|  |
Casella work wins Great Gay Play Contest
- From a press release - Pride Films and Plays announces that Directions for Restoring the Apparently Dead by Martin Casella has been named the winner of the 2013. In this new drama, past and present collide when a straight man and gay man reconnect after life-shattering experiences. Marty Casella says, "I had an absolute blast in Chicago this weekend attending the Pride Films and Play's ...
|
| |
Richard Pryor Jr. in 3 Squares' 'Lipstick'
- The company 3 Squares Productions, LLC, will present its first play, the world-premiere comedy Lipstick Goes On Last, at the Den Theater, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave., May 25-June 23. The cast includes Kathleen Lawlor, Ashley J. Dearborn, Annamarie Schutt, Suzy Brack, Aniyah McCullum, Ben Nicholson, Bobbie O'Connor, Sandy Gulliver, and his in Chicago stage debut, Richard Pryor Jr., son of ...
|
| |
About Face presenting 'The Pride' June 6
- About Face Theatre will kick off LGBTQ Pride Month with the Chicago premiere of the Olivier Award-winning drama The Pride by Alexi Kaye Campbell June 6-July 13 at Victory Gardens Richard Christiansen Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave. Artistic Director Bonnie Metzgar will direct. "The Pride maps the progression of the gayrights movement from the repression of the fifties to the ...
|
| |
'Glamorama' talent announced
- Macy's Passport Presents Glamorama 2013 will feature nine-time Grammy Award winner Sheryl Crow and performance group Cirque du Soleil at this year's event, scheduled for Friday, Aug. 9, at the Harris Theater at Millennium Park, 205 E. Randolph St. This year's theme is "Fashion in a New Light." Past musical performers have included Cee-Lo Green, Far East Movement, Cyndi Lauper, ...
|
| |
Bailiwick Chicago announces 2013-14 Season
- From a press release - CHICAGO (May 20, 2013) — Bailiwick Chicago Theater is pleased to announce its 2013—14 Season, which celebrates daring new work alongside a recharged classic. In March 2014, Artistic Director Lili-Anne Brown directs the darkly comedic new play BOOTYCANDY written by award-winning playwright Robert O'Hara. Immediately following in May 2014, a unique resurrection of the 1970 Tony Award-winning musical APPLAUSE, directed ...
|
| |
Flying high with Pam Ann
- NUNN ON ONE - The air hostess with the mostest—Pam Ann—is flying into Chicago, and hilarity is expected with a title like "Cockpit!" For those readers who aren't hip to Ann's comedy, she is the alter ego of Melbourne native Caroline Reid. Born from the travel industry with a pinch of Austin Powers, a smidge of Dame Edna, and a dash of Kathy Griffin, ...
|
| |
Looking at 'What's the T?' and 'BALL'
- SCOTTISH PLAY SCOTT - In the coming weeks, the upstairs venues at the Victory Gardens Theatre will soon be a hive of activity for LGBTQ shows. About Face Theatre is reviving its acclaimed Youth Theatre production of What's the T? and it also presents the Chicago premiere of British playwright Alexi Kaye Campbell's 2008 Olivier Award-winning drama The Pride about two gay love stories ...
|
| |
Blood and Gifts
- THEATER REVIEW - Playwright: J. T. Rogers. At: TimeLine Theatre, 615 W. Wellington Ave. Tickets: 1-773-281-8463; www.timelinetheatre.com; $32-$42. Runs through: July 28 "My enemy's enemy is my friend," is a cliché of global geopolitics, and perhaps it's never proved more accurate than in the quicksand morass of the Islamic world. The monumental schism of that world, Shi'a vs. Sunni, began with the death ...
|
| |
Spotlight
- American Theater Company postponed its planned revival of the musical Hair this season when its acclaimed production of the revised columbinus was extended. So in place of Hair, a remounting of Stephen Karam's comic drama Speech & Debate was combed into the season. (American Theater Company previously staged a Jeff Award-winning production in 2008.) So if you previously missed this ...
