| Florida Devereaux Does the Holidays: So Classy it Hurts Dec 4 - Dec 20, 2009 |
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Brain Surgeon Theater at
Prop Theatre |
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| Elise Mayfield stars as charming, washed-up sitcom favorite, Florida Devereaux, who, when not promoting her TVshow’s Christmas special, solves mysteries! This comic holiday musical will be pleasing for the whole family. |
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| ARFTCo's Another Year Without A Witty Title Chicago Christmas Spectacular! Dec 4 - Jan 9, 2010 |
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A Reasonable Facsimile Theatre Company at
Cornservatory |
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| Did you really want to sit through yet another version of Christmas ghosts? Or would you rather wait for the Christmas coming of 'The Weed Guy", the holiday hope of three lonely Lincoln Parkers? Watch Nancy Drew and chums solve the biggest Christmas caper of all time! Or maybe the tale of an Elf balloon sexually harassing a Hello Kitty during the annual department store parade is more your cup of eggnog? All these and more holiday delights await you in ARFTCo's Christmas New Play Festival. |
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| Breed With Me Dec 4 - Jan 23, 2010 |
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The Mammals Theatre Company at
Zoo Studio |
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| Aliens, Ghosts, Noir... Breed With Me is the Mammals' Hardboiled story of a man whose sexual appetites have forced him to run away from his past into the American desert where he falls into the clutches of the ultimate femme fatale. |
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| The Woman in Black Dec 4 - Dec 12, 2009 |
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Wishbone Theatre Collective at
Charnel House Chicago |
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| Starring John Mark Sawyer and Vincent Truman with direction by Laurie Jones, The Woman in Black is set in rural England where Arthur Kipps travels to settle the estate of Mrs. Alice Drablow after her death. There he glimpses a woman in black with a wasted face. When his attempts to uncover information about her are unsuccessful, he waits to see her again. Only then does he begin to discover the truth about the woman in black and her terrible purpose. |
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| Gift of the Magi Dec 4 - Dec 19, 2009 |
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EverGreen Theatre Ensemble at
Naperville Women's Club |
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| Fluctuating between 1905 and 2005, the play follows a mischievous and spirited elf that, after having fallen short on a few promises, receives an order from Prancer to learn about giving by helping a poor young couple find and purchase Christmas gifts for one another. Mixed with modern humor and references, this new adaptation of a holiday classic is heartwarming, funny and perfect for the whole family. |
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| Icarus Dec 5 - Jan 24, 2010 |
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Lookingglass Theatre |
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| Lift off with Artistic Director David Catlin (Lookingglass Alice) in this World Premiere commissioned by the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Using myth, scientific theory, visual metaphor, song, gravity-defying choreography, Icarus explores the psychological desire to take to the air, the need of a father to have his child succeed, and the dizzying despair of falling. |
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| A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant Dec 5 - Jan 3, 2010 |
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Next Theatre Company |
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| A jubilant cast of children celebrates the life of L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the controversial religion, in uplifting pageantry and song. The actual teachings of The Church of Scientology are explained and dissected against the candy-colored backdrop of a traditional nativity play. Avant-garde performance art and children's theater meet in a musical that the New York Times called "...A spooky, sharp-toothed smile of a show... a halo of hipness and daring," while the Los Angeles Times hailed it as "An instant cult classic." Winner of the 2004 OBIE Award for Outstanding Musical. |
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| The Merry Widow Dec 5 - Jan 16, 2010 |
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Lyric Opera |
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| She's beautiful! She's rich! And if she can just get that playboy Danilo to propose, she'll be delirously happy too! And so will the Ambassador of Pontevedro. Why? Becasue Hanna, the Merry Widow, is his nation's wealthiest citizen. And if she's lured away by some Frenchman, she'll take all her lovely money with her, causing a financial meltdown of epic proportion. |
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| Amahl and the Night Visitors Dec 5 - Dec 6, 2009 |
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Cindy Pritzker Auditorium |
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| Amahl and the Night Visitors tells the story of how a crippled young shepherd boy's life is changed forever when he sees an amazing star in the sky. When Amahl and his mother encounter three kings following the star in their search for a wondrous child, the result is a timeless and inspiring message of how faith, charity, and unselfish love can work miracles. This production will be directed by Francis Menotti, based on his father's original 1951 production. A 20 minute program of Christmas carols, sung by the children’s chorus, will begin each performance. |
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| A Christmas Carol Dec 6 - Dec 7, 2009 |
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Paramount Theatre |
