Melissa Veal News

Chicago Shakespeare Theater has announced two ways to get into the holiday spirit this season with the broadcast premiere of Christmas Carol: The Remix and the return of the Holiday Artisan Market benefiting local theatermakers and community artists.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater is once again the ultimate destination for the holiday season. The 80-minute hip hop holiday hit Q Brothers Christmas Carol, created by Chicago sensations the Q Brothers Collective (GQ, JQ, Jax, and Pos) and developed with Creative Producer Rick Boynton, is back in a limited engagement in The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare, December 7-23, 2021.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater announces today the highly anticipated return of the raucous and irreverent holiday tradition Q Brothers Christmas Carol to The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare, in a limited engagement November 29a?"December 23, 2019. Created by Chicago hip hop sensations the Q Brothers Collective (GQ, JQ, Jax, and Pos) and developed with Creative Producer Rick Boynton, this wildly entertaining reinterpretation of the Charles Dickens classic mashes up hip hop with contemporary musical styles ranging from reggae and dancehall music, to dubstep and epic rock balladsa?"all underscored with beats spun live at the turntables by a DJ.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater  announces the highly anticipated return of the raucous and irreverent holiday tradition Q Brothers Christmas Carolto The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare, November 20-December 30, 2018.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) culminates Artistic Director Barbara Gaines' Tug of War with Civil Strife, where family divisions launch a country into civil war through Shakespeare's Henry VI, Parts 2 and 3 and into his notorious tragedy Richard III.

In the midst of the world's largest yearlong celebration of Shakespeare, which brings 850 events to more than 500,000 Chicagoans and visitors throughout 2016, Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST), the City of Chicago, Chicago Park District and Boeing partner to present the annual citywide summer tradition, Chicago Shakespeare in the Parks. In its fifth anniversary year, the FREE FOR ALL tour is the largest citywide event of the Shakespeare 400 Chicago festival. Made possible by production sponsor BMO Harris, 25 performances of Shakespeare's delightful romantic comedy Twelfth Night tour to 19 neighborhood parks across the City, July 14-August 14, 2016. Adapted and directed by Kirsten Kelly, this jubilant, music-infused production features some of Shakespeare's most beautiful poetry and riotously comedic characters-in a 75-minute theatrical event for audiences of all ages.

On the occasion of the 400th Anniversary of Shakespeare's legacy in 2016, Chicago Shakespeare Theater  (CST) prepares to begin an epic theatrical endeavor-Artistic Director Barbara Gaines' Tug of War, which distills six Shakespeare histories into two action-packed dramas. Adapted and directed by Gaines as the Theater's centerpiece of the yearlong Shakespeare 400 Chicago festival, the Tug of War saga traces the injustice and intrigues of war from the perspectives of both kings and common soldiers through two, six-hour marathon productions-Foreign Fire (Edward III, Henry V and Henry VI, Part 1) in the spring and Civil Strife (Henry VI, Parts 2 and 3 and Richard III) in the fall. Featuring some of Chicago's most celebrated actors, the dynamic ensemble cast of 19 performs over 100 characters throughout the electrifying drama. The musicality of Shakespeare's text is complemented with live music performances ranging from Bach and the blues, to contemporary pop and folk anthems. Songs from P!nk, Pete Townshend and Tim Buckley are accompanied onstage by a band of ensemble members on electric guitar, cello, keyboard, ukulele and percussion. Tug of War: Foreign Fire debuts on the Courtyard Theater stage for a limited run of only 18 performances, May 12-June 12, 2016.

On the occasion of the 400th Anniversary of Shakespeare's legacy in 2016, Chicago Shakespeare Theater  (CST) prepares to begin an epic theatrical endeavor-Artistic Director Barbara Gaines' Tug of War, which distills six Shakespeare histories into two action-packed dramas. Adapted and directed by Gaines as the Theater's centerpiece of the yearlong Shakespeare 400 Chicago festival, the Tug of War saga traces the injustice and intrigues of war from the perspectives of both kings and common soldiers through two, six-hour marathon productions-Foreign Fire (Edward III, Henry V and Henry VI, Part 1) in the spring and Civil Strife (Henry VI, Parts 2 and 3 and Richard III) in the fall. Featuring some of Chicago's most celebrated actors, the dynamic ensemble cast of 19 performs over 100 characters throughout the electrifying drama. The musicality of Shakespeare's text is complemented with live music performances ranging from Bach and the blues, to contemporary pop and folk anthems. Songs from P!nk, Pete Townshend and Tim Buckley are accompanied onstage by a band of ensemble members on electric guitar, cello, keyboard, ukulele and percussion. Tug of War: Foreign Fire debuts on the Courtyard Theater stage for a limited run of only 18 performances, May 12-June 12, 2016.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) presents a highlight of Shakespeare 400 Chicago -The Q Brothers' 90-minute hip-hop adaptation of William Shakespeare's tragedy, OTHELLO: THE REMIX, spun out and lyrically rewritten over original beats.

