Goodman Theatre News

Raven Theatre is pleased to launch its 2018-19 season with CRUMBS FROM THE TABLE OF JOY by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Lynn Nottage, directed by Tyrone Phillips. This sharp and boisterous drama about family, faith and revolution will play October 4 - November 18, 2018 on Raven's 99-seat East Stage, 6157 N. Clark St. (at Granville) in Chicago.

La Mirada Theatre For The Performing Arts & Mccoy Rigby Entertainment announce the cast and creative team for the West Coast premiere of AGATHA CHRISTIE'S MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, adapted for the stage by Ken Ludwig and directed by Sheldon Epps. AGATHA CHRISTIE'S MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS will preview on Friday, October 19, 2018 (with a press opening on Saturday, October 20 at 8pm) and perform through Sunday, November 11, 2018 at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd in La Mirada.

WaterTower Theatre Artistic Director Joanie Schultz announced today the naming of "The Terry Martin Main Stage." The dedication ceremony is set for Opening Night of the company's first show of the 2018-2019 Season, A Doll's House.

Porchlight Music Theatre begins its sixth season of Chicago's "lost" musicals in staged concert series with Porchlight Revisits 1776, music and lyrics by Sherman Edwards and book by Peter Stone with direction by Artistic Director Michael Weber, musical direction by Jeremy Ramey and musical staging by Michelle Lauto.

In a unique addition to its upcoming 2018/2019 Season, Goodman Theatre and the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA) will present the U.S. premiere of Mendoza by Los Colochos of Mexico City-the latest in a 30-year history of premiering works by prominent local, national and international Latino playwrights and theater companies. Mendoza is presented as part of Destinos-the 2nd Chicago International Latino Theater Festival, a seven-week festival of Latino theater artists and companies from Chicago, the U.S. and Latin America in shows, panels and student performances at venues citywide. A radically reimagined adaptation of William Shakespeare's Macbeth, Mendoza is a tale of ambition, blood and power by Antonio Zuñiga and Juan Carrillo, directed by Carrillo and presented in Spanish with English supertitles. The limited engagement of Mendoza appears October 2-7, 2018 at Goodman Theatre (170 N. Dearborn); tickets ($25-32; subject to change) go on sale Friday, August 24 by telephone 312.443.3800 or online GoodmanTheatre.org/Mendoza.

An homage to entertainer Judy Garland will be presented by Music Theater Works at Nichols Concert in Evanston, October 5-14, 2018.

Four wildly diverse live theater productions from Mexico, Argentina and Los Angeles - never before seen in Chicago - will all debut during week three of DESTINOS - the 2nd Chicago International Latino Theater Festival, presented by CLATA, the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance: 

Goodman Theatre and the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA) present the U.S. premiere of Mendoza by Los Colochos Teatro of Mexico City, appearing in a limited engagement October 2-7 at the Goodman. The production is produced as part of Destinos-the 2nd Chicago International Latino Theater Festival, a seven-week festival of Latino theater artists and companies from Chicago, the U.S. and Latin America in shows, panels and student performances at venues citywide. An adaptation of William Shakespeare's Macbeth, Mendoza is a thrilling, fast-paced and blood-soaked ensemble production by Antonio Zuñiga and Juan Carrillo, directed by Carrillo and presented in Spanish with English supertitles. The limited engagement of Mendoza appears October 2-7 (Opening Night is October 2) at Goodman Theatre (170 N. Dearborn); Tickets ($25) are available by telephone 312.443.3800 or online GoodmanTheatre.org/Mendoza. Destinos takes place through November 4; complete festival programming and ticket information available at www.clata.org. Chicago Community Trust is the Sponsor Partner of Mendoza and Corona Extra is the Official Beverage Sponsor of Mendoza and Destinos. NOTE: this production contains a live animal and is intended for mature audiences.

Playwright Aleshea Harris' play IS GOD IS, receiving just its second production at Minneapolis' Mixed Blood Theatre, is a revenge play. More than that, it's a revenge fantasy. Filled with the kind of vengeance that we don't resort to in real life because we're civilized people, but it sure is fun to think about. When you hear of a man who does horrible things to his wife and/or children, or even worse, experience it first hand, there's a part of the primal brain that wants to deliver an eye for an eye. This play is the cathartic fulfillment of those desires. It reminds me of the Dixie Chicks' song 'Goodbye Earl,' in which two friends conspire to kill the abusive husband of one of them. Critics cried - you're advocating violence and murder, how horrible! No - it's fiction, art, fantasy, metaphor, seeing an evil someone get what they deserve, if only in our imagination. Such is IS GOD IS, tenfold, in all its horrific yet somehow satisfying violence to avenge great hurts against one's self and loved ones.

It's not uncommon for artists to create beauty from the pain of their own pasts, but few do it as bravely and poignantly as David Cale in WE'RE ONLY ALIVE FOR A SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME. Staged in the Goodman Theatre's largest venue and programmed as the subscription season opener, this 90-minute, one-man show packs an emotional punch in the most understated of ways.

