Regina Taylor News

Goodman Theatre and the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA) present the U.S. premiere of Mendoza by Los Colochos Teatro of Mexico City, appearing in a limited engagement October 2-7 at the Goodman. The production is produced as part of Destinos-the 2nd Chicago International Latino Theater Festival, a seven-week festival of Latino theater artists and companies from Chicago, the U.S. and Latin America in shows, panels and student performances at venues citywide. An adaptation of William Shakespeare's Macbeth, Mendoza is a thrilling, fast-paced and blood-soaked ensemble production by Antonio Zuñiga and Juan Carrillo, directed by Carrillo and presented in Spanish with English supertitles. The limited engagement of Mendoza appears October 2-7 (Opening Night is October 2) at Goodman Theatre (170 N. Dearborn); Tickets ($25) are available by telephone 312.443.3800 or online GoodmanTheatre.org/Mendoza. Destinos takes place through November 4; complete festival programming and ticket information available at www.clata.org. Chicago Community Trust is the Sponsor Partner of Mendoza and Corona Extra is the Official Beverage Sponsor of Mendoza and Destinos. NOTE: this production contains a live animal and is intended for mature audiences.

59E59 Theaters (Val Day, Artistic Director; Brian Beirne, Managing Director) welcomes the return engagement of the East to Edinburgh and Edinburgh Fringe favorite VIVIAN'S MUSIC, 1969, written by Monica Bauer and directed by Glory Kadigan.

Goodman Theatre's commitment to new works and emerging artists continues in its 2018/2019 Season. Today, the Goodman named four Chicago-based writers to its Playwrights Unit-Georgette Kelly, whose play Ballast was featured on The Kilroys List and received the Craig Noel Award for Outstanding New Play; Dianne Nora, a playwright, dramaturg, theater scholar and comedy writer who works in Chicago, Brooklyn and Dublin; Marisela Treviño Orta, semifinalist for the 2018 O'Neill Theater Center National Playwrights Conference and 2019 Kendeda Finalist (Alliance Theatre); and Stacey Rose, whose work has been presented at New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, National Black Theatre and more. The Playwrights Unit, in partnership with Chicago Dramatists, meets bi-monthly to discuss their commissioned plays-in-progress with the Goodman's artistic team. The residency culminates in a public staged reading of each new play in Summer 2019. 

Casting is complete for the three "developmental productions" featured in Goodman Theatre's 15th annual New Stages Festival-a free celebration of new works by some of the country's finest established and emerging playwrights. These three plays, which are staged in repertory following two weeks of rehearsal, include There's Always the Hudson by Paola Lazaro-Muñoz, directed by Jess McLeod; Felons and Familias by Sandra Delgado, directed by Marcela Muñoz; and Graveyard Shift by Korde Arrington Tuttle, directed by Danya Taymor. Developmental productions are designed by Kevin Depinet (Set), Noel Huntzinger (Costumes for There's Always the Hudson and Graveyard Shift), Birgit Rattenborg Wise (Costumes for Felons and Familias), Jesse Klug (Lights) and Richard Woodbury (Sound).

Planet Connections' signature event, PLAYWRIGHTS FOR A CAUSE at the Theater at the 14th Street Y, played to a sold-out crowd that joyously handed the team of writers and other artists a standing ovation. This year, the event, designed to address hot-button topics concerning the world at that moment through new works by prominent authors - written just for the event - dealt with the distinctions between gender and sexuality.

Obie Award-winning "spellbinding storyteller" (Los Angeles Times) David Cale returns to Goodman Theatre three decades after his debut (1988's The Redthroats) with his newest work, We're Only Alive For A Short Amount of Time-launching the Goodman's 2018/2019 Season.

Dael Orlandersmith, "an intense poet, writer and intellectual" (Chicago Tribune), brings her newest work, Lady in Denmark, to the Owen Theatre. Reuniting with director Chay Yew (Black n Blue Boys/Broken Men, 2012), Orlandersmith's world premiere production is a reflection on love and adversity starring stage and screen actress Linda Gehringer in a 90-minute solo performance. Helene (Gehringer) is a Danish American woman coping with the death of her husband who finds solace in the hauntingly beautiful music of their favorite singer, Billie Holiday. This is her journey through the couple's time together-from the smoky jazz clubs of post-war Copenhagen to the home they shared in present-day Chicago. Lady in Denmark is one of five world premieres this season, all originally developed as a part of the Goodman's New Stages Festival. The creative team includes Andrew Boyce (set), Christine Pascual (costumes), Lee Fiskness (lighting) and Mikhail Fiksel (original music and sound). Donald E. Claxon is the Production Stage Manager. Lady in Denmark appears October 19 - November 18, 2018 (opening night is October 29 at 7pm) in the Goodman's Owen Theatre (170 N. Dearborn); tickets ($15-45; subject to change) go on sale Friday, August 31, by telephone 312.443.3800 or online GoodmanTheatre.org/LadyInDenmark.

Goodman Theatre celebrates teaching, learning and transformation with its "Igniting Imagination: The Art of Great Teaching" Education and Engagement luncheon on Thursday, September 20. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and educator Paula Vogel will join Walter Director of Education and Engagement Willa J. Taylor in conversation about art of teaching and importance of mentorship in shaping young minds.

