Northwestern University News

Brighton Beach Memoirs opens at Theatre Memphis on the Lohrey Stage today, April 26, 2013 with Irene Crist returning to direct the Neil Simon coming of age comedy. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

The Whitney Museum in New York has commissioned a new work by playwright Thomas Bradshaw for the Blues For Smoke Exhibition Live Performances to premiere today, April 26 through April 28, at the Whitney.

BoHo Theatre will present the musical Kiss of the Spider Woman, by John Kander, Fred Ebb, and Terrence McNally, based on the novel by Manuel Puig, as the final production in its 2012/2013 season. The production will run May 31st through June 30th at Theater Wit in Lakeview. Kiss of the Spider Woman is directed by BoHo Artistic Director Peter Marston Sullivan, director of such previous BoHo hits as Floyd Collins and Big River. The production features Nathan Carroll as Molina, Evan Tyrone Martin as Valentin, and Jennifer Grubb as Aurora the Spider Woman. Kiss of the Spider Woman represents the Bohemian Pillar of Love.

Brighton Beach Memoirs opens at Theatre Memphis on the Lohrey Stage April 26, 2013 with Irene Crist returning to direct the Neil Simon coming of age comedy. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Performances begin in just five weeks for the third annual Next Up, continuing Steppenwolf Theatre Company's commitment to Chicago's next generation of theater artists. Next Up features three productions presented in rotating repertory, in collaboration with Northwestern University's MFA programs in Direction and Design. Next Up 2013 showcases the work of graduates of those programs with casts of professional Chicago actors-including nine alumni of the School at Steppenwolf: Fat Pig by Neil LaBute, directed by David Prete; The Drunken City by Adam Bock, directed by Johnny Michael DiResta; and The Internationalist by Anne Washburn, directed by Erin Murray.

According to a report by The New York Times, actor and Tony winning composer and lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda will present his new show, The Hamilton Mixtape, at Vassar College's Powerhouse Theater this season, which runs June 21 to July 28, 2013.

Continuing its 25th Anniversary Season, Lookingglass Theatre Company presents the world premiere of Still Alice, adapted and directed by Ensemble Member Christine Mary Dunford, based on the novel by Lisa Genova. The production runs now through May 19, 2013 at Lookingglass Theatre Company, located inside Chicago's historic Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. at Pearson. The Press Opening is Saturday, April 20, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Porchlight Music Theatre presents Pal Joey, book by John O'Hara, music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, tonight, April 20 - May 26, at Stage 773, 1225 West Belmont Ave. Directed by Porchlight Music Theatre's Artistic Director, Michael Weber with music direction by Porchlight Artistic Associate Doug Peck (reuniting with Weber for the first time since their collaboration on Porchlight's triumphant production of Assassins) and choreography by Porchlight Artistic Associate Brenda Didier, Pal Joey stars Adrian Aguliar, 'Joey Evans,' Susie McMonagle, 'Vera Simpson,' Laura Savage, 'Linda English,' Matt Orlando, 'Ludlow Lowell' and Sharriese Hamilton, 'Gladys Bumps.'

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra presents an all-Gershwin NJSO POPS program in New Brunswick and Newark, tonight, April 19 and the 20th. Conductor Gerald Steichen returns to the NJSO stage to conduct the Orchestra in Gershwin favorites including An American in Paris, Cuban Overture and selections from Porgy and Bess and Girl Crazy, along with songs from the composer's rich canon.

Scandinavian American Theater Company will present the US Premiere of GORILLA by Rhea Leman. The Danish premiere was just nominated for the 2013 Reumert Award (the Danish equivalent of the Tony Award) for Best Playwrighting. Directed by Ari Edelson, previews begin May 24 at the Lion Theatre at Theatre Row. Opening is slated for May 30.

Miller Theatre at Columbia University School of the Arts continues the 2012-13 season of its Composer Portraits series with Oliver Knussen, tonight, April 18, 2013.

Forty years ago, the last U.S. troops were withdrawn from Vietnam, ending U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War. That nearly decade-long war divided the nation, defined a generation and changed the U.S. military's mode of operation (1). Today, many people learn about the war through the media, pop culture, and history texts.

Brighton Beach Memoirs opens at Theatre Memphis on the Lohrey Stage April 26, 2013 with Irene Crist returning to direct the Neil Simon coming of age comedy. The plot focuses on a semi-autobiographical story featuring Eugene Morris Jerome, a Polish-Jewish American teenager, who experiences the turmoil of his family dynamics, his sexual awakening and his search for his identity. Having to deal with his older brother and female cousins who move into his home, the family situations prove to be material that is tender and funny. The original Broadway production was the winner of the New Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play.

The GRAMMY Foundation Grant Program announced today that more than $200,000 in grants will be awarded to 14 recipients in the United States to help facilitate a range of research, archiving and preservation projects on a variety of subjects. Research projects include a study that will investigate a potential core deficit in rhythm processing in developmental stuttering, combining behavioral and neuroimaging studies in children with studies in songbirds. Preservation and archiving initiatives include a project that will preserve and provide access to a unique organ recording collection of master organ player rolls and noteworthy arrangements produced in the 1920s; and an effort to preserve and digitize the audiovisual collections of imperiled media of the Andrews Sisters, Bing Crosby, Benny Goodman, and Bob Hope, among others. A complete list of grant awards and projects is below. The deadline each year for submitting letters of inquiry is Oct. 1. Guidelines and the letter of inquiry form for the 2014 cycle will be available beginning May 1 at www.grammyfoundation.org/grants.

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. 'The Jungle Book' heats up, 'Oklahoma!' and 'South Pacific,' 'Oliver!' and 'Barnum,' plus 'Stomp,' some interesting student productions and more!

Due to high demand for tickets, Buzz22 Chicago's critically acclaimed production of She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen, directed by Scott Weinstein, adds a final late-night performance as part of Steppenwolf Theatre Company's fourth annual Garage Rep. This "clever, funny, moving, lively and delightfully geeky" (Chicago Tribune) play's last additional performance is Wednesday, April 17 at 10:30pm; this is the final extension.

North Coast Repertory Theatre presents THE ODD COUPLE by Neil Simon, directed by Andrew Barnicle. The show will run in previews tonight, April 10 - 12, 2013 and continues April 13 - May 5, 2013.

Continuing its 25th Anniversary Season, Lookingglass Theatre Company presents Still Alice, adapted and directed by Ensemble Member Christine Mary Dunford, based on the novel by Lisa Genova. The production begins tonight, April 10 - May 19, 2013 at Lookingglass Theatre Company, located inside Chicago's historic Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. at Pearson. The Press Opening is Saturday, April 20, 2013 at 7:30 p.m.

Lookingglass Theatre Company announces its 2013-2014 Season, opening with the World Premiere adaptation of Marguerite Duras' The North China Lover, written & directed by Ensemble Member Heidi Stillman. The season continues with The Little Prince directed by Ensemble Member David Catlin, adapted from Antoine de Saint-Exupery's beloved children's book by Rick Cummins and John Scoullar. Jessica Thebus will direct the World Premiere of Artistic Associate Sara Gmitter's In The Garden: A Darwinian Love Story to close out the Season.

Next Theatre Company has announced the final production of their 2012-2013 season, Jessica Blank and Eric Jensen's The Exonerated, directed by Northwestern University alumna Cat Miller, and co-produced with the Theatre and Interpretation Center (TIC) at Northwestern University and presented in partnership with the Northwestern University School of Law's Center on Wrongful Convictions (Center), April 19 - May 5 at the Josephine Louis Theater, 20 Arts Circle Drive, Northwestern University.