There are certain theatrical presentations you can always depend on for sheer holiday joy at this time of year. Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker is definitely high on that list. The music has spawned many different interpretations over the years, including Duke Ellington's version featuring a swinging saxophone section. The music is also used in many television commercials so even if you didn't know the music was from the classic ballet, chances are you at one point or another have been exposed to The Nutcracker.
There's just one month left to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Seattle Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.
There's just one month left to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Seattle Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.
Chicago Shakespeare Theater announces that four-time Tony Award nominee and Law and Order: SVU alum Raul Esparza will lead William Shakespeare's Hamlet, staged by Artistic Director Barbara Gaines, in the Courtyard Theater, April 17-June 9, 2019.
TimeLine Theatre Company is pleased to announce the addition of several new artists and community leaders to its ranks. Chicago artists Tyla Abercrumbie, Will Allan, Wardell Julius Clark, Charles Andrew Gardner, and Anish Jethmalani have been named Company Members at the theater, effective immediately. Additionally, the theater is welcoming JoAnne Dobrick, Anne Voshel, Richard G. Weinberg, and Nicholas Yassan to its Board of Directors, and Jared Bellot as a new Associate Artist.
BroadwayWorld presents a comprehensive weekly roundup of regional stories around our Broadway World, which include videos, editor spotlights, regional reviews and more. This week, we feature THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, LEGALLY BLONDE, AVENUE Q and More!
Paramount Theatre's production of LEGALLY BLONDE-THE MUSICAL lands the familiar tale of sorority-girl-turned-lawyer Elle Woods firmly in 2018, and it works well. Based on the 2001 movie, the musical premiered on Broadway in 2007, and, unlike some stage adaptations of beloved chick flicks, still resonates in today's post-Weinstein world. A strong female protagonist, working hard to achieve her goals, leaves behind toxic relationships and surrounds herself with people who believe in building each other up. While the narrative is empowering, LEGALLY BLONDE never lets the tone get too serious, with plenty of humor, larger-than-life characters, impressive dance numbers, and all the glitz, glam, and 'Omigod's that one would expect from the women of UCLA's Delta Nu.
Chicago Shakespeare Theater's summer family musical PETER PAN is chock full of dazzling moments that will delight children and adults alike. With music and lyrics by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe with a new book by Elliot Davis (based upon the book by Willis Hall), this production captures all the magic of the classic story of the boy who refuses to grow up in just 75 minutes. Adult audience members who are fans of J.M. Barrie's original novel or the iconic Disney animated film will find this PETER PAN a refreshing mix of the familiar and the new. And of course, young audiences seeing the story of PETER PAN for the first time will be altogether surprised and amazed by this telling.
Chicago Shakespeare Theater announces the cast and creative team for the summer family musical production of Peter Pan - A Musical Adventure at the Theater's home on Navy Pier, June 27-August 19, 2018. Based on J.M. Barrie's beloved tale about the boy who wouldn't grow up, this heartwarming musical dazzles with a score written by George Stiles and lyrics by Anthony Drewe-the award-winning songwriting duo behind Disney and Cameron Mackintosh's smash hit Mary Poppins and the Olivier Award-winning Honk! Amber Mak takes the helm as the production's director and choreographer in this newly updated version by Elliot Davis based on the book by Willis Hall.
Peninsula Players Theatre, America's oldest professional resident summer theater and Door County's theatrical icon, is proud to announce it has received a $15,000 award from The Shubert Foundation. The Shubert Foundation awarded a record total of $26.8 million to 533 not-for-profit performing arts organizations across the United States. The Shubert Foundation provides grants only to organizations that have established artistic and administrative track records, as well as a pattern of fiscal responsibility.
Chicago Shakespeare Theater announces the cast and creative team for the summer family musical production of Peter Pan - A Musical Adventure at the Theater's home on Navy Pier, June 27-August 19, 2018. Based on J.M. Barrie's beloved tale about the boy who wouldn't grow up, this heartwarming musical dazzles with a score written by George Stiles and lyrics by Anthony Drewe-the award-winning songwriting duo behind Disney and Cameron Mackintosh's smash hit Mary Poppins and the Olivier Award-winning Honk! Amber Mak takes the helm as the production's director and choreographer in this newly updated version by Elliot Davis based on the book by Willis Hall.
