Chicago Shakespeare Theatre News

Upcoming Equity Auditions from Sunday, December 29, 2013.

Join Artistic Director, Marc Robin, as he visits his home away from home and guides a lucky group of travelers through the best that Chicago theatre has to offer!

Broadway veteran Louise Pitre will lead GYPSY when it plays Chicago Shakespeare Theatre next year. Directed by Gary Griffin, the production will run at Chicago Shakespeare's Courtyard Theater, February 6- March 23. Pitre will be joined by: Rengin Altay (Miss Cratchitt/Electra), Erin Burniston (June), Molly Callinan (Mazeppa), Matt DeCaro (Male Ensemble), Maddie DePorter (Showgirl), Adam Fane (Angie),Betsy Farrar (Toreadorable), Landree Fleming (Agnes), Marc Grapey (Male Ensemble), Rhett Guter (Tulsa), Kelly Anne Krauter (Toreadorable), Keith Kupferer (Herbie), Jared Rein (Ensemble), Barbara E. Robertson (Tessie Tura), Cullen Rogers (Ensemble), Jessica Rush (Louise), Joseph Sammour (Yonkers), and Dana Parker (Toreadorable). Check out a first look at Pitre as 'Rose' in pre-production shots below!

The League of Chicago Theatres proudly announces the election of the Executive Committee Members and the appointment of four new members to The Board of Directors. The Executive Committee includes Board Chair Kate Lipuma, Executive Director, Writers Theatre; Vice Chair Rachel Kraft, Executive Director, Lookingglass Theatre Company; Treasurer Heather Schmucker, Associate Producer, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre; and Secretary Dan McArdle, Managing Director, The Neo-Futurists. Elected by members of the League, newly-elected Board Members include Brittany Barnes, Managing Director, Pavement Group; Peter Handler, Program Director, Richard H. Driehaus Foundation; Bill Melamed, Chief Marketing and Development Officer, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago; and Regina Taylor, Artistic Collective, Goodman Theatre.

The Music Theatre Company (TMTC), Highland Park's critically-acclaimed Equity theatre, is pleased to announce the full casting for Triumph of Love, the first Chamber Musical of their 2013-14 Season. Triumph of Love runs today, December 6 - 15, 2013.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Broadway veteran Louise Pitre will lead GYPSY when it plays Chicago Shakespeare Theatre next year. Directed by Gary Griffin, the production will run at Chicago Shakespeare's Courtyard Theater, February 6- March 23.

The Music Theatre Company (TMTC), Highland Park's critically-acclaimed Equity theatre, is pleased to announce the full casting for Triumph of Love, the first Chamber Musical of their 2013-14 Season. Triumph of Love runs December 6 - 15, 2013.

Park Square cracks the ice of winter with a wickedly funny satire inspired by Moliere's The Misanthrope. THE SCHOOL FOR LIES by David Ives (whose Venus in Fur was nominated for a Tony Award in 2012) storms the stage in a production led by Amy Rummenie, Artistic Director of Walking Shadow Theatre Company, in her Park Square directing debut.

The Michigan Shakespeare Festival officially announced their 2014 Season on Saturday night at the Scenes & Sonnets From Shakespeare event, starring Janet Haley and David Turrentine, and sponsored by JTV's Karen and Bart Hawley. The lineup for the 20th Anniversary Season will be Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, and Shakespeare's romantic adventure Cymbeline.

Victory Gardens Theater kicks off its 2013-14 season with the Co-World Premiere of Appropriateby Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, directed by Gary Griffin. Appropriate is presented in association with Actors Theatre of Louisville and was developed, in part, by IGNITION 2012. Appropriate runs November 8-December 8, with the press performance on November 15, 2013, at Victory Gardens Biograph Theatre, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue.

The Laguna Playhouse Executive and Artistic Directors, Karen Wood and Ann E. Wareham are delighted to present a new look at a hilarious classic, fresh off a critically-acclaimed run at the Pasadena Playhouse. Prepare to be intoxicated by FALLEN ANGELS, written by Noel Coward and directed by Art Manke. 'This is a deliriously giddy look at a rarely produced play by the one-and-only master of the sophisticated comedy, Noel Coward,' offers Wood. 'We are thrilled to present this brilliant and wickedly fun production to our subscribers and audiences and we know they will leave our theatre as charmed by this production as we are!' adds Wareham. FALLEN ANGELS will open tonight, October 12 at 7:30pm and run through Sunday, November 3, 2013 at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach.

Profiles Theatre continues its 25th Anniversary Season with the Midwest premiere of Wrecks by Resident Artist Neil LaBute, directed by Guest Artist Jason Gerace and featuring acclaimed Chicago actor John Judd. The production runs October 3 - November 17, 2013 at The Alley Stage, 4147 N. Broadway.

Producers Whoopi Goldberg, Stage Entertainment and Troika Entertainment have announced that the North American Tour of the five-time Tony Award nominated musical SISTER ACT will begin its second year of performances. The tour opened on October 2, 2012 at Toronto's Ed Mirvish Theatre and is still rocking the rafters across the country. SISTER ACT opened to stellar reviews and continues to receive them across the country.

The new southern rock-parody musical Lanyard Skynerd - The Musical, written by Ed Furman and T.J. Shanoff, creators of The Second City's box office hit Rod Blagojevich Superstar!, and directed by Jeff Award winner Mick Napier, will be presented for a limited engagement at Martyrs (3855 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago), for five performances only, Monday evenings, beginning today, September 30, and continuing through October 28, 2013, at 7:30 p.m.

EXPO CHICAGO, The International Exposition of Contemporary & Modern Art, in conjunction with Choose Chicago and Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events(DCASE), present EXPO ART WEEK, a citywide celebration of arts and culture with over 100 special events, institutions, museums, galleries, theaters and restaurants participating, Sept. 16 – 22, 2013. For an entire list of EXPO ART WEEK events including Chicago gallery openings, visitexpochicago.com/visitors/expo-art-week.

Aurora's Paramount Theatre will launch its third Broadway subscription series this September with the first local professional staging of In the Heights, one of Broadway's most acclaimed contemporary musicals, a potent reminder of the importance of chasing one's dreams, and the show all of Chicago will be talking about this fall. Performances are tonight, September 11 through October 6, 2013. Press opening is Saturday, September 14 at 8 p.m. Scroll down for a first look at the cast!