|
| |
Jillian Erickson at Prop Thtr in June
- Performance artist, monologist, poet and writer Jillian Erickson will bring his show, 3:00 a.m., to Prop Thtr, 3502 N. Elston Ave., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m June 7-29. A press release states that "the performance is a menagerie of Erickson's life over the past years: from Colorado to Chicago… from Ralph Macchio to religion…from biological clocks to a Norwegian ...
|
| |
Seek and Ye Shall Find
- THEATER REVIEW - Playwright: Sentell Harper. At: Mortar Theatre Company at Apollo Theater Studio, 2540 N. Lincoln Ave. Tickets: 773-935-6100 or www.mortartheatrecompany.org; $15 ($10 for students). Runs through: June 8 Local actors currently in the process of creating a solo performance art piece should measure their efforts against the wowing high bar being set by Sentell Harper in his one-man show Seek and ...
|
| |
Henry VIII
- THEATER REVIEW - Playwright: William Shakespeare. At: Chicago Shakespeare Theater at Navy Pier, 800 E. Grand Ave. Tickets: 312-595-5600; www.chicagoshakes.com; $58-$78. Runs through: June 16 The image of Henry VIII indelibly imprinted in American memory is that of the fat and hearty Charles Laughton in the 1933 film. The reason behind its persistence is that the final chapter in Shakespeare's history of English ...
|
| |
By The Way, Meet Vera Stark
- THEATER REVIEW - Playwright: Lynn Nottage. At: Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St. Tickets: 312-443-3800; www.goodmantheatre.org; $25-$81. Runs through: June 2 Cinema history, we are told, suffered a great loss in the fire destroying the Celestial Pictures studios in 1947, leaving only one film—an unremarkable 1933 melodrama titled The Belle of New Orleans, its screenplay based on a Bernard St. Simon novel (but ...
|
| |
Carol Leifer featured in May 19 event
- Lesbian comedian/producer Carol Leifer will headline a May 19 event at Glencoe's North Shore Congregation Israel, 1185 Sheridan Rd., at 5 p.m. Her one-woman show is entitled "Judaism Is in My DNA." Leifer has worked for such shows as Saturday Night Live, Seinfeld, The Larry Sanders Show, and the Emmy-winning Modern Family, for which she won a 2012 Writers Guild ...
|
| |
Howlin' Wolf show at Black Ensemble
- Black Ensemble Theater announces Ain't No Crying the Blues (In the Memory of Howlin Wolf), written by Black Ensemble Theater Founder and CEO Jackie Taylor, directed by Associate Director Rueben Echoles and starring Rick Stone, one of the stars of the classic movie Cooley High. Ain't No Crying the Blues will be presented at the new Black Ensemble Theater Cultural ...
|
| |
Silk Road's 'Invasion!' starts July 30
- Silk Road Rising co-founders, Artistic Director Jamil Khoury and Executive Director Malik Gillani, will present the Midwest premiere of Jonas Hassen Khemiri's Invasion! July 30-Sept. 3. According to a press release, "this deeply subversive play deconstructs a threatening identity—the Arabic male—and forces us to confront our own cultural identity." All performances will be presented in the company's venue in Pierce ...
|
| |
About Face presenting 'The Pride' June 6
- About Face Theatre will kick off LGBTQ Pride Month with the Chicago premiere of the Olivier Award-winning drama The Pride by Alexi Kaye Campbell June 6-July 13 at Victory Gardens Richard Christiansen Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave. Artistic Director Bonnie Metzgar will direct. "The Pride maps the progression of the gay-rights movement from the repression of the fifties to the ...
|
| |
'And The Winner Wasn't III' benefit June 4
- From a press release - Broadway musicals take center stage at Pride Films and Plays' 2013 spirited benefit "And The Winner Wasn't III" on Tuesday, June 4, at Sidetrack, 3349 North Halsted. The evening pays tribute to the memorable — and highly "note-worthy" — Tony Award-nominated musicals that did not take home the coveted Antoinette Perry trophy. Doors open at 6 pm, with a program ...
