Joe Keenan News

The Gift Theatre is pleased to launch its 17th season with the world premiere of Stacy Osei-Kuffour's haunting and often-humorous drama HANG MAN, directed by guest artist Jess McLeod, playing March 2 - April 29, 2018 at 4802 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago. Single tickets and season subscriptions are currently available by calling the Gift's box office at 773-283-7071 or visiting thegifttheatre.org. 

The Gift Theatre is pleased to launch its 17th season with the world premiere of Stacy Amma Osei-Kuffour's haunting and often-humorous drama HANG MAN, directed by Jess McLeod, playing March 2 - April 29, 2018 at 4802 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago. Single tickets and season subscriptions are currently available by calling the Gift's box office at 773-283-7071 or visiting thegifttheatre.org. The press opening is Thursday, March 8 at 7:30 pm.

The Gift Theatre is pleased to announce casting for its world premiere of Stacy Amma Osei-Kuffour's haunting and often-humorous drama HANG MAN, directed by Jess McLeod.

Victory Gardens Theater announces Jess McLeod and Aaron Todd Douglas as the 2018 Next Generation Fellows. Beginning in February 2018, the Next Generation Fellowship will provide comprehensive mentorship, requisite training, and experience for these future leaders of color, preparing them to helm arts institutions or departments on the national and local level. The program is made possible by a generous grant from The Field Foundation of Illinois.

Back in 1931, when the firm Kaufman, Ryskind, Gershwin & Gershwin had the novel idea to infuse that stodgy old music/theatre entertainment, the Broadway operetta, with the jauntiness of showtune and a chaotic mixture of comedic highbrow and lowbrow to tell the tale of an unqualified, but charismatic American politician who rides a wave of popular support for his questionable platform to the United States presidency, musical comedies typically employed a bit more on-stage and front-of-stage talent than audiences are accustomed to seeing nowadays.

GOOD MORNING, THEATERATI! It's May 17, 2017, and summer - or a reasonable facsimile thereof - has arrived in Nashville, with temperatures already climbing toward the 90s! When prompts the musical question: What's on your agenda for the summer of 2017? Anything we should know about and, more importantly, write about?

After producer Fred Hamlin christened Columbus Circle's Majestic Theatre with a spectacular musical extravaganza based on L. Frank Baum's 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' (The show had nothing to do with the classic MGM film.), he sought to follow up with another memorable production with a family-friendly setting.

MasterVoices (formerly The Collegiate Chorale), closed its 75th anniversary season with Victor Herbert's Babes in Toyland last night, April 27, 2017 at 7pm at Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall. BroadwayWorld has photos from the starry concert below!

Porchlight Music Theatre and Artistic Director Michael Weber are proud to announce the final mainstage production it its 2016 - 2017 season Marry Me a Little starring Austin Cook and Bethany Thomas, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and originally conceived by Craig Lucas and Norman Rene, with direction by Jess McLeod and music direction by Porchlight Artistic Associate Cook. Previews are Friday, April 14 at 8 p.m., Saturday, April 15 at 8 p.m., Sunday, April 16 at 2 p.m. and Monday, April 17 at 7:30 p.m. Opening night is Tuesday, April 18 at 7:30 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 4 and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. with an added matinee performance Thursday, May 11 at 1:30 p.m. NOTE There are no 7:30 p.m. performances Thursday, April 20 and  May 11 and no 4 p.m. performance  Saturday, April 22. Tickets to Marry Me a Little are available at PorchlightMusicTheatre.org or by calling the Stage 773 box office, 773.327.5252. 

