Mike Newquist News

Created by Shana Carroll and Sebastien Soldevila, CRYSTAL is not just an ice show, it's the very first experience on ice from Cirque du Soleil!

Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group and Microsoft Theater will launch their new five-year partnership of presenting a Cirque du Soleil touring production within L.A. LIVE annually with their high-energy, high-acrobatic spectacular OVO opening March 16, 2022. I had the opportunity to field a few queries to Cirque du Soleil’s president of the touring shows division Mike Newquist.

Cirque du Soleil will present its coolest arena show yet – CRYSTAL – in Charleston. This one-of-a-kind performance blends circus art and the world of ice skating. CRYSTAL will take the audience on a journey into a whimsical frozen playground where ice skating of all kinds mingles with acrobatics and aerial feats.

Cirque du Soleil is on the road and touring once again, returning to Massachusetts with its coolest arena show yet – CRYSTAL – in Boston and Amherst, MA. Find out how to get tickets.

Corteo, the most enchanting of Cirque du Soleil's arena productions is finally set to charm UK audiences for the very first time, with intermission over following a forced two-year postponement.

Following the successful reopening of four of its Las Vegas resident productions, Cirque du Soleil has chosen Houston to relaunch its first touring touring production. Alegría, which had to pause performances at Sam Houston Race Park in March 2020 due to the global pandemic, is bringing its Big Top back to Houston for an extended series of performances starting November 13.

AstonRep Theatre Company will welcome back audiences this fall with a revival of Yasmina Reza's frenetic dark comedy God of Carnage, translated by Christopher Hampton and co-directed by directed by Derek Bertelsen* and Robert Tobin*.

AstonRep Theatre Company will welcome back live audiences this fall, kicking off with a revival of Yasmina Reza’s frenetic dark comedy God of Carnage, translated by Christopher Hampton and co-directed by directed by Derek Bertelsen* and Robert Tobin*. 

The Comrades today announced its lineup of plays for the 2019-20 season a?" a trio of dark comedies by playwrights whose works have been well-received in Chicago and will explore various types of power in human relationships. The season will lead off with a one-weekend Midwest premiere of CONTRACTIONS, by Mike Bartlett, the British author of COCK and EARTHQUAKES IN LONDON. CONTRACTIONS is a surreal two-character play concerned with the balance of power in the employer-employee relationship. The four-performance run, directed by Adrienne Matzen, will be the Chicago premiere of this play that was first seen at London's Royal Court Theatre in 2008.

The Comrades, a non-Equity theatre company, today announced its cast for its world premiere of ROAST, a dark comedy by Northwestern University alum Harry Wood, a New York-based writer and comedian. Wood's play follows the friends and family of Sam, a talented young comedian who took his own life, as they fulfill his last request: to hold a roast of him instead of a traditional funeral.

The Comrades, a non-Equity theatre company, today announced its cast for DEAD MAN'S CELL PHONE, by Wilmette-born Pulitzer Prize finalist Sarah Ruhl. Ruhl's play premiered in 2007 at Washington D.C.'s Woolly Mammoth Theatre and enjoyed high-profile productions the following year at Playwrights Horizons in New York and Steppenwolf in Chicago. In this sometimes-surreal comedy, a young woman annoyedly answers the ringing cell of the man sitting next to her in a cafe, only to find the reason he failed to answer it himself is that he has just died. The woman becomes involved in the dead man's just-departed life and even in his afterlife. The SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE said, "It's a joyride through the absurdity of trying to make simple connections in a world overwhelmed with interconnectivity."

The Comrades are pleased to be taking part in the theatrical movement and staged reading of NATURAL SHOCKS by Lauren Gunderson. The reading features Adrienne Matzen in the role of She. The director is Carol Ann Tan and staged directions will be read by Mike Newquist.

The Comrades are pleased to announce their 2017/18 Season, kicking off this fall with BOB: A LIFE IN FIVE ACTS, a comedic exploration of American mythology and values, written by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb. Next spring, the season continues with the Chicago premiere of ROW AFTER ROW, a dark comedy that chronicles two hardcore Civil War re-enactors, written by Jessica Dickey. A summer 2018 show will be announced at a later date.

The Comrades are pleased to present their Summer 2017 production, IN THE WAKE by Lisa Kron and directed by Alex Mallory. This Chicago premiere will play the Greenhouse Theater Center (2257 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago) from July 27 through August 26, 2017. 

The Comrades have announced casting for their Summer 2017 production, IN THE WAKE by Lisa Kron and directed by Alex Mallory. IN THE WAKE will play the Greenhouse Theater Center (2257 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago) from July 27 through August 26, 2017. Press opening is Saturday, July 29 at 8:00pm.

The Comrades have announced casting for their Summer 2017 production, IN THE WAKE by Lisa Kron and directed by Alex Mallory. IN THE WAKE will play the Greenhouse Theater Center (2257 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago) from July 27 through August 26, 2017. Press opening is Saturday, July 29 at 8:00pm.

The Comrades have announced the cast for their 2017 Inauguration Day staged reading of THE TAMING by Lauren Gunderson.

The Comrades are pleased to open their Winter 2017 production, PRELUDE TO A KISS by Craig Lucas. This classic romantic comedy will be directed by Artistic Director Derek Bertelsen and will play the Greenhouse Theater Center (2257 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago) from January 12 through February 4, 2017. 

The Comrades have announced their Winter 2017 production, PRELUDE TO A KISS by Craig Lucas. This classic romantic comedy will be directed by Artistic Director Derek Bertelsen and will play the Greenhouse Theater Center (2257 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago) from January 12 through February 4, 2017. Press opening is Today, January 14 at 8:00pm.

The Comrades have announced the cast for their 2017 Inauguration Day staged reading of THE TAMING by Lauren Gunderson.