Category: Upcoming Shows
Wassup at *Village Players* ??
Due to popular demand, world-premier musical The Medium at Large, starring Tony & Jeff Award Nominee John Herrera, has added an extra weekend of shows, extending the run through Sunday, Novebmer 23rd. The production is co-written by Julia Cameron (international best-selling author of The Artist’s Way) and Emma Lively; directed by Carl Occhipinti. (blog aside: Carl is my neighbor! Hey Carl, when are you going to return that Tupperware I loaned you?)
Betrayal, by Harold Pinter, is also currently running in the black box space at Village Players Performing Arts Center.
Also at the Village Players – At Large! will be presented in their black box space November 20-23. This one-woman show, which tackles weight issues head on, is written and performed by Keri Marcouillier, and directed by Christopher Pazdernik.
For more information, including tickets, call 866-764-1010 or visit www.village-players.org
Broadway In Chicago: Skate to "Xanadu"
On Friday, October 24th, be one of the first 20 people to skate to the Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place box office (175 E. Chestnut, Chicago) and receive a pair of tickets to the first performance of “XANADU” on Friday, January 16, PLUS a copy of the original Broadway cast recording!
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What is XANADU???
ANSWER: Put a bunch of smash pop songs, the Tony® Award nominee Douglas Carter Beane and the cutest couple in town into a Broadway blender, and what do you get? A roller-skating, disco-dancing, glow-stick-waving smash-hit musical! Taking audiences back to 1980 California, this hilarious new musical follows the beautiful Kira, who travels to earth to inspire a struggling young artist named Sonny. A vision in leg warmers and wind-swept hair, she helps this hunky painter find his voice, discover true love and build the world’s first roller disco (not necessarily in that order).
Review: "A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Queer Tale"
Shakespeare, Never So Gay and Never So Fun!
By Venus Zarris
This midsummer seems to be chocked full of options for fans of the Bard. There are two productions currently running of Much Ado About Nothing, one under the starlight and trees of the First Folio Shakespeare Festival at the beautiful Mayslake Peabody Estate Forest Preserve in Oak Brook and the other at the Oak Park Festival Theatre. There is also Funk It Up About Nothin’ (weblink here), a world premiere “ad-rap-tation” of Much Ado About Nothing at Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier. (It can’t be Nothing if there are three productions going on at once. I call that Much Ado!)
On July 26th Bohemian Theatre Ensemble opens The Merchant of Venice at BoHo Theatre @ Heartland Studio and on the 27th The Mill Theatre opens Paula Vogel’s Desdemona: A Play About a Handkerchief, a reimagining of Othello, at Stage Left Theatre.
But if you are looking to satisfy your iambic pentameter cravings with a delightfully decadent deviation, MidTangent Productions A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Queer Tale is the show for you! Director/Adaptor Tony Lewis takes Shakespeare’s romantic comedy of young lovers and mischievous fairies and infuses it with a red light cabaret complete with some of the best dance numbers you’ll see in any musical. Filled with writhing bodies engaged in undulating erotic naughtiness, this spin on the Bard’s classic will make you wish that all of the Shakespeare library could be retold with as much homoerotic delight.
In the struggle to gain mainstream acceptance, the gay community has taken to homogenized representations. Many of us are settling down, pairing off in committed relationships, buying homes and/or having or adopting children. On the surface it might even be construed that being straight is so great, we are attempting to imitate or emulate. But Queer Tale stands as not only a wonderful adaptation of Shakespeare, it also stands as an unapologetically sexual solute to the daring divergence and darling debauchery at the roots of gay liberation and expression.
With forbidden lesbian and gay relationships, a Drag Queen Titania lip-syncing to Cher and Madonna and an outrageously erotic dance party fueled by euphoric intoxicants, this show celebrates the ‘old school’ joie de vivre of the community while, at the same time, illustrating the ongoing struggles for acceptance and equality. With a charming cast, fantastic soundtrack and the most playful choreography in town, this will reinvent your notions of Shakespeare in love to include sophisticated and stylized same sex subversion.
“How now faggots?” Asks Puck. “We are but tricks and treats!” Answers the Fairyz of the Hood. From the brilliant dance opening to the bittersweet end, MidTangent’s ‘Queer Tale’ is filled with tricks and treats and then some!
The outstanding direction, conceptual ingenuity and adorably enthusiastic cast shine through to make this a production that transcends sexual orientation or identification. You can’t help but be enchanted by this midsummer dream.
“Some are born gay. Some achieve gayness. And some have gayness thrust upon them.”
Regardless of your sexual proclivity, Queer Tale makes for amazingly entertaining Shakespeare and ambitiously excellent theater!
