Liz Lauren News

Henry Wishcamper's contemporary take on Thornton Wilder's THE MATCHMAKER -- the inspiration for the musical Hello, Dolly! -- revealing social truths through mistaken identity, outrageous misbehavior and spontaneous romance, appears in Goodman Theatre's 856-seat Albert Theatre, now through April 10, 2016. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Fresh from Shakespeare's Globe and the Royal Shakespeare Company, renowned British director Jonathan Munby returns to Chicago to stage Shakespeare's most intimate tragedy. OTHELLO, featuring James Vincent Meredith in the title role, continues the Theater's Shakespeare 400 Chicago celebration, now through April 10, 2016. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

When it comes to boosting attendance at Sunday mass, the Chicago Archdiocese could learn a thing or two from the nuns in The Marriott Theatre's latest production, SISTER ACT.

Chicagoland audiences will rejoice with The Marriott Theatre's first mainstage production of their 2016 Subscription Season, the heavenly Broadway musical comedy, SISTER ACT, opening tonight, February 17, for a run through April 3 at 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire. BroadwayWorld has a look at the cast in action below!

Robert Falls' and Seth Bockley's world premiere adaptation of Roberto Bolaño's famed novel, 2666, which has received extraordinary audience enthusiasm during previews, officially opens tonight, February 16, 2016.

Robert Falls' and Seth Bockley's world premiere adaptation of Roberto Bolaño's famed novel, 2666-which has received extraordinary audience enthusiasm during previews and officially opens tomorrow, February 16-has been extended. Four additional performances include March 17, 18 and 19 at 6:30pm and March 20 at 1pm. The 15-member all-Chicago ensemble cast remains unchanged during the added performances.

Chicagoland audiences will rejoice with The Marriott Theatre's first mainstage production of their 2016 Subscription Season, the heavenly Broadway musical comedy, SISTER ACT, currently in previews and opening February 17 for a run through April 3 at 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Get set for a high-octane ride with thrilling choreography, rockin' tunes and explosively colorful costumes - plus some really cool hairdos - when the Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora, presents HAIRSPRAY - The Broadway Musical, now through February 21, 2016. BroadwayWorld has a stunning first look at the cast in action below!

Goodman Theatre begins the new year with a new music-and-movement-filled play: ANOTHER WORD FOR BEAUTY, a world premiere by Academy Award nominee Jose Rivera (The Motorcycle Diaries) inspired by an annual beauty pageant at El Buen Pastor womens prison in Colombia. ANOTHER WORD FOR BEAUTY runs now through February 21 in the Albert Theatre. Opening night is next Monday, January 25. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

For three weeks only, The Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire, Chicagoland's longest-running professional musical theater, will present the ground-breaking musical SPRING AWAKENING. This special pre-season limited event, directed and choreographed by Marriott Theatre's Artistic Director Aaron Thielen, runs now through January 31st. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

In theater, as with any art form, playwrights can walk a fine line between telling a riveting and honest story and saying things simply for shock value. Ayad Akhtar's Pulitzer Prize winning play "Disgraced", currently playing at the Seattle Rep, walks that line. And while on the whole this extremely powerful piece opens its audiences up to an examination of who we are at our core, in retrospect I'll admit to feeling a bit manipulated as I recall harsh one-liners piled on top of each other culminating in a crescendo of shock. Effective shock but at times dipping its toe over the line into shock for shock sake and feeling a bit contrived.

Goodman Theatre begins the new year with a new music-and-movement-filled play: Another Word for Beauty, a world premiere by Academy Award nominee Jose Rivera(The Motorcycle Diaries) inspired by an annual beauty pageant at El Buen Pastor womens prison in Colombia. Directed by Steve Cosson and featuring seven original songs by Grammy Award winner Hector Buitrago, the show was developed through a co-commission between the Goodman and Cosson's New York-based theater company The Civilians. 

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) presents David Ives' uproarious comedy THE HEIR APPARENT, staged by award-winning director John Rando and featuring a stellar cast, led by heralded actor, Paxton Whitehead as Geronte. Rhyming couplets and contemporary slang abound in Ives' deliciously off-color tribute to Jean-Francois Regnard's comic masterpiece, Le Legataire universel-bringing eighteenth-century bawdiness into the twenty-first. Just in time for the holiday season, THE HEIR APPARENT will be presented in the Courtyard Theater now through January 17, 2016. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Director Nick Bowling will make his Paramount debut with A CHRISTMAS STORY - THE MUSICAL, everyone's favorite holiday comedy about little Ralphie and his quest for a Red Ryder BB gun. BroadwayWorld has more photos from the show below!

The Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire, wraps up their sensational 40th Anniversary 2015 Season with one of Broadway's newest holiday comedies, ELF, currently in previews and opening tomorrow, October 28, running through December 31. BraodwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Opening its 28th Season, Lookingglass Theatre Company presents the World Premiere of Treasure Island, adapted and directed by Mary Zimmerman from the book by Robert Louis Stevenson in a co-production with Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Treasure Island runs now through January 31, 2016 at Lookingglass Theatre Company, located inside Chicago's historic Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. at Pearson. The Press Opening is this Saturday, October 17, 2015 at 7:30 p.m. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Part comedy, part tragedy -- and wholly unexpected -- RIDE THE CYCLONE, a new musical from Brooke Maxwell and Jacob Richmond, directed and choreographed by multiple Jeff Award-winner Rachel Rockwell, delivers surprises at every hairpin turn. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast onstage at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater below!

Everything's up to date in Aurora, where nearly 27,000 subscribers (and still counting) have already signed up for the Paramount Theatre's 2015-16 four-show Broadway Musical Series.

The Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire, presents the World Premiere of the new musical OCTOBER SKY, opening tonight, August 26, for a run through October 11. Written by Aaron Thielen, with music and lyrics by Michael Mahler, OCTOBER SKY is directed by Jeff Award-winner Rachel Rockwell. BroadwayWorld has a look at the cast in action below!

The Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire, presents the World Premiere of the new musical OCTOBER SKY, currently in previews and opening August 26 for a run through October 11. Written by Aaron Thielen, with music and lyrics by Michael Mahler, OCTOBER SKY is directed by Jeff Award-winner Rachel Rockwell. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!