David H. Bell News

The American Music Theatre Project at Northwestern University will present a reading of 'Well Worn Words' by the Discount Ghost Stories Collective, June 2nd at the Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts in Evanston, Illinois.

Chicago's Sarah Siddons Society recently announced winners of their prestigious annual Actor of the Year Award to be presented on May 16, 2016 at Northwestern University's Pick Staiger Concert Hall. Two of Broadway's most popular performers, Sutton Foster and Brian D'Arcy James, will be this year's recipients. The event is being co-sponsored by Northwestern's School of Communication, Barbara O'Keefe, Dean.

A re-envisioned Shakespeare play presented in cooperation with The Actors Gymnasium; a Pulitzer-Prize winning play by Nilo Cruz set in Cuba; and the 85th installment of The Waa-Mu Show are among the Northwestern University theater-related offerings taking place on the Evanston campus in May.

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center announced today the 2016 summer season of plays, musicals, and other works in development at the National Playwrights Conference, National Music Theater Conference, National Puppetry Conference, and Cabaret & Performance Conference.

Atlanta's nationally acclaimed Alliance Theatre and Jennings Hertz Artistic Director Susan V. Booth have announced the 2016/17 Season for the Alliance Stage, Hertz Stage, Theatre for Youth and Families, and the Kathy and Ken Bernhardt Theatre for the Very Young series. The 48th season includes seven world premieres, five musicals, five productions by Atlanta playwrights, and exceptional productions for youth and families. The 2016/17 season marks the Alliance's last in its current theater space before it undergoes a complete renovation, its first since it was built in 1968.

Chicago's Sarah Siddons Society recently announced winners of their prestigious annual Actor of the Year Award to be presented on May 16, 2016 at Northwestern University's Pick Staiger Concert Hall. Two of Broadway's most popular performers, Sutton Foster and Brian D'Arcy James, will be this year's recipients. The event is being co-sponsored by Northwestern's School of Communication, Barbara O'Keefe, Dean.

The Rep's biggest season yet runs September through April at the Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts, kicking off with Stephen Sondheim's masterwork musical Follies.

Underground Railway Theater are proud to present the Danai Gurira's The Convert January 28 - February 28, 2016. The Convert is directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian. The press performance is Monday, February 1 at 7:30PM.

When FWD Theatre Project introduced itself in 2014 (at City Winery Chicago,) audiences, actors, producers, and critics took notice. Something special had arrived for the city's arts community and for the future of musical theatre in Chicago. A group of seasoned theatre professionals combined to create a Festival of Works in Development, part of an effort to build Chicago into a premiere destination for writers and creators to showcase their new musicals in process. One year later and FWD's inaugural season of five staged readings - selected from the world's best projects on offer - was a success, selling out many of its events at a variety of Chicago venues.

Windy City Playhouse, Chicago's newest professional theater, launches 2016 with the Chicago premiere of Nell Benjamin's slapstick farce The Explorers Club, set in a Victorian-era scientific gentleman's club. David H. Bell directs Cristina Panfilio (Chicago Shakespeare Theater's Pericles) as a female anthropologist vying for membership. Alex Goodrich (Elf: The Musical), Ryan Imhoff (Chicago Shakespeare Theater's A Midsummer Night's Dream), Matt Browning (Redtwist's Incident at Vichy), Graham Emmons (Prologue's Porcelain), Dan Rodden (Theater at the Center's On Golden Pond) and Zack Shornick (MPAACT's Ghosts of Atwood) make up the Club members, while Colin Morgan (Oracle's No Beast So Fierce) is Queen Victoria's private secretary and Wesley Daniel (Chicago Shakes' Pericles) is a blue-skinned primitive. Previews for The Explorers Club begin Wednesday, January 27, 2016 at Windy City Playhouse, 3014 West Irving Park Road. Press performances are Thursday, February 4 at 7:30 pm. and Friday, February 5 at 8 p.m. Tickets, $15-$55, are available by calling the box office at 773-891-8985 or visiting windycityplayhouse.com/the-explorers-club/

Happy Holidays! It's the last week to vote for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Chicago Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 18. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31!

Time is running out to vote for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Chicago Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 18. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31!

Voting is fully underway for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Chicago Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 11. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31.

Voting has opened for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Chicago Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of November 27th. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31.

Theatre at the Center, 1040 Ridge Road, Munster, Indiana, one of Chicagoland's leading regional theatres, announces today that as of January 1, William Pullinsi will step down after over a decade as Artistic Director to dedicate his time to pursuing other opportunities while remaining Artistic Director Emeritus. Jeff Award-winner Linda Fortunato will assume the role of Artistic Director. During Pullinsi's time at Theatre at the Center he brought to the stage World Premiere musicals including Knute Rockne, All American and The Beverly Hillbillies; and Regional and Chicago Premieres including Ring of Fire, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, A Christmas Memory, Making God Laugh, Miracle on South Division Street, Fox on the Fairway, Do I Hear a Waltz, Leading Ladies, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, What a Glorious Feeling and Nice Work if You Can Get It (which he will be directing during TATC's 2016 season).

Voting has opened for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Chicago Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of November 27th. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31.

It's the 2015 BroadwayWorld Chicago Award Nominations! [TITLE OF SHOW] and DIRECT FROM DEATH ROW... Lead the Field of 180 Nominees. 86 productions from 55 theaters receive nominations in 36 categories. Voting open through New Year's Eve!

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. 'Gentleman's Guide' reaches our shore, and 'Gotta Dance' and 'SpongeBob' plan the same. Madonna battles the French Revolution, dueling 'American Idiot's and 'Blood Brothers' debut, 'White Christmas' lasts nine weeks and 'Rent' returns for one night only. Plus 'Empire' conquers TV, and 'Hamilton' conquers everyone.

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. Excitement grows for 'La Revolution Francaise!' Also, Black Ensemble Theater and Raven Theatre take on more recent history, and 'Spamalot' opens northwest and southeast. 'Triassic Parq' and 'Goblin Market' play the city, 'Shrek' and 'Avenue Q' play the 'burbs, and 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend' and 'My Little Red/Green Coat' sing from small screens!

Windy City Playhouse, Chicago's newest professional theater, located at 3014 W. Irving Park Road, is proud to announce its second season in 2016. The three-show season comprises: the Chicago premiere of Nell Benjamin's slapstick farce The Explorers Club, directed by David H. Bell, starting January 27; Melissa James Gibson's 'unromantic comedy' This, directed by Carl Menninger, starting June 15; and the Chicago premiere of Jeff Daniels' gentle romance Apartment 3A directed by Ron OJ Parson, beginning October 5. Season subscriptions are now available by calling 773-891-8985 or visiting windycityplayhouse.com.