Sophie Blumberg News

PRODUCER HUB – a critical resource for independent producers working across the performing arts – has spun off into an independent 501(c)3 organization. Learn more about the organization.

Octopus Theatricals announced today the formal launch of the Producer Hub, an online resource dedicated to  showcasing and supporting the work of independent producers working in a  variety of live performance producing models through shared business and educational resources and networking.

In June 2018, CalArts Center for New Performance (CNP) and Teatr Studio launch an interdisciplinary project combining theater, visual arts and contemporary music, implemented in collaboration by CNP and STUDIO artists. Under the curation of CNP Artistic Director Travis Preston, this developmental residency is a creative response to the tradition and space of STUDIO. The results of this cooperation will be presented on the STUDIO stages and at Plac Defilad during the mini CalArts Studio festival from June 22nd through June 24th, 2018. The project and festival were organized in cooperation with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.

The Drama League (Executive Artistic Director Gabriel Stelian-Shanks) has announced the eleven exceptional stage directors who have been selected as the 2017 Directing Fellows of The Drama League Directors Project.

Explore the vivid history of America's largest Chinatown through the eyes of a new generation in Lauren Yee's King of the Yees - a Goodman Theatre-commissioned world premiere that was developed in the 2015 New Stages Festival. Yee's longtime collaborator Joshua Kahan Brody directs her offbeat and electric joy ride about living in the contemporary world while honoring one's rich ancestral heritage-and the conflict that ensues. The production will debut at A Contemporary Theatre and Canada's National Arts Centre later this year. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the company in rehearsal below!

The Drama League has announced the theater directors and ensembles chosen to develop new plays and musicals as part of the 2017 Drama League Artist Residency Program.

First Floor Theater will kick off their fifth season with DEER AND THE LOVERS, a rollicking and revelatory world premiere farce fromEmily Zemba, directed by Company Member Jesse Roth. DEER AND THE LOVERS will play now through December 4, 2016 at The Den Theatre, 1333 N Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago. The press opening is tonight, November 9 at 7:30pm, and BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

First Floor Theater is excited to announce the cast of the first play of their fifth season,THE DEER AND THE LOVERS, a rollicking and revelatory world premiere from Emily Zemba, directed by Company MemberJesse Roth.

Mercy Street Theatre Company is proud to announce its 2016/2017 season featuring a slate of new plays written by its Chicago based ensemble to play on its main stage and within its brand new reading and workshop series: Beacon.

Mercy Street Theatre kicks off its third season on October 10 with The Mercy Street Affair: With Wild Abandon, a classy cocktail party and festival of new short plays that will take place at The Frontier, 1106 W. Thorndale Ave. at 7:00 pm.  Cost of entry is a suggested donation of $15.  To RSVP, please visit http://www.mercystreettheatre.org/affair2016/.

First Floor Theater is excited to announce the cast of the first play of their fifth season,THE DEER AND THE LOVERS, a rollicking and revelatory world premiere from Emily Zemba, directed by Company MemberJesse Roth.

Mercy Street Theatre kicks off its third season on October 10 with The Mercy Street Affair: With Wild Abandon, a classy cocktail party and festival of new short plays that will take place at The Frontier, 1106 W. Thorndale Ave. at 7:00 pm.  Cost of entry is a suggested donation of $15.  To RSVP, please visit http://www.mercystreettheatre.org/affair2016/.

Vienna Juvenile Sketch Comedy is proud to announce that their fourth sketch revue, The Adventures of Reginald Sampson (and the Consequence of Bliss), will make its debut this April at Chicago's iO Theater (1501 N Kinsbury St, Chicago, IL, 60642). The show will be directed by the group's Resident Director, Sophie Blumberg, and it will be written and performed by Vienna Juvenile Ensemble Members and Layne Dixon, Hank Greene, and Anthony Smith. The show will run on Fridays at 10:30pm from April 22 - May 27, with a preview performance on April 15. All performances will be in The Chris Farley Cabaret. Tickets are $14 for the general public (free for iO students), and they can be purchased online at  iOImprov.com/Chicago, or by calling the box office at (312) 929-2401.

 Pivot Arts is pleased to present THE SADNESS SHOW: AN ALTERNATIVE VALENTINE'S CELEBRATION, its latest installment of PIVOT@63 - a once-a-month line-up of unique performances at Bar 63, 6341 N. Broadway Ave. in Chicago. 

Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein are pleased to announce the lineup of The Tens, an evening of world premiere ten-minute plays. The Tens runs tonight, January 13 - 17, 2015 in the Victor Jory Theatre.

Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein are pleased to announce the lineup of The Tens, an evening of world premiere ten-minute plays. The Tens runs January 13 - 17, 2015 in the Victor Jory Theatre.

Actors Theatre Apprentice/Intern Company presents: Ensemble Project #3: 'The Rulers of All Worlds: A (Cos)play' tonight, December 2, 2014 at 8:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. at Groucho's Bar and Karaoke, 935 Goss Avenue, Louisville, KY 40217.

Actors Theatre Apprentice/Intern Company presents: Ensemble Project #3: 'The Rulers of All Worlds: A (Cos)play' on November 30, 2014 at 10:30 p.m. and December 2, 2014 at 8:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. at Groucho's Bar and Karaoke, 935 Goss Avenue, Louisville, KY 40217.

Local playwright and actor Jason Lindner tells the story of a deteriorating former Manhattan Project physicist who has discovered that radioactive material can be extruded from his memory. Visits from his colorful colleagues and lost love will determine his fate and perhaps the fate of us all. The Half-Life of Memory, produced by Cold Basement Dramatics in association with the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and directed by Co-Artistic Director Sophie Blumberg, will run from June 4 through June 29 at the Storefront Theater (66 E Randolph St) in The Loop.

Local playwright and actor Jason Lindner tells the story of a deteriorating former Manhattan Project physicist who has discovered that radioactive material can be extruded from his memory. Visits from his colorful colleagues and lost love will determine his fate and perhaps the fate of us all. The Half-Life of Memory, produced by Cold Basement Dramatics in association with the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and directed by Co-Artistic Director Sophie Blumberg, will run from June 4 through June 29 at the Storefront Theater (66 E Randolph St) in The Loop.