You Got Older Photos - Chicago

What did our critic think of My Fair Lady at Connor Palace? What do Rogers and Hammerstein, Irving Berlin, Frank Loesser and Cole Porter all have in common? Yes, they are all composers of American musicals, but they are also just some of those who attempted, and failed, to make George Bernard Shaw's classical PYGMALION into a musical.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the nation’s premier ensemble theater company, is opening its stunning new in-the-round Ensemble Theater in Honor of Helen Zell with ensemble member Yasen Peyankov’s extraordinarily funny and lyrical adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s Seagull, April 28–June 12, 2022.

FAMOUS re-opened in April after a successful run in 2018. I decided to speak with the show's Creator/Director Michael Leoni (ML) and producers Michelle Kaufer (MK) and Cassidy Pepper (CP), about how the new production uses stylized movements by the characters, enhanced lighting and sound designs, to bring the play flow so much more fluid than last year's version. The result grabs the audience's attention to the point of being able to hear a pin drop, making the entire experience even more stunning and breathtaking than before. And, of course, its relevance to the #MeToo movement is immediately recognizable as power players move in and out of Jason's life during the party.

This week I got the opportunity to speak with Eddie Noel on the phone as he wraps up the final 2 weeks of the National Tour of ON YOUR FEET! The Musical, closing in Fort Worth April 10-14th. As the interview began, I was so pleased to find such an easygoing, humble, and joyful person on the other end of the line. Gratitude for the experience of being part of this show just flowed from him- I lost track of the number of times Noel called this opportunity a blessing.

From supporting the war effort to supporting the NHS, Royal Voluntary Service is marking 80 years of helping others by telling its remarkable story through the power of photographs in a new exhibition, The Gift of Time.

Rehearsal images have been released for the new 2018/19 UK tour of Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage, which opens in Brighton on Thursday 20 September 2018. Check out the photos below!

Winner of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and The Relentless Award, Clare Barron's explosive new play Dance Nation makes its UK debut in summer 2018, directed by Bijan Sheibani. Get a first look in the photos below!

Presented by a brand new Production group, 4 Leaf Music Productions, in Association with Golden Performing Arts Center, and based on a 1934 Kaufman and Hart play of the same name, this musical tells the story of three friends, Franklin, Charley, and Mary, and the progressive decadence of their bonds and their dreams. The story is told in reverse. When it begins, in 1980, they're in their 40's: Franklin, is a rich, successful, conceited and confused noted songwriter; Charley, the lyricist in the duo, has cut off ties with his partner after a nervous breakdown and Mary is a lonely alcoholic still secretly in love with Franklin from when they first met, years and years ago. As we move forward in the play but backwards in time, we see how their friendships disintegrate, along with their aspirations and Franklin's many whirlwind marriages. Rewinding through the '70s and '60s, we end up in 1957, when the three of them meet for the first time, on a rooftop in the city, all hopeful young talents per-chance gathering to watch Sputnik go by in the pre-dawn sky. The song they sing, 'Our Time' ('We're the movers, we're the shapers/ the names in tomorrow's papers'), is undercut by some very keen irony, since we've already seen how it all turns out, at the beginning.

Writers Theatre, under the leadership of Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma, opens its 2018/19 season with Qui Nguyen's Vietgone, directed by Lavina Jadhwani, featuring original music and music direction by Gabriel Ruiz and choreography by Tommy Rapley. Vietgone runs August 15 - September 23, 2018 in the Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Theatre at 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe. The Press Opening is Wednesday, August 22 at 7:30 p.m.

A Dead Whale Productions starts off its Season of Mischief with Kevin Michael Wesson's Where We Go Together or The Flashlight Play, directed by Daniella Wheelock. Performances continue this weekend through next, July 26, 2018 through August 4, 2018

Clare Barron's Obie Award winning play (2015) YOU GOT OLDER makes it's Sydney Premiere under Claudia Barrie's astute direction. 

The Tony Awards are under way and we've got a line on the winners! Partway through the evening we've got Andrew Garfield, Laurie Metcalf, Lindsay Mendez and more!

The stars are shining on tonight's red carpet, and BroadwayWorld's got a first look - check out the first batch of arrivals below, including Josh Groban, Cynthia Erivo, Laura Osnes and more!

Composer Thea Musgrave is celebrating these days. It's not just that she's marking her 90th birthday on May 27 with a concert in New York, but that the concert is showcasing a gaggle of world premieres, US premieres and NY premieres (along with more familiar works), which highlight her rich musical vocabulary and keen sense of drama.

Victory Gardens Theater continues its 43rd season with the World Premiere of Lettie, written by Boo Killebrew and directed by Artistic Director Chay Yew. Lettie runs April 6 - May 6, 2018, with the press performance on Friday, April 13, 2018 at 7:30pm at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue.

It's "a new day" at The Children's Theatre as their Showtime Series at Red Bank presents: Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical. Now playing through March 25! Polkadots tells the story of a young middle schooler, Lily Polkadot, who joins a new school, Rockaway, which has only had "Square" students in the past. This story holds so much relevance in today's society. It is so vital for all kids, and people in general, to know that their differences are not weaknesses, but strengths!

Steppenwolf Theatre Company presents the Chicago premiere production of the Obie Award-winning play You Got Older, written by Clare Barron and directed by Jonathan Berry. This bawdy, irreverent and touching play features four ensemble members Glenn Davis (Mac), Audrey Francis (Hannah), Francis Guinan (Dad) and Caroline Neff (Mae), along with Emjoy Gavino (Jenny), David Lind(Matthew) and Gabriel Ruiz (Cowboy).

Steppenwolf Theatre Company presents the Chicago premiere production of the Obie Award-winning play You Got Older, written by Clare Barron and directed by Jonathan Berry. This bawdy, irreverent and touching play features four ensemble members Glenn Davis (Mac), Audrey Francis (Hannah), Francis Guinan (Dad) and Caroline Neff (Mae), along with Emjoy Gavino (Jenny), David Lind(Matthew) and Gabriel Ruiz (Cowboy).