Rating: «««½
(“A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Queer Tale ” runs through August 3 at National Pastime Theater, 4139 North Broadway (map). 800-595-4849)
Raven Theatre announces 2008/09 Season
Michael Menendian announces Raven Theatre’s 2008/2009 Season, which includes Stephen Adly Guirgis’ searing Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train, the world premiere of Tom Patrick’s darkly comic Misamerica, and Jon Robin Baitz’s adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s classic Hedda Gabler. Raven kicks off the season with a “Stark Raven Mad!” Gala Celebration on Friday, August 1. Season subscriptions are available for just $50. Visit www.raventheatre.com or call 773-338-2177.
Raven Theatre announces 26th Season:
A powerful prison Drama, a World-Premiere, and an Ibsen classic.
| Jesus Hopped The ‘A’ Train |
| by Stephen Adly Guirgis directed by Michael Menendian |
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Raven begins its 26th season with the playwright responsible for The Last Days of Judas Iscariot and Our Lady of 121st Street. Guirgis’ plays mine his conflicted youth (attending Catholic parochial school in Harlem) to combine spiritual and religious themes with the rough streets of New York. His plays are controversial and at times ferocious, but also stimulating and fiercely intelligent, inspiring audiences to question and debate long after they leave the theatre. Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train centers on Angel Cruz, a young Latino man in jail for shooting a religious cult leader. Also in prison is an infamous, born-again serial killer who raises the question: Is faith enough to save those who have not practiced what they believe? |
| October 7 – December 6, 2008 |
| Misamerica |
| A world-premier by Tom Patrick directed by Greg Kolak |
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Somewhere in the Mid-east, in the near future, an entrepreneurial American corporation is ready to tackle the next big market. Basic supplies are hard to come by and dangerous fighting continues throughout the area, but Starbucks and McDonald’s are popping up everywhere, and the Operation American Sole sandal company isn’t about to miss out. A darkly humorous tale of American hubris, Misamerica takes an unapologetic look at our country’s policies and priorities. |
| January 27 – March 28, 2009 |
| Hedda Gabler |
| By Henrik Ibsen, adapted by Jon Robin Baitz directed by Michael Menendian |
|
Ibsen’s masterpiece depicts a woman’s inevitable road to tragedy. Hedda has recently married a kind and reliable yet unexciting scholar. She is visited by two old acquaintances: a female schoolmate and another scholar. The former has saved the latter from an unsavory lifestyle, helping him find success as a writer; Hedda is resentful both of his talent and her schoolmate’s influence on it. Out of jealousy and boredom, she proceeds to destroy each of the people around her, and finally herself. Is Hedda a heroine, a villain, a victim… or all of the above? |
| April 28 – June 27, 2009 |
Raven Theatre
Founded in 1983, Raven Theatre is dedicated to breathing new life into American classics and exploring other works that illuminate the American experience. In addition to its regular season, Raven produces a Workshop Series of new and experimental productions, as well as a Youth Program, including teaching partnerships with various Chicago Public Schools, summer youth classes and original children’s shows performed at Raven Theatre.
Raven Theatre Company is funded in part by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, Polk Bros. Foundation, The Chicago Community Trust, Yates-Feldman Foundation, The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, Prince Charitable Trust, The Mayer & Morris Kaplan Family Foundation, The Alphawood Foundation, The MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, The Northern Trust Centennial Fund, S & C Electric Company, The Department of Cultural Affairs, CityArtsIII, a city agency, and The Lloyd A. Fry Foundation.
Raven Theatre, located at 6157 N. Clark Street, just blocks from the Granville Redline stop. Free parking is available at the theatre, and plentiful street parking is also available.
Goodman Theatre’s top-notch recruitments
In the world of professional sports (and college sports for that matter), recruitment is everything. Entire sportscasts are dedicated to the subject of which team has recruited which top sports talent. Additionally, successful recruitment is often accredited to successful seasons.
Though the arts are often caricatured as the antithesis of sports, ironically, recruitment of artistic talent can be just as important to successful theatre seasons as they are in sports..
For their upcoming season, the Goodman Theatre has snatched up (i.e. recruited) a number of creative stars:
- Anna Shapiro – fresh from her Tony Award for August: Osage County, will direct the world premiere of Regina Taylor’s new play, Magnolia, a contemporary take on Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard. (production dates: March 14-April 19, 2009)
- Jeff Daniels, known for his roles in Terms of Endearment” and “The Purple Rose of Cairo”, has been signed on to star in the world premiere musical-fantasy Turn of the Century, by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. (Production dates: September 19-October 26, 2008 )
- Broadway legend Tommy Tune (9-time Tony Award winner) has been recruited to direct Turn of the Century. Broadway veteran Rachel York has been cast as the play’s female lead.
