Goodman Theatre News

Celebrating its 27th Anniversary this year, The Blank Theatre's Annual Young Playwrights Festival is now seeking submissions nationwide from playwrights 19 years of age and younger. The submission deadline is March 15, 2019. Winning plays will be presented by professional actors and directors in June of this year in Hollywood, CA.

Drury Lane Theatre announces casting for its production of the international megahit Mamma Mia!, with music and lyrics by Benny Andersson and Bj rn Ulvaeus, some songs with Stig Anderson, and book by Catherine Johnson. Originally conceived by Judy Craymer, Mamma Mia! is directed by Artistic Director William Osetek and choreographed by Jane Lanier with music direction by Roberta Duchak. Mamma Mia! runs February 7 April 14, 2019, at Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane in Oakbrook Terrace. The press opening is scheduled for Thursday, February 21 at 8:00 p.m.

Porchlight Music Theatre continues its "lost" musicals in staged concert series with Porchlight Revisits Can-Can, music and lyrics by Cole Porter and book by Abe Burrows with direction by Adrian Abel Azevedo, musical direction by Linda Madonia and choreography by Shanna VanDerwerker.  Porchlight Revisits Can-Can is presented for three performances-only Wednesday, March 6 at 7:30 p.m. and Thursday, March 7 at 2 p.m. and  7:30 p.m. at The Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn Street. Two-show discounted subscriptions and single tickets for $37 are available at porchlightmusictheatre.org or by calling the Porchlight Music Theatre box office at 773.777.9884.

BoHo Theatre announces the directors for its upcoming 2019 season, its first as a resident theatre at the Greenhouse Theater Center in Lincoln Park. BoHo is focused on bringing people together through an eclectic mix of musicals, dramas, and classic plays, inspiring its community to make caring, thoughtful relationships the highest priority.

As the Green Bay Packers celebrate their 100th Season, the Weidner Center wanted to offer their own tribute to the team. The legacy of Packers' coach, Vince Lombardi, remains strong in the streets of Green Bay.

TodayTix, the global ticketing platform connecting audiences to live performances around the world, has partnered with Theatre Philadelphia for the second year as the official ticketing partner for Philly Theatre Week to offer more than 60 shows for free, $15 or $30.

Award-winning actor Carrie Coon to the world-renowned Steppenwolf ensemble.

The Second City announces casting for The Second City e.t.c.'s 43rd Revue. Under the direction of Anneliese Toft with music direction by Jacob Shuda, The Second City e.t.c.'s 43rd Revue features returning cast member Andrew Knox along with first-time resident stage ensemble members Atra Asdou, E.J. Cameron, Mark Campbell, Laurel Krabacher, and Chuck Norment. The stage manager is Laura Hum.

Haven Theatre, in association with About Face Theatre, presents the Midwest premiere of THE TOTAL BENT, a dynamic new rock show about fathers, sons, social upheaval and the choice between salvation and selling out.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company presents the Chicago premiere of The Children written by Lucy Kirkwood and helmed by celebrated Chicago director Jonathan Berry. The cast includes previously announced ensemble members Ora Jones (Rose) and Yasen Peyankov (Robin), with acclaimed actress Janet Ulrich Brooks (Hazel) rounding out the cast. Following sold out runs in London and New York, Steppenwolf is proud to present this brave, humane and beautifully written play that confronts the responsibility each generation must face for the way it leaves the world.

Raven Theatre continues its 2018-19 season with Paula Vogel's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE, directed by Artistic Director Cody Estle. This artful, surprising and often-funny memory play that explores how we are shaped by the people who hurt us will play February 7 - March 24, 2019 on Raven's 99-seat East Stage, 6157 N. Clark St. (at Granville) in Chicago.

Victory Gardens Theater continues its 44th season with the Chicago Premiere of Pipeline, written by 2018 MacArthur Fellow Dominique Morisseau and directed by Cheryl Lynn Bruce. Pipeline runs February 1 March 3, 2019, with press performance on Friday, February 8, 2019 at 7:30pm at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue.

