| Autobahn |
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Fairlane Theatre Co. at
Studio BE |
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| Playwright Neil LaBute claims that the first place he learned to understand drama was inside of an automobile. In his opening notes from Autobahn, his short play-cycle presented this spring by the FAIRLANE THEATRE CO., LaBute recalled “how deep the chasm or intense the claustrophobia could be inside your average family car.” Seven plays about deception, disconnection, and dissatisfaction are presented back-to-back from the same limited locale: the confines of the front seat of an automobile. |
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| Barnum |
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Mercury Theater |
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| The greatest show on earth is the setting for the life story of Phineas Taylor Barnum. Celebrating its Chicago professional premiere, BARNUM sets this colorful personality inside the center ring of his own circus. Audiences will be thrilled with high flying acrobatics as BARNUM tells the story of America's greatest showman. This show bursts with toe tapping melodies; ballads, marches, and ragtime tunes by Cy Coleman and Michael Stewart. |
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| Big Love |
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Strawdog Theatre |
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| Director Matt Hawkins returns to the Strawdog main stage at the helm of Charles Mee's Big Love, a play that tackles themes of love, politics, violence and gender roles. Based on Aeschylus' The Suppliants, Big Love follows a group of brides-to-be on the run from the altar facing down their jilted grooms at an Italian villa. Hawkins, Strawdog's Artistic Associate, brings his same brash approach to Big Love as he did when he directed the award-winning productions of Cyrano at the House, Cabaret with the Hypocrites and Strawdog's hit Red Noses. Get ready for a rumble in this popular play where the age-old battle of the sexes takes center stage. |
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| Blood and Gifts |
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TimeLine Theatre Company |
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| This spy thriller-named one of the Top 10 plays of 2011 by The New York Times - goes deep inside the secret United States intrigue that powered the Soviet-Afghan War of the 1980s. A CIA operative struggles against conditions on the ground and politics in the halls of Washington to stop the Soviet Army's destruction of Afghanistan. As alliances shift and the outcome of the Cold War appears to hang in the balance, he and an Afghan warlord find that the only one they can trust is each other. This bold new play unmasks the actions of men behind one of recent history's greatest events - the repercussions of which still shape our lives. |
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| Blue Man Group |
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Briar Street Theatre |
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| Blue Man Group is best known for its award-winning theatrical productions which critics have described as "ground-breaking," "hilarious," "visually stunning" and "musically powerful." These performances feature three enigmatic bald and blue characters who take the audience through a multi-sensory experience that combines theatre, percussive music, art, science and vaudeville into a form of entertainment that is like nothing else. |
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| The Book Of Mormon |
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Bank of America Theatre |
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| THE BOOK OF MORMON is the Winner of 9 Tony Awards including Best Musical! From Trey Parker and Matt Stone, four-time Emmy Award-winning creators of "South Park," and Tony Award-winner Robert Lopez, co-creator of the Tony Award-winning Best Musical Avenue Q, comes THE BOOK OF MORMON, a new Broadway musical that Jon Stewart of The Daily Show describes as, "a crowning achievement, so good it makes me angry" and by Entertainment Weekly as "the funniest musical of all time." Featuring choreography by Tony Award-winner Casey Nicholaw, THE BOOK OF MORMON Chicago is directed by Nicholaw and Parker. Don't miss your chance to see what Ben Brantley of The New York Times calls "the best musical of this century." Don't miss THE BOOK OF MORMON Chicago. |
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| The Brig |
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Mary-Arrchie Theatre at
Angel Island Theater |
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| The Brig is an intensive expression of one day in a military prison-a "brig"- in 1957 Okinawa. Written by Marine veteran Kenneth H. Brown who served there for thirty days. This production is a realistic period piece with contemporary relevance as it explores questions regarding the notion of masculinity, the body and its limits. What happens to men under pressure? Or when they are humiliated? Do they form bonds? Do they create enemies? Do they fight? Or do they surrender their bodies to the machine? |
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| Brighton Beach Memoirs |
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Raven Theatre |
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| A coming-of-age comedy about Eugene Jerome and his family, fighting the hard times - and sometimes each other - with laughter, tears, and love. Based on Simon's memories of growing up in Brooklyn in the years just before World War II. |
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| By the Way, Meet Vera Stark |
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Goodman Theatre |
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| This “sharp-toothed comedy” (The Wall Street Journal) offers a glimpse into the life of Vera Stark, a headstrong African American actress who begins a career in the 1930s, at a time when her only shot at success lay in stealing small scenes in big Hollywood blockbusters. Seventy years later, film buffs are left to reflect on the life and legacy of this controversial star, whose eventual fame and fortune came at the price of perpetuating dangerous stereotypes. Hilarious and poignant, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark paints a vivid picture of the cultural climate that shaped this mysterious screen queen—and wonders who, in another time, she might have been. |
