About Face Theatre News

Be a queen of the dance floor this spring at About Face Theatre's annual gala and Chicago's hottest party: WONKA BALL: Disco Inferno on Friday, April 12, 2019 at 8 pm (VIP cocktail reception and awards ceremony at 7 pm) at Venue West, 221 N. Paulina St. in Chicago.

In DADA WOOF PAPA HOT, now in its Chicago premiere at About Face Theatre, playwright Peter Parnell explores that nagging question of what it means to have it all. The play centers on a gay couple and their circle of friends. Though Alan (Bruch Reed) and Rob (Benjamin Sprunger) have been together for fifteen years, they've been married for a much shorter period of time and must navigate their shifting identities as partners and as parents of their three-year-old daughter, Nicola. (The play's seemingly nonsensical title refers to her first words and attempt at her parents' names.) The characters in DADA WOOF PAPA HOT are clearly well-off, but that doesn't make the ways in which they struggle with the challenges of daily life and parenthood any less human.

About Face Theatre will continue its 2018-19 season with DADA WOOF PAPA HOT, a sexy comedy about gay parenting and modern families from Peter Parnell (The Cider House Rules), directed by Jeff Award-nominated AFT Artistic Associate Keira Fromm*. DADA WOOF PAPA HOT will play January 10 - February 16, 2019 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are currently available at aboutfacetheatre.com, by calling (773) 975-8150 or in person at the Theater Wit Box Office. The press opening is Thursday, January 17, 2019 at 7:30 pm.

First Floor Theater continues its seventh season with the world premiere of Dan Giles' twisted and timely MIKE PENCE SEX DREAM, directed by Artistic Director Hutch Pimentel, playing February 16 - March 16, 2019 at FFT's resident home,The Den Theatre (2B), 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago.

 The Hub Theatre, Northern Virginia's award-winning professional theatre sharing new plays that celebrate our common humanity, is pleased to announce that the first full production of Season 11 will take place at NextStop Theatre this coming Spring.

Drury Lane Theatre announces casting for its production of the international megahit Mamma Mia!, with music and lyrics by Benny Andersson and Bj rn Ulvaeus, some songs with Stig Anderson, and book by Catherine Johnson. Originally conceived by Judy Craymer, Mamma Mia! is directed by Artistic Director William Osetek and choreographed by Jane Lanier with music direction by Roberta Duchak. Mamma Mia! runs February 7 April 14, 2019, at Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane in Oakbrook Terrace. The press opening is scheduled for Thursday, February 21 at 8:00 p.m.

BoHo Theatre announces the directors for its upcoming 2019 season, its first as a resident theatre at the Greenhouse Theater Center in Lincoln Park. BoHo is focused on bringing people together through an eclectic mix of musicals, dramas, and classic plays, inspiring its community to make caring, thoughtful relationships the highest priority.

Haven Theatre, in association with About Face Theatre, presents the Midwest premiere of THE TOTAL BENT, a dynamic new rock show about fathers, sons, social upheaval and the choice between salvation and selling out.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company presents the Chicago premiere of The Children written by Lucy Kirkwood and helmed by celebrated Chicago director Jonathan Berry. The cast includes previously announced ensemble members Ora Jones (Rose) and Yasen Peyankov (Robin), with acclaimed actress Janet Ulrich Brooks (Hazel) rounding out the cast. Following sold out runs in London and New York, Steppenwolf is proud to present this brave, humane and beautifully written play that confronts the responsibility each generation must face for the way it leaves the world.

Three emerging playwrights - two from St. Louis and one from Chicago - have been selected to participate in a new initiative developed by Shakespeare Festival St. Louis called the Confluence Regional Writers Project. As part of the program, the festival has also selected St. Louisan Carter Lewis, a two-time nominee for the American Theatre Critics Award, as the Festival's 2019 Playwriting Fellow.

About Face Theatre is pleased to continue its 2018-19 season with DADA WOOF PAPA HOT, a sexy comedy about gay parenting and modern families from Peter Parnell (The Cider House Rules), directed by Jeff Award-nominated AFT Artistic Associate Keira Fromm*. DADA WOOF PAPA HOT will play January 10 - February 16, 2019 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago.

Yale Repertory Theatre will present the world premiere of Good Faith: Four Chats about Race and the New Haven Fire Department by Karen Hartman, directed by Kenny Leon, February 1-23, 2019 at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street). Opening Night is Thursday, February 7.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre today announced the full cast and creative team for Metamorphoses. This co-production with the Guthrie Theater is led by nationally and internationally renowned writer and director Mary Zimmerman.

About Face Theatre is pleased to announce casting for its Chicago premiere of DADA WOOF PAPA by Peter Parnell (The Cider House Rules) and directed by Jeff Award-nominated AFT Artistic Associate Keira Fromm*.

Haven Theatre, in association with About Face Theatre, is pleased to announce casting for its Midwest premiere of THE TOTAL BENT, featuring text by Stew and music and lyrics by Stew and Heidi Rodewald (Passing Strange) and directed by Jeff Award-winning director Lili-Anne Brown.

Remy Bumppo Theatre Company is pleased to announce that Mike Durst, Yeaji Kim, Christopher Kriz, Joe Schermoly, and Ellen Willett have been the first to be named Associate Artists of the company. The newly created Associate Artist program honors the work of these talented collaborators and will give them more opportunities to work with the company on future projects.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces the full company for Pulitzer Prize winner Paula Vogel's thought-provoking play Indecent. Inspired by the 1923 Broadway debut of Sholem Asch's Yiddish drama The God of Vengeance, and the controversy that surrounded its themes of censorship, immigration and anti-Semitism, Vogel explores the behind-the-scenes story of the courageous artists who risked their careers and lives to perform this piece of theater under the most challenging circumstances. Infused with music that combines standards from Yiddish theater with folk traditions of the early to mid-20th century, Indecent, a co-production with Baltimore Center Stage and Kansas City Repertory, is directed by Eric Rosen, with choreography by Erika Chong Shuch and music direction and original music by Alexander Sovronsky. The production runs November 23 - December 30, 2018 in the Kreeger Theater.

First Floor Theater is pleased to announce casting for its world premiere of Dan Giles' twisted and timely MIKE PENCE SEX DREAM, directed by Artistic Director Hutch Pimentel.

American Blues Theater announces the addition of five new Ensemble members and one new Artistic Affiliate to the Blues family. Joining the Ensemble is director, designer and Associate Producer Elyse Dolan, who directed several works in past Ripped and Blue Ink festivals; designer Jared Gooding, lighting designer of Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story; actor Philip Earl Johnson, who is slated to appear in the upcoming Chicago premiere of Steven Dietz's On Clover Road; director Chuck Smith, director of the recent American Blues production of Pearl Cleage's Flyin' West; and actress and playwright Wandachristine, who won many awards for her solo performance Beauty's Daughter. Actor Zachary Stevenson has been named an Artistic Affiliate. Stevenson recently made his Chicago debut as 'Buddy Holly' in American Blues Theater's Joseph Jefferson Award-winning musical Buddy - the Buddy Holly Story, in which he also won a Jeff Award for Performance in a Musical.

About Face Theatre is pleased to launch its 2018-19 season with the Chicago premiere of the poetic and political romance THIS BITTER EARTH by award winning playwright and McKnight Fellow Harrison David Rivers, directed by Mikael Burke, recipient of the 2017 Princess Grace Award in Theatre.