I have great confidence that Goodman’s top-notch recruiting will secure a very successful season, both artistically and financially.
h/t Hedy Weiss
For WGN Radio – My summer picks…
For Kids and Families:
- Lyle, Lyle, the Crocodile, Lifeline Theatre
- June 13th -July 13th; Friday-Sunday at 1pm
- Tickets: $10
- Cirque Shanghai: Gold ; Navy Pier outdoor theater
- Runs all summer through Sept. 1st
- Performed at outdoor theater at Navy Pier (just east of Ferris Wheel), so take in the show, then experience the huge fireworks display every Wednesday and Saturday evening.
- Tickets: $12.50-$30
- Willy Wonka, Chicago Shakespeare at Navy Pier
- July 8th – August 17th
- Tickets: $18-$23
- Blue Man Group, Briar Street Theatre
- Super-fun for kids of all ages
- Tickets: $49-$59 (box office: 773-348-4000)
For Teens (and the young-at-heart):
- Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, Neo-Futurists
- Experience Chicago’s longest running play – 20 years and counting!
- Days/Times: Friday-Saturday, 11pm, Sunday 7pm
- Price: $6 plus the roll of a dice (so $7-$12 – is that cool or what?!?)
- That’s Weird Grandma, Barrel of Monkeys
- Monday nights, 8pm
- Adults: $9 // Kids: $4
Broadway In Chicago (the big downtown shows):
- Wicked, Ford Center for the Performing Arts (Oriental Theatre)
- After 4 super-successful years,Wicked, has announced that it will officially close in January 2009. So catch it while you can!
- Ticket Price: $30-$95 (Box Office: 312-902-1400)
- Jersey Boys, Bank of America Theatre (formerly Schubert Theatre)
- Open run
- Ticket Price: $30-$95 (Box Office: 312-902-1400)
- Shout!, Drury Lane Watertower
- Through July 20th
- Tickets: $45-$55 (Box Office: 312-902-1400)
For Date Night:
- Jacques Brel’s “Lonesome Losers of the Night”, Theo Ubique Theatre
- runs through July 20th
- Tickets: $10-$20 (Box Office: 773-743-3355)
My two-pennies worth:
You haven’t experienced Chicago until you’ve ventured north to The Heartland Cafe in East Rogers Park. First opened in the 1970′s, this earthy restaurant and bar jettisons you back to the late 1960′s and early 70′s (in a granola and incense kind-of-way). The musical review, Lonesome Losers of the Night, is performed in an intimate coffee house down the street from Heartland, so first grab a bite to eat at Heartland, walk down the block to the performance, then mosey back down to The Heartland for drinks and nightly live music.
Comedy
- Campaign Super Nova: or How Many Democrats Does It Take To Lose An Election?
- Second City’s newest review
- Open run, tickets: $19-$25 (Box Office: 312-337-3992)
- Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Steppenwolf Theatre
- runs through July 27
- Tickets: $20-$68 (Box Office: 312-335-1650)
- Co-Ed Prison Sluts, Annoyance Theatre
- Annoyance Theatre brings back their raunchy long-running hit of the 80′s and 90′s.
- Runs July 4th – August 29th
- Tickets: $15 (Box Office: 773-561-4665)
- Comedy Sportz – Comedy Sportz Theatre, Belmont and Clark
- audience-interactive comedy competition between two teams of improv comedians, who perform a series of scenes and songs, all based on suggestions from the audience
- Open run, now in their 21st year
- Ticket prices vary, (Box Office: 773-549-8080)
Drama
- A Steady Rain, Royal George Theatre
- extended through Oct 5 (then on to Broadway?)
- Tickets: $50 (box office: 312-988-9000)
- Taste of Honey, Shattered Globe Theatre Ensemble
- runs through July 5th
- Tickets: $15-$35, (box office: 773-871-3000)
- Hizzoner, Prop Thtr (performed at Beverly Arts Center)
- Running for over 2-years, this play eerily depicts the infamous Mayor Richard J. Daley and inner-workings of “The Machine”
- runs through July 29th
- tickets: $40
Musicals:
- Fiorello, Timeline Theatre
- runs through July 20th
- Tickets: $15-$30 (Box Office: 773-281-8463)
- Ain’t Misbehavin’, Goodman Theatre
- running June 21st – July 27th
- Tickets: not yet announced (Box Office: 312-443-3800)
- Jekyll & Hyde, Bohemian Theatre Ensemble
- through July 20th
- Tickets: $20-$27 (Box Office: 773-327-5252)
- Hunchback of Notre Dame, Bailiwick Repertory
- composed by Dennis DeYoung of the band “Styx
- runs through July 6t
- Tickets: $25-$45 (Box Office: 773-883-1090)
- Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, Drury Lane Theatre, Oakbrook Terrace
- runs through July 27th
- tickets: $28-$33
Goodman announces cast for “Ain’t Misbehavin”
The Goodman Theatre has just announced the casting for there summer production of Ain’s Misbehavin’, directed by Chuck Smith. The cast will include five of Chicago’s foremost musical theatre names – E. Faye Butler (Purlie), John Steven Crowley (Crowns), Alexis Rogers (Black Nativity), Parrish Collier and Lina Kernan. Additionally, Linda Buchanan has been hired as set designer, who reportedly will transform the 856-seat Albert Ivar Goodman Theatre into a grandiose period concert hall, featuring an eight-piece band led by music director Malcolm Ruhl.