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| Chicken Little |
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Chicago Kids Company at
St. Patrick Performing Arts Center- Stahl Family Theater |
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| Chicago Kids Company Theatre for Children (CKC) presents Chicken Little, a one-hour musical adaptation! The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Sing along with Chicken Little, and her friends Henny Penny, Turkey Lurkey, Goosey Loosey, and Foxy Loxy...as they journey to tell the King the news. Don't miss CKC's newest show! The show runs one hour with no intermission, and is targeted for kids aged 2 to 12. |
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| Cirque Shanghai: Dragon's Thunder |
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Navy Pier Skyline Stage |
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| "Cirque Shanghai: Dragon's Thunder" is a spectacle for audiences of all ages, featuring performers direct from China who are leaders in their craft of tumbling, juggling, balancing and more. With a total of 36 troupe members, "Dragon's Thunder" is the largest Cirque Shanghai cast to ever visit the U.S. This year's production features an incredible line up of awe-inspiring acts, including "The Chinese Flex Bar," the heart stopping "Gravity Swings," and the awesome sounds of the traditional Chinese "Dragon Drums." For the first time in Cirque Shanghai's North American engagement, the traditional Chinese drums will be an integral part of the production. |
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| ComedySportz |
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Comedy Sportz |
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| ComedySportz shows offer a unique blend of fast and funny improvisational comedy that is appropriate fun for all ages. The Red and Blue teams battle it out in front of a referee in games that the audience selects, and points are awarded based on how quickly and effectively the performers complete the games. The eternal battle of Red vs. Blue is improvised 6 times weekly, and the show is never the same twice! |
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| Core of the Pudel |
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Trap Door Theatre |
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| The innovative expressionists at Chicago's Trap Door Theatre, now in its 19th season, deconstruct Goethe's iconic story to get at its core question -- measuring the value of the human soul. The legendary German fable finds the insatiable intellectual Faust willing to trade his soul to the devil for unlimited knowledge, and regretting it after he falls for the beautiful Gertrude. Conceived and directed by Thom Pasculli, Core of the Pudel explores the themes of this timeless tale through physical movement and emotion. |
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| The Cotton Mouth Club |
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Victory Gardens Theater - Biograph |
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| The innovative dance theater group known as Chicago Dance Crash mixes their unique blend of high-energy hip hop, ballet, jazz, swing, acrobatics, break-dancing and more to tell a Prohibition Era love story, set to the music of Outkast and Michael Jackson. Rooster is a speakeasy owner caught between feuding gangs of moonshine manufacturers, and Zora is his frustrated wife, left waiting at home. The Cotton Mouth Club is the ensemble's biggest and most ambitious production of the 2013 season, and the historic Biograph Theater provides the perfect setting for the period show that Crash calls "a surreal fantasy." |
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| Creditors |
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Remy Bumppo Theatre at
The Greenhouse Theater Center |
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| Before The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, before Ingmar Bergman, before even the phrase "Swedish noir," came Creditors, a sexy, twisting tale of psychological manipulation and revenge. Not that Strindberg saw it that way - he told his publisher the play was "humorous, loveable, all of its characters sympathetic." Creditors is the spiraling story of a ruthless psychological assault, a triangle on a step-by-step march into a mental and sexual abyss. Strindberg may have seen the play as comedy, but the humor is as dark as midwinter Sweden. Remy Bumppo presents the Midwest premiere of David Grieg's witty new adaptation that drew raves in London and New York, directed by Sandy Shinner. |
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| Cupid Has a Heart On: A Musical Guide to Relationships |
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Stage 773 |
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| The Cupid Players are Chicago's all-musical sketch comedy group; their intelligent and satirical scenes are always accompanied by songs that are sure to puncture your aorta. They have performed from coast to coast and were just voted Critics Pick in the Chicago Reader! Come and see what Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune calls "both refreshing and a memorably enjoyable 70 minutes." |
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| Death Takes a Holiday |
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Circle Theatre at
Stage 773 |
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| It's just after World War I, the loneliest of souls arrives at an Italian villa disguised as a handsome young Prince, and for the first time experiences the joys and heartbreaks of life. This Chicago premiere is based on the Frederick March film of the same name, with Brad Pitt taking the role of Death in the loosely based remake, Meet Joe Black. |
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