Michael Bodeen News

Playwright Lynn Nottage notches another feather in her cap of outstanding work.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company presents the Chicago premiere of Annie Baker's 2014 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, THE FLICK. Under the direction of Dexter Bullard, who also directed the Chicago premiere of Baker's Circle Mirror Transformation, the cast features Danny McCarthy, Caroline Neff and Travis Turner as the three hapless employees of THE FLICK movie house. Previews begin February 4 (opening night is February 14; press performances are Saturday, February 13 at 3pm and Tuesday, February 16 at 7:30pm) and runs through May 8, 2016 in Steppenwolf's Upstairs Theatre (1650 N Halsted St). BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast in rehearsal below!

The new drama SWEAT by Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage (Ruined; By The Way, Meet Vera Stark) comes to Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater following a critically-acclaimed debut at Oregon Shakespeare Festival as part of a co-commission between the two theaters. The play is directed by Nottage's longtime collaborator Kate Whoriskey and runs tonight, January 15, through February 21, 2016 in the Kreeger Theater. The company just kicked off rehearsals, and BroadwayWorld has photos below!

The new drama SWEAT by Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage (Ruined; By The Way, Meet Vera Stark) comes to Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater following a critically-acclaimed debut at Oregon Shakespeare Festival as part of a co-commission between the two theaters. The play is directed by Nottage's longtime collaborator Kate Whoriskey and runs January 15-February 21, 2016 in the Kreeger Theater. The company just kicked off rehearsals, and BroadwayWorld has photos below!

Steppenwolf Theatre Company presents the Chicago premiere of Annie Baker's 2014 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, The Flick. Under the direction of Dexter Bullard, who also directed the Chicago premiere of Baker's Circle Mirror Transformation, the cast features Danny McCarthy, Caroline Neff and Travis Turner as the three hapless employees of The Flick movie house. Previews begin February 4 (opening night is February 14; press performances are Saturday, February 13 at 3pm and Tuesday, February 16 at 7:30pm) and runs through May 8, 2016 in Steppenwolf's Upstairs Theatre (1650 N Halsted St). Tickets ($20 - $89) are available through Audience Services (1650 N Halsted), 312-335-1650 and steppenwolf.org.

The new drama Sweat by Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage (Ruined; By The Way, Meet Vera Stark) comes to Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater following a critically-acclaimed debut at Oregon Shakespeare Festival as part of a co-commission between the two theaters. Hailed by The New York Times as an 'extraordinarily moving drama' that 'brims with the kind of ripe, richly imagined life associated with the work of the great August Wilson,' the play is directed by Nottage's longtime collaborator Kate Whoriskey and runs January 15-February 21, 2016 in the Kreeger Theater.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre continues its 2015-16 season with the new emotional family drama AUBERGINE, written by Julia Cho and directed by Michael Leibert Artistic Director Tony Taccone. This will be the first production presented on the newly renovated Thrust Stage and the second world premiere of the 2015 -16 season, following AMELIE, A NEW MUSICAL.

BroadwayWorld is excited to report initial casting for The Public Theater's New York premiere of HEAD OF PASSES, written by Tarell Alvin McCraney and directed by Tina Landau. Phylicia Rashad returns to The Public to play 'Shelah' in this deeply moving new drama about family, acceptance, and the power of faith. Rashad last appeared at The Public in THE STORY by Tracey Scott Wilson in 2003. HEAD OF PASSES begins previews on Tuesday, March 15 in the Newman Theater with an official press opening on Monday, March 28.

I've always liked the intimacy of the Neuhaus stage at the Alley Theatre. I was left feeling like I witnessed real theatre magic through the special effects, interesting dialogue, and over the top violence in LIEUTENANT OF INISHMORE, and felt hopeful and inspired by the end of ROCK N' ROLL. But THE OTHER PLACE, written by Sharr White and directed by Don Stephenson, didn't really leave me thinking or feeling anything special after seeing it. It seemed more like an acting exercise for the talented cast rather than a play that would provide any type of catharsis for the audience.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company presents the highly anticipated Chicago premiere production of Annie Baker's The Flick, winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Directed by Dexter Bullard, the cast features Will Allan, Danny McCarthy, Caroline Neff and Travis Turner. The Flick runs February 4 - May 8, 2016 in the Upstairs Theatre. Tickets ($20 - $89) are now on sale through Audience Services (1650 N Halsted), 312-335-1650 or steppenwolf.org.

