'Spring Awakening,' and the Piccolo Theatre, Congo Square and Theo Ubique do December in their own ways. The Second City opens another revue, and in Milwaukee, 'My Fair Lady!'

Light Opera Works presents Frank Loesser's GUYS AND DOLLS with 24-piece orchestra, December 26, 2015 through January 3, 2016, at Cahn Auditorium in Evanston.

A MID-90'S CABARET, a fun, musical trip through the pop hits of the 1990s conceived by Jeff Bouthiette, will perform tonight, November 17, 2015 at 7 pm at Uptown Underground, 4707 N. Broadway in Chicago.

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. The BWW Chicago Award nominations are out and voting is open! Broadway In Chicago is bringing us five musicals for the holidays, and the Goodman, House, Barrel Of Monkeys and Mercury theaters are bringing us their perennials. Plus some future shows, and two Sherlock Holmes musicals!