Helen Hayes News

BrightSide Theatre, Naperville's only professional theatre performing in the historic downtown district, continues its sixth season - Classic Broadway. Moon Over Buffalo will perform at the Theatre at Meiley-Swallow Hall at North Central College, 31 S. Ellsworth Street in Naperville March 10-26, 2017.

Rhapsody Magazine for United Airlines recently talked to ANASTASIA lyricist Lynn Ahrens as she prepares for the show's Broadway opening.

The Drama League (Executive Artistic Director Gabriel Stelian-Shanks) will honor two outstanding stage luminaries at this year's 83RD Annual Drama League Awards, set for Friday afternoon, May 19, 2017 at the Marriott Marquis Times Square (1535 Broadway). 

The Ogunquit Playhouse is proud to announce that it has received three Independent Reviewers of New England Award (IRNE) nominations in the large theatre category for its 2016 production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame including Best Set Design, Best Lighting Design, and Best Actor in a Musical. The IRNE Awards honor the best of the previous year's actors, directors, choreographers, designers and companies across the full spectrum of large, mid-size and fringe theater companies in Boston and New England.

"This play is not about my mother and me," begins the character, Lisa. But, of course, it is about her mother, and her mother's extraordinary ability to heal a changing neighborhood, despite her inability to heal herself. Lisa Kron's "theatrical exploration of a universal experience" spans from her childhood in an integrating neighborhood in Lansing, Michigan to her stay at an allergy unit in Chicago when she was 19; exploring the interaction between those two stories of healing. This compelling exploration spins out of control into riotously funny and unexpected territory as Lisa takes the audience on a journey to discover why some people are sick and some people are well and the lengths to which we will go to understand each other. 

Charles Busch and Penny Fuller, who appeared together as bosom buddies Mame and Vera in Auntie Mame at the Bay Street Theatre, will lend their voices to Monahan & Oyen's DIVA: Live From Hell. Busch (The Divine Sister, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife) will voice the manager of the dingy cabaret venue in Hell, where Desmond Channing (played by Monahan) is doomed to perform his torturous act for eternity. Fuller (Sunday in the Park with George, The Elephant Man), who was nominated for a Tony Award for her portrayal of Eve Harrington in the musical Applause, will voice the grandmother of Desmond Channing (loosely inspired by the character of Eve Harrington's nemesis, Margo Channing).

The revival of The Glass Menagerie opens tonight, March 9, at the Belasco Theatre, with a cast of some Broadway vets as well as a fresh face. Get to know the company before they take their opening night bows.

After a night of debauchery, Duke Orlando awakens in the morning as a Duchess. During her/his/their frolic through 17th century Constantinople, Victorian and 20th century England - and places and selves in between - Orlando strives to unlock the mystery of identity: 'Who then am I?'

Rhapsody Magazine for United Airlines recently talked to Jefferson Mays as he prepares to begin previews for his new play, Oslo.

Considered the perfect musical comedy, Guys and Dolls, takes the stage at The Wick Theatre from March 9th through April 9th. Based on the short stories of Damon Runyon,  with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and a book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, Guys and Dolls won the Tony Award for Best Musical, ran for 1,200 performances on Broadway, and became an Oscar nominated film starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra. Tickets are $75 & 80, www.thewick.org or call 561-995-2333.

Vineyard Theatre Artistic Directors Douglas Aibel and Sarah Stern announce that Tony Award nominee David Garrison (Vineyard's MIDDLETOWN and EIGHT DAYS BACKWARDS) will join the cast of KID VICTORY starting Tuesday, March 14 for the the final week of its run. Garrison replaces Daniel Jenkins who returns to OSLO for the Broadway production.

Bring the gang for an all-new family adventure with Lyric Theatre's musical production of James and the Giant Peach, March 30 through April 9 at Lyric at the Plaza, 1725 NW 16 St. This adaptation of the classic Roald Dahl story follows a young boy who embarks on a grand adventure with his larger-than-life insect friends.

The question of gender parity in the theatre is a matter that has long been explored within our community. While recent Broadway seasons have taken encouraging steps toward better female representation, both on and offstage, the question of gender equality within the theatre continues to be a hotly debated issue across the theatrical sphere.

Junkyard Dog Productions (Randy Adams, Marleen and Kenny Alhadeff and Sue Frost) announced that theatrical licensor Music Theatre International (MTI) has secured the worldwide licensing rights to Irene Sankoff & David Hein's COME FROM AWAY.

Lincoln Center Theater Platform Series, a forum for public discussion between Lincoln Center Theater artists and theatergoers, continues today, March 8, with HOW TO TRANSCEND A HAPPY MARRIAGE author Sarah Ruhl and director Rebecca Taichman.

Arts on the Horizon, an interactive theatre for children ages zero to six, is excited to announce the premiere of Nutt and Bolt, the story of two rival robots who unite to create something fantastic together.

Arts on the Horizon, an interactive theatre for children ages zero to six, is excited to announce the premiere of Nutt and Bolt, the story of two rival robots who unite to create something fantastic together.

LCT's production of How to Transcend a Happy Marriage begins performances on February 23rd at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater (150 West 65th Street). At a dinner party in the wilds of New Jersey, two married couples discuss a younger acquaintance - a polyamorous woman who also hunts her own meat. Fascinated, they invite this mysterious woman and her two live-in boyfriends to a New Year's Eve party, which alters the course of their lives. How to Transcend a Happy Marriage asks: how much love can a twosome contain? What are the limits of friendship, and what happens when parents who have forgotten their own wildness have a wild rumpus all their own?

Porchlight Music Theatre and Artistic Director Michael Weber are proud to announce the latest performance in its 2016 - 2017 season of Chicago's hit musical revue series, New Faces Sing Broadway 1969, hosted by E. Faye Butler, co-directed by Adrian Abel Azevedo and Michael Weber with music direction by David Fiorello, is Monday, March 14at Skokie Theatre, 7924 Lincoln Ave in Skokie and Tuesday, March 15 at the Uptown Underground, 4707 N. Broadway at 7:30 p.m.  In tribute to the original New Faces series that ran on Broadway and on film from 1934 - 1968, Porchlight Music Theatre last year created this Chicago musical revue series, New Faces Sing Broadway, as a showcase for the best emerging music talent now performing on Chicago stages. Each edition is a journey from the start to the finish of a entire musical season on Broadway, peppered with photos and films of the era in an exciting multimedia presentation with a favorite Chicago theatre veteran hosting and introducing the next generation of music theatre artists while acting as your guide through a past season on the Great White Way. Seating is general admission; tickets are $22, with no drink minimum and are available at porchlightmusictheatre.org. 

Synetic Theater Founding Artistic Director Paata Tsikurishvili unveils the 2017/18 Season, reviving Synetic Family Theater and producing a brand new series created through collaboration by theatre professionals. The Reawakening promises to bring back what audiences love about Synetic Theater, while introducing audiences to what Synetic Theater is passionate about.