Feature: BROADWAY IN CHICAGO SUMMER CONCERT at Millennium Park

Broadway in Chicago held their annual Summer Concert at Millennium Park on Monday, August 10, featuring performers from 13 shows in the upcoming 2026-2027 season. 

Before the concert, BroadwayWorld sat down with performers from four different shows: Jekyll & Hyde, Operation Mincemeat, Maybe Happy Ending, and Heathers the Musical. Below are snippets from the interviews. 

Jekyll & Hyde is the little production that could. On the show’s Broadway in Chicago debut after a critically-accalaimed run at Kokandy Productions, Director Derek Van Barham said, “There's also something about us as a non-equity storefront theater getting this opportunity to do a Broadway in Chicago remount that I hope opens the door to it just happening more often. In a way, I feel like if we win, if we're successful, if Chicago is excited about this, it will hopefully create other opportunities — not just for us in the future, but for other companies as well.”

David Moreland, who plays Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, said of the role: “This show in particular really stretched me in a way and challenged me to keep the show in mind for the entire day, especially vocally and physically. This is among the most demanding things that I've been able to be a part of on stage, which I'm very thankful for.” 

Read the full interview with Derek Van Barham and David Moreland of Jekyll & Hyde.

Operation Mincemeat is a show based on the true story of a 1943 top-secret British intelligence plot to trick Nazi Germany. When we asked Sam Hartley, currently an understudy in Operation Mincemeat, what makes this musical comedy about a military operation work, he said, “It's the heart that's behind all of it. I think that's the secret sauce of Operation Mincemeat is we have jokes a minute, like you'd expect from a Book of Mormon type of show. We have history that feels fresh, interpreted in a new way, like you maybe feel from Hamilton or something. But then we've got this punch behind it all. They're all real humans. They really lived this incredible journey.” 

Read the full interview with Sam Hartley of Operation Mincemeat.

Happy Maybe Ending is a South Korean musical following Claire and Oliver, two bots in Seoul who develop a connection with each other. Claire Kwon, who was a Claire standby on Broadway and will lead the upcoming North America tour, shared the significance of the AAPI representation in the show: “For me, it means everything…to represent just as ourselves being ourselves in a Broadway show that also highlighted a lot of Asian American talent — it's not something small.” 

When asked what it’s like to go from being a standby as both his Broadway debut and Broadway principal debut to leading the Broadway tour, Steven Huynh who plays Oliver, said, “It's such a wonderful opportunity to be with the show from the beginning of its Broadway life, and to see how it has evolved and how our audiences have responded to it, and to be able to do it full time on tour across North America is something that's personally specifically special to me, to be a lot of people's first touch point with Maybe Happy Ending.” 

Read the full interview with Claire Kwon and Steven Huynh of Maybe Happy Ending.
 

From cult film to cult musical to TikTok sensation, Heathers the Musical has found a new life with a new generation of fans. Sara Al-Bazali, who is the understudy for Veronica, talked about the timeless relevance of the show, saying, “The 80s references are strong and they're there for the people who know the movie, but the throughline is universal. This could happen today. And it could happen in 20 years. The overall themes never really go away.” 

Devin Lewis, understudy for J.D., added, “We're always trying to figure something out, and it's just really important to be kind and gentle, not only to yourself, but the people around you as we're all figuring it out. That's what I think the show is — you really just see a bunch of teenagers just trying to figure it out.” 

Read the full interview with Sara Al-Bazali and Devin Lewis of Heathers the Musical.
 

The Broadway in Chicago Summer Concert included 13 shows from the 2026–2027 season: 

• The Notebook (Aug. 4 – Aug. 16, 2026 @ James M. Nederlander Theatre)
• The Outsiders (Aug. 4 – Aug. 16, 2026 @ Cadillac Palace Theatre)
• Jekyll & Hyde (Sept. 8 – Oct. 25, 2026 @ Broadway Playhouse At Water Tower Place) 
• Dirty Dancing: The Musical (Sept. 9 – Sept. 20, 2026 @ James M. Nederlander Theatre) 
• Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical (Sept. 29 – Oct. 11, 2026 @ CIBC Theatre)
• Waitress (Oct. 13 – Oct. 18, 2026 @ James M. Nederlander Theatre) 
• The Book of Mormon (Oct. 23 – Nov. 1, 2026 @ Cadillac Palace Theatre) 
• Jersey Boys (Nov. 10 – Nov. 22, 2026 @ CIBC Theatre) 
• The Sound of Music (Dec. 22 – Dec. 27, 2026 @ Cadillac Palace Theatre)
• Maybe Happy Ending (Jan. 5 – Jan. 17, 2027 @ CIBC Theatre) 
• The Who’s Tommy (Feb. 16 – Feb. 28. 2027 @ Cadillac Palace Theatre)
• The Bodyguard (April 6 – April 18, 2027 @ James M. Nederlander Theatre) 
• Disney’s The Lion King (June 3 – July 31, 2027 @ Cadillac Palace Theatre) 
• Heathers the Musical (June 8 – June 20, 2027 @ CIBC Theatre)

Learn more about the Broadway in Chicago 2026-2027 season on their website.

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