Mary Beth Fisher News

It's the final week left to vote for the 2023 BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards! Voting ends on 12/31 at midnight. Don't miss out on making sure that your favorite theatres, stars, and shows get the recognition they deserve!

There's just two weeks left to vote and we have the latest standings as of Monday, December 18th for the 2023 BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards! Don't miss out on making sure that your favorite theatres, stars, and shows get the recognition they deserve!

It's the final 3 weeks and we have the latest standings as of Monday, December 11th for the 2023 BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards! Don't miss out on making sure that your favorite theatres, stars, and shows get the recognition they deserve!

Audible Theater’s New York premiere of the acclaimed Goodman Theatre production of Swing State, written by Pulitzer Prize finalist Rebecca Gilman is now open off-Broadway! BroadwayWorld was on hand for opening night and we taking you behind the scenes of the festivities in this video.

Audible Inc. celebrates the fifth anniversary of Audible Theater with new shows: The Energy Curfew Music Hour, Nobody Cares starring Laura Benanti, and the world premiere of Dead Outlaw. Read more about these upcoming productions and the expansion of Audible Theater's programming.

Check out photos from opening night of Audible Theater’s New York premiere of the acclaimed Goodman Theatre production of Swing State.

Audible Theater’s New York premiere of the Goodman Theatre production of Swing State, written by Pulitzer Prize finalist Rebecca Gilman begins previews this week. Learn how to purchase tickets!

BroadwayWorld interviewed Bubba Weiler to discuss the excitement of bringing the world premiere of 'Swing State' to New York audiences.

Discover the nominations for the 55th Anniversary Jeff Awards for Equity Theater! Find out who made the cut and get ready for the highly anticipated awards ceremony.

Swing State, Rebecca Gilman's play which premiered at the Goodman Theatre last year, is headed off-Broadway. Learn more about how to catch the production when it heads to New York here!

What did our critic think of SWING STATE at Goodman Theatre? Rebecca Gilman shows her deftness at writing “slice of life” plays in SWING STATE at Goodman Theatre. In this latest collaboration with outgoing Goodman Theatre Artistic Director Robert Falls, Gilman introduces four characters at a crossroads in a small town in rural Wisconsin during summer 2021. It’s marketed as a play about the pandemic, and indeed, SWING STATE contains some references to the COVID-19 pandemic, masks, and vaccines. Ultimately, though, SWING STATE is a pure character study with the notions of pandemic and extinction of the human race in the background, and notions of mortality and despair in the foreground. Yes, it’s a post-pandemic play, but really it’s just allowing us to peer into the lives of these characters at a moment in time. That’s not to say that Gilman’s play isn’t moving, but I found the overall execution to not be as overarching as the set-up purports.

On the heels of a standing-room-only opening night and wide critical praise for the world premiere of Rebecca Gilman's Swing State—a “riveting, deeply moving, empathy-generating, extraordinary new play (by) a great poet of the upper Midwest” (Chicago Tribune)—Goodman Theatre adds two performances to the final week of Tony Award-winning director Robert Falls' world-premiere production.

Pulitzer Prize-nominated playwright Rebecca Gilman will mark her 10th production at Goodman Theatre, her longtime creative home, with Swing State—directed by Tony Award-winner Robert Falls in their 6th collaboration over 35 years. Swing State appears October 7 – November 13 in the 350-seat flexible Owen Theatre.

Season of Concern, the emergency fund for Chicago theater artists, will present a one-night-only benefit performance of Jerry’s Girls, with music and lyrics by Jerry Herman, concepts by Larry Alford, Wayne Cilento, and Jerry Herman, direction by Ken-Matt Martin, and musical direction by Nigel D. Robinson.

Season of Concern, the emergency fund for Chicago theater artists, will present a one-night-only benefit performance of Jerry’s Girls, with music and lyrics by Jerry Herman, concepts by Larry Alford, Wayne Cilento, and Jerry Herman, direction by Ken-Matt Martin, and musical direction by Nigel D. Robinson. 

Broadcast live from Goodman Theatre’s intimate Owen Theatre, THE SOUND INSIDE intrigues because of the twists and turns in Adam Rapp’s script, but also because it combines cinematic-quality streaming with the thrill of live theater. It’s been over a year since I last stepped inside a theater, and now with the first limited run production in its LIVE series, the Goodman has come extremely close to capturing the exhilaration of being live and in the room with theater. Running only for four more performances through Sunday, May 16, THE SOUND INSIDE is indeed a unique and limited-edition experience. 

Technology, videography and stage production come together for the new Live series, Goodman Theatre's next step towards resuming in-person performances. Each performance of three new productions-including two Chicago premieres and a major revival-are streamed live online for real-time consumption by audiences at home.

Technology, videography and stage production come together for the new Live series, Goodman Theatre’s next step towards resuming in-person performances. Accessible via multiple video cameras, each performance of three new productions—including two Chicago premieres and a major revival—are streamed live online for real-time consumption by audiences at home.

Technology, videography and stage production come together for Goodman Theatre's new Live series. Accessible via multiple video cameras, each performance of three new productions—including two Chicago premieres and a major revival—are streamed live online for real-time consumption by audiences at home.

Season of Concern, the emergency fund for Chicago theater artists, is thrilled to announce it will co-produce a virtual production of Fefu and Her Friends, Cuban-American playwright María Irene Fornés' feminist masterwork, in partnership with much-admired Chicago theater artist Mary Beth Fisher.