|
| |
If You Split a Second, Just Another Love Story: Romeo and Juliet
- DOUBLE REVIEW - If You Split a Second Playwright: Dana Lynn Formby. At: Pegasus Players at Leo Lerner Theater, 4520 N. Beacon St. Tickets: 866-811-4111 or www.pegasusplayers.org; $15-$25. Runs through: June 2 Just Another Love Story: ... Romeo and Juliet Playwright: William Shakespeare, adapted by Zarinah Ali. At: Realize Theatre Group and Earth Pearl Collective at Prop Thtr, 3502 N. Elston Ave. Tickets: ...
|
| |
Seek and Ye Shall Find
- Playwright: Sentell Harper At: Mortar Theatre Company at Apollo Theater Studio, 2540 N. Lincoln Ave. Tickets: 773-935-6100 or www.mortartheatrecompany.org $15 ($10 for students) Runs through: June 8 Local actors currently in the process of creating a solo performance art piece should measure their efforts against the wowing high bar being set by Sentell Harper in his one-man show Seek and ...
|
| |
An Evening of Beckett
- by Sandra Roth - Beckett-philes as well as the novice of Beckett will experience a deeper understanding of his "Theatre of the Absurd" with this excellent production currently presented by the ensemble of Shattered Globe Theatre at Stage 773 through May 12. It is titled An Evening of Beckett: Krapp's Last tape and Sam and Rick. The original Krapps' Last Tape recordings by Rick ...
|
| |
New gay screenplay dates back to Great Depression
- Martha Meyer and Rick Kinnebrew were in Spring Green, Wisc., for their honeymoon, which ultimately and surprisingly led to a gay screenplay. The two visited Taliesin and heard about Frank Lloyd Wright and his adultery, but that certainly was not the love story they wanted to hear. So they went to nearby Mineral Point and toured Pendarvis, one of 10 ...
|
| |
Homos A Go-Go at Laugh Factory
- From a press release - CHICAGO, IL - May 9, 2013 - Homos A-Go-Go is Laugh Factory Chicago's new premier queer comedy showcase, featuring the best gay and gay-friendly comics in the city and around the world. Produced and hosted by the Chicago's favorite actor and comedian Scott Duff, the monthly comedy extravaganza will kick off with the hilarious Jessica Halem featuring May 27th at ...
|
| |
Tea with Edie and Fitz
- THEATER REVIEW - Playwright: Adam Pasen. At: Dead Writers Collective at the Greenhouse, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. Tickets: 773-404-7336; www.greenhousetheater.org; $30. Runs through: June 9 Before the curtain rose on the opening performance of Tea With Edie and Fitz, the audience was informed that the play they were about to see was what earned 30-year-old author Adam Pasen his Ph.D. Viewed in this ...
|
| |
Oklahoma!
- THEATER REVIEW Special to the online edition of Windy City Times - Playwrights: Richard Rodgers (music), Oscar Hammerstein II (book and lyrics). At: Lyric Opera of Chicago, 20 North Wacker Dr. Tickets: 1-312-332-2244; ext. 5600; www.lyricopera.org; $7-$153. Runs through: May 19 In the very best way, Lyric Opera's exuberant "new" Oklahoma! is as close to the original as you will ever get. When the entire company sings the title song directly to ...
|
| |
Spotlight: Smokey Joe's Cafe, The Songs of Leiber and Stoller
- One of Broadway's longest-running musical revues, Smokey Joe's Café—The Songs of Leiber and Stoller, shows its strength yet again in Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre's acclaimed 2012 production which recently transferred to the Royal George Cabaret Theatre for an independent run. Not only has the production received five non-Equity Jeff Award nominations (Revue, Ensemble, Director for a Musical or Revue, choreography ...
|
| |
The Lake Effect
- THEATER REVIEW - Playwright: Rajiv Joseph. At: Silk Road Rising, Chicago Temple, 77 W. Washington St. Tickets: 312-857-1234 ext. 201 or www.silkroadrising.org; $35. Runs through: May 26 There's nothing like a good mystery to pull in an audience, and Rajiv Joseph definitely delivers one that exposes loads of family secrets in his new one-act drama The Lake Effect. Now having its rolling world ...
