W. Washington News

The Chromolume Theatre at The Attic in Los Angeles has announced a season of musicals for 2018, kicking off in February with the off-Broadway hit Dessa Rose by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, followed in July by Jane Eyre (book and additional lyrics by John Caird with music & lyrics by Paul Gordon), and concluding with Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Passion, opening in November.

Silk Road Rising (Chief Programming Officer Jamil Khoury and Executive Director Malik Gillani) is proud to announce the World Premiere of Through the Elevated Line, written by Novid Parsi and directed by Carin Silkaitis. The production will run on March 7th to April 15th, 2018 at Silk Road Rising located at 77 W. Washington St., Lower Level, Chicago, IL, 60602. The Press Opening is March 17 at 4:00pm.

'Portraits of the World: Switzerland' is the inaugural exhibition in a series that will highlight the global context of American Portraiture.

Silk Road Rising (Chief Programming Officer Jamil Khoury and Executive Director Malik Gillani) is proud to announce Pure Land, the second in a pairing of staged readings in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Chicago. The staged readings will be held on February 3 and 4, 2018 at 4:00pm at Silk Road Rising located at 77 W. Washington St., Lower Level, Chicago, IL, 60602.

PACIFIC OVERTURES with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by John Weidman, with additional material by Hugh Wheeler had its Broadway premiere in 1976 and was presented in Kabuki style, with men playing women's parts and set changes made in full view of the audience by people dressed in black. It opened to mixed reviews and closed after six months, despite being nominated for 10 Tony Awards. Given the unusual casting and production demands, there is good reason why this remains one of the least-performed Sondheim musicals. So it's no wonder it has been 19 years since the musical has been presented in Los Angeles.

Silk Road Rising (Chief Programming Officer & Mission Trustee, Jamil Khoury, and Executive Director, Malik Gillani) is proud to announce P3M5: The Plurality of Privacy Project in 5-Minute Plays, the first in a pairing of staged readings in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut.

This play (with music) tells the story of a world-weary and disenchanted Aviator whose sputtering plane strands him in the Sahara Desert and a mysterious, regal 'little man' who appears and asks him to 'Please, sir, draw me a sheep.' During their two weeks together in the desert, the Little Prince tells the Aviator about his adventures through the galaxy, how he met the Lamplighter and the Businessman and the Geographer, and about his strained relationship with a very special flower on his own tiny planet.

'Portraits of the World: Switzerland' is the inaugural exhibition in a series that will highlight the global context of American Portraiture.

Written in 1921 by Nobel Prize-winning playwright Eugene O'Neill, this iconic piece of expressionist drama is a searing social commentary on the divide between the rich and poor. Yank, an unthinking laborer, embarks on a search for a sense of belonging in a world controlled by the wealthy. His journey from the bowels of a transatlantic ocean liner to the wealthy neighborhoods of New York society serve as a metaphor for the struggle between the working man and the industrial complex found at the heart ofthe play.

Chromolume Theatre at the Attic has announced the final production of its 2017 Season of Musicals, Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures. Opening on Friday, December 1 at 8pm, the show will play a strictly limited engagement of 12 performances through December 17.

'The middle takes guts. The middle is where you go to sit down with monsters.' The Indiana Repertory Theatre's current Upperstage production, The Originalist, explores that middle, introducing us to a fictional relationship between Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and a liberal law clerk. The play is about the absolutely essential nature of debate. Having the freedom to openly discuss political issues is something we often take for granted in our country as we get lost in the fight. We forget that the person you disagree with doesn't have to be the enemy.

Silk Road Rising (Chief Programming Officer and Mission Trustee, Jamil Khoury and Founding Executive Director, Malik Gillani) is proud to announce the U.S. Premiere of Wild Boar, written by Candace Chong, translated from Chinese to English by Joanna C. Lee and Ken Smith, adapted by Tony Award winner David Henry Hwang, and directed by Helen Young.

The Indiana Repertory Theatre opened its season with The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. It's a murder mystery, but not in the traditional sense. The murdered party is a dog and the 'detective' is a teenage boy named Christopher, whose developmental disabilities allow him to see the world through a unique lens. The show is at once emotionally exhausting and energetic. There's humor strategically placed in almost every scene to help break the tension.

Helmed by founder Bonnie Joy Sludikoff, local non-profit campaign That's What She Didn't Say is partnering with Chromolume Theatre at the Attic in Los Angeles to present the 2nd Annual Outdoor Voices Festival, running now through September 24, 2017.

Silk Road Rising (Founding Artistic Director Jamil Khoury and Founding Executive Director Malik Gillani) is proud to announce the U.S. Premiere of Wild Boar, written by Candace Chong, translated from Chinese to English by Joanna C. Lee and Ken Smith, adapted by Tony Award winner David Henry Hwang, and directed by Helen Young. 

Today, the Chicago Humanities Festival revealed its full line-up for the Fallfest/17: Belief. New additions to the line-up including Tony-award winning playwright Tony Kushner, Rolling Stone writer Matt Taibbi, Aspen Institute President and CEO Walter Isaacson, French philosopher and social critic Bernard-Henri Levy, filmmaker Joe Swanberg, Obama Presidential Center architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, and Publican chef Paul Kahan.

Chris Isaacson Presents and the City of Los Angeles have announced that Grammy Award-winning recording artist and Motown legend Thelma Houston in her show My Motown Memories & More! has been rescheduled for Sunday, October 15 at 7:30pm at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center.

Diana Varco never intended to write a solo show. In fact,she worked for a long while trying to build a career in comedy. But, as a victim of a sexual assault, she struggled to laugh when the world around her joked about rape. "Often, I would leave therapy only to go to class where my peers were glorifying rape," she said. "But I stayed silent because I was too ashamed to share my story."

The Chicago Tribune today announced Marilynne Robinson as the recipient of its prestigious 2017 Literary Prize.

The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery will hold its second biennial American Portrait Gala Sunday, Nov. 19, honoring five individuals whose achievements in their respective fields have been exemplary and whose portraits reside in the museum's collection.