MasterVoices (formerly The Collegiate Chorale), closes its 75th anniversary season with Victor Herbert's Babes in Toyland on April 27, 2017 at 7pm at Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall (57th Street and 7th Avenue, New York, NY 10019). The production will be conducted and directed by MasterVoices' Artistic Director Ted Sperling and will feature Kelli O'Hara (Contrary Mary), Bill Irwin (Master Toymaker), Christopher Fitzgerald (Alan), Lauren Worsham (Jane), Jay Armstrong Johnson (Tom Tom), Jonathan Freeman (Uncle Barnaby), Chris Sullivan (Gonzorgo), Jeffrey Schecter (Roderigo), Michael Kostroff (Chief Inspector Marmaduke), and Blair Brown (The Narrator), with the 130 singers of MasterVoices and Orchestra of St. Luke's. Musical Staging by Andrew Palermo, Costume Consulting by Tracy Christensen, and Concert Adaptation by Joe Keenan and Ted Sperling.

As previously announced, MasterVoices (formerly The Collegiate Chorale), closes its 75th anniversary season with Victor Herbert's Babes in Toyland on April 27, 2017 at 7pm at Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall (57th Street and 7th Avenue, New York, NY 10019).

Porchlight Music Theatre and Artistic Director Michael Weber are proud to announce the final mainstage production it its 2016 - 2017 season Marry Me a Little starring Austin Cook and Bethany Thomas, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and originally conceived by Craig Lucas and Norman Rene, with direction by Jess McLeod and music direction by Porchlight Artistic Associate Cook. 

Porchlight Music Theatre and Artistic Director Michael Weber have announced the final mainstage production it its 2016 - 2017 season Marry Me a Little, starring Austin Cook and Bethany Thomas, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and originally conceived by Craig Lucas and Norman Rene, with direction by Jess McLeod and music direction by Porchlight Artistic Associate Cook.

Haven Theatre Company announces How We Got On to begin their fourth season, written by Idris Goodwin and directed by Jess McLeod, at the company's new home within the Den Theatre's new Bookspan Theatre, 1335 Milwaukee Ave., September 29 - November 12. Previews are Thursday, Sept. 29 - Saturday, Oct.1 at 8 p.m. Opening night is Sunday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. The regular performance schedule is Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Regular run tickets are $32, senior tickets are $20 and college/industry tickets are $15 (preview tickets are $12). You may purchase tickets and get more information at www.haventheatrechicago.com.

Haven Theatre Company announces How We Got On to begin their fourth season, written by Idris Goodwin and directed by Jess McLeod, at the company's new home within the Den Theatre's new Bookspan Theatre, 1335 Milwaukee Ave., September 29 - November 12.

Haven Theatre Company announces How We Got On to begin their fourth season, written by Idris Goodwin and directed by Jess McLeod, at the company's new home within the Den Theatre's new Bookspan Theatre, 1335 Milwaukee Ave., September 29 - November 12. Previews are Thursday, Sept. 29 - Saturday, Oct.1 at 8 p.m. Opening night isSunday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. The regular performance schedule is Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m.Regular run tickets are $32, senior tickets are $20 and college/industry tickets are $15 (preview tickets are $12). You may purchase tickets and get more information at www.haventheatrechicago.com.

Haven Theatre Company announces How We Got On to begin their fourth season, written by Idris Goodwin and directed by Jess McLeod, at the company's new home within the Den Theatre's new Bookspan Theatre, 1335 Milwaukee Ave., September 29 - November 12.

Atari! Pong! Space Invaders! The New Colony will conclude its 2016 Season with the world premiere comedy MERGE, a fast-paced, heartfelt and uproarious journey inside the burgeoning 1970s video game industry. Written by Spenser Davis and directed by Co-Artistic Director Andrew Hobgood, MERGE will play October 8 - November 13, 2016 at The New Colony's resident home, The Den Theatre's Upstairs Main Stage, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood. Tickets go on sale Monday, August 22 at www.thenewcolony.org.  

The Hypocrites has announced its 20th Anniversary Season, featuring five dynamic productions, including a world premiere musical adaptation and two Chicago premieres. The company is also thrilled to launch a new play development initiative, with its first-ever new play commissions.

Stage and screen star Bryant Batt recently took Donald Trump parodies to a whole new level when he sang as the business-mogul-turned-presidential-candidate channeling Billy Flynn from Broadway's CHICAGO. Don't know about you, but we think song and dance should be Trump's new campaign strategy... Watch the performance below!