|
| |
Incident on Run #1217
- THEATER REVIEW - Playwright: Manny Tamayo. At: Factory Theatre at Prop Thtr, 3502 N. Elston Ave. Tickets: 866-811-4111; www.thefactorytheatre.com; $20. Runs through: June 1 There is a branch of popular fiction less concerned with insights into social issues, or explorations in human psychology, than with generating suspense sufficient to conceal the huge gaps in plausibility required to bring the story to its conclusion. ...
|
| |
CRITICS' PICKS
- Comrades Mine, City Lit Theater at Edgewater Presbyterian Church, through May 19. Maureen Gallagher's bio-drama recounts the little-known story of the Civil War spy whom nobody suspected was a woman until she asked to be recognized by the government for her service. MSB In a Garden, A Red Orchid Theatre, through May 19. A cemetery is a garden, too, and ...
|
| |
Next Fall
- THEATER REVIEW - Playwright: Geoffrey Nauffts. At: AstonRep (sic) Theatre at BoHo Theatre, 7016 N. Glenwood Ave. Tickets: 1-773-828-9129; www.astonrep.com; $20. Runs through: May 25 Next Fall wants to be an important play about being gay and Christian, but author Geoffrey Nauffts encumbers it with tons of baggage unrelated to his central premise. Using alternating scenes of present and past, he examines the ...
|
| |
Camping it up on Broadway
- SCOTTISH PLAY SCOTT - The Tony Award nominations honoring the best of Broadway theater in New York were announced on Tuesday, April 30. And since the theater world has historically been very welcoming to the LGBTQ community, it should come as no surprise that a number of the nominated shows feature out creative talents and characters who sometimes don a certain amount of drag. ...
|
| |
Up Comedy club LGBTQ show June 9
- From a press release - On Sunday, June 9, R.E.A.C.H., Risky, Eclectic Artists Comedy Hour, returns for its summer monthly show celebrating LGBTQ awareness hosted by local stand-up and WBEZ's Vocalo Radio Brian Babylon. Featured acts for this one-night-only performance include: Burlesque performer Tamale Sepp, solo performer Osiris Khephera, satirical rap group Marson & FYF Crew, Congo Square actor Anthony Irons, Second City Detroit Alum ...
|
| |
Andrew Lippa: 'Big Fish' in local theater pond
- Special to the online edition of Windy City Times - Big Fish is now a new musical based on the novel by Daniel Wallace and the film by Tim Burton. This version was directed by five-time Tony winner Susan Stroman and written by John August, who also wrote the big-screen version. Big Fish tells the visual story centering around Edward Bloom and his relationship with his son. As the tall ...
|
| |
Pal Joey
- THEATER REVIEW Special to the online edition of Windy City Times - Playwright: John O'Hara (book), Richard Rodgers (music), Lorenz Hart (lyrics). At: Porchlight Music Theatre at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave. Tickets: 1-773-327-5252; www.stage773.com; $39. Runs through: May 26 John O'Hara (1905-1970) is acknowledged to have been a conservative curmudgeon and blowhard self-promoter. Critics consider him a great writer or a third-rater depending on their tolerance for his personality, but ...
|
| |
Spotlight: Trumbo - Red, White and Blacklisted
- Dalton Trumbo, a writer behind such famous films like Spartacus, Roman Holiday and Exodus, stood by his convictions and refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee in the late 1940s. Find out how Trumbo bravely weathered being blacklisted in the play Trumbo—Red, White and Blacklisted. Penned by Trumbo's son, Christopher, the drama is based upon the celebrated screenwriter's ...
|
| |
Death Takes a Holiday
- THEATER REVIEW - Playwright: music and lyrics by Maury Yeston, book by Peter Stone and Thomas Meehan. At: Circle Theatre at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave. Tickets: 773-327-5252; www.circle-theatre.org; $30-$32. Runs through: May 26 The popularity of death as a literary theme has not diminished—indeed, may have increased as medical advances facilitate lengthier equivocation over the hereafter. What is rarer nowadays is ...
|
| |
CRITICS' PICKS
- L'imitation of Life, Hell in a Handbag Productions at Mary's Attic, through May 10. A hilariously campy drag send up of the "serious" 1959 Douglas Sirk film starring Lana Turner involving an ambitious actress, her devoted African-American maid and their troubled daughters. SCM The Magic Parlour, The House Theatre of Chicago at Palmer House Hilton, through June 21. Youthful master ...
