Diana Lawrence News

The Manhattan Association of Cabarets (MAC) has announced that Kevin Kelso (music) and Hillary Rollins (lyrics) are the winners of MAC's 2023 Dottie Burman Award songwriting competition, and that Sonya Hayden (music and lyrics) is the winner of MAC's 2023 John Wallowitch Award songwriting competition. The winners will share in the $500 award that comes with each of the two competitions.

While most people spent their time during the COVID lockdown bingeing TV series, learning to make sourdough, or teaching themselves to knit, renowned tap dancer and teacher, Felipe Galganni (2022 Bistro Award Winner for Original Jazz Presentation) developed an entirely new creation - a Brazilian song and dance queen who sprang full blown from his love of the Olivia Newton John classic, Xanadu. He will introduce her to the world in The Rise of Xana DuMe along with her sisters and muses Gisele Bundchen, Carmen Miranda, Ann Miller, and Maria Montez in an evening of wildly entertaining music and terpsichore.

Disco diva Deloris Cartier and the Sisters of Our Mother of Perpetual Faith are getting into the Christmas habit at Mercury Theater Chicago with the final weeks of performances of the hit musical Sister Act. The critically acclaimed production, perfect for the whole family, must close on January 2, 2022, at Mercury Theater Chicago, 3745 N. Southport Avenue. 

Mercury Theater Chicago Executive Producers Walter Stearns and Eugene Dizon, Artistic Director Christopher Chase Carter and Managing Director Shane Murray-Corcoran reopened the theater with the first Mainstage production of the 2021-2022 Mercury Theater Chicago season, Sister Act, based on the 1992 film. 

Mercury Theater Chicago returns with SISTER ACT - and it's pure musical theater elation. This 'Joyful, Joyful' (SISTER ACT II reference intended) production, with direction from Reneisha Jenkins and choreography by Mercury's new Artistic Director Christopher Chase Carter, meets the goal of delighting audiences. This is musical theater that's designed to entertain and not make audiences think too deeply, and Mercury's production capitalizes on the show's capacity for fun. While the material is not at all serious, the talent in this company is stacked, and the actors take their responsibility to deliver this fun seriously.

Casting has been announced for the first Mainstage production of the 2021-2022 Mercury Theater Chicago season, Sister Act, based on the 1992 film. Sister Act features music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Glenn Slater, and book by Bill and Cheri Steinkellne, and Douglas Carter Beane. 

PlayMakers Laboratory will celebrate the 20th anniversary of its popular sketch comedy revue That's Weird, Grandma with a free digital special on Thursday, August 5 from 5:30 – 7:30 pm. PML will host an in-person viewing party at The Annoyance Theater, 851 W. Belmont Ave. (proof of vaccine required) in Chicago or guests may stream the show on Facebook Live.

The 2021-2022 Mercury Theater Chicago season has been announced. Mercury Theater Chicago welcomes audiences back in November to its beautiful home in the Southport Corridor with the feel-good blockbuster hit SISTER ACT directed by Reneisha Jenkins, featuring Chicago favorites Alexis J. Roston and Hollis Resnik. 

New York Theatre Barn will present concerts of work written by members of Tony Award-winning writer William Finn’s (Falsettos, Spelling Bee) first two virtual Master Classes in Lyric Writing. The non-profit theatre company that serves as a home for original culture shifting musicals during incubation will offer two free live stream presentations.

Need something new to read, watch, or listen to? Check out this week's list of new and upcoming releases! This week's list includes new music from Andy Karl and Orfeh with Andrew Logan, a debut album from Joshua Henry, a new Randy Rainbow parody, and more!

Mill Girls follows a year in the life of Agnes, a weaver who transforms from farmer's daughter to poet with the encouragement of her fellow mill girls and from poet to activist when the corporation lengthens the workday. 

Chicago Dramatists has announced its summer line up of writing courses!  All classes this summer session will be held online, via Zoom, and they are offering a record number of new classes.  For the summer session, they are offering a 20% discount on select classes, when students use promo code SummerQuarter20 at checkout.  This offer is only good when applied before June 8.  (The courses that make use of this discount are specified below).  

Four-time Obie Award-winner Caryl Churchill is the pre-eminent writer of feminist themes involving sexual politics, abuses of power and gender equality. There's no better metaphor of these themes than the witch hunts of 17th century England which provide the backstory of Vinegar Tom, an allegory that rings so true today. The play, which includes a modern score by Diana Lawrence sung by a Greek chorus dressed as street walkers, bridges time to illustrate the continuity of women's struggle against shaming, disempowerment and inequality. In director Ariel Craft's skillful hands, Churchill's sad satire blazes anew with a remarkable cast and technical crew that conjure both history and the present in vivid detail.

Artistic Director Mark Yonally and Chicago Tap Theatre (CTT) are proud to present Saving The World, a science fiction tap dance story show set to all-original music composed and performed live by Diana Lawrence, directed by Raphael Schwartzman, written by Slam Poetry Creator Marc Kelly Smith and choreographed by Yonally, June 8 - June 30, at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave.

Creative Coworking announces its new, event series, "The Parlor," presented in partnership with Fierce Productions. On Fridays, April 6, June 1, August 3, October 5, December 7, The Parlor presents interactive performances of dance, music, and theatre. Set in the historic Colvin House, The Parlor is a variety show inspired by the salons de Paris of the 1800s. A salon is defined as a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine the taste and expand the knowledge of the participants through conversation.

Victory Gardens Theater announces Jess McLeod and Aaron Todd Douglas as the 2018 Next Generation Fellows. Beginning in February 2018, the Next Generation Fellowship will provide comprehensive mentorship, requisite training, and experience for these future leaders of color, preparing them to helm arts institutions or departments on the national and local level. The program is made possible by a generous grant from The Field Foundation of Illinois.

Barrel of Monkeys celebrates its 20th anniversary of arts education in Chicago Public Schools with a special one-night-only event: KIDS WRITE IT: 20 YEARS OF INTERGENERATIONAL STORYTELLING, featuring student-written stories from each of its 20 years, performed by the company's talented team of actor-educators, directed by Artistic Director Joseph Schupbach and co-directed by Co-Founder/Former Artistic Director Halena Kays. KIDS WRITE IT will be held on Thursday, July 27 at 7:30 pm at The Athenaeum Theatre Main Stage, 2936 N. Southport Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are currently available at www.athenaeumtheatre.org, by calling (773) 935-6875 or in person at The Athenaeum Theatre Box Office.  

My Father's Daughters is getting a special reading with Route 66 Theatre Company on Tuesday, June 6th. Featuring book by Lara Filip, music and lyrics by Liz Chidester, Lara Filip, Jess Godwin & Diana Lawrence, music direction by Diana Lawrence, an direction by Keely Vasquez, the reading begins at 7:30 p.m. at The Den Theatre (1333 N. Milwaukee Ave).

Route 66 Theatre Company is pleased to announce the line-up for its 6th annual Mile Markers Benefit Concert: REVOLUTION: SONGS OF PROTEST AND EMPOWERMENT on Today, March 10, 2017 at Mayne Stage, 1328 W. Morse Ave. in Chicago. Tickets for MILE MARKERS are currently available at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2879219.

Route 66 Theatre Company is pleased to announce the line-up for its 6th annual Mile Markers Benefit Concert: REVOLUTION: SONGS OF PROTEST AND EMPOWERMENT on Friday, March 10, 2017 at Mayne Stage, 1328 W. Morse Ave. in Chicago. Tickets for MILE MARKERS are currently available at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2879219.