One of the most telling roles an artist like Mandy Patinkin, with such a diverse and storied career, can play is that of himself..well, kind of. On stage drawing from the manifold artistic experiences and explorations he has had over the years of his career can serve as a real revelation.
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Who doesn’t love a dazzling musical? There’s nothing like a live production with all of your favorite songs, winsome choreography, eye-popping sets and just sheer fun oozing out of each and every side of the stage in front of you. So when Chicago Shakespeare Theater announced it would be bringing back its popular summer musical after a two-year absence — and with Disney’s Beauty and The Beast, no less — there was no doubt it would be a hit. Yet this production has even more to cheer about because leading the cast in the titular role of Belle will be Aurora native Audrey Hare. Based in New York City, Hare attended Benet Academy in Lisle, majoring in Music Theatre. She went on to pursue the same study at Baldwin Wallace University, graduating with a Bachelor of Music in 2020.
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Music Theater Works, (MTW) launching its 43rd season with the Tony Award-winning Best Musical Avenue Q, March 9 – April 2, has been awarded a Signal Grant by the Bayless Family Foundation for MTW’s efforts to update shows with outdated or actively offensive content. This grant was announced with three Stepping Stone grants, named for theater companies poised to take their next big step, being given to Filament Theatre, Shattered Globe Theatre and Theater Wit.
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As the world celebrates William Shakespeare’s 459th birthday this year, Chicago Shakespeare Theater will honor the Bard with multiple events throughout the month. The theater will honor the legacy of its founding artistic director, Barbara Gaines, with the Spirit of Shakespeare Award, which will be presented at a fundraising event at the Theater’s home on Navy Pier on Monday, April 24, 2023. On April 23, the theater will invite Chicago to join in celebration of Shakespeare’s birthday with the premiere of TO BE, a free streaming event featuring performances from artists across disciplines and across the city. Also, the theater announces added performances of Gaines’ final production as artistic director, The Comedy of Errors, now extended through April 23.
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New Philharmonic, the professional orchestra in residence at the McAninch Arts Center, closes out its 2022-2023 season this spring with Broadway in Concert: South Pacific. The concert, which features Broadway luminaries Nathan Gunn (Emile) and Ann Harada (Blood Mary) takes place at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, April 15 and 3 p.m. Sunday, April 16. Set on a South Pacific Island during WWII, this important and influential musical weaves the themes of romance, duty and prejudice to create a story that is funny, heartbreaking and thought-provoking.
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There’s quite a bit to unpack, both literally and figuratively, when a family immigrates from a far flung country to the West and have to take on the challenges of adapting to local culture and idioms while maintain their own along the way. Imagine just how much more there is to deal with when that family spans several generations and the move is made amidst a swirl of global strife and social upheaval. Then you’ve got a conundrum of intense magnitude. How does the family navigate challenges unlike any it’s ever seen, economically, physically and culturally and stay a family? Such is the challenge depicted in Layalina, an extraordinary new play about how multi-generational families fall apart—and ultimately find each other again—amidst turbulent global and social change.
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Chriss Henderson who has steered Chicago Shakespeare Theater from a fledgling start-up theater in 1990 through 33 years of expansive growth, award-winning productions, and nationally recognized education and community engagement programming, has announced that he will be stepping down from his executive director role at the end of 2022.
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In any real artistic pursuit, there comes a time when you simply have to invest in what you believe in. After all, as the old saying goes, you have to put up or shut up. And Court Theatre, who’s collaborated generously with a host of emerging and talented Chicago-based artists, directors and playwrights, has done just that in their recent appointment of Gabrielle Randle-Bent as associate artistic director. Bringing a uniquely powerful combination of academic excellence, artistic acumen and collaborative experience with with Court Theatre’s artistic team, Randle-Bent finds herself uniquely qualified to fill the post for which Court has been searching since early this year.
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Chicago playwright and TimeLine Theatre company member Tyla Abercrumbie weaves a mother’s past with her daughters’ present in Relentless, a centuries-spanning tale of family, legacy, and progress set in the Black Victorian age, receiving its world premiere after a nearly two-year delay. The new work was developed through the company’s Playwrights Collective and now serves as the first production in TimeLine’s 25th Anniversary season.
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Chicago’s Hyde Park Art Center has announced Dream, an exhibition of new works culminating the Art Center’s biennial Center Program, a professional development program for the elevation of emerging and mid-career artists, now in its 10th year. Guest-curated by Asha Iman Veal, this exhibition will occupy the entire first floor galleries from December 12, 2021 – March 20, 2022, featuring works by twenty artists from Center Program’s 2020-21 cohort.
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