Chuck Smith News

The latest wave of standings have been announced as of Monday, November 20th for the 2023 BroadwayWorld Sarasota Awards! Don't miss out on making sure that your favorite theatres, stars, and shows get the recognition they deserve!

The nonprofit Black Arts & Culture Alliance of Chicago has announced the winners of its 23rd Annual Black Excellence Awards, honored Monday night in a festive celebration at Black Ensemble Theater. Learn more about the winners here!

Renowned performer Ben Vereen joins the Artistic Advisory Board of Porchlight Music Theatre. Learn more about this exciting addition and Vereen's recent ICON Award recognition.

Discover the Black Arts & Culture Alliance of Chicago, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and showcasing Black artists. Learn about their 26-year legacy and their mission to advance excellence in the vibrant Black arts and culture sector in Chicago. Join them in celebrating Black Arts Month in October with a lineup of events and exhibitions.

The nonprofit African American Arts Alliance of Chicago has announced Charlique C. Rolle as its new board president, effective immediately. Rolle is the first new president in the Alliance’s 26-year history, following the celebrated tenure of founding president Jackie Taylor. Joining Rolle as the new vice president of the Alliance is Vershawn Sanders-Ward.

Stage vets Joel Saracho (Dominador) and Rikki Benedicto (Oliver), together with young actor AJ Sison (Edward), own the stage in 'Dominador Gonzales: National Artist,' an entry to the 18th edition of Virgin Labfest, presented by the Cultural Center of the Philippines, The Writer’s Bloc, and Tanghalang Pilipino.

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.