Rehearsing The Duchess: For The Duchess of Malfi costume designer, Tatjana Radisic, the challenge was to create a high-end fashion line for the rich and powerful inhabitants of a world that doesn’t exist.
This is the second in a series of articles documenting the production of John Webster’s tragedy directed by Michael.... Read More
Performance Spotlight
Chicago can boast of yet another space for live theater this fall when Lookingglass Theatre Company, located inside the historic Water Tower Water Works, 821 North Michigan Avenue, unveils its new Chase Studio Theatre with the American premiere of Clay.
Presented in a co-production with About Face Theatre, Clay.... Read More
A sign that summer is almost upon us is the announcement of the Theatre On The Lake Season. Well then it must almost be here as The Chicago Park District has announced the 54th Theater on the Lake Season, featuring nine artistically diverse Chicago theater companies reprising critically-acclaimed productions, June 14 – August.... Read More
How do director, designers and actors prepare to realize John Webster’s Jacobean blockbuster, The Duchess of Malfi, for a modern audience? What challenges do the artists face along the way? How does their vision evolve over the course of rehearsal?
This is the first in a series of articles documenting the upcoming production.... Read More
Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s (CST) 20th Anniversary year will be aptly inaugurated with a trans-Atlantic production of Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2, currently running at Shakespeare’s heartland home on Chicago’s Navy Pier through June 18, 2006, and concluding at his birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon, England at the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), July 6-15, 2006..... Read More
Goodman Theatre Artistic Director Robert Falls has announced the addition of Mirror of the Invisible World—a critical and popular success originally produced in the intimate Goodman Studio in 1997 and now re-imagined for the Albert stage—as a part of his dynamic 20th anniversary season. Adapted and directed by Goodman Manilow Resident.... Read More
Ina Marlowe has been resurrected, both professionally and perhaps more importantly artistically. The intrepid former Artistic Director of the Organic and Touchstone Theaters has a new venue to call home and a refined goal that has less to do with commercial success and all its messy red tape and everything to do with creating.... Read More
Following a multi-million dollar restoration and renovation, the LaSalle Bank Theatre is ready to entertain Chicago for another hundred years. The 100-year-old venue gloriously restored and newly named the LaSalle Bank Theatre, will now showcase previously hidden treasures including mosaic flooring and original gilded ceilings, all uncovered during the restoration process.
The 100-year-old.... Read More
First Folio Shakespeare Festival has announced its first subscription series: The Tempest, by William Shakespeare, The Madness of Edgar Allan Poe: A Love Story, adapted for the stage by David Rice and Alison C. Vesely, and Angel Street (Gaslight), by Patrick Hamilton. In addition, First Folio will present Chicago’s own Babes With Blades in.... Read More
After an unexpected permit process put the January move into their new home on hold, the side project has announced that it has completed the gamut of reviews and inspections needed to finally open at their new location, The Side Project Theatre, at 1439 W Jarvis Ave. Lucky for them, since Sean Graney has been.... Read More
The Joseph Jefferson Awards Committee has announced 112 nominations in 24 categories for Chicago's non-Equity theatrical productions which opened during the 2005-06 season (April 1, 2005-March 31, 2006). The Jeff Committee judged 129 opening night productions offered by 60 non-Equity producing organizations, and recommended 55 productions for further judging,.... Read More
Steep Theatre Company continues its Fifth Season with Eric Simonson’s Bang the Drum Slowly. The hard-working company’s season of plays has revolved around a bold, plainspoken theme entitled “Watch a Buddy Die,” where matters of friendship, loyalty, and the fear of facing death have surfaced in solid productions of Catch 22, The Night Heron and.... Read More
Cirque Du Soleil returns to Chicago after a three-year absence to present Corteo, its latest touring show. Corteo will open on Friday, July 14 for a limited engagement at the United Center (Parling Lot K) under its trademark blue-and-yellow Grand Chapiteau.
Corteo, which means “cortege” in Italian, is a joyous procession, a festive parade imagined.... Read More
Court Theatre will launch its 2006/07 Season by continuing to explore the musical theatre canon with the Tony and Grammy Award-winning musical, Raisin, based on Lorraine Hansberry’s classic A Raisin in the Sun (September 14, 2006 – October 22, 2006). Court’s second production, Hotel Cassiopeia, written by Charles Mee, was recently unveiled at the.... Read More
T. S. Eliot’s seldom-produced play, The Cocktail Party, is finishing its run at the Atheneum this weekend, produced by Caffeine Theatre. Caffeine’s Artistic Director Jennifer Shook talks with Anne Nicholson Weber about making poetry-based theatre that gets people talking over their after-theatre coffee.
What was the genesis of Caffeine?
.... Read More
The Theatre Building Chicago sustained significant smoke and water damage after a fire occurred Thursday morning (April 13), following an apparent electrical/computer surge. While none of the three theatres on the ground floor were directly affected, the box office and 2nd floor administrative offices suffered extensive damage. Despite the fire, Theatre Building Chicago .... Read More
Lookingglass Theatre Company returns to the world of Charles Dickens with a world premiere adaptation of The Old Curiosity Shop, a grown-up fairy tale of dark despair, sentimentality and desperation, featuring some of the funniest and most bizarre of all Dickens' characters.
Lookingglass' new adaptation of The Old.... Read More
Long time Chicago theatre critic Jonathan Abarbanel sat down for an interview for the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast. To say that Mr. Abarbanel is a Chicago theatre expert is an understatement. He is currently the longest tenured Chicago theatre critic with 35+ years of reporting on theatre in Chicago. Mr. Abarbanel talks about his.... Read More
Goodman Theatre has announced its new Stage Door Series, a provocative mix of lectures, discussions and special performances designed to give audiences an insider's look at Goodman Theatre productions. This season's series includes three not-to-be-missed events: The Healing Power of Laughter on Monday, May 15 at 7pm in the Albert Theatre; The Legacy.... Read More
Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s dark and provocative musical “Assassins” will be presented by the award-winning ensemble of Open Eye Productions at Chicago’s Storefront Theater, May 12-June 18, 2006. Performances are Thursday through Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 3:00 p.m.
“Assassins” explores the dark side of the human experience, where.... Read More