Chicago Shakespeare Theater News

Michael Weber, Artistic Director of Porchlight Music Theatre, announced casting for Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, February 2 - March 10, 2013 and Pal Joey, April 20 - May 26, 2013, both at Stage 773, 1225 W Belmont and the naming of new Artistic Associates and members to the Advisory Board. Alexis J. Rogers will play "Billie Holiday" in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, by Lanie Robertson to be directed by Porchlight Artistic Associate Rob Lindley.

Court Theatre kicks off its 2012-13 season with August Wilson's Jitney directed by Resident Artist Ron OJ Parson.Jitney is the fourth play in Wilson's Century Cycle to be produced at Court Theatre under Parson's direction. The production will runSeptember 6 - October 14, 2012 at Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Avenue. The press opening will be Saturday, September 15, 2012 at 8:00 p.m.

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. Casting news for ChiShakes' 'Sunday,' TATC's '42nd Street' and Paramount's 'Grease,' plus ALW and the eye-popping Marriott season, Chicago's first 'Q,' Super September along Belmont Avenue and much more!

The entire cast of the critically acclaimed TRIASSIC PARQ The Musical headed into Sear Sound Studios this past Saturday, August 11th to create the original cast recording, which will be available in September on iTunes, Amazon.com, Xbox LIVE, and TriassicParq.com on the new Starkadia label. Check out photos from the recording studio below!

Mike Bartlett's hit play COCK plays its 100th performance today, August 11 at 8pm.

Due to popular demand, the smash hit FREUD'S LAST SESSION today announced its final extension through November 11th at the Mercury Theater, 3745 N. Southport, in Chicago.

John Arthur Pinckard, the Tony Award-Winning Producer of Clybourne Park,has joined with The New Colony, 2011 Broadway In Chicago Emerging Theater Award-recipient, to announce the acceptance of last summer's critically-acclaimed 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche, written by Andrew Hobgood and Evan Linder and directed by Sarah Gitenstein, into The New York International Fringe Festival. Chicago audiences will be able to see the re-staging of last summer's hit production at Center on Halsted opening on Monday, July 30th with a limited run from August 2nd - August 5th before it heads to FringeNYC.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) announces casting for the 2012 Fall Season. The Tony Award® and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, Sunday in the Park with George by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine will be staged by CST Associate Artistic Director Gary Griffin, September 26-November 4, 2012 in CST's Courtyard Theater. The season continues with The School for Lies by David Ives, adapted from Moliere's The Misanthrope and staged by CST Artistic Director Barbara Gaines, December 4, 2012-January 20, 2013 in CST's Courtyard Theater.

Mike Bartlett's hit play COCK will play its 100th performance this Saturday, August 11 at 8pm.

Stephen Sondheim's SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE is part of Chicago Shakespeare Theater's upcoming season, and the Chicago Tribune today revealed casting for the fall production.

The cast of TRIASSIC PARQ The Musical, 2010's Best Musical winner at FringeNYC, will head into Sear Sound Studios on August 11th to create the cast recording, which will be available in September on iTunes, Amazon.com, Xbox LIVE, and TriassicParq.com. The Off-Broadway premiere of TRIASSIC PARQ is set to end its strictly limited engagement as scheduled this Sunday, August 5th. Written by Marshall Pailet, Bryce Norbitz and Steve Wargo, TRIASSIC PARQ is directed by Mr. Pailet, with choreography by Kyle Mullins and musical direction by Zak Sandler. The cast of TRIASSIC PARQ features Lindsay Nicole Chambers (Hairspray, Lysistrata Jones), Brandon Espinoza (Les Miserables, Captains Courageous), Wade McCollum (Submissions Only), Claire Neumann (Boston Marriage), Lee Seymour (title role in Hamlet, Shakespeare's Globe), Shelley Thomas (Zanna, Don't!), and Alex Wyse (HBO's Bored to Death).

Founded in 1979 by its artistic director Jeffrey Horowitz, Theatre for a New Audience is a modern classical theatre that produces Shakespeare alongside other major authors in a dialogue that spans centuries. Its 33rd season, the last before moving to its first home adjacent to BAM in the new Downtown Brooklyn Cultural District, features boldly diverse works from William Shakespeare, Franz Kafka in a theatrical adaptation by Colin Teevan, Samuel Beckett and Wallace Shawn. In a co-production with The Public Theater, Mr. Shawn's plays will be part of The Wallace Shaw-Andre Gregory Project.

FREUD'S LAST SESSION will feature a post-show talkback discussion with Dr. Jeffrey W. Barbeau, Associate Professor of Theology in the Graduate School of Wheaton College; Dr. Tracy L. Caldwell, Associate Professor of Psychology at Dominican University; and Dr. Larry Arnhart, Presidential Research Professor of Political Science at Northern Illinois University, following the 1:00 p.m. performance on Sunday, August 19 at the Mercury Theater, 3745 N. Southport in Chicago. The scholars will discuss the thought-provoking themes addressed in the play, such as the existence of God and the meaning of life.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) presents THE TAMING OF THE SHREW, now through August 19. Check out production photos of the cast onstage at the opening below!

John Arthur Pinckard, the Tony Award-Winning Producer of Clybourne Park,has joined with The New Colony, 2011 Broadway In Chicago Emerging Theater Award-recipient, to announce the acceptance of last summer's critically-acclaimed 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche, written by Andrew Hobgood and Evan Linder and directed by Sarah Gitenstein, into The New York International Fringe Festival. Chicago audiences will be able to see the re-staging of last summer's hit production at Center on Halsted opening tonight, July 30th with a limited run from August 2nd - August 5th before it heads to FringeNYC.

For the first time in Chicago history, all Chicagoans will have the opportunity to experience a live, professional theater performance, free of charge, as Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST), Chicago Park District and The Boeing Company, partner to launch Chicago Shakespeare in the Parks.