The band will include Peter Benson (piano), Larry Bowen (trumpet), Y.L. Douglas (drums) Anderson Edwards (bass), T.S. Galoway (trombone), Jarrard Harris (tenor sax/clarinet), Stephen Leinheiser (alto sax/clarinet) and Malcolm Ruhl (guitar and conductor).
The design team and additional artists for Ain’t Misbehavin’ include Birgit Rattenborg Wise (costumes), Robert Christen (lighting), Josh Horvath and Ray Nardelli (sound) and Lisa Willingham-Johnson (choreographer).
Ain’t Misbehavin’ opened first as a cabaret act, quickly followed by a Broadway run of over 1,600 performances and numerous awards, including the Tony Award for Best Musical.
From the Goodman Theatre:
“Born in Harlem in 1904, Thomas ‘Fats’ Waller remains one of the most influential stride piano players, having written more than 450 songs and recorded over 500 sides during his career. He wrote his first composition at age 14, and became a professional pianist the very next year – playing with legendary artists such as Fletcher Henderson and Jack Teagarden, Alberta Hunter and Bessie Smith. He became famous performing a combination of his own music and music written by others. After Waller’s death in 1943, his influence waned and his legacy faded into the historical background for over three decades. In 1978, theatre artists Murray Horwitz and Richard Maltby, Jr., generated renewed attention and interest in Waller with their creation Ain’t Misbehavin’, through which they paid tribute to Waller’s contributions to American music and highlighted the best aspects of the Harlem nightclub revues of the 1920s and ’30s.”
Ain’s Misbehavin’ will run this summer at Goodman’s Albert Ivar Theatre from June 21st through July 27th. For more information, go to Goodman’s website.
(Hat tip to Playbill.com)
Goodman Theatre announces “Talking Pictures” cast
Goodman Theatre has announced their cast for the upcoming Horton Foote play Talking Pictures, which will play in rotation with two other Foote plays – Blind Date and The Actor. The play will be directed by Henry Wishcamper, and will run from January 29th through March 2nd.
Olympia Dukakis to direct “Botanic Garden”
It looks like award-winning actress Olympia Dukakis (who has won an Oscar, Emmy and an Obie) will be trying her hand at directing here in Chicago. The world premier of Dukakis-directed “Botanic Garden“, written by Chicago playwright Todd Logan, opens on February 8th, with previews beginning the week before) at Victory Gardens Greenhouse (map). The play is a humorous look at a recently widowed woman who is exploring the dating scene, all while haunted with memories of her deceased husband. Doesn’t sound like the type of subject that lends itself to comedy, which, of course, could make it all the more funny. We’ll soon see….
Check out more about the play, including the inside scoop on acquiring Dukakis as the director, at the playwright’s entertaining blog: Todd Logans Desk (pictures courtesy of Logan’s blog)
FYI: There will be a post-show discussion featuring Olympia Dukakis immediately following these performances: January 30 and February 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10.
Sharon McGhee to perform at Steppenwolf Theatre
Steppenwolf’s 2008 Traffic Series Continues With
The PocketBook Monologues
Continuing in their Traffic Series, whose goal is to illuminate the art of storytelling, Steppenwolf will present the multi-talented Sharon McGhee (picture above) in her show “The Pocketbook Monologues“.
As described by Steppenwolf:
The PocketBook Monologues is an engaging collection of stories from women of color that reveals their heartfelt emotions about intimacy, performed in the style of Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues, but from the Black female perspective. The women’s brutally honest, funny and poignant recollections engage the audience in never-told stories about women’s connections to their “pocketbooks.” “We talk about everything and have a lot of fun, but the underlying message is about the health of women and girls with an emphasis on HIV and AIDS awareness,” says WVON Radio personality Sharon K. McGhee, author and star of The PocketBook Monologues. The one-night engagement also features La Donna Tittle, Deborah Crable, Ramsey Carey and Steppenwolf ensemble member Ora Jones, plus some surprise “celebrity” guests.
Tickets are $35, and the one performance will take place on Monday, January 14th at 8pm. More information following the fold.