|
| |
Still Alice
- THEATER REVIEW - Playwright: Christine Mary Dunford after the novel by Lisa Genova. At: Lookingglass Theatre, 821 N. Michigan Ave. Tickets: 312-337-0665 or www.lookingglasstheatre.org; $36-$70. Runs through: May 19 It can be heart-shattering to watch a once-vibrant friend or relative gradually become a forgetful shell of their former selves due to dementia or Alzheimer's Disease. But what's it like for the person who ...
|
| |
The journey of Wilfredo Rivera
- DANCIN' FEATS - "It's been a great journey so far," said Wilfredo Rivera, artistic director of Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre (CRDT). Rivera, who lives in Little Village with his partner of more than two decades, grew up in Honduras in an artistic family. "My parents are musicians," he said. "They sing, dance. My grandfather was a poetry writer and photographer and painter. I ...
|
| |
'Biggest Loser' casting call May 4 in Chicago
- Special to the online edition of Windy City Times - A casting call for individuals for season 15 of the NBC show The Biggest Loser will take place Saturday, May 4, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., at Planet Fitness, 3120 N. Pulaski Rd. People who have at least 80 pounds to lose are strongly encouraged to apply. For more details, visit www.TheBiggestLoserCasting.com. ...
|
| |
The Happiest Song Plays Last
- Playwright: Quiara Alegra Hudes. At: Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St. Tickets: 312-443-3800; www.goodmantheatre.org; $14-$45. Runs through: May 12 Ideally, Quiara Alegra Hudes' three-part family saga would be viewed in the order of the events it recounts. If only the author had known she was writing a trilogy when she began, or that the second play would win a Pulitzer ...
|
| |
Acorn Theater to celebrate ten years with three acts, cake
- From a press release - In celebration of their 10-year Anniversary on Memorial Day Weekend, The Acorn Theater in Three Oaks, Michigan presents an amazing hat-trick of music: favorite rock n' roller Cathy Richardson (Friday, May 24); James' brother folk musician Livingston Taylor (Saturday, May 25); and the amazing Rickie Lee Jones, Up-Close and Personal (Sunday, May 26). Oh, and in case these names make ...
|
| |
Dorian among works at House Theatre next season
- From a press release - Chicago, IL — The House Theatre of Chicago announces its 12th Season creating Amazing Feats of Storytelling. The five programs in the 2013-14 Season are all written and helmed by Company Members of The House, investing in the rich and diverse talents of the ensemble. "As we find ourselves beginning new cycles of adulthood, the artists of The House are ...
|
| |
DiCaprio gives $61K to GLAAD; Van Sant's 'Fifty Shades' effort
- Entertainment news: Special to the online edition of Windy City Times - Actor Leonardo DiCaprio donated a total of $61,000 at the GLAAD Media Awards April 20, GossipCenter.com reported. The Great Gatsby and Django Unchained star first forked over $25,000 in the pledge drive conducted by Wilson Cruz before shelling out for a few auctions, winning a photo of Marilyn Monroe and a $22,000 African safari. DiCaprio is planning his own "11th ...
|
| |
Local theater: About Face, 'Fall' and more
- SCOTTISH PLAY SCOTT - "Theatre is so gay!" That's an advertising slogan once used by About Face Theatre, Chicago's preeminent company devoted to LGBTQ theater. It not only played on the politically incorrect put-down used by so many teenagers, but accurately touched on the fact that there is a large lavender contingent of people working in the theater community. This week's column focuses on ...
|
| |
Comrades Mine
- THEATER REVIEW - Playwright: Maureen Gallagher. At: City Lit Theater at Edgewater Presbyterian Church, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. Tickets: 773-293-3682; www.citylit.org; $28.50. Runs through: May 19 Sarah Emma Edmonds—alias Pvt. Franklin Thompson, alias Mrs. S.E. Seelye—wasn't the first woman to fight in a war disguised as a man, but she was the first to be granted full government benefits in recognition of ...
