Steve Leary - Page 8

Highlighting songs from: In The Mood, The Fabulous 40's show, My Best Friends Wedding, Hip Hop to Boogie - Girl Groups thru the Century, We Need A Little Christmas, Curtain Up! 3Girls3 sings Broadway, Back To Bacharach AND....a sneak peak at our new show coming Spring '09....This One's For You: The Songs of Barry Manilow.

The charming musical classic Meet Me in St. Louis has been brought back by popular demand to Drury Lane in perfect time for the holidays. It will preview November 12, open November 19, and run through December 21 at Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place, 175 E. Chestnut Street Chicago, IL 60611. Meet Me in St. Louis is an utterly entertaining experience that the whole family will enjoy. Jim Corti, who was a Jeff nominee for Best Direction for this production at Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace, will direct again.

Deck the walls with 99 bottles of beer and raise your glasses to Drinking & Writing Vol. IV: The 12 Steps of Xmas, Chicago's most intoxicating late-night holiday show, back by popular demand for the 2008 holiday season at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater.

Bailiwick Repertory artists and friends will gather at the Bailiwick Arts Center , 1229 West Belmont, on December 29th to bid FAREWELL TO 1229: Fifteen Years of Great Musicals from POPE JOAN to HUNCHBACK. The special benefit performance features musical selections POPE JOAN, PARADE, A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE, DR. SEX, Q, KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, JERRY SPRINGER ? THE OPERA, THE CHRISTMAS SCHOONER and THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME.

Consistently included among the Midwest's top-tier holiday events, Goodman Theatre's annual production of A Christmas Carol returns for its 31st season. Guided by sixteen years of experience with the production, Chicago actor/director William Brown returns to direct Tom Creamer's adaptation of Charles Dickens' 1843 novella for his third consecutive year.

The Flaming Dames Torch Cabaret in 'Have a Very Sexy Christmas' Opening Friday, Dec 5

Greasy Joan & Co. launches its 13th year of producing innovative productions of classic plays with the world premiere comedy CHEKHOV?S LIFE IN THE COUNTRY, from short works by Anton Chekhov, with translations by Paul Schmidt, Ryan McKittrick and Julia Smeliansky, and directed by Interim Artistic Director Libby Ford.

Hell in a Handbag Productions is proud to present one twisted take on two classic tales. Silent Night of the Lambs mixes one part thriller (The Silence of the Lambs) and one part holiday TV special (Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer) to create a twisted recipe that only Hell in a Handbag would dare to cook up for Chicago audiences.

Adventure Stage Chicago (ASC) proudly announces their 2008-2009 season opener-Louis Sachar's stage adaptation of his novel HOLES, directed by Matthew Reeder (ASC's The Shakespeare Stealer, Still Life with Iris).

Can you believe it's been almost 10 years? 3Girls3 had their first performance at Davenport's Cabaret Room on December 31, 1998 with MaryMonica Thomas, Gail Becker, and Patty Morabito.

THE BOWERY BOYS, a new musical, will make its highly anticipated world premiere at the Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Drive; previewing December 10th, opening December 17th, and running through February 15th. Inspired by the works of Horatio Alger Jr. and George M. Cohan, THE BOWERY BOYS? book and lyrics are by David H. Bell, with music by Jeremy Cohen.

Hear Carla Gordon singas part of the Tenth Anniversary Celebration at Davenport's.

Goodman Theatre opens its "Strong Women, Strong Voices" Owen Theatre Series with the world premiere of Lynn Nottage's Ruined, directed by Kate Whoriskey and co-produced with Manhattan Theatre Club. Commissioned by the Goodman and first seen in the 2007 New Stages Series, Ruined was developed through Nottage and Whoriskey's pilgrimage to Uganda-where countless interviews and interactions resulted in a portrait of the lives of the women and girls caught in the devastating armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Leading the Goodman's cast in the role of Mama Nadi is Saidah Arrika Ekulona (Well on Broadway; Righteous Kill), who previously collaborated with Nottage and Whoriskey on the world premiere of Fabulation at Playwrights Horizons. Ruined begins performances on November 8 (opening night is November 17) and runs through December 7. Tickets are $10 - $39. Ruined begins performances at Manhattan Theatre Club on January 21, 2009.

Brett Batterson, executive director of the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University (ATRU), is pleased to announce the return of Too Hot to Handel: The Jazz-Gospel Messiah to Chicago's National Historic Landmark Auditorium Theatre. For two performances only, Friday, December 12 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, December 14 at 3 p.m., the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, 50 East Congress Parkway, will be filled with the sounds of this soulful reinvention of Handel's Messiah. This joyful musical experience is quickly becoming one of Chicago's favorite annual events. Tickets are now on sale.

FOILED AGAIN, a cabaret act featuring Allison Bazarko, Rob Lindley, Anne Sheridan Smith and Jeff award-winning Doug Peck as musical director, will perform for the WILMETTE THEATRE EDUCATION PROJECT's holiday benefit: December 15, 2008, at 7:30 PM

American Theater Company (ATC) continues its 2008-09 season with the sixth annual production of It's a Wonderful Life: The Radio Play adapted from Frank Capra's classic film and directed by Damon Kiely. The production will run December 4 -December 28, 2008, at American Theater Company, 1909 W Byron St, Chicago, IL. Press opening is Monday, December 8, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.

Chicago Shakespeare opens three shows in the month of January reflecting the Theater's diverse programming. Artistic Director Barbara Gaines stages Macbeth in the Courtyard Theater, January 2-March 8, 2009; CST's World's Stage international program initiative, presents a company from Rwanda performing The Investigation in the Theater Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare, January 21-31, 2009; and CST welcomes families to the theater with an abridged production of one of Shakespeare's most popular comedies, Short Shakespeare! A Midsummer Night's Dream, January 24-March 7, 2009, on Saturdays in the Courtyard Theater.

THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS, the hit drama presented by Fellowship for the Performing Arts at The Mercury Theater, 3745 N. Southport Avenue, will feature special Wednesday night talk-backs with Max McLean (co-creator and star) and Jeffrey Fiske (co-creator and director) from November 5 through December 10 (there is no show on November 26.) The production, which had sold-out runs in New York and Washington, D.C., recently made its Chicago premiere and runs through January 4. During the talk-backs, McLean and Fiske will foster audience discussions about the show?s provocative themes and answer questions about how they adapted C.S. Lewis? classic novel into a hit stage production. The talk-backs schedule may be subject to change.

Victory Gardens Theater is offering two chances to go behind-the-scenes of The Snow Queen, the company¹s smash hit holiday musical, sledding back into town for her third go-around as Chicago's #1 alternative to traditional holiday fare.

Rubicon Theatre Project is excited to open its fourth season with Offsprung, a play by Rubicon ensemble member Bridget Fallen, at Stage Left theatre located at 3408 N. Sheffield, Chicago, 60657.