Tom Vendafreddo News

Get set for a high-octane ride with thrilling choreography, rockin' tunes and explosively colorful costumes - plus some really cool hairdos - when the Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora, presents HAIRSPRAY - The Broadway Musical, tonight, January 20, through February 21, 2016.

The Chicagoland theater world showed its strength last night, when the musical productions "American Idiot," "Billy Elliot" and "Les Miserables," and plays like "Direct from Death Row the Scottsboro Boys" and "The Glass Protege," took home top honors at the sixth annual BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards Celebration, held from 7-10 pm at The Call nightclub in the Andersonville neighborhood.

Happy Holidays! It's the last week to vote for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Chicago Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 18. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31!

Get set for a high-octane ride with thrilling choreography, rockin' tunes and explosively colorful costumes - plus some really cool hairdos - when the Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora, presents HAIRSPRAY - The Broadway Musical, January 20 - February 21, 2016.

Time is running out to vote for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Chicago Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 18. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31!

Voting is fully underway for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Chicago Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 11. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31.

The Chicago Artists Chorale, a group of over 60 members from Chicago's professional arts community, kicks off its second season with a holiday concert tonight, Dec. 8, entitled THE FROST VARIATIONS. The performance will be held at The Nettelhorst School, 3252 N. Broadway, at 7:30 p.m.

Voting has opened for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Chicago Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of November 27th. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31.

Director Nick Bowling will make his Paramount debut with A CHRISTMAS STORY - THE MUSICAL, everyone's favorite holiday comedy about little Ralphie and his quest for a Red Ryder BB gun. BroadwayWorld has more photos from the show below!

Voting has opened for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Chicago Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of November 27th. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31.

Families, set your holiday entertainment dials for excitement, because Chicago musical theater powerhouse, the Paramount Theatre in Aurora, is turning one of the most iconic holiday movies ever made into a larger-than-life musical blockbuster, tonight, November 25-January 3. Director Nick Bowling will make his Paramount debut with A CHRISTMAS STORY - THE MUSICAL, everyone's favorite holiday comedy about little Ralphie and his quest for a Red Ryder BB gun. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast below!

The Chicago Artists Chorale, a group of over 60 members from Chicago's professional arts community, kicks off its second season with a holiday concert on Dec. 8, entitled THE FROST VARIATIONS. The performance will be held at The Nettelhorst School, 3252 N. Broadway, at 7:30 p.m.

It's the 2015 BroadwayWorld Chicago Award Nominations! [TITLE OF SHOW] and DIRECT FROM DEATH ROW... Lead the Field of 180 Nominees. 86 productions from 55 theaters receive nominations in 36 categories. Voting open through New Year's Eve!

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. Holiday musicals are at 100% in our big suburban theaters! Plus two of our annual 'Christmas Carol' offerings, a new show called 'Tinsel!,' 'Gypsy' and 'Oliver!' for those not yet ready to celebrate things, and the return of 'Christmas Dearest' from Hell In A Handbag at Mary's Attic. Happy Holidaze!

Families, set your holiday entertainment dials for excitement, because Chicago musical theater powerhouse, the Paramount Theatre in Aurora, is turning one of the most iconic holiday movies ever made into a larger-than-life musical blockbuster, November 25-January 3. Director Nick Bowling will make his Paramount debut with A CHRISTMAS STORY - THE MUSICAL, everyone's favorite holiday comedy about little Ralphie and his quest for a Red Ryder BB gun. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast below!

Writers Theatre Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma announce the Inaugural Season in the company's new theatre center, to include a season kick-off at Books on Vernon with Marjorie Prime by Jordan Harrison, directed by Kimberly Senior, followed by the Grand Opening of the state-of-the-art facility, designed by Jeanne Gang and Studio Gang Architects. Arcadia by Tom Stoppard, directed by Artistic Director Michael Halberstam will be the inaugural production in the Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Theatre. A new collaboration with Chicago's The Second City entitled Death of a Streetcar Named Virginia Woolf-A Parody, by Tim Sniffen, with additional material by Tim Ryder, directed by Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and Stuart Carden, will open the Gillian Theatre. Company, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by George Furth, directed by William Brown with musical direction by Tom Vendafreddo, will follow Arcadia in the Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Theatre.

Everything's up to date in Aurora, where nearly 27,000 subscribers (and still counting) have already signed up for the Paramount Theatre's 2015-16 four-show Broadway Musical Series. That's just one reason why Paramount's Broadway opener OKLAHOMA!, directed by Artistic Director Jim Corti, promises to be the musical everyone will be talking about this fall. Wower of Chicagoland audiences and critics alike since launching its own, self-produced Broadway series four years ago, the Paramount's fifth consecutive Broadway Series kicks off with the epic, much-loved debut collaboration between Rodgers and Hammerstein about turn of the century American pioneers. Scroll down for photos from opening night on September 19!

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. 'Oklahoma!' is very ok, as are 'Side Show,' 'Triassic Parq' and 'Next To Normal,' 'The Revel' and 'One Brain More' join Super September, and 'Cupid' keeps his heart on. Porchlight has 'Babes In Arms' and a 'New Faces' series, 'Irving Berlin' and 'Elf'plan to light up the holidays, and 'The Wiz' gets replaced by 'Xanadu!'

Everything's up to date in Aurora, where nearly 27,000 subscribers (and still counting) have already signed up for the Paramount Theatre's 2015-16 four-show Broadway Musical Series.

Everything's up to date in Aurora, where nearly 27,000 subscribers (and still counting) have already signed up for the Paramount Theatre's 2015-16 four-show Broadway Musical Series.