League Of Chicago Theatres Announces Fall Highlights

By: Sep. 03, 2019
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As the Year of Chicago Theatre continues, Chicago theatres open the fall season with some of the most exciting theatre in the country. Offerings from the city's more than 250 producing theatres include a range of special fall programming, featuring everything from the latest musicals to highly anticipated world premieres.

For a comprehensive list of Chicago productions including a Fall Theatre Guide, visit the League of Chicago website, ChicagoPlays.com. Half-price tickets are available at HotTix.org or at the two Hot Tix half-price ticket locations: across from the Chicago Cultural Center at Expo72 (72 E. Randolph) and Block Thirty Seven, Shops at 108 N. State. Hot Tix offers half-price tickets to more than 250 Chicago area theatres.

The following is a selection of notable work playing in Chicago throughout the Fall:

Musicals include:

The Band's Visit, directed by Chicago native David Cromer, plays at the Cadillac Palace Theatre. When a band of Egyptian musicians lands in a small Israeli desert town, the local shopkeeper, Dina, welcomes them. She and her fellow locals take them in for the night, and what follows is a story about how music brings us to life and brings us together. September 3 - September 15, 2019

Writers Theatre presents Into the Woods, a classic musical by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, directed by Gary Griffin. When a childless baker and his wife set out to lift their family curse, their story becomes interwoven with classic fairytale characters. These familiar faces must brave the darkness of the woods and find out if what they've always wished for is what they truly want. Through September 22, 2019

The Color Purple at Drury Lane Theatre follows the journey of Celie, an African-American woman in the American South as she navigates her love for her sister, being in an abusive relationship, and her adoration for her children. Based on the 1982 novel by Alice Walker. September 13 - November 3, 2019

Chicago Shakespeare Theater, in co-production with the Young Vic, presents the Isango Ensemble in A Man of Good Hope. Asad, a Somali with a painful past, miraculous good luck, and a brilliant mind for business, sets off for South Africa where he believes he will find safety. He is mistaken. Isango's 22-member cast tells this story through song and dance steeped in African tradition. October 1 - October 12.

New works and adaptations include:

Victory Gardens Theater presents an adaptation of the best-selling novel Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed, adapted for the stage by Nia Vardalos. When Strayed takes on the unpaid, anonymous position as advice columnist for "Sugar," she uses personal experience and empathy to help those seeking guidance. September 6 - October 13, 2019.

16th Street Theater presents His Shadow, a world premiere at the Berwyn Cultural Center. A college freshman tries to make a name for himself on the football field and step out of his older brother's shadow, but tragedy strikes, and the course of his life and career is altered. In this story of ambition and activism, which one will emerge the victor? September 5 - October 12, 2019.

Lifeline Theatre presents Whose Body? In this adaptation of a classic whodunit by Dorothy L. Sayers, Amateur Detective Lord Peter Wimsey steps in when a dead body is found in a bathtub wearing nothing but a pair of pince-nez. He enlists the help of close friend Inspector Parker to follow a lead at the local teaching hospital, but the case soon turns sinister as they discover it's not a harmless prank by a student. September 6 -October 27, 2019.

Notable comedies include:

Drunk Shakespeare plays in a hidden speakeasy located behind The Chicago Theatre. Hilarity and mayhem ensue while the four sober actors try to keep the script on track. Each show is different depending on who is drinking... and what they're drinking! 21+ only. Open Run.

The Infinite Wrench continues at The Neo-Futurarium with a mechanism that unleashes a barrage of two-minute plays for a live audience. Each play offers something different - funny, profound, elegant, disgusting, topical, irrelevant, terrifying, or put to song. Open Run.

The Factory Theater presents Oh Sh#t! It's Haunted!, a tale about Darla, Mo, Slats, and Henry as they try to solve the mystery of the old Lockwood place and save it from the opportunistic Mrs. Ingersson. Is the property actually haunted by real ghosts, or just a heartbroken old man? September 27 - November 9, 2019.

Dramatic works include:

TimeLine Theatre Company is presenting the Midwest premiere of Oslo, the Tony-award winning story of the 1993 Palestinian Peace Accord. A Norwegian diplomat and her social scientist husband hatch a scheme to bring political enemies to an idyllic estate outside Oslo, so they can face each other as fellow human beings. September 10 - October 20, 2019

Twice, Thrice, Frice... is premiering at Silk Road Rising. Following the stories of three Muslim women, this comedy/drama confronts adultery and polygamy when one of their husbands marries a second wife. Friendship, fidelity, and faith are all tested as each woman reevaluates bonds once believes to be unbreakable and discovers humor amongst the heartbreak. October 1 - November 10, 2019

Sundown, Yellow Moon is making its Chicago premiere at Raven Theatre. Twins Joey and Ray have just taken their first steps into adulthood while their newly divorced father, Tom, has been suspended from his job. But deep, honest communication doesn't come easy. Seemingly stuck between the future and the past, this family of musicians sings what they can't bring themselves to say. October 3 - November 17, 2019

Other Notable Works Include:

Destinos, produced by the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance, is returning this fall for a third time, showcasing Latino stories told by Latino theatre artists. With new shows premiering in Chicago, the U.S., and Latin America, this festival will feature full theatre presentations, student matinees, and post show talk-backs with artists to fuel discourse on equity and inclusion. September 19 - October 27, 2019

Teatro ZinZanni and Broadway In Chicago continue Love, Chaos, and Dinner at Spiegeltent ZaZou in the Cambria Hotel. Enter a realm where reality and dreams converge - an experience unlike any other! Teatro ZinZanni is a whirlwind of international cirque, comedy, and cabaret served with a multi-course feast. Open Run.



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