Chuck Smith News

Definition Theatre has revealed the finalists of the Amplify Series Three New Play Commissioning Program. 

Shamaine Buencamino and Rissey Reyes-Robinson star in Layeta Bucoy’s 'Tuloy ang Palabas,' an entry to the 18th edition of Virgin Labfest, Set B, presented by the Cultural Center of the Philippines, The Writer’s Bloc, and Tanghalang Pilipino.

The Goodman Theatre has announced their 2023-2024 season, the first programmed by Artistic Director Susan V. Booth. The theatre's 98th season includes a new show created and performed by Dana Delany, of Desperate Housewives fame and Female Troubles - a new musical by Gabrielle Allan and Jennifer Crittenden, with music by Curtis Moore and lyrics by Amanda Green.

Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe's 24th season will be a celebration of all things that are “Simply the Best!” In its 2023-2024 theatre season, WBTT will offer fan favorites as well as new pieces leaders hope will become favorites.

Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe will bring in the New Year with its production of “Flyin' West” by Pearl Cleage. WBTT had previously presented this show as a staged play reading in the summer of 2018 as part of the national Project1VOICE program, during which Black theatres around the country present the same play on the same day.

The Joseph Jefferson Awards in Chicago were presented on October 17, 2022, at Drury Lane in Oakbrook, IL. Winners included Kinky Boots; Good Night, Oscar; and more!

Recognizing a lifetime of theater excellence, the Joseph Jefferson Awards will honor director Chuck Smith at the organization’s 54th Anniversary Equity Awards ceremony Monday, October 17th at Drury Lane Theatre.

Goodman Theatre and the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance will present the Midwest premiere of Pequeños Territorios en Reconstrucción by Teatro Linea de Sombra of Mexico City, appearing in a limited engagement September 21-25 at the Goodman.

The Board of Directors of the African American Arts Alliance, and the Black Excellence Awards Committee have announced the nominations for the 22nd Annual Black Excellence Awards. The Awards were established in 2002 to honor the outstanding works of art by African Americans in Theater, Dance, Music, Film, Literature, Visual Arts and Digital Media.

Pulitzer Prize-nominated playwright Rebecca Gilman will mark her 10th production at Goodman Theatre, her longtime creative home, with Swing State—directed by Tony Award-winner Robert Falls in their 6th collaboration over 35 years. Swing State appears October 7 – November 13 in the 350-seat flexible Owen Theatre.

Celebrated creative collaborators over two decades, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage and director Kate Whoriskey will return to Goodman Theatre with their latest Broadway production, Clyde’s, launching the Goodman’s 2022/2023 Season.

Out of the 330 total Chicagoland high school students who entered the 13th annual August Wilson Monologue and Design Competitions, Demi Davis from Senn High School prevailed, taking the first-place prize at the Chicago finals earlier this month for her 2-3-minute monologue performance.

It's not an overstatement to say that Jacqueline Williams is a staple of the Chicago theater community. She returns to her hometown in the role of Calpurnia in the current national tour of Aaron Sorkin's TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, coming to Broadway In Chicago from May 17,209, 2022. Williams reflected on her return to live theater, what makes this stage adaptation so impactful and timely, and some of her favorite Chicago theater memories.

Goodman Theatre announced casting for Life After by rising star writer/lyricist/composer Britta Johnson, directed by Annie Tippe. Leading the cast of nine is Samantha Williams as teenaged Alice—a young woman who, in search of facts, uncovers a more complicated truth as she pieces together events of the fateful night that changed her family forever.

As the TimeLine Theatre Company production of Relentless by Tyla Abercrumbie, directed by Ron OJ Parson opens tonight at the Goodman, strong demand for tickets have spurred a six-performance extension.

Porchlight Music Theatre has announced that the 2021 ICON Award-recipient and Broadway legend Chita Rivera of New York City, New York has joined Porchlight’s Advisory Board.

In its 23rd season, Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe will explore the struggles and triumphs of people who sought to realize their own version of the American Dream. Whether their dreams came true or were deferred, their stories make for compelling, can't-miss shows on the WBTT stage.

Chicago loves Oscar Levant! Six performances have been added of the world premiere of Good Night, Oscar by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Doug Wright (War Paint, I Am My Own Wife), directed by Lisa Peterson.

Two adjustments to the season schedule at Goodman Theatre shifts the 2021/2022 “Homecoming” Season line-up in the months ahead. The world-premiere production of Swing State by Rebecca Gilman directed by Robert Falls, previously announced for this spring, has been repositioned as this fall’s Owen Theatre opener.

The classic, timeless, epic work of seminal American playwright August Wilson endures as a new partnership—the “August Wilson Legacy Project”— has formed between the August Wilson Estate, Goodman Theatre and Derrick Sanders.