Six teenagers from the St. Cassian Choir must compete to be the only one resurrected after an unfortunate roller coaster disaster kills them all. The Amazing Karnak, a quirky fortune-telling machine, acts as game-show host, judge and jury, and guides the teens through their destiny-altering challenge: tell your story, in song form, to win the chance to return to life. Who among them deserves a change in fortune and a second chance to live?

Idle Muse celebrates 20 years of productions with The Three Musketeers. Based on Alexander Dumas' celebrated 1844 novel, the Jeff Award-winning Robert Kauzlaric adapts the French tale of swashbuckling intrigue, adventure and fellowship as newly-minted musketeer D'Artagnan and the famous "three inseparables," Athos, Porthos and Aramis take on the machinations of a scheming cardinal and his minions.

Ma Rainey's band is waiting. It's 1926 Chicago, and "The Mother of the Blues" takes her time getting ready to record. Tensions and temperatures rise as the musicians recount tales of rage, joy, betrayal and faith in astonishing stories and a heart-stopping climax. Chicago legends Chuck Smith and Harry J. Lennix reunite for the play that smashed box office records in its 1997 Goodman premiere for this major revival of "a genuine American masterpiece" (Chicago Reader).

Delight in Shakespeare's glorious comedy! In the middle-class and very English hamlet of Windsor, joyous revelry abounds as the ladies of the town-the ebullient Mistress Page and Mistress Quickly-band together to have the last laugh over the lewd, but loveable, Falstaff. The production is staged by foremost Shakespeare director Phillip Breen, who has quite literally written the book on Merry Wives and leads a Shakespeare Institute seminar entitled "Walking in A Windsor Wonderland: Some Ramshackle Reflections on Directing Shakespeare's Greatest Comedy." Breen's eclectic range of work expands beyond theater to encompass opera, musicals, and cabaret, as well as being a regular collaborator with Vivienne Westwood for London Fashion Week.

Direct from New Zealand comes the joyfully immersive Mrs. Krishnan's Party. Step into the back room of Mrs. Krishnan's corner shop where garlands decorate the ceiling, music flows, and Mrs. Krishnan is throwing a party like no other. Food simmers on the stove, laughter abounds, and strangers become friends in this celebration of life. The actors juggle cooking, music, and guests in an unfolding drama where no two nights are the same. This production marks the Chicago debut of New Zealand's acclaimed Indian Ink Theatre Company, which for more than two decades has mined the collision of East and West to create spirited, artful storytelling.

This is a story about money. Don't let them fool you otherwise. When Mac loses his child in a clash with the local police, he is visited by three strangers who advise him to take the city's cash settlement, relocate and forget his grief - or else stay and remain impoverished surrounded by memories of the world his child fought so hard to protect. This world premiere from Academy Award-winning ensemble member Tarell Alvin McCraney explores how grief, justice, sexuality, gender, history and even pride become secondary concerns in the wake of currency.

Jane, an employee at a big tech company, has been placed on leave after video of her screaming breakdown at work went viral. Her employers tell Jane she must be evaluated by crisis therapist Loyd before she can be reinstated to the job that gives her life meaning. Their first session together, however, quickly escalates into an epic showdown with a shocking and disturbing twist. A Broadway and Off-Broadway sensation, this intense psychological thriller skewers the insidiousness of the internet, the meaning of work and the ramifications of a secret revealed.

Young author Oliver Adams is on the brink of success, with his novel set to be published and soon to be adapted for the Broadway stage! When he, the famed (and married) playwrights, and his longed-for leading lady all converge for a weekend at a Newport mansion, the housekeeper that would rather they all leave isn't the only thing that goes awry. In a romantic screwball comedy that hearkens back to days gone by, only the power of theatre can save the play, Oliver's novel, and his heart.

Dawn has a house, a husband, and a family, but she wants more. She wants her ex-girlfriend, Robin. She wants nothing to change and she wants everything to change, and she wants it all on her own terms. As she?s caught between what?s been and what?s next, Dawn must learn to abandon expectations, harmonize with loved ones, and trust the process. If she can do all that, she might just learn a new song.

Welcome to the Unity and Hope Conference. A gathering of the most persecuted, tortured, and misunderstood people in the entire world. They call themselves Targeted Individuals, and they are victims of a vast and covert program of systematic torture, surveillance, and harassment by global intergovernmental powers. Over the course of this weekend in the woods they will discuss strategies to take down the deep state, bring awareness to their plight, and, despite their suffering, stay human.

Welcome to the greatest rock 'n' roll show not on Earth! LOKI arrives at Asgard, bringing chaos, comedy, and three monstrous (maybe) children. LOKI tangles with Odin, Thor, and the mysterious Freya; each with their own agenda; their own secrets-but all paths lead to one eternal question: In an us vs. them world, can we envision a new mythology? Ensemble member Heather Currie directs this epic musical world premiere from the Jeff award-winning team of Howe and Calvit.

South Pacific is a beloved musical tale that follows World War II armed services personnel through spy missions, war-time drama and romance in a tropical paradise with warm breezes, breathless sunsets and B52 bombers. Balancing duties to their country with their island expectations, ensign Nellie Forbush and lieutenant Joseph Cable suddenly find themselves irresistibly falling in love on foreign soil. But will that love translate back in the States?

In a church basement meeting room, a group of people -always eight-gather to sing. Told via chamber-inspired, a cappella music, OCTET investigates the total impact of internet and technology addiction on modern society, from Dave Malloy, writer of Tony-winning NATASHA, PIERRE AND THE GREAT COMET OF 1812.

This musical play, complete with down home country humor and big-hearted emotion, includes hits "Crazy", "I Fall to Pieces", "Sweet Dreams", "Walkin' After Midnight" and more!

Engage or withdraw? Lean into discomfort, or retreat to the safety of your own beliefs? This searing new thought piece performed by the Pulitzer Prize nominated playwright asks what we do at that moment of decision. Crafted in her signature poetic and provocative style, Orlandersmith explores how forces that encourage division make us lose track of the things we have in common-that which binds us in a shared humanity.

This tender, touching story follows Ernestine Ashworth as she celebrates her birthday from age 17 to 101-all while baking her birthday cake. Through a seamless montage of moments, Ernestine grapples with love, loss, family and the passage of time, continually asking the timeless question: "What's it all about?" The Chicago Sun-Times calls it "emotionally rich;" and the Chicago Tribune says, "'Birthday Candles' is precisely why people go to the theater...It's a personal piece but you'd swear it was about you." BTE Managing Artistic Director Emeriti and Ensemble Member Connie Canaday Howard, who starred in Steve Scott's staging of BTE's 2020 production "The Cake," reteams with Scott as she takes on the lead role of Ernestine.

Based on the rip-roaring novel by Rafael Sabatini. Radicalized by his friend's brutal murder on the eve of the French Revolution, a sardonic provincial lawyer repeatedly evades disaster by taking on a series of new identities-first an insurgent orator, then a traveling comic actor, and finally a master swordsman.