THE GREEN ROOM 42 will present Rachel York, currently starring on Broadway in the new musical Head Over Heels, in her concert "Thank You for the Music" on Sunday, November 18 at 7:00 PM. In a delightful evening of stories and song, Rachel pays tribute to the glorious women who helped shape her career. She includes numbers made famous by early inspirations, her stage and screen favorites, and a few surprises that have touched her heart in a special way.

Firebrand Theatre, in partnership with TimeLine Theatre Company, is pleased to launch its 2018-19 season with a revival of the Tony Award-nominated Best Musical CAROLINE, OR CHANGE, playing September 22 - October 28, 2018, at The The Den Theatre's Heath Main Stage, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave.

Firebrand Theatre, in partnership with TimeLine Theatre Company, is pleased to launch its 2018-19 season with a revival of the Tony Award-nominated Best Musical CAROLINE, OR CHANGE, playing September 22 - October 28, 2018, at The The Den Theatre's Heath Main Stage, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave.

Chicago Theatre Week (#CTW19), an annual celebration of the rich tradition of theatre-going in Chicago during which visitors and residents can access value-priced tickets, will take place February 7-17, 2019. From joy to heartache and every feeling in between, Chicago theatre tells stories that evoke big emotions. Stories that take risks, inspire awe, ask tough questions - and dare audiences to do the same. From musicals to plays to comedy, theatre is for everyone in Chicago. Chicago Theatre Week is a celebration of the stories we share and will kick off 2019 as the Year of Chicago Theatre, a first-of-its-kind initiative designated by Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Goodman Theatre's commitment to new works and emerging artists continues in its 2018/2019 Season. Today, the Goodman named four Chicago-based writers to its Playwrights Unit-Georgette Kelly, whose play Ballast was featured on The Kilroys List and received the Craig Noel Award for Outstanding New Play; Dianne Nora, a playwright, dramaturg, theater scholar and comedy writer who works in Chicago, Brooklyn and Dublin; Marisela Treviño Orta, semifinalist for the 2018 O'Neill Theater Center National Playwrights Conference and 2019 Kendeda Finalist (Alliance Theatre); and Stacey Rose, whose work has been presented at New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, National Black Theatre and more. The Playwrights Unit, in partnership with Chicago Dramatists, meets bi-monthly to discuss their commissioned plays-in-progress with the Goodman's artistic team. The residency culminates in a public staged reading of each new play in Summer 2019. 

Berkeley Repertory Theatre presents A Doll's House, Part 2, written by Lucas Hnath and directed by Les Waters, which begins previews on Thursday, September 6 and runs through Sunday, October 21. Individual tickets begin at $30 ($15 if you're under 35) and can be purchased online at berkeleyrep.org or by phone at 510 647-2949 beginning August 12, 2018. Subscription tickets are available now. 

Following his Tony Award winning performance in Hello, Dolly, Gavin Creel takes to the New York concert stage to share an intimate evening of songs that explore his love for all things Broadway. Widely recognized as one of the most gifted performers of his generation, Creel pays homage to the American musical songbook by offering his own interpretations of beloved classics as well as tales of his time treading the boards. This exclusive evening will be accompanied by Mean Girls Musical Director and Broadway staple, Mary-Mitchell Campbell.

City Theatre is excited to kick off to the 2018/19 Momentum Reading Series with Isaac Gomez's PerKup Elkhorn. Set in the small Wisconsin town of Elkhorn in the aptly named PerKup Coffee shop, owner Lori and her pal Vicki are testing out the market for cold brew and debating swinging by the local RibFest with Vicki's' husband Jeff and their recently returned childhood friend, Eric. Something shifts when newcomer Pedro visits the shop to use the Wi-Fi and touch base with his job in Chicago. The ensuing encounter will forever alter these five interwoven lives in this searing portrait of present day America.

Casting is complete for the three "developmental productions" featured in Goodman Theatre's 15th annual New Stages Festival-a free celebration of new works by some of the country's finest established and emerging playwrights. These three plays, which are staged in repertory following two weeks of rehearsal, include There's Always the Hudson by Paola Lazaro-Muñoz, directed by Jess McLeod; Felons and Familias by Sandra Delgado, directed by Marcela Muñoz; and Graveyard Shift by Korde Arrington Tuttle, directed by Danya Taymor. Developmental productions are designed by Kevin Depinet (Set), Noel Huntzinger (Costumes for There's Always the Hudson and Graveyard Shift), Birgit Rattenborg Wise (Costumes for Felons and Familias), Jesse Klug (Lights) and Richard Woodbury (Sound).

During last night's Season Release Bash at Filament Theater, Artistic Director and Co-Founder Michael Patrick Thornton proudly announced The Gift Theatre's 2019 Season will include: a revival of John Patrick Shanley's Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning drama DOUBT: A PARABLE directed by Ensemble Member John Gawlik and featuring Ensemble Members Jennifer Glasse, Maryann Thebus and Michael Patrick Thornton (February 27 - March 31) and the Chicago premiere of Hansol Jung's WOLF PLAY, directed by guest artist Jess McLeod (October 18 - November 24). The Gift's 17th season will also include a soon-to-be-announced third production (July 12 - August 18).