BWW's Top Chicago Theatre Stories of 2012

By: Dec. 26, 2012
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BroadwayWorld brings you the Best of Chicago in the year 2012. Check out the Top Theatre Stories from each month during in the year 2012. We look forward to another exciting year of theatre in 2013!

January

Video and Sound Installation Comes To Millennium Park 2/10-20


For ten days only, from February 10-20, 2012, Chicago's Millennium Park will be transformed into a digital canvas of light and geometrical form when it unveils Luminous Field, its first-ever site-spec... (read more...)

'The Showtune Mosh Pit' for January 18th, 2012


The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. Russell Crowe's Chicago vocal coach, a hot new Broadway s... (read more...)

Photo Flash: Paramount Theatre's A CHORUS LINE


Musical theater fans can look forward to another singular sensation in downtown Aurora: A Chorus Line, the Paramount's third production in its inaugural, 2011-2012 Broadway musical series. Winner of n... (read more...)

February

Team StarKid Announces HOLY MUSICAL B@MAN! for March


Team StarKid has announced its newest Chicago production, HOLY MUSICAL B@MAN!, an original musical comedy parody from the creative team behind A VERY POTTER MUSICAL, which featured music and lyrics b... (read more...)

Nominees Announced for the 1st Annual Beat Awards


The Chicago Theater Beat (formerly the Chicago Theater Blog) today announced the nominees for the 1st Annual Chicago Theater Critics' Beat Awards. The Beat Awards provide an opportunity for Chicago's ... (read more...)

Paramount Theatre 2012-2013 Season to Include GREASE, ANNIE, THE MUSIC MAN and FIDDLER ON THE ROOF


Today, the Paramount announced to its nearly 13,000 inaugural subscribers the four exciting musicals on tap for the theater's second spectacular Broadway Season: Grease (Sept. 12-30, 2012), Annie (Nov... (read more...)

March

StarKid's Lauren Lopez: How To Launch A Starship And Keep It Flying


Do you remember your college theater days? How many friends from your drama club have you kept in contact with? Ask these questions to University of Michigan alumna Lauren Lopez; we bet her quick ans... (read more...)

Photo Flash: HAIR Opens at the Paramount Theatre!


Everything about them was a statement. Their clothes, a rejection of materialism. Their drugs, a quest to get closer to God. Their long hair, a flag of freedom. They were hippies, the social watch dog... (read more...)

Photo Flash: Renee Fleming, Yo-Yo Ma Surprise Diners With Performance at Thompson Center


Hundreds of lunchtime diners in downtown Chicago were treated to a surprise performance 12:30-1 p.m. today by soprano Renée Fleming, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, a Lyri... (read more...)

April

BWW Reviews: Highland Park "Pippin" Is Very Well Danced and Sung, Pretty Well Acted


The 1972 Bob Fosse dance spectacle and play-within-a-play "Pippin" (which produced a legendary Motown Records cast album, no less) opened in Lakeview this past October, courtesy of the Bohemian Theatr... (read more...)

Macy Gray, Demi Lovato and More Join Ravinia Festival Lineup


Ravinia Festival today announces newly added artists to the festival's 2012 season line-up including debuts by Andy Grammer on June 29; Macy Gray on July 22; Demi Lovato on Aug. 4; Mat Kearney on Aug.... (read more...)

The Lincolnshire Marriott's "Pirates": Theatrically Good to Great, But Musically Frustrating


In our time and place, the great Marriott Theatre to the north of Chicago, in Lincolnshire, in the collar county of Lake, has mounted a production of "The Pirates of Penzance" which officially opened ... (read more...)

May

JERSEY BOY Michael Lomenda Talks Touring, Subway Compliments, and Playing the Off-Center Nick Massi


JERSEY BOY Michael Lomenda has called Chicago his touring-home for just over a month, but the closest Starbucks to The Bank of America Theater, where the first national touring cast of Jersey Boys is ... (read more...)

BWW Reviews: Team StarKid's APOCALYPTOUR: The End of Musical Theater As We Know It, And We Feel Fine


I'm talking about StarKid Productions, aka Team StarKid, and their "Apocalyptour," which opened last night at Chicago's House of Blues (a second show is tonight). The troupe behind "A Very Potter Musi... (read more...)

Team StarKid's APOCALYPTOUR Set List Released!


Here is the complete set list for the 21-city APOCALPYTOUR, the national tour by Team StarKid that premiered May 9, 2012 in Chicago and will wind up at New York's Roseland Ballroom on June 10th!... (read more...)

June

ROCK OF AGES' Shannon Mullen Talks Touring with Broadway's Throwback to the 80s


Shannon Mullen, who currently stars as Sherrie in ROCK OF AGES' second national tour, has missed four performances. And the show kicked off in October 2011. She's currently proving to Chicagoans... (read more...)

RAIN's Resident Lennon Gives Run-Down of Show; Opens at Oriental Theater 6/26


Jim Irizarry, RAIN's resident John Lennon, is no amateur went it comes to The Beatles. Or their songs. Or mastering Lennon's accent, mannerisms, and musical style. For the first time since he joined t... (read more...)

