Steppenwolf Reveals LookOut Summer 2024 Season Lineup

Steppenwolf’s LookOut Series has revealed its action-packed summer 2024 lineup of local comedy, storytelling, music and more! The summer series includes captivating solo works from some of Chicago’s most accomplished storytellers; showcases of drag, burlesque and poetry artists; and the return of the Chicago Musical Theatre Festival. produced by Kokandy Productions.

Among the highlights, the enduringly popular Chicago show Karaoke Storytellers comes to Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theater for an evening of confessional storytelling and singing. Soon after, the dynamic dance troupe Body Confidence for Queens brings electrifying burlesque to Halsted Street. And of course, throughout the summer you have four chances to see Bambi’s Black Box, the bombastic musical-theater-themed drag show. In August, the Gift Theatre presents a two week run of Obliteration, a new two-hander by Andrew Hinderaker, that fuses stand-up comedy and theater, featuring Michael Patrick Thornton and Cyd Blakewell.

With 42 performances of 18 engagements featuring hundreds of local artists, this summer is jam packed with offerings for everyone!

All LookOut performances take place in Steppenwolf's 1700 Theater, an intimate and flexible venue nestled behind Front Bar, 1700 N. Halsted St. in Chicago. Tickets, which range in price from $10 – $50, are now on sale at steppenwolf.org/lookout or by calling the Box Office at (312) 335-1650.

The full LookOut 2024 Summer Season (in chronological order):

The Jewish Comedy Project Presents:

JEWISH COMEDY NIGHT!

Dates: Friday, April 26 and Saturday, April 27 at 8 pm
Ticket Price: $20
Description: The Jewish Comedy Project is bringing the best of their comedy sketches, songs and stories to Steppenwolf for the first time ever! This wild night of laughs feels like a whole bunch of holidays wrapped up in one.

Karaoke Storytellers

Dates: Saturday, May 4 at 8 pm
Ticket Price: $15
Description: Music affects each of us individually, and the emotions we associate with a song are determined by our specific history. Karaoke Storytellers lends a microphone to four Chicago entertainers who have a story to tell about a song that means something to them—and then they might just sing it, too.

Bambi Banks-Couleé Presents:

Bambi’s Black Box
Dates: Thursday, May 9, Thursday June 20, Thursday July 18 and Thursday, August 15 at 8 pm
Ticket Price: $18 - $35
Description: Returning to the Steppenwolf stage for the third year in a row, Chicago drag artist Bambi Banks-Couleé hosts a monthly musical theatre-based drag show! Serving show stopping group numbers, fierce ballads and more. Each month you can expect a new group of queens ready for the spotlight.

The Hunt

By Gina DeLuca
Dates: Tuesday, May 14 and Wednesday, May 15 at 8 pm
Ticket Price: $25
Description: Essayist, satirist and comedian Gina DeLuca reads stories about an unlikely bow hunting trip she took to Montana. Through her sharp observations and sardonic wit, DeLuca challenges commonly held beliefs about animals, people and the many conflicting truths that keep us from seeing each other clearly.

Body Confidence for Queens Presents:

The Making of A Queen
Dates: Friday, May 24 and Saturday, May 25 at 8 pm
Ticket Price: $30 - $50
This show is for audiences 21 and over.
Description: The Making of A Queen takes you on a journey of finding body confidence, self love and inner peace through an evening of burlesque and dance hosted by the dynamic dance troupe, Body Confidence for Queens.

Grandma's House: In the Living Room

Hosted by Caroline M. Watson
Dates: Wednesday, May 29 and Thursday, May 30 at 8 pm
Ticket Price: $10
Description: In the Living Room is a poetic exploration of all of the messy, comfy, hilarious, heartbreaking and nostalgic feelings that make up a home. Lovingly sewn together by Caroline M. Watson, this evening explores how poetry can forge new connections between us all.

GenderFucked Productions Presents:

Trans Voices Cabaret Chicago

Dates: Saturday, June 1 at 8 pm
Ticket Price: $30
Description: Trans Voices Cabaret Chicago hosts an evening of incredible Transgender and Gender Nonconforming talent here in the Windy City! Performing hits from across the musical theatre canon, don’t miss this night of musical celebration.

