| Accidental Death of a Black Motorist |
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The Conspirators at
Athenaeum Theatre
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| The Conspirators are back with another high-energy, high-style, hard-hitting satire, this time skewering the culture of police violence and the complicity of the Code of Silence. Updated and adapted from Dario Fo's modern classic, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, Accidental Death of a Black Motorist drops the story right smack in the middle of one of America's worst abuses of power. A crazy, maniacal actor infiltrates police headquarters posing as the State's Attorney and gets the bad cops to unwittingly confess the truth behind their victim's "accidental" death. As hilarious as it is provocative. |
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| All Roads Lead to a Detour |
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Annoyance Theatre
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| Life is full of adventures. Some are planned and some are surprises. Late Night Shenanigans will take you down a road filled with adventure by exploring the past, the present, and the future. But one thing is for sure though… All Roads Lead to a Detour.
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| The Ballad of Lydia Pinkham's Magical, Miracle, Sure-Cure for All Female Weaknesses |
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Moving Bench Theatre at
The Greenhouse Theater Center
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| The hilarious, heartbreaking, (mostly) true tale of the first woman to
ever be "trolled" through the media. With an eclectic mix of storytelling
techniques, this musically driven play shines a comedic yet poignant light on
how little things have changed for women in the limelight today. The year
was 1873 and all Lydia Pinkham wanted to do was to help her neighbors in a
time when getting quality medical advice was nearly impossible for women.
Testimonials called her Vegetable Compound a miracle cure, but when her
well-intentioned, dim-witted sons decided to use their mother's face on all
the products and ads, it lit a firestorm of criticism and cruelty from the
public. Despite the success she was able to bring to her family, Lydia had to
face a question that seems as relevant today as it did 150 years ago: Am I
brave enough to put myself out there and am I strong enough to withstand
the harsh backlash of the public? |
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| Beauty and the Beast |
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Paramount Theatre
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| Once upon a time on a bitter winter's night, a young, selfish and vain prince finds a beggar woman asking for shelter. Disgusted by her appearance, he sends her far away. The old woman transforms into a magical enchantress who places a curse upon the prince to appear as hideous on the outside as he is on the inside. Given a magical rose, he must learn to love and find love in return before the last petal drops, or he is doomed to remain a beast forever. But who cold ever learn to love a beast? |
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| Big Fish |
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BoHo Theatre at
The Greenhouse Theater Center
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| Edward Bloom leads an extraordinary life-at least according to the stories he tells his son, Will. But Will, who is getting married and expecting a child of his own, doesn't think there's any truth to the extravagant tales his father tells about meeting witches, kissing mermaids, or joining the circus. He doesn't even believe the story of how his father proposed to his mother, Sandra, in a field full of daffodils. But when Edward's health begins to decline, Will must decide whether to accept his father's wild stories as fact or risk losing him completely. Based on the celebrated novel by Daniel Wallace and the acclaimed film directed by Tim Burton, BIG FISH is a heartfelt, powerful, and truly magical musical about fathers, sons, and the stories that we use to define our identities. |
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| Bloody Bathory |
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The Barrens Theatre Co at
Epworth United Methodist Church |
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| In this world premiere drama by Chicago-based playwright Millie Rose, audience members can choose to follow any of seventeen characters and can move from space to space and jump freely from track to track over the course of the night. Some of the characters will talk to the audience members or even ask them for help. Audience members will act as jury members ruling over the trial of Elizabeth Bathory and at the end of the show, decide if Elizabeth Bathory is innocent, or guilty. |
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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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| Bye Bye Liver |
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Stage 773
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| The Pub Theater Company performs a series of outrageous sketches centered on Chicago's favorite pastime: drinking. Bye Bye Liver is filled with interactive social games for the audience, pitting males versus females, actors versus audience and so on. Bar life and alcoholic adventures are held up for your amusement so you can laugh -- and drink -- your troubles away. With a spontaneous and interactive format, the outcome is always a fun and outrageous time for everyone, both audience and cast. |
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| ComedySportz |
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Comedy Sportz
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| A hilarious interactive 90-minute show where two teams compete for your laughs in comedy scenes, songs and games right on the spot based on your suggestions. You choose the winner and the show is never the same twice. It's clean, smart comedy for all audiences and all ages! There are over 100+ games in the ComedySportz playbook - and nobody knows what will happen next! |
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| Comfortable Shoes |
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Neo-Futurists
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| In this rigorous storytelling of epic and exhausting proportions, Ida weds herself to an appreciative but underwhelmed audience, equipped with nothing except size 8.5 running shoes, the narrative structure of One Thousand and One Nights, and a bloated sense of self. Ida creates, stars, and bursts open in her world premiere Prime Time production.
