Rikki Lee Travolta News

Chicagoland’s Steel Beam Theatre in St. Charles, IL will be presenting a special limited engagement fundraiser of A.R. Gurney’s romantic masterpiece LOVE LETTERS.

Chicagoland's Steel Beam Theatre in St. Charles, IL will be presenting a special limited engagement fundraiser of A.R. Gurney's romantic masterpiece LOVE LETTERS for six performances only: February 23, 24, 25 and March 1, 2, 3. Find out who is in the cast here!

Don't miss the New York debut of narrative sketch show LIGHTS at the Brooklyn Comedy Collective. Written and performed by two Chicago comics, this introspective and parodied look at performance is a must-see.

The Heartstrings Awards serve to acknowledge the most meaningful performances and productions of the year in Chicago. They are bestowed by Life and Times, under the direction of chief theatre critic Rikki Lee Travolta. Learn more about this year's winners here!

Elvis with an Alternate Focus Proves Popular in New and Future Cinema. Sophia Coppola's 'Priscilla' and Rikki Lee Travolta's 'The Elvis Conspiracy' are captivating audiences with their unique takes on the iconic singer's life. Quentin Tarantino's 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' also showcases the rising popularity of alternate history films.

Singer/songwriter Susannah B has music in her blood. She is the daughter of the late Broadway composer and lyricist Carol Hall, whose credits include the 1978 classic The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and its 1994 Broadway sequel The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public.  Listen to her on a podcast episode now!

On a new episode of radio show and podcast It’s Showtime with Rikki Lee, host Rikki Lee Travolta sits down with acclaimed theatrical costume designer Patty Halajian for a discussion on what goes into the art of costume design and the process of working with a production team to create the director’s vision.

Writer and actress April Noel will be the featured guest on radio show and podcast It’s Showtime with Rikki Lee, airing Friday, September 8 at 3 PM CST on 101.5 FM out of Chicagoland’s Huntley community, and streaming in real-time online.

Chicago is well-respected as one of the premier theater cities in the country. Famous shows to get their start in the Windy City include Organic Theatre's Bleacher Bums, Steppenwolf's August: Osage County, Lookingglass Theatre Company's Metamorphoses, and one of the most successful musicals of all time: Grease! that got its start at the Kingston Mine nightclub.

Chicago-based entertainment personality Rikki Lee Travolta has earned top honors for Best Feature Script in the Gangtok International Film Festival for his original thriller screenplay The Elvis Conspiracy. In film, he has worked with such artists as Ron Howard, Chase Masterson, Peter Mayhew, and Scout Taylor-Compton.

Travolta credits the swelling popularity of the script to the public’s recent interest in the alternate history genre and the surge in attention on Elvis-related projects including Baz Luhrmann’s Oscar-nominated 'Elvis' and the upcoming 'Priscilla' from writer/director Sofia Coppola.

The Heartstrings Awards celebrating the most moving creative efforts in Chicago area theatre for the 2022 theatrical season have been announced citing winners including Marriott Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Broadway in Chicago, Elgin Theatre Company, and Porchlight Music Theatre.

The latest standings as of Monday, December 19th, have been released for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.

The latest standings as of Monday, December 12th, have been released for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.

The latest standings as of Monday, December 5th, have been released for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.

The first live standings have been announced for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.

Rikki Lee Travolta will head the cast of Elgin Theatre Company's mounting of Paul Rudnick's iconic comedy I Hate Hamlet opening September 30, 2022, at the Elgin Arts Showcase just north of Chicago. Under the direction of Regina Belt-Daniels, Travolta will play the role of Andrew Rally – a famous but not terribly talented TV star who is cast in the title role of Shakespeare in the Park's Hamlet.

On Friday, June 17, radio's It's Showtime with Rikki Lee will feature an interview with Metropolis Performing Arts Centre's new artistic director Robert Gretta, along with executive director Brookes Ebetsch who joined the company in February 2020.

On the heels of the heralded opening of Eclectic Full Contact Theatre’s production of Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit at the Skokie Theatre, director Michael Woods and star Andrew Pond join radio’s It’s Showtime with Rikki Lee for an interview airing on Friday June 10 at 3 PM Central on 101.5 FM WHRU.

Chicago has the largest Polish-American population of any city in the United States. This cultural hotbed made the television show Flavor of Poland from WTTW an instant winner. Not only is the Polish-themed cultural show a hit in Chicago but also hugely popular around the country.