Vintage Theatre Productions announces 11 shows for the 2019 season. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. at Vintage Theatre, 1468 Dayton St. in Aurora. Early bird season tickets are $199 and currently on sale. Single ticket will go on sale October 1. Call 303-856-7830 or purchase online at www.vintagetheatre.org. 

World renowned beatboxer Chesney Snow will present The Unwritten Law - his harrowing journey from a legacy of incarceration to fatherhood, homelessness to Harvard, to ultimately starring on Broadway in the musical In Transit. Brilliantly blending powerful prose, contemporary dance, live music and visual design, The Unwritten Law adeptly weaves together a truly inspiring American story of redemption and resilience in an unforgettable evening of theater. The play will run for a limited time through September 29th for eight performances at 7:30pm.

In a unique addition to its upcoming 2018/2019 Season, Goodman Theatre and the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA) will present the U.S. premiere of Mendoza by Los Colochos of Mexico City-the latest in a 30-year history of premiering works by prominent local, national and international Latino playwrights and theater companies. Mendoza is presented as part of Destinos-the 2nd Chicago International Latino Theater Festival, a seven-week festival of Latino theater artists and companies from Chicago, the U.S. and Latin America in shows, panels and student performances at venues citywide. A radically reimagined adaptation of William Shakespeare's Macbeth, Mendoza is a tale of ambition, blood and power by Antonio Zuñiga and Juan Carrillo, directed by Carrillo and presented in Spanish with English supertitles. The limited engagement of Mendoza appears October 2-7, 2018 at Goodman Theatre (170 N. Dearborn); tickets ($25-32; subject to change) go on sale Friday, August 24 by telephone 312.443.3800 or online GoodmanTheatre.org/Mendoza.

Dixon Place (Ellie Covan, Founding & Artistic Director) presents the co-production of world-famous beatboxer and Drama Desk Award recipient Chesney Snow & critically praised director Rebecca Arends's THE UNWRITTEN LAW opening Friday, September 7th. Snow comes direct from his run in Broadway's In Transit, where Ben Brantley of the NY Times called him 'a one-man sound effects wiz.' Directed and choreographed by Rebecca Arends, with original live music, Snow delivers a brilliant blend of spoken word, dance, and visuals. THE UNWRITTEN LAW, will play a limited engagement at Dixon Place (161A Chrystie Street). Tickets for THE UNWRITTEN LAW range from $18 to $25. For tickets and further information please visit www.dixonplace.org/performances/the-unwritten-law-2018/ or call 866-811-4111.

The New Harmony Project announced today that it is now accepting applications for the 33rd annual conference to be held May 20 - June 1, 2019. Since 1986, the secluded town of New Harmony, Indiana has hosted artists from around the world for two-weeks of dedicated script development. Over the course of the conference, The New Harmony Project offers a retreat from the outside world and space for writers to fully immerse themselves in their work. The peaceful serenity of New Harmony, the site of two former utopian societies, is a world away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

This fall, Goodman Theatre presents its New Stages Festival-a free annual celebration and discovery of new plays by some of the country's finest established and emerging playwrights. Audiences experience a first look at seven new works-including three fully staged developmental productions (performed in repertory) There's Always the Hudson by Paola Lazaro-Muñoz; Felons and Familias by Sandra Delgado; Graveyard Shift by Korde Arrington Tuttle. In addition, four staged readings appear during the last weekend of the festival (October 4-7) including The Wizards by Ricardo Gamboa; Between Covers by Sarah Schulman; Birthday Candles by Noah Haidle; and Cressida on Top by Paula Vogel.

More than 60 Chicagoland students make their Goodman Theatre debut on the mainstage to conclude summer programming-PlayBuild Youth Intensive and Musical Theater Intensive-on August 10 and 11 at 7pm. The free programs were taught over a course of seven-to-eight weeks in the Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement.

This year, Planet Connections' signature event, designed to address a powerful social and topical issue facing our society today through engaging stage works, will explore the distinctions between gender and sexuality. The event will benefit THE ALI FORNEY CENTER, whose mission is to protect LGBTQ youths from the dangers of homelessness and empower them with the tools needed to live independently.

When Joanna Demafelis' indebted family needed money to fix their typhoon-battered home, she followed in the footsteps of millions of other Filipinos and left to find work overseas. And like far too many Filipinos, her journey ended in tragedy.

PLANET CONNECTIONS' PLAYWRIGHTS FOR A CAUSE: This year, this event, designed to address a powerful social and topical issue facing our society today through engaging stage works, will explore the distinctions between gender and sexuality. The event will benefit THE ALI FORNEY CENTER.

Red Bull Theater announced the casts for their eighth annual festival, featuring two brand new commissions from Tina Howe and Doug Wright, alongside 6 brand new plays chosen from hundreds of submissions from playwrights across the country.

The American Shakespeare Center (ASC) today announced that the company has chosen Ethan McSweeny, an internationally acclaimed theatre artistwith more than 80 productions to his credit, as its new Artistic Director.