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| Dead Man Walking |
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Lyric Opera
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| A young couple is brutally killed, and the convicted murderer, Joseph De Rocher, sits on death row. Sister Helen Prejean agrees to be his spiritual adviser. As she meets his family, and the families of his victims, she begins questioning every attitude she has about how human beings treat each other. Based on real-life events, Jake Heggie's music and Terrence McNally's libretto explore the nature of friendship and forgiveness in the most profound ways. Hugely acclaimed in major houses internationally, Dead Man Walking is widely acknowledged as one of the most riveting operas of the 21st century. It simply demands to be seen - so don't miss this performance at Chicago's Lyric Opera House. |
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| Do You Believe in Madness? |
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Second City
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| Do You Believe in Madness? hilariously examines how we're all gleefully speeding towards a modern apocalypse in this brand new revue from The Second City. From hot-button issues in our own backyards to the unstable atmosphere and beyond, this show aims its sights on everything from legalizing weed to infiltrating Facebook; breaking down Brexit to building new relationships; navigating new parenthood to navigating our current political landscape. Come together to laugh at the ways we're all the same and shamelessly skewer our differences in today's confounding world, where super villains sound logical and the sweet sounds of the ukulele lull you further and further into the madness. |
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| A Doll's House |
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Writers Theatre
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| This focused one-act adaptation of the Henrik Ibsen classic reinvigorates the compelling story of the vibrant young Nora Helmer, deeply devoted to her husband Torvald. However, all is not as it appears: when Nora takes action to protect her husband, she unwittingly puts them both in jeopardy, testing the bonds of their marriage and forcing them to take stock of their relationship and ask themselves how well they truly know one another... |
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| Don Giovanni |
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Lyric Opera
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| The seducer. The philanderer. The libertine who takes what he wants and lives only for his own pleasure. All three are Don Giovanni, antihero in Mozart's drama of lust and revenge, coming to Chicago's Lyric Opera House. He's surrounded by memorable characters, including his frustrated servant Leporello and the three women he encounters: fiery Donna Elvira, tormented Donna Anna, and impressionable Zerlina. Filled with thrilling music and drama, including a finale so overpoweringly dramatic that it changed music forever, Don Giovanni is justly celebrated as the perfect opera. |
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| Drunk Shakespeare |
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The Lion Theatre |
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| The stage is set in a hidden speakeasy located behind the Chicago Theater. Guests enter to find a glam cocktail bar and library with over 10,000 books. Five classically-trained actors meet there as members of "The Drunk Shakespeare Society". One drinks at least 5 shots of whiskey and then attempts to perform a major role in a Shakespearean play. Hilarity and mayhem ensue while the four sober actors try to keep the script on track. Each show is different depending on who is drinking... and what they're drinking! |
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| The Effect |
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Strawdog Theatre
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| Hearts pounding, thoughts racing, and sleepless nights. Connie and Tristan are falling in love - or are they? Stuck in a clinical trial for an antidepressant, it's hard to know what is love and what is the drug. As the trial's supervising doctors untangle this relationship, everyone involved has to question what they know. |
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| Every Brilliant Thing |
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Windy City Playhouse South
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| Known from the popular, same-titled HBO adaptation, "Every Brilliant Thing" follows the protagonist as she guides the audience through a story of finding the things that make life worth living in the face of her mother's depression. Stay true to the original production and Windy City Playhouse's immersive style, the show will offer a unique opportunity for audience members to participate in the story. This one-person show is led by Rebecca Spence as the Narrator. |
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