Theatre News Wire

Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre's Artistic Director Fred Anzevino announced dates and a full lineup of titles for the company's 2021-22 season. Anzevino will direct the opening production, Jason Robert Brown's SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD - a song cycle which takes us into the minds and hearts of people facing a variety of crises and potentially life-altering choices. Anzevino says, "It's an ideal piece to be presenting as we move forward into a world of reconciliation and healing." With a rousing score that blends elements of pop, gospel, and jazz, SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD transports its audience from the deck of a Spanish sailing ship bound for a new land, to the ledge of a New York penthouse. Audiences will hear from a young man in the Bronx who dreams of becoming a famous basketball player, to a forlorn and neglected Mrs. Claus lamenting as Christmas approaches, and many others. SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD will open to the press on Monday, September 27 at 7:30 pm, following previews from September 24-26. It will play through October 24, 2021. All performances for the season will be at the company's home, the Howard Street Theatre, 721 Howard Street, Evanston.

Howard will direct and choreograph the company's show for the holiday season, 8-TRACK - a revue of hit songs from the 1970s, including the music of The Emotions, The Carpenters, Labelle, Barry Manilow, Marvin Gaye, The Doobie Brothers, The Bee Gees, Helen Reddy, KC and the Sunshine Band, and more! 8-TRACK was devised by Rick Seeber, creator of the 1960's revue BEEHIVE. 8-TRACK premiered at the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre in 2001 and has enjoyed long runs at Detroit's Century Theater and St. Paul's Ordway Center and has been a hit in regional theaters across the country. Jeremy Ramey will be music director. With a score that ranges from soft pop/rock to R&B and soul, 8-TRACK reflects the social consciousness of the 1970s in songs like Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On," as well as its the party spirit in K.C. and the Sunshine Band's "Get Down Tonight." 8-TRACK will open to the press on Sunday, December 12, 2021 at 7 pm and Monday, December 13, 2021 at 7:30 pm, following previews from December 3, and will run through January 23, 2022.

The third production will be the Chicago premiere of the Off-Broadway hit, WHO'S YOUR BAGHDADDY, OR HOW I STARTED THE IRAQ WAR. This satirical musical, based on true events, follows C.I.A. agents, an asylum-seeking Iraqi informant with the code name "Curveball," and a weapons inspector, as they bungle their way into a deadly war. A NEW YORK TIMES "Critic's Pick," that newspaper called it "An important, cunning, rock-solid musical comedy with a terrible title." As unsettling as it is funny, it presents questions about US foreign policy that continue today. It will open to the press on Sunday, March 20, 2022, at 7 pm and Monday, March 21, 2022, at 7:30 pm, following previews from March 11, 2022; and will play through Sunday, May 1, 2022.

The season will conclude in the summer of 2022 with a 50th Anniversary production of Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak's musical GODSPELL, directed by the company's newly appointed Managing and Casting Director Christopher Pazdernik and choreographed by Jeff award-winner Jenna Schoppe (She/Her). Ramey will be Music Director. Rueben Echoles (He/Him) will be Associate Director and Costume Designer. The timeless tale of friendship, loyalty and love based on the Gospel of St. Matthew, originally slotted for production in summer 2020 prior to the COVID shutdown, features the hit songs "Day by Day," and "All Good Gifts." GODSPELL will open to the press on Sunday, June 19, 2022, at 7 pm and Monday, June 20, 2022, at 7:30 pm, following previews from June 10, 2022. It will play through July 31, 2022.

Season packages for all four shows are $99 for previews, $149 for Thursdays and Sundays, and $169 for Fridays and Saturdays. Optional three course prix fixe dinners, served before the performances, are available for an additional $100.00 per subscription; or for $29.00 on a per-show basis. Season packages will be on sale soon at www.theo-u.com.

Theo Ubique will be requiring all audience members to be fully vaccinated from COVID-19 this season. Photo ID and proof of vaccination (photos or photocopies are acceptable) will be required at the door.