Chris Jones News

HARD TIMES runs at Lookingglass Theatre through January 14, and the critics are weighing in!

Bruce Springsteen makes his Broadway with Springsteen on Broadway, a solo show at the Walter Kerr Theatre (219 West 48th Street). Springsteen on Broadway opens officially tonight, Thursday, October 12. Springsteen will perform five shows a week through February 3, 2018.

Windy City Playhouse's critically acclaimed production of Gina Gionfriddo's Becky Shaw has extended its run through December 10. Directed by Jeff Award winner Scott Weinstein, the show opened on September 28 to highly favorable reviews, with Chris Jones of Chicago Tribune calling it wise, complex, and really very moving. Funny, too, and Buzz Center Stage deeming the show funny and provocative. Picture This Post said it was impeccably directed and Performink called it a must see.

Disney's Frozen's pre-Broadway engagement had is opening night in Denver tonight, and is now playing through October 1, 2017 at the Buell Theatre.

Producer Scott Rudin announced today that Tony Award® winner Gavin Creel and Tony Award nominee Kate Baldwin have extended their runs in the most successful and beloved Broadway production of the year: Hello, Dolly!

THE AUDIENCE by Peter Morgan will play at TimeLine Theatre in Chicago until November 12, and the critics are weighing in!

HONEYMOON IN VEGAS opened at The Marriott Theatre in Chicago on August 23 and runs until October 15. The cast features Michael Mahler as Jack Singer, Samantha Pauly as Betsy Nolan, Sean Allan as Tommy Korman, Cole Burden as Buddy Rocky / Roy Bacon, Marya Grandy as Bea Singer, and Steven Strafford as Johnny Sandwich.

Steep Theatre's 17th season will open this fall with the Chicago premiere of Pulitzer Prize winner Ayad Akhtar's The Invisible Hand, directed by Audrey Francis. Akhtar won the Pulitzer for his play Disgraced, which premiered in 2012 at American Theatre Company in Chicago and later played both at the Goodman Theatre and on Broadway. 

MACHINAL at the Greenhouse Theatre is a re-imagining of the classic play inspired by murderess Ruth Snyder. See what the critics are saying!

Manhattan Theatre Club's Broadway premiere of Prince of Broadway, a musical celebration that highlights the extraordinary six-decade career of director and producer Harold Prince, opens tonight, August 24, 2017, at MTC's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street). 

The world premiere of TREVOR the musical opens tonight at Writers Theatre. The production is directed by Marc Bruni (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical on Broadway), with book and lyrics by Dan Collins, music by Julianne Wick Davis, music direction by Matt Deitchman, orchestrations by Greg Pliska and choreography by Josh Prince, by special arrangement with U Rock Theatricals. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

This summer's runaway hit is Steep Theatre's Lela & Co. This powerful U.S. premiere will run through September 16. Steep is adding eight new chances to hear Lela's passionately told story of resilience and hope in the face of overwhelming adversity, featuring Cruz Gonzalez-Cadel and Chris Chmelik, whose performances have been described as 'stunning,' 'fantastic,' and 'extraordinary empathetic.'

With most of the original run sold out, Steep Theatre's production of Lela & Co. has been extended through Saturday, September 2.

'Spamilton,' the critically acclaimed parody of 'Hamilton,' welcomes Chicago actor Becca Brown to the production as the new female star.

National New Play Network, the country's alliance of nonprofit theaters that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays, celebrates the opening of Winter by Julie Jensen on the third leg of its Rolling World Premiere at Central Works (Berkeley, CA, July 15-August 13, 2017).

Steep Theatre's U.S. Premiere of Cordelia Lynn's Lela & Co., directed by Robin Witt, will feature Cruz Gonzalez-Cadel and Chris Chmelik. Gonzalez-Cadel will make her Steep Theatre debut, and this will be Chmelik's third Steep production, after Simon Stephens' Motortown and Howard Korder's The Hollow Lands.

Steep Theatre will introduce another emerging British playwright to Chicago with the U.S. Premiere of Cordelia Lynn's Lela & Co., directed by Robin Witt, featuring Cruz Gonzalez-Cadel and Chris Chmelik. This production will mark Lynn's U.S. debut, but Chicago audiences are no stranger to the work of director Robin Witt. Witt, a Steep Company Member, has been at the helm of some of the ensemble's most memorable shows, including Simon Stephens' Wastwater, Motortown, Pornography, and Harper Regan; Dennis Kelly's Love and Money; and Alistair McDowall's Brilliant Adventures. She won the 2015 and 2016 Jeff Award for Best Director for Griffin Theatre's Flare Path and London Wall.

Steep Theatre Company is thrilled to announce the programming for its upcoming 17th season, which continues the company's tradition of presenting bold plays from today's most exciting playwrights, brought to life by fearlessly honest ensembles and visionary directors.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) celebrated the culmination of the 30th Anniversary Season with GALA 2017 on Friday, June 9, 2017 at the Theater's home on Navy Pier-raising a record-breaking $1.74 million for Chicago Shakespeare in Classrooms and Communities initiatives.