American Theater Company announces 2012-2013 season
Faith, community, school violence and war will be the themes dominating American Theater Company’s 2012-2013 season. Here’s the lineup:
+ The Catholic Repertory: Two Tony Award-winning plays - John Peilmeier’s “Agnes of God” and John Patrick Shanley’s “Doubt” running in rotating rep (Sept. 6-Oct. 28). …
Nothing comes of not much in ‘title of show’
You’ve got to hand it to composer-lyricist Jeff Bowen and writer Hunter Bell, the creators of ‘title of show,’the self-erasingly-named musical that played Off Broadway in 2006, on Broadway (briefly) in 2008, and is now in its Chicago debut at Northlight Theatre under the direction …
Aubrey O’Day likes Clay Aiken to win ‘The Celebrity Apprentice’
Aubrey O’Day won’t be one of the two finalists when “The Celebrity Apprentice” names its winner Sunday, although the singer lasted almost to the end. She’s on Team Clay as song stylist Clay Aiken and comic Arsenio Hall compete to work for Donald Trump. But …
‘Music’ gloriously fills the night at Writers’ Theatre
HEDY WEISS: Sublime cast renders Stephen Sondheim’s sophisticated “A Little Night Music” on an intimate scale.
Riveting play about Chicago police torture opens many areas of debate
HEDY WEISS: Never preachy, John Conroy’s “My Kind of Town” shows all sides of the issue with vivid characters in hellish dilemmas.
‘Rain’ falls quite nicely on Circle Theatre’s season
Australian writer Andrew Bovell’s strange, haunting play, “When the Rain Stops Falling” — now receiving a strongly acted Chicago premiere by Oak Park’s Circle Theatre — begins with a great downpour during which a huge, silvery fish seems to drop from the sky, landing with …
Role a challenge, but actor at one with Freud
In Mark St. Germain’s play, “Freud’s Last Session,” now at the Mercury Theater, Sigmund Freud, the grand master of psychoanalysis is 83 years old and just weeks away from dying of oral cancer. Mike Nussbaum, who has just assumed the role of Freud in this …
‘Jamaica, Farewell’ a glorious journey for playwright and audience alike
The stage of the Chopin Theatre is bare, aside from a large steamer trunk and a few stacks of old suitcases. But have no fear. Jamaican-bred, Los Angeles-based actress Debra Ehrhardt is a storyteller who can fill up empty space with the sheer power of …
‘Chaplin’ musical headed to Broadway
NEW YORK — A funny guy with a cane, a hat and an unforgettable mustache is heading to Broadway. Producers announced Thursday that a new musical depicting the life of Charlie Chaplin will begin performances later this summer at the Barrymore Theatre. Previews begin Aug. …
Starry companies and community ‘Bolero’ set for Chicago Dancing Festival
This summer will mark the arrival of the 6th annual Chicago Dancing Festival — the weeklong summertime celebration that showcases world class companies from Chicago and beyond, and fills the Harris Theater, Auditorium Theatre, Museum of Contemporary Art Theatre and the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in …
‘Parks & Recreation’ star behind Ron Swanson to perform at comedy fest
The guy who plays Ron Swanson on “Parks & Recreation” is the latest addition to next month’s TBS Just for Laughs festival. Nick Offerman, a former Chicago stage actor, will do his one-man show “American Ham” June 16 at the Vic. The fest also booked …
‘My Kind of Town’ takes theatrical look at Chicago’s brutal police scandal
John Conroy would be the first to admit that for more than two decades he has been a man in the throes of a serious obsession.
The object of his obsession is what is referred to in shorthand terms as Chicago’s “police torture scandal” — …
Speaking With ... Under the Streetlamp 05.11.12
Talk to members of the quartet known as Under the Streetlamp, and invariably the guys will refer to their success as nothing short of a dream coming true. That might be over-simplifying the journey that Michael Ingersoll, Michael Cunio, Christopher Kale Jones and Shonn Wiley …
Andrea Martin is taking her one-woman show on the road — with plenty of familiar faces in tow
During her decades-long career Andrea Martin has snared a Tony award, two Emmys and numerous other honors for her work on stage and screens. Recent Broadway-goers might remember her Tony-nominated portrayel of housekeeper Frau Blucher (cue neighing) in Mel Brooks’ hit stage adaptation of his …
‘Kin’ a family affair that’s quite complex
‘Kin,” the title of London-born, New York-based playwright Bathsheba Doran’s play — seen Off Broadway last year and now receiving an impressively acted Chicago debut by Griffin Theatre — may seem simple enough to define. But check for precise definitions via both Wikipedia (which thoughtfully …
