Keith Parham News

Owen McCafferty's Titanic (Scenes from the British Wreck Commissioner's Inquiry, 1912) tells the story of the sinking of the RMS Titanic using verbatim testimonies from a court investigation of the wreck.

Court Theatre, under the continuing leadership of Charles Newell, Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director, and Executive Director Angel Ysaguirre, announces the streaming release of An Iliad by Lisa Peterson and Denis O'Hare, based on Homer's The Iliad. The production, filmed in the Oriental Institute at The University of Chicago, will be available for digital access from March 3 through March 31, 2021.

The Jeff Awards has announced the nominees for the 52nd annual awards for theater excellence that include 142 theater artists across 30 artistic and technical categories. The awards will be presented in an online program on Monday, November 9, 2020 at 7:00PM.

Captivating with precision dialogue, Pass Over does more for its' audiences' edification in one hour than most playwrights are able to accomplish in two.

Court Theatre has announced a one week extension of its groundbreaking site-specific performance of An Iliad. Discussing the extension, Charles Newell, Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director, shares that, a?oeTo see such an outpouring of support for Court and the OI in this ambitious endeavor has been as humbling as it has been thrilling. We're excited to add one more week of performances to this sold-out production so that more people have a chance to witness the power of an intimate, site-specific approach in the telling of this ancient story.a?? Added performances run from April 1 to April 5, 2020.

TUTA Theatre will present the world premiere adaptation of Hedda Gabler: A Play with Live Music, adapted and directed by Artistic Director Jacqueline Stone, with original music and music direction by Wain Parham, based on the play by Henrik Ibsen. Hedda Gabler will play February 25 - March 29, 2020 at Strawdog Theatre Company, 1802 W. Berenice Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are currently available at www.tutatheatre.org. The press opening is Thursday, February 27 at 7:30 pm.

 Conceived in a pizza parlor and argued in the highest court in the land, the landmark 1973 case of Roe v. Wade legalized abortiona?"and is debated still today. Vanessa Stalling returns to the Goodman to direct the 15-member cast, including emblematic characters of plaintiff Norma McCorvey (a?oeJane Roea??) and Sarah Weddington, the young Texan lawyer who argued the case.

TUTA Theatre is pleased to announce casting for its world premiere adaptation of HEDDA GABLER: A Play with Live Music, adapted and directed by Artistic Director Jacqueline Stone, with original music and music direction by Wain Parham, based on the play by Henrik Ibsen.

Goodman Theatre continues its 2019/2020 Season this winter with two new plays.

TUTA Theatre is pleased to present the world premiere adaptation of HEDDA GABLER: A Play with Live Music, adapted and directed by Artistic Director Jacqueline Stone, with original music and music direction by Wain Parham, based on the play by Henrik Ibsen. Featuring TUTA company member Lauren Demerath in the title role of Hedda, HEDDA GABLER will play February 25 a?" March 29, 2020 at Strawdog Theatre Company, 1802 W. Berenice Ave. in Chicago. Full casting will be announced shortly. Tickets go on sale Sunday, December 1 at www.tutatheatre.org. The press opening is Thursday, February 27, 2020 at 7:30 pm.

Merrimack Repertory Theatre, in a co-production with Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago and City Theatre in Pittsburgh, presents Lauren Yee's CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND, a play that fuses history, family legacy, and rock concert to illustrate the power and importance of music. It focuses on a daughter's attempt to unearth family history by journeying to Cambodia, her father's homeland, and searching for a survivor from a brutal Khmer Rouge prison whose testimony could seal the fate of its tyrannical overseer.

Court Theatre announces the remount of audience favorite An Iliad as the sixth production in its 2019/20 season. Taking place throughout the Oriental Institute Museum (OI) on the University of Chicago campus, this groundbreaking, site-specific performance not to be missed. Combining promenade-style elements throughout the Oriental Institute Museum, as well as a seated portion performed in the OI's Robert and Deborah Aliber Persian Gallery, this explosive combination of theatre and history brings the epic poem to life in a thrilling new way. As the Center for Classic Theatre, Court will partner with the OI to add exciting environmental and thematic context to Lisa Peterson and Denis O'Hare's one-man adaptation of Homer's Iliad. Tickets go on sale to the public on Monday, September 16 at noon.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company's season opening production of Lauren Yee's THE GREAT LEAP combines the energy of the final moments of a major sporting event alongside moments of great intimacy and intensity for which the company is largely known.

Merrimack Repertory Theatre (MRT) will present the East Coast Premiere of Cambodian Rock Band by Lauren Yee, directed by Marti Lyons and featuring the songs of Dengue Fever, Sinn Sisamouth, Voy Ho, and Rose Serey Sothea, from October 16 to November 10 at the Nancy L. Donahue Theatre, according to Executive Director Bonnie J. Butkas and Interim Artistic Director Terry Berliner. Cambodian Rock Band is a co-production with Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago and City Theatre in Pittsburgh.

Staged on a brilliantly creative two-setting, split-level scenic design by Dane Laffrey which includes a scene-dividing projected face on a screen on which the most extraordinary, ever-changing, light-flashing and color-changing eyes appear, this inventive retelling of a sharp, subversive fable debates how much our souls are worth when hope is hard to come by beginning when a charming Devil (Evan Jonigkeit, a black-clad, roguishly perfect scene stealer) arrives in the quiet village of Edmonton to bargain for the souls of its residents in exchange for their darkest wishes. But which of the five inhabitants will agree to sell their soul to attain whatever it is they think will make them happiest?

Court Theatre, under the continuing leadership of Charles Newell, Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director, and Angel Ysaguirre, Executive Director, continues its 2019/20 season with Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, translated by Nicholas Rudall and directed by Charles Newell. Oedipus Rex runs November 7 a?" December 8, 2019 at Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave. The press opening is Saturday, November 16, 2019 at 7:30pm.

City Theatre begins its 45th season with Cambodian Rock Band by Lauren Yee.  Cambodian Rock Band is an epic tale of family, love, and heritage featuring the Cambodian surf rock music of Dengue Fever. 

Writers Theatre, under the leadership of Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma, announces an additional one-week extension of the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Next to Normal, with music by Tom Kitt, book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey, directed by Tony Award winner David Cromer (The Band's Visit), music directed by Andra Velis Simon and choreographed by Eamon Foley. Next to Normal now runs through June 30, 2019, in the Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Theatre at 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe.

Writers Theatre, under the leadership of Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma, announces a one-week extension of the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Next to Normal, with music by Tom Kitt, book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey, directed by Tony Award winner David Cromer (The Band's Visit), music directed by Andra Velis Simon and choreographed by Eamon Foley. Next to Normal runs through June 23, 2019, in the Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Theatre at 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe.

Under the direction of David Cromer, Writers Theatre presents a NEXT TO NORMAL that is raw and electric. Tom Kitt's music and Brian Yorkey's book and lyrics have an utter immediacy to them in this production (and each note sounds great thanks to the music direction of Andra Velis Simon and the six-piece band.) It's beautifully cast and even more beautifully delivered. Each member of the cast rises to the dual challenge of conveying the messy, deeply personal experience of emotional pain while also hitting the notes of Kitt's complex score with precision.