Hattie McDaniel News

TimeLine Theatre Company will present the Chicago premiere production of the internationally acclaimed and Tony Award-winning play THE LEHMAN TRILOGY by Stefano Massini, adapted by Ben Power, will open the company’s upcoming 2023-2024 season.

Throughout Black History Month this February, many Chicago theatres will present productions honoring the Black experience featuring Black theatres and theatre-makers.

The Next Wave Initiative has announced open submissions for Cycle 3 of its scholarship program. Founded by Broadway multi-hyphenate, Douglas Lyons (Parade at City Center, and Chicken and Biscuits,), The Next Wave Initiative is a developmental branch of The Directors Company committed to amplifying future Black voices in the American theatre.

TimeLine’s 2022-23 subscription season returns February 1 – March 19, 2023 with the world premiere of Boulevard of Bold Dreams by LaDarrion Williams, a Los Angeles-based playwright new to Chicago audiences, with a story about dreamers overcoming obstacles and fighting for recognition amidst the racism and inequity of Hollywood.

According to a post on her official Twitter account, Broadway and film actress Irene Cara, who played the role of Coco Hernandez in the movie FAME, has passed away at age 63 in her home in Florida. The cause of death has not yet been released.

The 2022 Non-Equity national tour of ELF THE MUSICAL launched November 5 in Paducah, KY, and will visit twelve U.S. cities throughout the holiday season including a stop in St. Louis at the Fabulous Fox Theatre December 20-24.

TimeLine Theatre Company is extending its 2022-2023 season with a fourth production—the first Chicago-based production of What the Constitution Means to Me by Heidi Schreck, directed by Helen Young, running May 10 – June 24, 2023. P

There may be a chill in the air, but the Anchorage Symphony is heating things up with a night of R-E-S-P-E-C-T and hot hits made famous by Aretha Franklin! On Saturday, October 29th, the ASO is joined by vocal powerhouses Capathia Jenkins and three-time Grammy award nominee Ryan Shaw for Aretha: A Tribute.

TimeLine Theatre Company’s 2022-23 season will continue this fall with the landmark classic Trouble in Mind by Alice Childress, directed by TimeLine Company Member Ron OJ Parson, running November 2 – December 18, 2022.

TimeLine Theatre Company will return to its longtime home at 615 W. Wellington Avenue in Chicago’s Lakeview East neighborhood for its 26th season opener, the world premiere of Campaigns, Inc.

It is safe to say this is a great festival, and well worth your time over the weekend.  Happy ten years to FADE TO BLACK!  Here’s hoping for many more decades to come.  

After celebrating its 25th Anniversary in residence at Theater Wit—a season that featured the world premiere, acclaimed hit Relentless, which went on to an extended run at Goodman Theatre—the company will return to its longtime home in Chicago’s Lakeview East neighborhood, located at 615 W. Wellington Avenue, for three productions.

Greater Boston Stage Company will welcome audiences back for their 23rd season. “With shows like the locally-set Little Women, the World Premiere one-man adaptation of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and the small-town comedy Popcorn Falls, Season 23 speaks directly to our audience and region without forgetting about the wider world in which we live.”

The first museum exhibition of its kind, Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898–1971 opens at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on August 21, 2022. It offers the public a chance to learn more about how Black performers and filmmakers have helped define cinema in the United States. The exhibition explores the achievements and challenges of both independent production and the studio system, from cinema’s infancy in the 1890s through the height of the civil rights movement. Regeneration features rarely seen excerpts of films restored by the Academy Film Archive, as well as other narrative films and documentaries; newsreels and home movies; photographs; scripts; drawings; costumes; equipment; posters; and historical materials, such as entrance tickets, note cards, and telegrams; along with augmented reality experiences (AR) designed specifically for the exhibition.

Black Ensemble Theater’s Founder and CEO Jackie Taylor announces the 2022 Black Playwrights Festival from April 26-30, 2022, featuring works by Viola Bennett, Jill Ross, Lillian Mitchum, Reginald Williams and Dwight Neal, curated and directed by Black Ensemble Producing Managing Director Daryl D. Brooks. 

The 2022 winners of Douglas Lyons' Next Wave Initiative have been announced.  NWI is a developmental branch of The Directors Company committed to amplifying future Black voices in The American Theatre. Each winner will receive financial scholarships ranging from $500 to $1,959 to support their undergraduate or graduate education.

The Next Wave Initiative has announced open submissions for Cycle 2 of its scholarship program. Founded by Broadway multihyphenate, Douglas Lyons (Chicken and Biscuits and Beau), The Next Wave Initiative is a developmental branch of The Directors Company committed to amplifying future Black voices in the American theatre.

I was so impressed with the two new plays I saw, Boulevard of Bold Dreams and Pretender, I decided to speak with New Works Festival Co-Producer Jonathon Saia (who is also active with the Morgan-Wixson as a D.E.I. Committee Member and Play Reading Committee Member) to find out more about how and why the New Plays Festival came into existence.

Hollywood Museum founder Donelle Dadigan headed a re-opening ceremony of her Hollywood Museum August 4, 2021; commemorating the donated additional props from Bill and Patrick Shea to the Back to the Future Part I, II, III exhibit. On behalf of the Museum and the Shea father and son, Donelle presented a $5,000 check to the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which Michael accepted via video.

As I was walking into the pavilion at Blossom Music Center, the woman in front of me kept stopping to take pictures on her I-phone. She stopped, turned around smiled and said, 'Sorry, I'm from New Orleans. My husband and I are on a trip to see various outdoor music venues. This is the most beautiful one we've seen.'