Shear Madness

Chicago’s favorite whodunit comedy, Shear Madness, makes a triumphant return to the Windy City on Monday, September 18th, at the Chicago Theatre Downstairs- the new 281 seat theatre located on the lower level of the legendary Chicago Theatre.

Shear Madness is a fast-paced, whodunit comedy filled with mischief, mayhem, Chicago-centric humor and up-to-the-minute laughs. After world-famous pianist (and upstairs landlady) Isabel Czerny is found dead in her apartment, the wacky company of customers ad stylists in the “Shear Madness” salon below find themselves fingered for murder. During the show, the audience gets to comb through clues, interrogate suspects, and solve the crime, making each performance a unique experience.

The Chicago production of Shear Madness will be directed by Bruce Jordan, who created the show along with partner Marilyn Abrams, and starred in the original production. Jordan has since directed productions of Shear Madness across the country including Boston, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, San Francisco, Milwaukee, and Houston, and supervised international productions in destinations as far ranging as Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Johannesburg, Tel Aviv, Athens and London.

Shear Madness was one of the favorite Chicago plays for audiences throughout its 17-year run at the Blackstone Hotel, having become the longest running show in Chicago at the time. In 1999, the hotel closed unexpectedly and the successful show was left without a stage.

“We wanted to come back to Chicago ever since the closing of the Blackstone,” said Jordan. “I was thrilled when Larry Wilker called me earlier this year and told me he was building a brand new theatre just for us.”

“We are so pleased to be both producer and presenter of the long-awaited return of Shear Madness,” said Larry Wilker, a principal of TheatreDreams- the company which owns The Chicago Theatre and is producing this return engagement. “With eight performances a week in The Chicago Theatre Downstairs, including Monday evenings, the show and its audiences will contribute to the vibrancy of the Loop Theatre District.”

Shear Madness will open with a company of familiar Chicago faces and Shear Madness favorites including John McGivern and Christopher Tarjan who performed together in the previous Chicago production. McGivern will appear as flamboyant salon owner, Tony Whitcomb, a role he also played in Milwaukee, Washington D.C., Tampa, St. Paul and San Francisco. In 2001, he made his big screen debut in the Disney movie “The Princess Diaries,” starring Julie Andrews. Tarjan has performing in Shear Madness for over 15 years and has played all four male roles and served as director for the show in eight cities throughout the United States. For this production, Tarjan will play the central role of Detective Nick Rossetti and serve as Associate Director.

Rounding out the cast is a roster of notable Chicago actors including Noelle Bou-Sliman (as Barbara DeMarco), a Second City-veteran and series regular on the ABC sitcom “Cupid” with Jeremy Piven; Mick Weber (as Eddie Lawrence), star of Bus Stop at Writers’ Theatre and Gypsy at Porchlight Music Theatre, as well as The Goat and Dinner With Friends at the Goodman Theatre; and Glory Kissel (as Eleanor Shubert), who recently earned rave reviews as Cerimon in the Goodman’s Pericles, directed by Mary Zimmerman. Benjamin Reigel is a second-generation Shear Madness cast member (his father played the role of Eddie Lawrence in Milwaukee) who will make his Chicago debut as Mike Thomas.

“These are some of the finest and funniest actors Bruce [Jordan] and I have ever worked with,” said Scott Shiller, a ten-year theatre industry veteran, and VP of production for TheatreDreams and executive producer of Shear Madness in Chicago.

Shear Madness has been performed over 44,000 times worldwide and translated into ten foreign languages: Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Greek, Polish, Turkish, Hebrew, Hungarian and Catalan. The Boston production, now in its 26th year, holds the record as the longest-running non-musical in American theatre history, followed closely by the Washington D.C. production, now celebrating its 19th year at The Kennedy Center. The previous Chicago production of Shear Madness holds the number three spot.

For more information, visit ShearMadnessChicago.com or thechicagotheatre.com.