BrightSide Theatre Reveals Season 12 - Season Of Passion

Artistic Director Jeffrey Cass and Executive Director Julie Ann Kornak  will celebrate the 12th Season at BrightSide Theatre; 'A Season of Passion'. We start the season with a masterful musical full of elegance and romance, Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music.  The cabaret concert series continues with Chess in Concert, a groundbreaking pop rock musical where the ancient game of chess becomes a metaphor for romantic rivalries, competitive gamesmanship, super-power politics, and international intrigue.  Next, we present the play that is two-thirds a thriller and one-third a devilishly clever comedy, Deathtrap.  We conclude our season with the thrilling rock opera that has wowed audiences for over 50 years, Jesus Christ Superstar.

 

A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC 

October 20 – November 5, 2023 

Theatre at Meiley-Swallow Hall, North Central College, 31 S. Ellsworth, Naperville

 

With one of the most singular sumptuous Broadway scores written, we are thrilled to present Stephen Sondheim's romantic musical farce A Little Night Music.  At turn of the 20th Century Desiree Armfeldt, a renowned traveling actress, is growing weary of her life on the road. A chance encounter with an old flame set in motion a series of romantic misadventures that culminate in a madcap weekend in the country where couples waltz, passions erupt, jealousies flare, and hilarity triumphs over all as the summer night smiles on the young and old alike.  Based on the Ingmar Berman film Smiles of a Summer Night, featuring Sondheim's best-known song, Send in the Clowns, A Little Night Music will leave you thoroughly enchanted. 

 

CHESS IN CONCERT 

February 7-19, 2024 

Madden Theatre, North Central College, 171 Chicago Avenue, Naperville

 

Composed by the men of supergroup ABBA and the smash hit Mamma Mia! featuring '80s hits One Night in Bangkok, I Know Him So Well, and Anthem, Chess In Concert is a modern classic that explodes into life.  It's the 1980s and the Cold War is at its darkest.  Two chess masters meet in Bangkok to battle for the world championship, but their greatest contest is for the love of one woman. In this story of love and political intrigue that takes us from Bangkok to Budapest where the players, lovers, politicians, and spies all struggle to get the upper hand. 

DEATHTRAP 

March 8 – 24, 2024 

Theatre at Meiley-Swallow Hall, North Central College, 31 S. Ellsworth, Naperville

 

Holding the record for the longest running comedic thriller on Broadway, Deathtrap is the story of the world-famous thriller playwright Sidney Bruhl

who is suffering from a chronic case of writer's block. When one of his former students shows up at his doorstep with what might be the next Broadway hit, Sidney and his wife concoct a deadly plan to make the manuscript their own. Deathtrap is filled with twists and turns in a series of shocking events that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last moment! 

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR 

June 7 – 23, 2024

Theatre at Meiley-Swallow Hall, North Central College, 31 S. Ellsworth, Naperville

 

Since its Broadway debut, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's spectacular musical phenomenon Jesus Christ Superstar has thrilled millions of theatregoers worldwide, mesmerizing them with its passion, captivating them with its story and entrancing them with its anthemic title song. Borrowing from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Jesus Christ Superstar is set against the backdrop of an extraordinary series of events during the final weeks in the life of Jesus Christ as seen through the eyes of Judas. Reflecting the rock roots that defined a generation, the legendary sung through score includes I Don't Know How to Love Him, Gethsemane, and Superstar.   

 

Visit us at www.BrightSideTheatre.com or call the Box Office at 630-447-TIXS (8497) 

 

BrightSide Theatre Youth Project is guided by the belief that involvement in arts programs increases development in children on both academic and social scales while building self-esteem. The program is designed to provide a professional, educational experience for students aged 8-18. 

MEAN GIRLS, JR. 

March 9-17, 2024 

Theatre at Meiley-Swallow Hall, North Central College, 31 S. Ellsworth, Naperville

 

Cady Heron may have grown up on an African savanna, but nothing prepared her for the wild and vicious ways of her strange new home: suburban Illinois. How will this naïve newbie rise to the top of the popularity pecking order? By taking on The Plastics, a trio of lionized frenemies led by the charming but ruthless Regina George. Cady and her friends devise a "Revenge Party" to end Regina's reign with Cady going undercover as an aspiring Plastic. When the lines between the real Cady and her Plastic-self get blurred, she must find her way back to herself and her true friends.   

 

Registration for participation will be in November and tickets will be on sale in January 2024 - For more information on the program, auditions or purchasing tickets, visit our website at www.brightsidtheatre.com 

 

BrightSide Theatre (Jeffrey Cass, Artistic Director and Julie Ann Kornak, Executive Director) BrightSide Theatre is committed to Enlighten, Educate, and Entertain through comedies and inspirational stories from across the globe.  A unique blend of award-winners, premieres, modern works and timeless classics meant to reflect upon and inform our community inhabit BrightSide's stage.  For more information on BrightSide Theatre, please visit www.brightsidetheatre.com.    

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