Frederick Harris News

Porchlight Music Theatre is proud to announce the next mainstage production it its 2017 - 2018 season Merrily We Roll Along, January 26 - March 11, 2018, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by George Furth, with direction by Porchlight Music Theatre Artistic Director Michael Weber, associate direction and musical staging by Porchlight Music Theatre Artistic Associate Christopher Pazdernik and music direction by Aaron Benham at Porchlght's home, the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn Street. Merrily We Roll Along is based on the play by the same name written by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart.

Porchlight Music Theatre is proud to announce the next mainstage production it its 2017 - 2018 season Merrily We Roll Along, January 26 - March 11,  2018, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by George Furth, with direction by Porchlight Music Theatre Artistic Director Michael Weber, associate direction and musical staging by Porchlight Music Theatre Artistic Associate Christopher Pazdernik and music direction by Aaron Benham at Porchlght's home, the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn Street. Merrily We Roll Along is based on the play by the same name written by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. The performance schedule is Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. (March 4 and March 11) and 6 p.m. (February 4, February 11, February 18 and February 25) with a weekday matinee Thursday, March 8 at 1:30 p.m. There is no 4 p.m. performance Saturday, Feb. 3 and no 7:30 p.m. performance on Thursday, March 8. Tickets are $33 - $60 and are available at PorchlightMusicTheatre.org or by calling the Porchlight Music Theatre box office, 773.777.9884.

Before Scrooge. Before Jacob Marley. Charles Dickens had his own ghosts to contend with. Announcing the world premiere of 'A Dickens Carol,' an all-new holiday tradition that re-imagines the story of Scrooge from Dickens' point of view and real-life events.

Before Scrooge. Before Jacob Marley. Charles Dickens had his own ghosts to contend with. Announcing the world premiere of 'A Dickens Carol,' an all-new holiday tradition that re-imagines the story of Scrooge from Dickens' point of view and real-life events.

Raven Theatre is pleased to launch its 35th anniversary season with the Chicago premiere of CHOIR BOY, by recent Academy Award winner Tarell Alvin McCraney who, together with writer-director Barry Jenkins, won the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for the Academy's Best Picture winner, Moonlight. Directed by Artistic Director Michael Menendian, CHOIR BOY will play September 27 November 12, 2017 in Raven's 120-seat East Stage, 6157 N. Clark St. (at Granville) in Chicago. Tickets are currently available at www.raventheatre.com or by calling (773) 338-2177.

Raven Theatre is pleased to launch its 35th anniversary season with the Chicago premiere of CHOIR BOY, by recent Academy Award winner Tarell Alvin McCraney who, together with writer-director Barry Jenkins, won the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for the Academy's Best Picture winner, Moonlight.  Directed by Artistic Director Michael Menendian, CHOIR BOY will play September 27 - November 12, 2017 in Raven's 120-seat East Stage, 6157 N. Clark St. (at Granville) in Chicago. Tickets are currently available at www.raventheatre.com or by calling (773) 338-2177. The press opening is Tuesday, October 3, 2017 at 7:30 pm.

Raven Theatre Company's 35th anniversary season will begin in September with the Chicago premiere of Choir Boy by recent Academy Award winner Tarell Alvin McCraney who, together with writer-director Barry Jenkins, won the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for the Academy's Best Picture winner, Moonlight.  

Due to popular demand, Griffin Theatre Company's newly-orchestrated chamber version of the Tony Award-winning musical RAGTIME will add one additional week of performances, extending through July 22, 2017 at The Den Theatre's Heath Main Stage, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago.

Just as Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens's 1999 musical RAGTIME traverses numerous locales on the East Coast and spans the years from 1906-1914, so too does director Scott Weinstein's dynamic staging make full use of The Den Theatre's Heath Mainstage. In Griffin Theatre Company's production, Weinstein's in-the-round staging often has actors dispersed among the audience (indeed, a handful of performers appeared right in front and me and even made eye contact during the performance). While this is an intimate production of a sweeping musical, this genius device lends RAGTIME the grand air it commands. The closeness of the action also lends pathos to this story of three American families-one white and privileged, one black, and one immigrant-as they navigate a changing country at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Griffin Theatre Company concludes its 2016-17 Season with a newly-orchestrated chamber version of the Tony Award-winning musical RAGTIME, reimagined by director Scott Weinstein with new orchestrations by Matt Deitchman, music direction by Jermaine Hill and Ellen Morris and choreography by William Carlos Angulo.