|
| |
The Whale
- THEATER REVIEW - Playwright: Samuel D. Hunter. At: Victory Gardens Theater at the Biograph, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave. Tickets: 773-871-3000; www.victorygardens.org; $35-$50. Runs through: May 5 Samuel D. Hunter once confessed in an interview that he "think[s] about death all the time." A survey of his plays might suggest that the barely-past-30 playwright also spends considerable time thinking about his native Idaho and ...
|
| |
CRITICS' PICKS
- Dream of the Burning Boy, Profiles Theatre at the Alley Stage, through April 28. A teenage boy dies of natural causes, but that doesn't make his sudden absence any less unsettling to his family and peers in this sensitive—and strikingly candid—exploration of individual trauma and likewise individual healing. MSB L'imitation of Life, Hell in a Handbag Productions at Mary's Attic, ...
|
| |
Head of Passes
- THEATER REVIEW - Playwright: Tarell Alvin McCraney. At: Steppenwolf Theatre Company, 1650 N. Halsted St. Tickets: 1-312-335-1650; www.steppenwolf.org; $20-$78. Runs through: June 9 It's too simple to say Head of Passes is the Book of Job minus the happy ending, although playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney clearly has taken Job as a starting point. Like Job, Shelah Reynolds's steadfast faith is tested to the ...
|
| |
Big Fish
- THEATER REVIEW - Score: Andrew Lippa; Book: John August, based upon Daniel Wallace's novel. At: Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St. Tickets: 800-775-2000 or www.broadwayinchicago.com; $33-$100. Runs through: May 5 The Broadway-bound world premiere musical Big Fish features gobs of clever stagecraft that simply take your breath away. But then there are also moments when you scratch your head and think, is that ...
|
| |
SPOTLIGHT I Can Get it for You Wholesale
- Barbra Streisand became a star in 1964 when she wowed Broadway as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl. But Streisand actually made her Broadway debut two years earlier as the secretary Miss Marmelstein in the musical comedy I Can Get it for You Wholesale. If you've only heard I Can Get it for You Wholesale via its cast album, then see ...
|
| |
'Mormon' cast heads cabaret fundraiser
- Select members of the Chicago cast of Book of Mormon will perform in a one-night-only cabaret fundraiser, Monday April 29, at 7:30 p.m., at The Laugh Factory, 3175 North Broadway. The event tops off the cast's six-week-long fundraising campaign for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Last year, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS awarded more than $5 million to support HIV/AIDS and health ...
|
| |
'Anything Goes' for out actor Shane
- THEATER - The quintessential Broadway musical of the 1930s is unquestionably Anything Goes. The frothy 1934 screwball comedy set aboard a luxury ocean liners is a barrel of laughs (a credit to the original book writers P.G. Wodehouse, Guy Bolton and Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse). But more importantly, Anything Goes sparkles with a standard-filled score by the late gay composer Cole ...
|
| |
Non-Equity Jeff Awards nominated posted
- From a press release - The Jeff Awards Committee has announced 120 nominations in 25 categories of Non-Equity Jeff Awards for productions that opened between April 1, 2012, and March 31, 2013. The Non-Equity Awards honor excellence in Chicago theatres not under a union contract. Jeff judges attended opening nights of 146 productions offered by 65 Non-Equity producing organizations. The judges recommended 54 of those ...
|
| |
'Under A Rainbow Flag' ends run
- The world premiere run of the gay World War II musical ended its successful run April 21. Pictured is Jon Phillips with members of the cast and crew, including Phillips with Sam Button-Harrison, who plays him in the show. Phillips is a gay World War II veteran, and Leo Schwartz wrote the musical based on Phillips' life. A longtime Chicagoan, ...
|
| |
Bodies of Work: Festival of disability arts and culture
- From a press release - Bodies of Work (BOW) Festival is a an eleven day, multi-venue Chicago event featuring visual and performing arts that highlight the work of artists with disabilities. The festival celebrates national and international artists with disabilities who are creating today's cutting-edge theater, dance, literature, poetry, spoken word, film, and visual/performance art. It takes place at some of Chicago's most recognized cultural ...
|
| |
Volkoff new artistic director, About Face Theatre Co.