Goodman Theatre's revival of HAVING OUR SAY: THE DELANY SISTERS' FIRST 100 YEARS feels less like an evening in the theater than time whiled away in the company of two delightful women. Based on the 1993 New York Times bestselling memoir of the same title, this play shares the oral history of Sadie and Bessie Delany, two African American sisters who were born in 1889 and 1891, respectively.
Goodman Theatre revives Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years, Emily Mann's 'warming theatrical event' (Variety)that celebrates the lives of 'two strong, vibrant women dispensing joy and wisdom' (Chicago Tribune). Goodman Theatre Resident Director Chuck Smith's production features Ella Joyce and Marie Thomas as the Delany centenarians, Bessie (1891 - 1995) and Sadie (1889 -1999), respectively, as they trace their lives in a heartfelt reflection of their family history and triumphs over prejudices in times of social unrest.
Goodman Theatre celebrates the lives of "two strong, vibrant women dispensing joy and wisdom" (Chicago Tribune) in a major revival of Emily Mann's Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years. Directed by the Goodman's longtime Resident Director Chuck Smith, the production features Ella Joyce and Marie Thomas as the Delany centenarians, Bessie (1891 - 1995) and Sadie (1889 -1999), respectively. The sisters were discovered in 1991 when Amy Hill Hearth interviewed them for The New York Times. Following the article, the trio co-authored the book, Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years-a New York Times bestseller and heartfelt reflection of their family history and triumphs over prejudices in times of social unrest. Mann adapted it for the stage, first at McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, New Jersey and then to Broadway, where it ran for 317 performances. Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years appears May 5 - June 10, 2018 in the Albert Theatre (opening night is Monday, May 14). Tickets ($20 - $75; subject to change) are now on sale at GoodmanTheatre.org/HavingOurSay, by phone at 312.443. 3800 or at the box office (170 North Dearborn). ComEd is the Major Corporate Sponsor, Conagra Brands Foundation is the Major Production Sponsor and ITW and PwC are the Corporate Sponsor Partners.
ACT and The 5th Avenue Theatre's current joint production, 'Ride the Cyclone', now playing at ACT, is one of those quirky little musicals that on the surface should not work. I didn't really know what to expect going in but based on what it is, it's problematic at best. Fortunately for us the brilliant writing team of Brooke Maxwell and Jacob Richmond have done it in such a way that it definitely does work and then some. Allow me to explain.
Ride the Cylcone, this season's dark and hilarious co-production between The 5th Avenue Theatre and ACT - A Contemporary Theatre, is now in preview performances and has its official opening night this Thursday, March 22 at ACT - A Contemporary Theatre. The award-winning director and choreographer Rachel Rockwell has continued to refine and explore the world of Ride the Cyclone with its writers Brooke Maxwell and Jacob Richmond, returning to direct after working on its two previous U.S. productions in Chicago and Off Broadway. This co-production, which is the eighth collaboration between The 5th and ACT, will showcase new developments to the script and score. At least one third of the script has been newly created for this production, which is in addition to countless small but crucial tweaks and refinements. These new developments have continued to define and shape the world that the Saint Cassian High School Chamber Choir inhabits onstage.
Aurora's Paramount Theatre - Chicago's most decorated theater at the 2017 Jeff Awards with the third largest subscriber base in the nation - is excited to present the first Chicago-area regional staging of the Tony Award-winning Best Musical Once to close its 2017-18 Broadway Series.
"Life is short, and it's up to you to make it sweet." - Sadie Delany (1889 -1999). Goodman Theatre revives Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years, Emily Mann's "warming theatrical event" (Variety)that celebrates the lives of "two strong, vibrant women dispensing joy and wisdom" (Chicago Tribune). Goodman Theatre Resident Director Chuck Smith's production features Ella Joyce and Marie Thomas as the Delany centenarians, Bessie (1891 - 1995) and Sadie (1889 -1999), respectively, as they trace their lives in a heartfelt reflection of their family history and triumphs over prejudices in times of social unrest.
The American Theatre Wing (Heather Hitchens, President) is pleased to announce that five theater artists will be honored by the Henry Hewes Design Awards Committee during the presentation of its 2017 Awards in a luncheon ceremony on Tuesday, January 23, 2018.
The Neo-Futurists and The Ruffians are thrilled to announce the return of the holiday hit BURNING BLUEBEARD for six performances only, December 27 31, 2017 at The Neo-Futurarium, 5153 N. Ashland Ave. in Chicago. The fantastical tale inspired by Chicago's 1903 Iroquois Theatre fire has been an annual Chicago holiday favorite for six years running. Tickets are currently available at neofuturists.org.
