| Peter Pan Oct 20 - Dec 12, 2010 |
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Lookingglass Theatre |
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| Nationally-known director Amanda Dehnert will direct her adaptation of Peter Pan, the classic tale from J.M. Barrie’s books of the boy who wouldn’t grow up. Bombastic, playful, and darkly comic, Dehnert’s adaptation brings innovative theatricality, aerial arts, and a soulful understanding of yearning and regret to this legendary childhood adventure of pirates, fairies and fantasy. Amanda’s student production was developed at Northwestern University's Theatre and Interpretation Center in 2009 and resulted in a sold-out run on campus. For Lookingglass, Amanda is creating a new adaptation that will feature Lookingglass Ensemble members. |
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| Strangerland Oct 25 |
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Slideshow Theatre Company at
Chicago Cultural Center |
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| Sideshow Theatre Company mines the collective unconscious, drawing
inspiration from shared stories, memories, and images to spark new
conversations and works. /Strangerland/ is their first ensemble devised
work, a project that began in 2009 as a weekly thematic writing
assignment and dialogue among the cross-county network of Sideshow
Artistic Associates. |
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| Mastering The Art Oct 27 - Dec 19, 2010 |
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TimeLine Theatre Company |
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| Commissioned by TimeLine Theatre Company in 2008 and developed here in 2010, Mastering The Art is a look at the lives of Julia and Paul Child as they meet, fall in love and embark on a transatlantic journey of discovery together. Visiting pivotal moments in their lives — from the table in France where Julia fell in love with food, wine and Paul, to the table in their home where Julia recreated everything she learned in cooking class, to an interrogation room where Paul was grilled by U.S. agents about alleged Communist contacts — this play unfolds the true story of a larger-than-life culinary icon as she and her husband struggle to find themselves as Americans abroad. Mastering the Art marks the first production commissioned by TimeLine to be produced on the company’s stage. |
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| The Etiquette of Vigilance Oct 27 - Nov 14, 2010 |
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Steppenwolf Theatre |
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| Over 50 years have passed since Travis and his parents became the first black family to integrate Chicago’s segregated Clybourne Park neighborhood. Now Lorraine, Travis’s only daughter and the first in her family to attend college, is buckling under the pressure of her family’s long deferred dream. In this contemporary reconsideration of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, O’Hara’s poignant new play imagines what might have happened to the beleaguered Younger family—and asks us to consider the wounds still healing from the days of city-sanctioned segregation. |
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| And A Child Shall Lead Oct 28 - Dec 9, 2010 |
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Adventure Stage Chicago |
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| Thirty miles outside Prague lies the city of Terezin, a Nazi-described
“Jewish ghetto” and makeshift way station for millions of people
awaiting transfer to death camps. Amid such bleak surroundings, a group
of courageous children create stories, music, poetry, drawings, plays,
puppets, and even an underground newspaper to craft a dream world of
hope and beauty in a place where neither exist. Incorporating actual
poems and other writings recovered from Terezin after the war, this
exquisite play explores the strength, optimism and extraordinary
resilience at the core of the human spirit. Recommended for ages 11 and
older.
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| The Old Masters Oct 28 - Nov 14, 2010 |
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Steppenwolf Theatre |
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| Ben Schmitt is an artist attempting to make peace with married life and impending fatherhood when Henry, his reclusive friend from childhood, suddenly disappears. When Henry’s girlfriend Lara shows up with paintings he mysteriously left behind, Ben is compelled to hand the work over to a dealer. Before long, the art world hungrily latches onto Henry’s paintings and his tragic life story. As Lara and Ben find themselves at the center of their missing friend’s burgeoning fame, they begin to wonder: what about us? |
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| The War Plays Oct 28 - Nov 21, 2010 |
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The Strange Tree Group at
Athenaeum Theatre |
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| In the lead up to WWII, a young couple dances knowing it may be their last night together, while across the sea, as bombs rain down on London town, two lost souls discover each other in the most unlikely place. Years later, after being torn apart by war and circumstance, old lovers find themselves with one more chance to get it right. Woven together through music, movement, and the words of resident playwright, Emily Schwartz, The War Plays will explore what it means to fall in love when the world is falling apart. |
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| The North Plan Oct 29 - Nov 14, 2010 |
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Steppenwolf Theatre |
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| In the not-so-distant future, America is at the mercy of unchecked martial law after a massive government breakdown. Wells’ dark comedy centers on Carlton Berg, a government employee imprisoned in a small-town Missouri jailhouse who claims to possess a giant database containing the names of every American citizen slated for persecution by the new regime. His only hope comes in the form of fellow inmate Tanya, an abrasive drunk driver, and Shonda, the jail’s law-abiding administrative assistant. |
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| Kid Sister Nov 2 - Dec 19, 2010 |
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Profiles Theatre |
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| Demi Williams, a sexy 19-year-old single mom and American Idol wannabe, believes only one thing stands between herself and singing superstardom—her stalker, ex-boyfriend, Kendall Fritch. To get this psycho out of her life forever, she elicits the aid of her brother Cassius, recently returned from a stretch in Florida’s Gainesville Prison. But ex-con Cassius wants more than she’s willing to give—custody of her newborn baby girl. This “dime novel in two acts” tells the story of a deadly ambitious sister who stops at nothing on her quest for musical stardom as well as her kind-but-cunning brother's desperate shot at redemption. |
