Victory Gardens Theater presents the final show of its 40th anniversary season, the Midwest Premiere of The Who & the What by Ayad Akhtar, directed by Ron OJ Parson. The Who & the What runs June 12 - July 12, 2015 with the press performance on Friday, June 19, 2015, at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue.
The Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire, presents the six-time Tony Award-winning classic, CITY OF ANGELS, winner of Best Musical, Best Original Score by David Zippel and Cy Coleman, and Best Book by Larry Gelbart, previewing June 10, opening June 17th and running through August 2. Five-time Jeff Award-winning Director Nick Bowling brings his exceptional talent to the hilarious and ingenious musical comedy with choreography by Jeff Award-winner Tommy Rapley. Music Director, and Jeff Award-nominee, Ryan T. Nelson enlivens the sensational score, featuring a rich melange of jazz and bebop styles. CITY OF ANGELS is the rarest of musical comedies; one that is not only loaded with music and written in the contemporary jazz idiom, but also filled with sidesplitting comedy, set in the glamorous, seductive Hollywood of the 40?s - the world of film studios and flimsy negligees.
Mary-Arrchie Theatre Co. continues its 29th Season with the intense drama THE DECEMBER MAN (L'homme de Decembre) by Colleen Murphy, directed by Patrick New, playing tonight, May 19 - June 28, 2015 at Angel Island, 735 W. Sheridan Ave. in Chicago.
Manhattan Theatre Club's world premiere of HEISENBERG, the new play by two-time Olivier Award winner Simon Stephens (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Punk Rock), directed by Drama Desk Award winner Mark Brokaw (The Lyons, How I Learned to Drive), starring Denis Arndt (The Night Alive at Geffen Playhouse, 'The Practice') and Tony & Emmy Award winner Mary-Louise Parker (Proof, 'Weeds'), will play a strictly limited 6-week engagement beginning tonight, May 19, and opening Wednesday, June 3 as part of MTC's 2014-2015 season of The Studio at Stage II -- Harold and Mimi Steinberg New Play Series at New York City Center.
BROADWAY GYPSY TEA DANCE recently gathered at the rooftop bar Top of the Strand at the Strand Hotel (33 West 37th Street) to celebrate Chita Rivera's 2015 Tony Award nomination, enlisting dancers from most of Broadway's shows. Those represented included The King & I, Aladdin, Kinky Boots, Something Rotten, Wicked, American in Paris, The Lion King and gypsies who danced with Rivera in her last Broadway show A Dancer's Life. Check out a look back below!
Goodman Theatre and Golden Globe winner Regina Taylor unite Chicago communities through art and technology with the new play, STOP. RESET., which explores the intersection of race, class, sex and gender and the tensions between old ways and new digital-driven ways.
Northlight Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director BJ Jones and Executive Director Timothy J. Evans, announces the cast for the World Premiere of Bruce Graham's Funnyman, kicking off Northlight's 41st Season. The cast includes George Wendt, Tim Kazurinsky, Amanda Drinkall, Steve Haggard, Rob Lindley and an additional role to be announced. Funnyman, directed by BJ Jones and developed through Northlight's Interplay series, runs September 11-October 18, 2015 at Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Blvd in Skokie.
After a run in Spring 2014 at Playwrights Horizons (Artistic Director, Tim Sanford; Managing Director, Leslie Marcus), the critically acclaimed score of FLY BY NIGHT: A NEW MUSICAL has been recorded, produced and mixed by Emmy Award winner and Grammy Award nominee Michael Croiter (Matilda, Big Fish, Murder Ballad). The Original Cast recording will be released in digital and CD formats on June 9, 2014, and may be purchased at www.yellowsoundlabel.com and www.PHnyc.org, as well as through online outlets such as iTunes and in stores nationwide. It is also available for pre-order at www.yellowsoundlabel.com.
Goodman Theatre Board of Directors Chair Joan Clifford, Artistic Director Robert Falls and Executive Director Roche Schulfer announce plans to establish the "Alice B. Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement"-a $15 million expansion effort that realizes the theater's 30-year commitment to using its art as education: empowering and inspiring individuals through the process of creating and experiencing live theater.
Drury Lane Productions and Jennifer Maloney-Prezioso (Broadway's Spring Awakening, Rock of Ages) have announced the cast for the pre-Broadway production of Beaches, A New Musical, based on the beloved novel by Iris Rainer Dart. Previewing June 24, opening on July 2nd and running through August 16, 2015, the original musical is written by Iris Rainer Dart and Thom Thomas, with music by David Austin and lyrics by Iris Rainer Dart. The production is directed by Eric Schaeffer (Broadway's Follies, Million Dollar Quartet).