- From a press release - CHICAGO (April 18, 2013) — The Board of Directors of About Face Theatre Company is pleased to announce the appointment of Andrew Volkoff as AFT's new Artistic Director. Volkoff, who has served as Associate Artistic Director of Barrington Stage Company in Massachusetts and Genesius Theatre Group in New York City, will succeed Bonnie Metzgar this spring. "Following an extensive local ...
|
| |
Entertainment notes
- Honey West part of writers' festival Chicago North Side and north suburban playwrights will premiere 13 new plays and musicals at Next Theatre Company, 927 Noyes St., Evanston, during the Chicago Writers' Bloc 2013 Festival of readings April 29-May 22. The fest begins with a gala benefit performance of Genderella, an original musical (by Honey West and Joanne Koch) that ...
|
| |
Peaches 'Does Herself,' talks about new film
- NUNN ON ONE - Musician and performance artist Peaches is at it again, and this time she does herself. Originally from Canada, the songstress has always been innovative with her tunes, from programming and playing her own instruments to gender-bending lyrics that are not just in the listener's ears but in theirs face. She has worked with artists such as Christina Aguilera and Iggy ...
|
| |
CRITICS' PICKS
- Coriolanus, The Hypocrites at the Chopin, through April 21. War may be hell, but clean kills are preferable to the weasely peacetime politics that destroy a Roman army veteran in Shakespeare's tragedy. MSB Jar the Floor, eta Creative Arts Foundation, through May 12. Four generations of African-American women air resentments and reveal bitter family secrets when the great-granddaughter returns home ...
|
| |
A Permanent Image
- THEATER REVIEW - Playwright: Samuel D. Hunter At: LiveWire Chicago Theatre at the Storefront, 66 E. Randolph St. Tickets: 312-533-4666; www.livewirechicago.com; $15 Runs through: May 5 The whole Nestor family is home for Christmas, but that's because the funeral of Martin, the clan patriarch, is scheduled for boxing day. Photojournalist Bo has flown in from Tel Aviv, and his sister, Ally, has taken ...
|
| |
Spotlight
- The disillusioned youths of Green Day's American Idiot are back in Chicago via a non-Equity national tour that recently played triumphant turns across the U.K. and Ireland. So if you missed seeing the acclaimed 2010 Broadway musical, now's your chance to see how out director Michael Mayer transformed an emblematic rock album into a staged rock opera. American Idiot continues ...
|
| |
The Elephant and the Whale
- THEATER REVIEW - Playwright: Frank Maugeri (concept), Seth Bockley (writer), Kevin O'Donnell (music) At: Chicago Children's Theatre in association with Redmoon, Ruth Page Center, 1016 N. Dearborn St. Tickets: 1-872-222-9555; www.chicagochildrenstheatre.org; $20-$36 Runs through: May 26 Windy City Times does not often review productions for family audiences, although there's a great deal of such theater in town from specialized troupes such as Emerald ...
|
| |
L'imitation of Life, Life Without Roses
- DOUBLE REVIEW - DOUBLE REVIEW L'imitation of Life Playwright: Ricky Graham with Running with Scissors Theater Company (based on an original script by Bruce McNally) At: Hell in a Handbag Productions at Mary's Attic, 5400 N. Clark St. Tickets: 800-838-3006 or www.handbagproductions.org; $15-$25; $35-$100 premium Runs through: May 10 Life Without Roses Playwright: June Sawyers At: Anna Morgan Studio (Room 825), Fine Arts ...
|
| |
'Raven' about Kelli Strickland
- SCOTTISH PLAY SCOTT - Raven Theatre is celebrating 30 years of storefront theater by throwing a benefit party and by promoting a staff member to a newly created position. Out actress and educator Kelli Strickland has been named Raven Theatre's new executive director, a position she assumes in June following the completion of her prestigious Devos Fellowship in Executive Arts Leadership at the Kennedy ...
|
| |
In a Garden
- THEATER REVIEW - Playwright: Howard Korder At: A Red Orchid Theater, 1531 N. Wells St. Tickets: 312-943-8722; www.aredorchidtheatre.org; $25-$30 Runs through: May 19 A character in David Henry Hwang's Chinglish advises a westerner attempting to do business in a foreign country that he should prepare to chat about seemingly-irrelevant topics for what appears an extraordinary length of time before getting down to the ...