Griffin Theatre Company concludes its 2016-17 Season with a newly-orchestrated chamber version of the Tony Award-winning musical RAGTIME, reimagined by director Scott Weinstein with new orchestrations by Matt Deitchman, music direction by Jermaine Hill and Ellen Morris and choreography by William Carlos Angulo.

Griffin Theatre Company is pleased to announce casting for its newly-orchestrated chamber version of the Tony Award-winning musical RAGTIME, reimagined by director Scott Weinstein with new orchestrations by Matt Deitchman, music direction by Jermaine Hill and Ellen Morris and choreography by William Carlos Angulo.

Due to popular demand, Kokandy Productions hit revival of THE WIZ will add one additional week of performances, extending through April 23, 2017 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago. BroadwayWorld has a fresh batch of production photos below!

Under the direction of Lili-Anne Brown, Kokandy Productions' staging of THE WIZ radiates joy, and at the performance I saw Saturday night, the audience was soaking up every single joyful moment. From my vantage point, I can say that the audience reaction comes from the satisfaction of watching a solid musical theater production that leans into the musical numbers and embraces this all-black version of the classic THE WIZARD OF OZ to milk it for every possible ounce of delight and vibrancy. All of the ensemble members onstage seem to be truly enjoying themselves, and that energy is undeniably infectious.

Kokandy Productions is pleased to launch its fifth anniversary season with a revival of the Tony Award-winning Best Musical THE WIZ, with book by William F. Brown, music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls, directed by guest director Lili-Anne Brown, music direction by Jimmy Morehead and choreography by Breon Arzell. THE WIZ will play March 5 - April 16, 2017 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are currently available at www.kokandyproductions.com, by calling (773) 975-8150 or in person at the Theater Wit Box Office. The press opening isSaturday, March 11 at 8 pm. 

Kokandy Productions is pleased to launch its fifth anniversary season with a revival of the Tony Award-winning Best Musical THE WIZ, with book by William F. Brown, music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls, directed by guest director Lili-Anne Brown, music direction by Jimmy Morehead and choreography by Breon Arzell. THE WIZ will play March 5 - April 16, 2017 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are currently available at www.kokandyproductions.com, by calling (773) 975-8150 or in person at the Theater Wit Box Office. The press opening isSaturday, March 11 at 8 pm. 

Kokandy Productions will launch its fifth anniversary season with a revival of the Tony Award-winning Best Musical THE WIZ, with book by William F. Brown, music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls, directed by guest director Lili-Anne Brown, music direction by Jimmy Morehead and choreography by Breon Arzell. 

Kokandy Productions has announced casting for its upcoming revival of the Tony Award-winning Best Musical THE WIZ, directed by guest director Lili-Anne Brown with music direction by Jimmy Morehead and choreography by Breon Arzell, playing March 5 - April 16, 2017 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago.

Direct from Death Row The Scottsboro Boys (An Evening of Vaudeville and Sorrow), which on Monday, June 6 was honored for 'Outstanding Ensemble' at the annual Jeff Awards (Non-Equity Branch), has extended its previously announced remount by one week, with a new closing date of August 27, 2016. The entire Jeff award-winning all-African-American cast of the production will return for the run from July 21 through August 27, 2016.

For its 2016-17 season, the 33-year-old Raven Theatre Company will again bring new plays and playwrights to Chicago audiences along with revivals of classic and lesser-known works by masters of modern drama. Michael Menendian, producing artistic director, today announced a lineup that includes the early Tennessee Williams play Not About Nightingales and Pinter'sBetrayal as well as the Midwest premieres of Richard Greenberg's recent Broadway hit The Assembled Parties and Red Velvet by Lolita Chakrabarti, one of the U.K.'s most acclaimed new playwrights, and the world premiere of Sycamore - a drama of contemporary family life set in the Midwest by New York-based playwright Sarah Sander.