The Old Globe presents George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man, helmed by celebrated director Jessica Stone, who recently made her Globe debut with Christopher Durang's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike.
The Colony Theatre has announced that the final production of its historic 40thAnniversary season, the critically-acclaimed, smash-hit, Los Angeles Premiere of WORDS BY IRA GERSHWIN A Musical Play by Joseph Vass, directed by David Ellenstein, Musical Director Kevin Toney, Musical Arranger Joseph Vass will be EXTENDING through SUNDAY, MAY 24 at the Colony Theatre, 555 N. Third Street in Burbank.
Second Stage Theatre has announced two New York Premiere productions for its upcoming 37th season. The season will kick off in fall 2015 with the New York Premiere production of Matt Gould and Griffin Matthews' new musical, INVISIBLE THREAD (previously titled Witness Uganda), in association with American Repertory Theater, directed by Tony Award winner Diane Paulus (Finding Neverland, Pippin). The season will continue in early 2016 with the New York premiere of Lydia R. Diamond's (Stick Fly) critically acclaimed play, SMART PEOPLE, directed by Tony Award Winner Kenny Leon (Fences, A Raisin in the Sun, Stick Fly). Two additional productions remain to be announced.
The Gift Theatre artistic director Michael Patrick Thornton announces the cast for the World Premiere of Body & Blood, the smart, exhilarating new play by Gift Co-Founder and playwright William Nedved, directed by Marti Lyons, who recently directed Thornton in Lookingglass' Title and Deed. Body & Blood features The Gift ensemble members Lynda Newton (The Royal Society of Antarctica) and Gabriel Franken (Thinner Than Water) with guest artists Cyd Blakewell (Griffin Theatre Company's Balm in Gilead), Stephen Spencer (Remy Bumppo's Our Class) and Nicholas Harazin (Chicago Shakespeare Theater's Macbeth). Body & Blood runs June 11 - August 9 at The Gift Theatre, 4802 N. Milwaukee Avenue. Press opening is Monday, June 15 at 7:30pm.
Sideshow Theatre Company is pleased to announce its full 2015/16 Season, beginning this fall with the world premiere of Hansol Jung's surreal and mischievous new comedy NO MORE SAD THINGS, directed by Elly Green. Next winter, the season continues with another world premiere, David Jacobi's chilling new drama MAI DANG LAO directed by artistic associate Marti Lyons. The season concludes next spring with CAUGHT, a new, head-spinning collaboration with playwright Christopher Chen, Chicago's Xiong Art Gallery and director Seth Bockley. All three productions will be presented at Chicago's Victory Gardens Richard Christiansen Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., where Sideshow continues its multi-year residency. For additional information and updates, visit www.sideshowtheatre.org.
The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. The 'Jersey Boys' return, '[title of show]' premieres and CPaz hosts a belt-fest! Plus new works everywhere! Piven Theatre, Northlight Theatre, The Music Theatre Company, Chicago Children's Theatre, FWD Theatre and Porchlight Music Theatre show us our future, plus the world premiere of 'Sense And Sensibility' at Chicago Shakespeare Theater!
Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma announce the Writers Theatre production of Doubt: A Parable by John Patrick Shanley, directed by William Brown. The show runs now through July 19, 2015 at Glencoe Union Church, 263 Park Ave, Glencoe. The Press Openings are tonight, May 6 and tomorrow, May 7.
Encore Theatre Company has announced the world premiere of HOOKMAN, a new play by Lauren Yee whose playwriting credits includes The Hatmaker's Wife and Ching Chong Chinaman. Commissioned by Encore Theatre, Hookman dramatizes the story of Lexi, a student in her first year at college. After losing her high school best friend to a hook-handed serial killer, Lexi must learn what it means to grow up, young and female, in a world that's sometimes dangerous and lonely. Directed by Becca Wolff, Hookman opens in previews tonight, May 6 at Z Below in San Francisco, and runs for three weeks through Saturday, May 30.
Hedgebrook announces the 18th annual Hedgebrook Women Playwrights Festival (HWPF), a celebration of women writing for the theatre. This May, playwrights Leanna Brodie, Dipika Guha, Karen Hartman, Julie Marie Myatt, Suzanne Vega, and Lauren Yee will join dramaturgs Liz Engelman, Anita Montgomery, and Christine Sumption for a two-week residency at the famed Whidbey Island writers retreat, capped off with public presentations of excerpts from the playwrights' latest works.