'If life is a bowl of cherries, what am I doing in the pits?' Erma Bombeck, the award-winning humorist and syndicated columnist known for her wry and humorous take on family life, is the subject of the newest project from twin-sister journalists and playwrights Allison Engel and Margaret Engel -- the world-premiere drama ERMA BOMBECK: AT WIT'S END debuting at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. The Engels reunite with director David Esbjornson (Arena Stage's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner) following their collaboration on the smash hit Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins, which starred Kathleen Turner in its celebrated 2012 run at Arena Stage. ERMA BOMBECK: AT WIT'S END now through November 8, 2015 in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle. Scroll down for photos from the opening night festivities!

In his program notes for Great Lakes Theater's production, director Joseph Hanreddy states, 'KING LEAR, with its titanic range of emotional, vast physical landscape, dark ironic humor and snarl of mysteries, contradictions, ambiguity and paradoxes, render it one of the theater's greatest challenges to realize in performance.' To his credit, Hanreddy creates a production which lives up to the challenge.

Alley Theatre Artistic Director Gregory Boyd announces the cast and creative team for The Other Place. Josie de Guzman leads the cast as Juliana Smithton, a neurologist whose research leads to a potential breakthrough for a new treatment. Just as it does, her life takes a disorienting turn. During a lecture to colleagues, she enters into a mystery that blurs fact with fiction, the past with the present, until the elusive truth is unraveled in a windswept cottage on the shores of Cape Cod. The Other Place, by Sharr White and directed by Don Stephenson, begins previews October 23 and opens October 28, with performances continuing through November 15, 2015.

Celebrating 40 years as America's premier ensemble theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company launches its landmark 2015/16 Subscription Season with a large-scale world premiere production of John Steinbeck's masterpiece EAST OF EDEN. The play is currently in previews for an opening night on September 27. The production runs through November 15, 2015 in Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theatre (1650 N Halsted St). BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

'If life is a bowl of cherries, what am I doing in the pits?' Erma Bombeck, the award-winning humorist and syndicated columnist known for her wry and humorous take on family life, is the subject of the newest project from twin-sister journalists and playwrights Allison Engel and Margaret Engel -- the world-premiere drama ERMA BOMBECK: AT WIT'S END debuting at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. The Engels reunite with director David Esbjornson (Arena Stage's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner) following their collaboration on the smash hit Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins, which starred Kathleen Turner in its celebrated 2012 run at Arena Stage. ERMA BOMBECK: AT WIT'S END October 9-November 8, 2015 in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle. Scroll down for a sneak peek at the cast!

Celebrating 40 years as America's premier ensemble theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company launches its landmark 2015/16 Subscription Season with a large-scale world premiere production of John Steinbeck's masterpiece East of Eden. Scroll down for a look at Steppenwolf's artwork for the show!

Steppenwolf Theatre Company launches its landmark 2015/16 Subscription Season with a large-scale world premiere production of John Steinbeck's masterpiece EAST OF EDEN. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the company in rehearsal below!

Ashland, Ore.-The Oregon Shakespeare Festival will open Lynn Nottage's Sweat, the final production of the Festival's 2015 playbill, on August 2 in the Angus Bowmer Theatre. Preview performances are July 29, July 31 and August 1.

?Celebrating 40 years as America's premier ensemble theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company launches its landmark 2015/16 Subscription Season with a large-scale world premiere production of John Steinbeck's masterpiece East of Eden. Scroll down for a look at Steppenwolf's artwork for the show!

"If life is a bowl of cherries, what am I doing in the pits?" Erma Bombeck, the award-winning humorist and syndicated columnist known for her wry and humorous take on family life, is the subject of the newest project from twin-sister journalists and playwrights Allison Engel and Margaret Engel-the world-premiere drama Erma Bombeck: At Wit's End debuting at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. The Engels reunite with director David Esbjornson (Arena Stage's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner) following their collaboration on the smash hit Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins, which starred Kathleen Turner in its celebrated 2012 run at Arena Stage.