John Wilkes Booth News

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. Read about the EIGHT new musicals from Broadway In Chicago, the BIC Millennium Park concert, extensions for 'Days Like Today' and 'Avenue Q,' new work from Kokandy and New Colony, 'Caged Dames,' 'Myths And Hymns,' two films in downtown Aurora and Petterino's in downtown Chicago!

Imagine a world without music or dance. Walk in the shoes of war veterans who cope in singular ways with their demons. Feel for the husband who can't get a word in edge-wise between two prototypical controllers, his wife and a doctor. Contemplate government-regulated dinners. Feel for the wife who fears for her life and takes necessary measures. Occupy the assassin's psyche before the lethal act. It's this thread of foibles, follies, fears, and fancies that weaves through the eight ten-minute plays currently featured in Theatre Artists Studio's 7th Annual New Summer Shorts Festival.

Kokandy Productions has announced casting for ASSASSINS, directed by Rachel Edwards Harvith with music direction by Kory Danielson and choreography by Mike Ford. ASSASSINS begins performances today, June 13, 2014 with Press Opening on Saturday, June 14th, and runs at Theater Wit in Chicago through Sunday, July 20, 2014.

Michael Cerveris, Isaiah Johnson, Randy Newman, Laura Osnes, Vonda Shepard, Brooklyn Shuck, Tony Vincent and Broadway Inspirational Voices have been cast in Randy Newman's Faust: The Concert, which will be performed on July 1 as the second Encores! Off-Center presentation of the 2014 season. Faust will be directed by Thomas Kail and choreographed by Marcos Santana. Jeanine Tesori is the Encores! Off-Center artistic director; Chris Fenwick is its music director.

Profiles in History, the world's largest auctioneer & dealer of historical autographs, letters, documents, vintage signed photographs, manuscripts and original Hollywood memorabilia, will present Historical Document Auction 63, June 13, 2014, beginning at 11am PST. This unprecedented collection of rare and virtually unseen documents is highlighted by one of Ludwig van Beethoven's most famous correspondences—a letter written in 1806 during the chaotic creation and production of his only opera, Fidelio. The Auction Pre-sale Estimate for this extremely rare document, not publicly seen since the 1950's, is $150,000 - $250,000 and could easily exceed that figure.

From the brave new minds of playwrights Roger Q. Mason and Stephen Blackburn comes Lincoln Adjacent, a collective of three short plays exploring characters often cast to the shadows of the Abraham Lincoln myth. Theatre and opera director Julianne Just helms this production, which opens on June 12 at the Lounge Theatre as a part of the Hollywood Fringe Festival.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) announced today that a special free one-night event, PUBLIC FORUM: SHAKESPEARE IN AMERICA, will take place on Monday, June 30 at 8:00 p.m. at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, with a line-up that includes Sarah Amengual, Michael Cerveris, Colman Domingo, James Earl Jones, Cynthia Nixon, Annie-B Parson, Steven Pasquale, and Michael Stuhlbarg, celebrating the world's greatest writer, American-style. Highlights of the evening will include James Earl Jones reading a scene from Othello, marking his return to the Delacorte after a 40-year absence and celebrating the 50th anniversary of his playing Othello on the Delacorte stage; Michael Cerveris reading a letter by John Wilkes Booth; and Steven Pasquale singing Tony in the "Tonight" duet from West Side Story.

Hershey Felder returns to ArtsEmerson for his third solo musical theater piece after charming and enlightening local audiences with GEORGE GERSHWIN ALONE and MAESTRO: LEONARD BERNSTEIN in recent years. This time he departs from staging the lives of genius composers to delve into the tragic death of a giant of American history by blending Civil War-era songs and first-person stories in an imaginative retelling of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.