STUFFED AND UNSTRUNG: The Pioneers of Puppetry Talk Craft, Henson, and Pole-Dancing Muppets


The Jim Henson Company may be commonly known for its children's programming such as Sesame Street - but the brand of pioneers of puppetry isn't afraid to show off the subversive underbellies of its fu... (read more...)

July

BWW TV: Highlights from COMEDYSPORTZ World Championship in Chicago


ComedySportz Chicago took the trophy at the 2012 ComedySportz World Championship this past Saturday, July 21. The annual event, held in Chicago for the first time since 2001, hosted 19 teams and 230 p... (read more...)

STAGE TUBE: First Look at Scenes from THE VORTEX, Opening Tonight


Dead Writers Theatre Collective presents its inaugural production, Noel Coward's The Vortex, directed by Jim Schneider, tonight, July 20 through August 26, at the Greenhouse Theater Complex. BroadwayW... (read more...)

Victory Gardens Theater's IGNITION Festival Continues Through 8/12


Victory Gardens Theater Artistic Director Chay Yew and Executive Director Jan Kallish announce the new plays selected for the company's 2012 IGNITION Festival. The selected plays are: Seven Spots on t... (read more...)

August

KINKY BOOTS to Host Ice Cream Giveaway for Box Office Opening, 8/3


On Friday, August 3, the hottest new musical KINKY BOOTS is giving away ice cream, courtesy of Chicago's newest ice cream bike, Chi-Scream. The cyclist will make stops throughout the city beginning at... (read more...)

Red Tape Theatre Presents THE SKRIKER, 9/13-10/20


Red Tape Theatre presents THE SKRIKER, a fairytale by Caryl Churchill, directed by Eric Hoff, director of The Inconvenience's critically-acclaimed production of Hit the Wal), performed promenade style... (read more...)

The Marriott Theatre Announces 2013 Mainstage Season: Andrew Lloyd Webber Revue NOW AND FOREVER and More


The Marriott Theatre, Chicago's longest running musical theatre announced today that subscriptions will soon go on sale for its 2013 season. ... (read more...)

September

"The Last Five Years" for the Next Four Weeks: Invest In It, and It Will Reward You


This month, a modest production of this powerful but modest show is running on the weekends at Stage 773 in Lakeview, brought to us by a new Production Company, Another Production Company. The company... (read more...)

BWW Interviews: THE MAGIC PARLOUR's Dennis Watkins Gets into the Theatrics of Magic


Mastering the craft of magic, the slight of hand, and the art of maneuvering around disbelief, according to Chicago-based magician Dennis Watkins, requires the mastery of multiple worlds. The Magic Pa... (read more...)

Christie Brinkley to Star In CHICAGO at Citi Wang Theatre, 11/1-4


Christie Brinkley, one of the world's most successful supermodels, will make her Boston debut in the National Tour of the Tony Award-winning hit musical "Chicago." She will star as merry murderess Rox... (read more...)

October

BWW TV Chicago: First Look at New Musical Kinky Boots on Stage!


BroadwayWorld has a first look at footage from the production!... (read more...)

50 SHADES! THE MUSICAL Plays Chicago's Apollo Theater and North Shore Center, 11/16-17 & 23-24


The Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy has shattered sales records around the globe with more than 32 million copies sold in the United States alone and a 2013 Universal Pictures feature film release is sur... (read more...)

Chicago Theatre Artists Produce SEASON OF CAROLS CD, Perform Kick-Off Concert, 12/3


Producers, Eugene Dizon and Cory Goodrich have recorded a new holiday album of music SEASON OF CAROLS which features over one hundred Chicago theatre artists, singers and musicians. This new holiday C... (read more...)

November

Champaign Urbana Theatre Company Broadway Beginners Kicks Off With ANNIE JR


The Champaign Urbana Theatre Company's youth troop the Broadway Beginners will be performing the classic hit show ANNIE Jr. for its inaugural show.... (read more...)

BWW Exclusive: I LOVE LUCY's Sirena Irwin Talks Doing Justice to the Legendary Redhead


There have been few comedians capable of leaving an untouchable mark on pop culture and television - but if there is one who undoubtedly has, it was the indelible Lucille Ball. Sirena Irwin was the wo... (read more...)

Patrick Stewart Joins Renee Fleming for Lyric Opera of Chicago's THE SECOND CITY GUIDE TO THE OPERA, 1/5


Lyric Opera of Chicago announced today that the respected stage, film and television actor Patrick Stewart will co-host The Second City Guide to the Opera on Saturday, January 5 with internationally r... (read more...)

December

Jay Españo Does Movement for AT THE FLASH, Runs Thru 12/16


Former Tanghalang Pilipino actor Jay Españo has taken assistant director and movement coordinator responsibilities in the recently opened 'At the Flash,' a one-actor, five-character play that condense... (read more...)

Chicago DCASE Streamlines Storefront Theater Space Dance and Theater Application Process; Deadline 1/15


The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) has announced a new, streamlined process, making it more accessible for Chicago's theater and dance companies to take advantage of... (read more...)

Casting Announced for Christopher Shinn's TEDDY FERRARA at the Goodman Theatre


Goodman Theatre announces casting for the world-premiere production of Teddy Ferrara by Pulitzer Prize finalist Christopher Shinn, praised as 'among the most provocative and probing of American playwr... (read more...)



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