|
| |
Steppenwolf marks 10 years with colorful gala
- Special to the online edition of Windy City Times - The Steppenwolf Auxiliary Council turned 10 years old on April 5, celebrating with its Red or White Ball at Venue One on Randolph Street. Proceeds from the evening went on to impact young adults in the arts with its education program. Last year the group raised $80,000 for the cause, and has raised nearly $1.5 million since its inception. Steppenwolf ...
|
| |
Seek and Ye Shall Find: One-man show brings black, gay voices
- From a press release - CHICAGO - Mortar Theatre Company is proud to present the world premiere of Seek and Ye Shall Find written and performed by Sentell Harper. The one-man show, directed by Stephanie Stroud*, is performed at the Apollo Theater Studio, 2540 N. Lincoln Avenue, May 6 — June 8. Opening/Press night is Monday, May 6 at 7:30 p.m. The performances run on ...
|
| |
Honey West Genderella among new plays at Writers' Block
- From a press release - Chicago Northside and North suburban playwrights, several whose hit shows have been performed across the U.S. and overseas, will premiere 13 new plays and musicals at Next Theatre Company, 927 Noyes St. during the Chicago Writers' Bloc 2013 Festival of readings, April 29 - May 22. The Fest begins with a gala benefit performance of Genderella, an original musical that ...
|
| |
Neo-futurists present feminist play for accidental feminists
- From a press release - CHICAGO — The women of The Neo-Futurarium get "dirt in the skirt" with The Miss Neo Pageant. The show opens Monday, May 20 at 7:30 p.m. at The Neo-Futurarium, 5153 N. Ashland. The Miss Neo Pageant smashes the traditional American beauty pageant form with real stories of fully-grown girls stumbling into womanhood. The delightfully offbeat contestants walk the fine line ...
|
| |
GayCo Productions presents all-woman, sketch comedy revue
- From a press release - Chicago, IL — The women of GayCo invite you to love the ladies in this original sketch revue originally workshopped at Second City's DeMatt Theater and Apollo Theater Studio. Lesbians are on the prowl as they explore the compromises made when you find the one (with a great ass). Dora the Explorer copes with a tell-tale haircut as she struggles ...
|
| |
Catch Me If You Can
- THEATER REVIEW - Playwright: Terrence McNally; Score: Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman. At: Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph St. Tickets: 800-775-2000 or www.broadwayinchicago.com; $18-$85. Runs through: April 14 To use a baseball analogy, Catch Me If You Can is a solid triple rather than a home run. While that's sometimes perfectly acceptable, it's a disappointment when you consider that the majority of ...
|
| |
Dream of the Burning Boy
- THEATER REVIEW - Playwright: David West Read. At: Profiles Theatre at the Alley Stage, 4147 N. Broadway. Tickets: 773-549-1815; www.profilestheatre.org; $35-$40. Runs through: April 28 Death interrupts! Among the many irksome injuries generated by the Grim Reaper, the most painful is his blunt and irrevocable reconfiguration of the bereft survivors' future expectations. Oft-invoked anticipations of the years ahead, in which the missing person ...
|
| |
Beautiful Broken
- THEATER REVIEW - Playwright: Benjamin Brownson. At: Broken Nose Theatre at Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. Tickets: 773-404-7336 or www.brokennosetheatre.com; $15-$25. Runs through: April 21 Broken Nose Theatre artistic director Benjamin Brownson aims to show that backstage romances and relationships can be just as dynamic as those presented onstage in his world premiere comic drama Beautiful Broken, now playing at the ...
|
| |
Barnum
- THEATER REVIEW - Playwright: music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Michael Stewart, book by Mark Bramble. At: Mercury Theater, 3745 N. Southport Ave. Tickets: 773-325-1700; www.mercurytheaterchicago.com; $25-$59. Runs through: June 16 It should go without saying that when you tell a story within the framework of a musical, a portion of the story must be set aside to make room for the music—and ...
|