Theatre Guild of Simsbury presents the Drama Desk Award-nominee The Dining Room tonight, April 2, and April 8, 9 at 8 pm and April 3, 10, at 2 pm. Written by Pulitzer Prize for Drama nominee A.R Gurney (Love Letters, Sweet Sue) and directed by Rosemarie Beskind assisted by Rick Anderson, The Dining Room is made up of 18 scenes played out across time, telling the tale of several upper-middle class families, bound only by a matching set of dining room furniture. Each of the eighteen scenes, which range from the comic to the serious, show a slice of life in which the dynamic relationships of family life are explored.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) presents a highlight of Shakespeare 400 Chicago -The Q Brothers' 90-minute hip-hop adaptation of William Shakespeare's tragedy, OTHELLO: THE REMIX, spun out and lyrically rewritten over original beats.

Theatre Guild of Simsbury presents the Drama Desk Award-nominee The Dining Room April 2, 8, 9 at 8 pm and April 3, 10, at 2 pm. Written by Pulitzer Prize for Drama nominee A.R Gurney (Love Letters, Sweet Sue) and directed by Rosemarie Beskind assisted by Rick Anderson, The Dining Room is made up of 18 scenes played out across time, telling the tale of several upper-middle class families, bound only by a matching set of dining room furniture. Each of the eighteen scenes, which range from the comic to the serious, show a slice of life in which the dynamic relationships of family life are explored.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) presents Shakespeare's intimate tragedy of heartbreak and revenge, OTHELLO. Staged by UK award-winning director Jonathan Munby, the production features James Vincent Meredith in the title role as the Moor. Munby imagines Shakespeare's tale in the landscape of a modern-day military base amid the searing themes of revenge, prejudice and passion. Featured in the yearlong Shakespeare 400 Chicago celebration, OTHELLO is presented in CST's Courtyard Theater, tonight, February 18, through April 10, 2016.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) debuts the newly abridged Short Shakespeare! Twelfth Night , a 75-minute production of William Shakespeare's tale of mistaken identity and unexpected love. In the midst of the 2016 celebration of Shakespeare 400 Chicago, this new adaptation by director Kirsten Kelly makes an outstanding introduction to Shakespeare for audiences of all ages. In addition to public performances each Saturday, this production welcomes 1,000 students each day during its four-week run in the Courtyard Theater, followed by an extensive tour to schools across the Midwest through May 6, 2016. Short Shakespeare! Twelfth Night will be performed for the public Saturdays at 11:00 a.m.-March 5, 12, 19 & 26 and April 2 & 9, 2016.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) announces the full cast and creative team for Shakespeare's intimate tragedy of heartbreak and revenge, OTHELLO.

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!

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) presents the U.S. premiere of RIDE THE CYCLONE, a new musical with a refreshingly offbeat twist from Brooke Maxwell and Jacob Richmond, directed and choreographed by multiple Jeff Award-winner Rachel Rockwell. Originating as a cult classic cabaret piece in Canada, this dark musical comedy is was further developed with Chicago Shakespeare Creative Producer Rick Boynton for its American debut, presented in the theater Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare this fall. Click below to watch Tiffany Tatreau and the cast perform 'What the World Needs is People Like Me' from the musical!

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) presents the U.S. premiere of Ride the Cyclone, a new musical with a refreshingly offbeat twist from Brooke Maxwell and Jacob Richmond, directed and choreographed by multiple Jeff Award-winner Rachel Rockwell. Originating as a cult classic cabaret piece in Canada, this dark musical comedy is being further developed with Chicago Shakespeare Creative Producer Rick Boynton for its highly anticipated American debut, presented in the theater Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare, September 29-November 8, 2015.  BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) announces today the extension of its U.S. premiere production of Ride the Cyclone, a new musical with a refreshingly offbeat twist by Brooke Maxwell and Jacob Richmond-now playing through November 15, 2015.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) announces the full cast and creative team for 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 November 29, 2015-January 17, 2016.