McDonald, Stokes Mitchell, Stritch and More Join Ravinia's Summer Line-Up

The Ravinia Festival in Chicago has announced its 2006 summer season. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Elaine Stritch, Audra McDonald and others are set to join previously-announced stars such as Patti LuPone in the festival's starry line-up.

The festival will kick off with a performance by Jane Monheit as part of the cabaret series Martinis at the Martin. Monheit will perform on June 5th, followed by Michael Feinstein and Jekyll & Hyde's Linda Eder on July 18th, Tony Award-winning theatre legend Elaine Stritch on August 1st, the Tierney Sutton Band on August 21st, and four time Tony Award-winner Audra McDonald (Marie Christine, Ragtime) on September 10th.

McDonald, as well as frequent Tony-winning co-star Brian Stokes Mitchell (Man of La Mancha, Kiss Me, Kate) will be on hand for Gershwin Gala: Rhapsody in Blue and More on July 15th. Hershey Felder, who first rose to Broadway fame with his George Gershwin Alone, will serve as host.

Next up will be Lonny Price's highly anticipated staging of Gypsy starring Patti LuPone as indomitable stage mother Rose; the show will run from August 11th through 13th. Paul Gemignani will conduct the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for the show, which features music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by Arthur Laurents.

Felder will return on September 7th for a performance of his play Monsieur Chopin at the Martin Theatre; he will play the famed Polish-born romantic composer.

Tony Award-winner Lillias White (The Life, Dreamgirls) will headline the musical theatre workshop production The Princess and the Black-Eyed Pea, which will be presented in association with the Steans Institute on September 15th and 16th. The show, by Karole Foreman and Andrew Chukerman, retells the story of the Hans Christian Andersen classic.

For more information, visit www.ravinia.org.