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| This lavish musical theatre production is bursting with pageantry, laughter, gorgeous costumes and classic lines. This Dickens’ tale has delighted audiences across America by artfully combining elements of spectacle, music and dance. Audiences of all ages are transported on a magical journey right alongside Ebenezer Scrooge. |
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| Taming of the Flu Dec 6 - Jun 30, 2010 |
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Second City |
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| While hope and change won't stop you from getting sick, they may help you pay the hospital bills. And if you believe that, we have a great policy to sell you. We're sick of the flu, sick of the health care system, and sick of the cameras catching us running the red lights. Although technology & Twitter have supposedly made us a smaller world, people have never felt farther apart. Taming of the Flu connects with everyone: put-upon Chicago cabbies, Canadian ex-patriots and even a visit with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife, Carla Bruni. |
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| EP Theater's 2nd Annual Holiday Special Dec 7 - Dec 21, 2009 |
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EP Theater |
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| EP THEATER presents an evening of new original holiday works by three of Chicago's most exciting new playwrights, complimented by live holiday covers by some of Chicago's finest musical groups. The three Original One Act Holiday Plays are by Scott T. Barsotti, Shawn Pfautsch, and Andrew Burden Swanson. |
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| The Black Playwrights Festival Dec 7 - Dec 14, 2009 |
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Black Ensemble Theater |
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| The Black Playwrights Festival was created by playwright Jackie Taylor to provide adequate exposure to the members of the Black Playwrights Initiative (BPI), offer a professional platform to have members’ works produced, and bring attention to the high quality of work that African American playwrights from Chicago have to offer. The BPI is a program created and developed by Taylor for the purpose of highlighting Chicago’s rich community of African American playwrights and to help strengthen the pool of Chicago playwrights by providing a forum for play readings, year round classes, workshops and resources. Additionally, the BPI was created to provide a continuum of scripts for the Black Ensemble Theater, helping to expose playwrights on both a local and national level. |
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| Holiday Divas Dec 7 - Dec 8, 2009 |
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The Theatre and Interpretation Center at
Ethel M. Barber Theater - Northwestern |
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| This two-night-only cabaret will feature Chicago’s top music theatre divos and divas -- including Ross Lehman, Susan Moniz and Hollis Resnik -- performing holiday classics. It will be directed by David H. Bell, associate professor of music theatre and an award-winning professional director, and co-hosted by Cindy Gold, associate professor of theatre in Northwestern’s School of Communication and professional actor, and Chicago actor, singer, dancer and comedian Bernie Yvon. |
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| My Fair Lady Dec 9 - Feb 14, 2010 |
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Marriott Theatre In Lincolnshire |
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| This endearing and enchanting Lerner and Loewe family favorite follows the story of Eliza Doolittle. It’s 1910 in London, and a bet has been made to see if Eliza, a cockney flower girl, can be passed off as a duchess. Along the way, Eliza falls under the spell of Professor Henry Higgins, who loses sight that love is what matters most in his endeavor to transform the lowly flower girl. Containing some of the most memorable and treasured songs in musical theater such as “I Could Have Danced All Night,” On The Street Where You Live,” and “The Rain in Spain,” My Fair Lady is sure to charm audiences alike in this magical retelling of a classic story. |
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| Monsieur Chopin Dec 9 - Dec 19, 2009 |
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Drury Lane- Water Tower Place |
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| Monsieur Chopin is a celebrated work about the life and music of legendary composer, Frédéric Chopin. Audiences are invited to a private piano lesson that actually took place on March 4, 1848 in the opulent Parisian salon of the Polish maestro. As the lesson unfolds, Chopin reveals secrets about the art of the piano and composition, as well as secrets about himself. This intimate musical biography features Chopin’s greatest works, including the Prelude in C Minor, Mazurka in A Flat Major, Polonaise in A Major, and his elegant Nocturnes. |
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| The Nutcracker Dec 11 - Dec 27, 2009 |
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The Joffrey Ballet at
Auditorium Theatre |
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| Robert Joffrey’s uniquely American production of The Nutcracker, based on E.T.A. Hoffmann’s early 19th century German tale, “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King," premiered in 1987, and has become a Chicago holiday favorite since its first performance here in 1996. This distinctly original production of the holiday chestnut combines classical elegance with thrilling explosive action, set amidst lavish period costumes and spectacular scenery depicting Victorian America in the 1850s. Snowflakes and flowers dance into our hearts, as toys come joyfully to life amidst familiar characters such as Clara; her mischievous brother, Fritz; the King and Queen of the glorious Land of Snow; the Sugar Plum Fairy; the warring Mice led by the Mouse King; the Nutcracker Prince; and the mysterious Dr. Drosselmeyer. |
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