Second Thought Theatre Co-Artistic Director Steven Walters announced today the complete cast and creative team for BOOTH, the brand new play by Walters with story and research assistance from Erik Archilla about the man behind one of the most tragic assassinations in American history. BOOTH, which Walters will also direct, beings with previews on Wednesday, May 21 and runs through Saturday, June 14. All performances of BOOTH will take place at Bryant Hall on the Kalita Humphreys Theater campus, 3636 Turtle Creek Blvd. Tickets to BOOTH are on sale now at 2TT.co and by calling (866) 811-4111.

Having made its debut Off-Broadway in 1990 and bowing on Broadway in 2004, Assassins is the creative musical telling of the lives of the most notorious killers of American presidents, as well as those who had varying degrees of success in their attempts at the life of a president. Now playing at PlayMakers Repertory Company in Chapel Hill, these bad guys include such famous names as John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald, as well as less well-known names as Leon Czolgosz (assassinator of President McKinley), and those who have gone down in history for their less-than-solid relationship with reality, Squeaky Fromme among them. The show's music and lyrics were written by Stephen Sondheim, accompanied by a book by John Weidman.

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. 'Cats,' 'Les Miserables' and 'Songs From An Unmade Bed,' rake in the reviews, 'Road Show' and 'Passion' will be followed by 'Assassins,' Theo readies 'The Andrews Sisters,' Kokandy brings back 'The Full Monty' and 'Loving Repeating,' plus two kids shows and more!

The Colony Theatre is thrilled to present Ian Buchanan and Mariette Hartley starring in THE LION IN WINTER, written by James Goldman and directed by Stephanie Vlahos. THE LION IN WINTER will preview tonight, April 16; Thursday, April 17; and Friday, April 18 at 8:00pm and will open on Saturday, April 19 at 8:00pm and continue through Sunday, May 18 at The Colony Theatre, 555 N. Third Street (at Cypress) adjacent to the Burbank Town Center Mall.

The Colony Theatre is thrilled to present Ian Buchanan and Mariette Hartley starring in THE LION IN WINTER, written by James Goldman and directed by Stephanie Vlahos. THE LION IN WINTER will preview on Wednesday, April 16; Thursday, April 17; and Friday, April 18 at 8:00pm and will open on Saturday, April 19 at 8:00pm and continue through Sunday, May 18 at The Colony Theatre, 555 N. Third Street (at Cypress) adjacent to the Burbank Town Center Mall.

Stageworks Media presents Speakeasy Dollhouse: The Brothers Booth -- an immersive, time-traveling theatrical experience created by Cynthia von Buhler and directed by Wes Grantom (Eager to Lose at Ars Nova). Ms. von Buhler's Speakeasy Dollhouse: The Bloody Beginning has, over the past two years, become one of the city's most unique, interactive, and surreal theatrical experiences. Once again, Speakeasy Dollhouse: The Brothers Booth brings Ms. von Buhler's unique brand of historic fiction investigation to the legends of John Wilkes and Edwin Booth. Speakeasy Dollhouse: The Brothers Booth is performed monthly on Saturday evenings (usually the first Saturday of the month) at The Players Club (16 Gramercy Park South).

An ensemble play, 'Heritage' tells the story of Abraham Lincoln in a very different light. Spanning three generations, we discover the strength of character of the women and men who shaped the life of our sixteenth President, and the unmistakable impression that they each left upon his life and legacy.

Kokandy Productions has announced casting for ASSASSINS, directed by Rachel Edwards Harvith with music direction by Kory Danielson and choreography by Mike Ford. ASSASSINS begins performances on Friday, June 13, 2014 with Press Opening on Saturday, June 14th, and runs at Theater Wit in Chicago through Sunday, July 20, 2014.

PlayMakers Repertory Company will conclude its Mainstage Season with the Tony Award-winning musical 'Assassins' by Stephen Sondheim, onstage today, April 2-20.

An ensemble play, 'Heritage' tells the story of Abraham Lincoln in a very different light. Spanning three generations, we discover the strength of character of the women and men who shaped the life of our sixteenth President, and the unmistakable impression that they each left upon his life and legacy.