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| The Music Man Nov 3 - Jan 9, 2011 |
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Marriott Theatre In Lincolnshire |
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| A Broadway classic that has captivated audiences for decades, The Music Man is the story of Harold Hill, a footloose con man who sets out to take advantage of the citizens of a small, turn-of-the-century Iowa town. Claiming to be a professor of music, he plans to swindle the town into buying expensive equipment to start a band. His scheme is moving along perfectly until he falls in love with the lovely local librarian, Marian. Inspired to change his ways, Harold decides on a hilarious last-ditch plan to redeem himself to the people of River City. A joyful musical celebration for all ages, The Music Man features a book, music and lyrics by Meredith Wilson. |
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| The Hundred Dresses Nov 3 - Dec 2, 2010 |
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Chicago Children's Theatre at
North Shore Center for the Performing Arts |
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| Based on Eleanor Estes’ beloved young adult novel, The Hundred Dresses tells the story of Wanda Petronski, an imaginative young girl who struggles to fit in with her new American home ― and harder yet, her new classmates. Replete with a myriad of colorful and buoyant characters, The Hundred Dresses is a timeless tale that tackles the subject of bullying head on, while taking audiences of all ages on an unforgettable journey that explores the bonds of friendship, the willingness to be yourself, and the courage that it takes to stand up to others ― even when you’re standing alone. Recommended for children ages 6 and older |
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| The Piano Teacher Nov 4 - Dec 5, 2010 |
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Next Theatre Company |
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| When the sweet, cookie loving Mrs. K, the epitome of the caring grandmotherly piano teacher, reaches out to her old students, she discovers a chain of startling secrets that she can no longer keep hidden inside her piano bench. With breath-taking theatricality and stunning language, Julio Cho takes us on a journey of discovery that brings international responsibility into the sanctity of our family kitchen. |
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| It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play Nov 5 - Dec 26, 2010 |
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Noble Fool Theatricals |
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| Inspired by the beloved American holiday classic, you'll become a part of WVL Radio's live broadcast as actors bring the fateful story of George Bailey to life. Take your seat in the studio audience to relive the beloved tale of regret and redemption told through insightful storytelling, familiar characters, engaging sound effects and musical commercial breaks by the local children's choir. A complete 1940s radio broadcast perfect for the whole family! Rating: G |
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| A Midsummer Night's Dream Nov 5 - Nov 23, 2010 |
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Lyric Opera |
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| Oberon, the Fairy King, is having a tiff with his lovely Queen Tytania because she won't let him have what he wants. Four young lovers break up and make up thanks to a magic flower that seems to make everything clear. And a bumbling troupe of amateur actors performs (in one of opera's funniest scenes!) for a royal couple on their wedding night. This captivating masterpiece reminds us all that while the course of true love never did run smooth — the journey is magical all the same. |
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| Kennedy's Children Nov 5 - Dec 5, 2010 |
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Promethean Theatre Ensemble at
City Lit Theater |
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| Where were you when it happened? One rainy day several years after a tragedy that paralyzed the nation and shocked the world, a group of individuals are drawn to an urban bar. While they are deeply isolated from each other due to their rich inner lives and personal histories, each of them has been sculpted by a time of great turmoil into one of Kennedy’s Children. |
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| Travels With My Aunt Nov 9 - Mar 27, 2011 |
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Writers' Theatre |
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| Henry Pulling, a mild-mannered retired banker, leads a quiet life tending his beloved dahlias and never straying too far from his Southwood, England home. But when his eccentric and outrageous Aunt Augusta suddenly appears in his life with mysterious information about his past, Henry is drawn from the safety of his flower beds into a series of absurd and exotic international adventures. Henry, Aunt Augusta and more than 25 characters are brilliantly and inventively portrayed by just four actors who switch identities, nationalities, ages and genders in this exciting theatrical escapade. Adapted from the celebrated novel by Graham Green, Travels with My Aunt takes you on an irreverent, often hilarious and absolutely unforgettable adventure... |
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| It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas Nov 11 - Dec 12, 2010 |
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Theatre At The Center |
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| Kris Kringle takes on the cynics among us in It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas, a musical adaptation of the popular holiday favorite “Miracle on 34th Street”. In his inimitable style, Meredith Willson, the author of The Music Man and The Unsinkable Molly Brown, tells the classic story of a white-bearded gentleman claiming to be the real Santa Claus as he brings about a genuine Miracle on 34th Street. Spreading a wave of love throughout New York City, this man inspires the city, fostering camaraderie between Macy's and Gimbel's Department Stores and convincing a divorced, cynical single mother, her somber daughter and the entire state of New York that Santa Claus is no myth. |
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