You're Being Ridiculous: Win

Dates: Thursday, June 6, Friday, June 7 and Saturday, June 8 at 8 pm
Ticket Price: $27
Description: Everyone has a story to tell, what's yours? At You're Being Ridiculous, real people tell true stories about their lives. Each performance is linked by a rotating theme and by the desire to make you laugh and once in a while, cry.

Virtue and Grace

By Isabella Van Houzen
Dates: Tuesday, June 11 at 8 pm
Ticket Price: $25
Description: In the fall of 1814, four friends ready themselves to enter society as one schemes to attend events dressed as a man in order to court other women. Virtue and Grace is a farcical tale of love, gender and societal pressure. Written by Isabella Van Houzen, this show brings to the stage a cast and crew made up largely of current and former members of the Steppenwolf Front of House team.

Nora Sharp's

DISCIPLINE

Dates: Wednesday, June 12 at 8 pm
Ticket Price: $15
Description: DISCIPLINE is a night of action, experimentation and commitment to the bit. Blending comedy, choreo, confessional, criticality and plenty of community too. DISCIPLINE embraces the perpetual motion of works in progress and the un-pin-down-ability of live performance.

Songs for Someone Loyal

By Sharon Udoh
Dates: Friday, June 14 and Saturday, June 15 at 8 pm
Ticket Price: $20
Description: Songs For Someone Loyal is a night of music dedicated to Sharon Udoh’s relationships with three people: her dad, her chosen ancestor Nina Simone and herself: a gay first-generation Nigerian-American woman-ish who has attempted to make sense of the way she loses, yearns and loves.

Spank Bank Time Machine

By John Michael
Dates: Friday, June 28 and Saturday, June 29 at 8 pm; Sunday, June 30 at 3 pm
Ticket Price: $25
Description: It's Angels in America meets Snakes on a Plane, but with DRUGS! Time travel with Trauma Clown John Michael who creates a space to mourn and celebrate those who we might have lost. This show raises awareness about life-saving interventions and offers us a chance to go back for a do-over.

Mi Casa Es Tu Casa!

By Gwen La Roka
Dates: Friday, July 5 and Saturday, July, 6 at 8 pm; Sunday, July 7 at 3 pm
Ticket Price: $30
Description: Join Comedian Gwen La Roka as she takes you on a hilarious and heartwarming ride through her childhood life in her "casa," a home filled with chaos, cumbias and old school remedies.

OUT OF CONTEXT

By Eunji Kim
Dates: Thursday, July 11, Friday, July 12 and Saturday, July 13 at 8 pm
Ticket Price: $20
Description: Chicago-raised comedian and immigrant, Eunji Kim presents OUT OF CONTEXT a show about navigating social media, the politics of wokeness and the real work of being a decent human being.

Muslim Writers Collective Chicago Presents:

Blind Spots
Dates: Saturday, July 20 at 8 pm
Ticket Price: $20
Description: Muslim Writers Collective Chicago hosts an evening of multi-talented local artists who set out to uncover their blind spots and challenge the audience to contemplate their own.

The Gift Theatre Presents:

Obliteration
By Andrew Hinderaker
Performed by Michael Patrick Thornton and Cyd Blakewell
Dates: Thursday, July 25, Friday, July 26, Saturday, July 27, Wednesday, July 31, Thursday, August 1, Friday August 2 and Saturday, August 3 at 8 pm
Ticket Price: $30
Description: Obliteration is a fusion of stand-up and theater that tells the story of two comedians, trying to make sense of a world that's falling apart, even as their own lives are hanging on by a thread.

Chicago Musical Theatre Festival

Produced by Kokandy Productions
Dates: Thursday, August 8, Friday, August 9 and Saturday August, 10 at 8 pm; Saturday, August 10 and Sunday, August 11 at 3 pm
Ticket Price: $20
Description: The Chicago Musical Theatre Festival showcases new musicals from Chicago and beyond! This celebration of musical theatre, emerging authors and innovative artists looks to push the boundaries of storytelling within the form.

Order of Service

By Rae Chardonnay
Dates: Friday, August 16 at 8 pm
Ticket Price: $12 - $40
Description: Order of Service is a personal and universal ode to an ancestral legacy in which sound is a tool for healing. Using sound design, film and structural installation, this performance contemplates the complexities between the sacred and the secular.

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