Casting for Cameron Mackintosh's acclaimed new production of Boublil and Schonberg's legendary musical MISS SAIGON-a smash hit in London, Broadway and across the UK-has been announced for its highly anticipated engagement in Cleveland at Playhouse Square for three weeks, January 29 - February 17, as part of the KeyBank Broadway Series. To purchase tickets, visit playhousesquare.org, call 216-241-6000 or visit the Playhouse Square Ticket Office (1519 Euclid Ave.). Groups of 10 or more may reserve seating by calling 216-640-8600. Single ticket prices start at $10.00.

The Old Globe today announced the cast and creative team for Familiar by Tony Award nominee Danai Gurira (Broadway's Eclipsed, Black Panther, "The Walking Dead"). This funny, warmhearted look at tradition, marriage, and what it means to be an American family will be directed by Edward Torres (the Globe's Water by the Spoonful and Native Gardens, Cancion at Repertorio Español) and will run January 26 - March 3, 2019 on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage, Old Globe Theatre, Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Preview performances run January 26-30. Opening night is Thursday, January 31. Tickets start at $30.00 and can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE, or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park.

Three emerging playwrights - two from St. Louis and one from Chicago - have been selected to participate in a new initiative developed by Shakespeare Festival St. Louis called the Confluence Regional Writers Project. As part of the program, the festival has also selected St. Louisan Carter Lewis, a two-time nominee for the American Theatre Critics Award, as the Festival's 2019 Playwriting Fellow.

Northlight Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director BJ Jones and Executive Director Timothy J. Evans, continues its 2018-19 season with Nina Simone: Four Women, written by Christina Ham and directed by Kenneth L. Roberson.Nina Simone: Four Women runs January 24 - March 2, 2019 at Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Blvd in Skokie. The press opening is scheduled for Friday, February 1, 2019 at 8pm.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley will kick off the new year with the Tony and Olivier Award nominated drama Frost/Nixon. Written by Golden Globe winner Peter Morgan (creator of Netflix's The Crown), Frost/Nixon is a riveting political prizefight where the cameras roll, the truth spins, and it becomes clear that he who controls the medium controls the message. With America caught in the riptides of Watergate and Vietnam, the former leader of the free world and a lightweight British talk-show host clash in a legendary series of TV interviews that will determine the President's legacy forever. Directed by Leslie Martinson, Frost/Nixon will be presented January 16 February 10, 2019 (press opening: January 19, 2019) at Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro Street, Mountain View. For tickets ($40-$100) and more information the public may visit TheatreWorks.org or call (650) 463-1960.

Hell in a Handbag Productions launches its 2019 season with a revival of the musical that started it all: POSEIDON! An Upside Down Musical, a musical parody and a loving homage to the classic 1972 film, The Poseidon Adventure, the grandmother of all disaster films.

With the dust settled from midterm elections and freshman members of Congress learning to navigate the maze of Capitol Hill 2.5 miles away, Studio Theatre presents Kings, part of its Studio X series, written by Alexandria, VA native Sarah Burgess and directed by Marti Lyons. With a deft hand at the fast talk and power dynamics of lawmaking and fundraising, Burgesss play is a swamp tour of the Beltway power-broking that fuels her hometown. A Susan Smith Blackburn Prize finalist, Burgess quickly rose to notoriety exploring the cutthroat world of finance in her breakout play, Dry Powder, at the Public Theater in New York, which starred Claire Danes, John Krasinski, and Hank Azaria.

Sideshow Theatre Company continues its 2018-19 season with the Midwest premiere of Wolfram Lotz' shocking and surreal satire THE RIDICULOUS DARKNESS, translated by Daniel Brunet and directed by artistic associate Ian Damont Martin*, playing March 24 - April 28, 2019 at Victory Gardens Richard Christiansen Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago.