| Spamalot Dec 31 - Mar 13, 2011 |
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Drury Lane- Oakbrook |
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| Winner of the 2005 Tony Award for Best Musical and voted Outstanding Musical of 973 AD, Monty Python's SPAMALOT is the outrageous new musical comedy lovingly ripped off from the film classic "Monty Python and The Holy Grail." SPAMALOT tells the tale of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table as they embark on their quest for the Holy Grail. Flying cows, killer rabbits, taunting Frenchman and show-stopping musical numbers are just a few of the reasons audiences everywhere are eating up SPAMALOT. |
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| As You Like It Jan 5 - Mar 6, 2011 |
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Chicago Shakespeare Theater |
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| An idyllic Forest of Arden provides the lush backdrop for Shakespeare's glorious romantic comedy of courtiers, clowns, philosophers and provincials—all bewitched by the trials and triumphs of love. Disguised as a boy, Rosalind escapes the perilous Court—only to find her heart in peril, as she instructs the very man she loves on how best to woo a woman. CST's Tony-nominated Associate Director Gary Griffin stages this tale of mistaken identity and misguided affection, following his wildly successful CST productions of Private Lives and Amadeus |
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| Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch Jan 8 - Feb 27, 2011 |
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Lifeline Theatre |
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| Dull and predictable Mr. Hatch had always lived an isolated life until one Valentine’s Day, when an unexpected delivery transforms the town’s most unsociable hermit into everyone’s favorite friend. Share in a heartwarming tale of companionship and acceptance, as Mr. Hatch’s neighbors get to know the mysterious man next door. Lifeline remounts this beloved musical adaptation from 2001, by the adaptor and composer of “The Emperor’s Groovy New Clothes.” |
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| An Evening with Neil LaBute 2011: Live and in Person Jan 8 |
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Profiles Theatre |
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| Profiles will present a special return engagement of An Evening with Neil LaBute 2011: Live and in Person, on January 8, 2011. This one night only event will feature a pre-show reception, selected readings of LaBute’s work and a post-show audience talkback with Mr. LaBute. This is a rare opportunity for audiences in Chicago to see and hear up close and personal, one of most unique and prolific writers of our generation. Profiles presented its first highly successful evening of LaBute readings and talkback in January 2009. |
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| Eclipsed Jan 13 - Feb 20, 2011 |
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Northlight Theatre |
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| Amid the wreckage of the Liberian civil war, the "wives" of a rebel officer band together to form a fragile community—until the balance of their lives is upset by the arrival of two newcomers and the return of a former "wife" turned rebel soldier. As the war draws to a close, each must discover her own personal means of survival in this deeply felt portrait of women finding and testing their own strength. |
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| Three Tall Women Jan 13 - Feb 11, 2011 |
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Court Theatre |
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| Three Tall Women was written shortly after the death of Edward Albee’s adopted mother, and it remains his most personal play. Wickedly funny, and told with uncompromising truth, the play takes a long, hard look at the arc of one human life from the perspectives of three different generations—one woman in youth, one woman in middle age, and one woman lying on her death bed. As the elder woman reflects on her life—including the estrangement of her son, widely interpreted to represent Albee himself—she develops clarity of mind that transcends her debilitated body. |
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| Rain Jan 15 - Feb 20, 2011 |
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Goodman Theatre |
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| Rain is Regina Taylor’s most personal and intimate work to date. Fiercely independent Iris has made a successful life for herself as a journalist in New York City, but when her marriage fails, she begins to unravel. In search of solace, Iris returns to her mother’s house in Texas, but her homecoming proves more confounding than consoling when her mother makes a shocking announcement. As long-buried family secrets come to light, Iris must face her past and make some difficult decisions about the future. |
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| Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus! Jan 15 - Apr 10, 2011 |
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Emerald City Theatre Company at
Apollo Theater |
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| Based on Mo Willems Caldecott winning favorite, this highly interactive play puts the audience in the driver's seat as everybody’s favorite pigeon asks to drive the bus, eat a hog dog, have a puppy, and stay up late. |
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| In Darfur Jan 19 - Mar 20, 2011 |
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TimeLine Theatre Company |
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| Originally commissioned by the Guthrie Theatre and the Minneapolis Playwright’s Centre and informed by the playwright’s first-hand experiences accompanying Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof in Sudan, In Darfur is a provocative account unfolding amidst the horrors of genocide. In a camp for internally displaced persons in Darfur, three lives intertwine — an aid worker trying to save lives, an African Darfuri woman searching for safety and a journalist who believes that one front page-story can help stop the madness. Together they tell an intense, based-on-real-life story that demands international attention. |
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| Sex with Strangers Jan 20 - May 15, 2011 |
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Steppenwolf Theatre |
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| Ethan is a hot young writer whose online journals of “sexcapades” are the buzz of the blogosphere. Olivia is an attractive 30-something whose own writing career is fizzling. They hook up, sex turns into dating and dating into something more complicated. A break-out hit at Steppenwolf’s 2009 First Look Repertory, Sex with Strangers explores how we invent our identity – online and off – and what happens when our private lives become public domain. |
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| The New Electric Ballroom Jan 20 - Mar 6, 2011 |
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A Red Orchid Theatre |
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| Trapped in the years that have passed since their halcyon days at The New Electric Ballroom, three sisters relive memories of something resembling romance with hilarious and horrible effect. Interruptions from the local fishmonger only remind of the dangers of love and life outside. Words, in Mr. Walsh’s harsh but illuminating vision, are both the making of experience and its destruction. How do we share our history and how does it shape us? |
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| Madagascar Jan 20 - Feb 20, 2011 |
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Next Theatre Company |
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| Director Kimberly Senior and internationally recognized playwright J.T. Rogers, the pair who brought you The Overwhelming, team up again to offer audiences another gripping thriller. In the same hotel room overlooking the Spanish steps in Rome, three Americans across three different moments in time find themselves alone. A sister, a mother and a family friend grapple with loss, regret, and the nature of truth. Using his trademark cunning insight and grippingly eloquent characters, J.T. Rogers weaves a haunting story about the mysterious disappearance of a loved one, and the unexpected consequences that bring a family closer together. |
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| The Boys Room Jan 21 - Feb 20, 2011 |
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Victory Gardens Theater - Biograph |
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| When the American Dream is out of reach, what is a man to do? In The Boys Room, ensemble playwright Joel Drake Johnson walks the line exquisitely between laughter and tears. Two middle aged brothers try to escape their responsibilities and race each other back to their boyhood bedroom—that sanctuary where they can dream and scheme without the pressure of the outside world. One is unemployed; the other is making a living but is not sure why he should live. The women in their lives are knocking on the door, filled with questions and, sometimes, love. |
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| Reasons To Be Pretty Jan 21 - Mar 13, 2011 |
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Profiles Theatre |
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| In reasons to be pretty, Greg’s tight-knit social circle is thrown into turmoil when his offhand remarks about a female coworker’s pretty face and his own girlfriend Steph’s lack thereof get back to Steph. But that’s just the beginning. Greg’s best buddy, Kent, and Kent’s wife, Carly, also enter into the picture, and the emotional equation becomes exponentially more complicated. As their relationships crumble, the four friends are forced to confront a sea of deceit, infidelity, and betrayed trust in their journey to answer that oh-so-American question: How much is pretty worth? |
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| The Girl of the Golden West Jan 22 - Feb 21, 2011 |
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Lyric Opera |
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| Gold Rush fever is running high, and every miner in camp hopes to claim the heart of Minnie — the pistol-packing, poker-playing proprietress of the Polka Saloon. Even Sheriff Rance is in hot pursuit, but Minnie's in love with a tall dark stranger, who's really the notorious bank robber Ramerrez in disguise! Rance wants Ramerrez dead — and there's "gonna be a hangin'" unless Minnie can save the day. And she does in this bang-up production! Savor two of Puccini's most luscious love scenes, plus his most brilliantly colorful writing for orchestra. Minnie's the ultimate test for a Puccini soprano, and who better to portray the girl with a heart of gold than this divine (Mid) Western-born diva? |
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| Do The Hustle Jan 25 - Mar 20, 2011 |
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Writers' Theatre |
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| Sam and Eddie Sisson are more than just father and son, they’re a crack team of hustlers always looking for the next mark. Sam, just a teenager who has practically raised himself, now wants to distinguish himself from his father and strike out on his own. Eddie doesn’t want to let his son go without one final hustle, which could bring in their biggest take yet, but could ultimately tear them apart. Celebrated director William Brown and acclaimed playwright Brett Neveu team up again to bring this thrilling world premiere to the Tudor Court stage. |
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| Bordello Jan 27 - Mar 6, 2011 |
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Chicago Dramatists |
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| Sixty miles outside Las Vegas today, sex is for sale in state licensed bordellos, where almost any fantasy can be accommodated for the right price. Set on "Customer Appreciation Night", Bordello shines a light on the working girls, their dreams and ambitions, and everything that gets in the way. |
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