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THEATER 'Hedwig' director talks compassion, gender and music
Since its off-Broadway premiere, Hedwig and the Angry Inch has garnered a film adaptation, four Tony Awards and a substantial following. Initially, Toma Tavares Langston was not a fan. "I didn't get it," the director of ...
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MUSIC LeAnn Rimes goes from 'Blue' to a rainbow
Singer LeAnn Rimes career took off at the tender age of 13 years old with a Bill Mack song called "Blue." After reaching number one on the country album chart, she eventually moved toward pop music ...
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Critics' Picks
La Havana Madrid, Teatro Vista @ The Den, extended through 30 June—Last two weeks to see this thrice-remounted musical about Chicago's Latinx history, presented in the hottest performing arts multiplex in town. Arriba! MSB Four Places, ...
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THEATER SPOTLIGHT Free Street Theater to do 50 plays in all 50 wards
On Sunday June 23, Free Street Theater will mark its 50th anniversary—very few Chicago theaters are older—by performing a play in every Chicago ward in just one day! 50 IN 50 will spread the Free Street ...
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THEATER REVIEW Emma
Author: novel by Jane Austen, stage adaptation by Phil Timberlake At: Lifeline Theatre Company, 6912 N. Glenwood Ave. Tickets: lifelinetheatre.com or 773-761-4477; $20-$40. Runs through: July 14 Lifeline Theatre's Emma is charming and ridiculous in the ...
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THEATER REVIEW Prophet$
Playwright: Anthony Tournis At: Factory Theater, 1623 W. Howard St. Tickets: TheFactoryTheater.com or 866-811-4111; $25. Runs through: July 22 Protestant Christianity's individualistic approach to its source material acknowledges a variety of interpretations, enabling virtually anybody to ...
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Terence Alan Smith: The real 'MS. BLAKK'
Terence Alan Smith, the Detroit native behind the drag persona Joan Jett Blakk, is still taken aback that a portion of his life has been transformed into a world-premiere play at Steppenwolf Theatre. MS. BLAKK FOR ...
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About Face Youth Theatre Ensemble to debut '20/20'
The About Face Youth Theatre Ensemble is celebrating its 20th anniversary with the world premiere of 20/20—a dive into recent queer history devised and performed by members of the About Face Youth Theatre Ensemble ( AFYT ...
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THEATER Elizabeth Rex
Playwright: Timothy Findley At: Oak Park Festival Theatre at Austin Gardens, 167 Forest Ave., Oak Park. Phone: 847-; $15-$35. Runs through July 21 Who knew that Queen Elizabeth I liked to slum it with lowly actors? ...
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Interrobang marks 10th season
Interrobang Theatre Project announced its 10th anniversary season—"No Man's Land," exploring the fear and anxiety that accompany journeys into the unknown, and the courage it takes to make it through to the other side. The 2019-20 ...
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Teens competing at Jimmy Awards
Illinois High School Musical Theatre Awards' Marguerite Reed and Jacob Simon will be among 86 students being celebrated at the 11th Annual Jimmy Awards, honoring the best performances in U.S. high school production this past year, ...
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'Drag Seed' cast announced
Hell in a Handbag Productionshas announced casting for its world premiere of The Drag Seed—an unauthorized parody of the 1956 psychological horror-thriller film The Bad Seed, inspired by our changing times, written by Artistic Director David ...
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Details for 'Dance for Life' set
Dance for Life—which mobilizes Chicago's dance community by raising funds through dance—announced updated program information for its annual benefit performance, taking place Saturday, Aug. 17, at 6 p.m. at the Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Ida B. ...
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THEATER REVIEW The Ballad of Lefty and Crabbe
Authors: Ben Auxier, Brian Huther and Seth Macchi ( book ); Auxier & Huther ( music & lyrics ) At: The Understudy, 4906 N. Clark St. Tickets: UnderscoreTheatre.org; $20-$25. Runs through: July 14 The Ballad of ...
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COMEDY Hannah Gadsby pops into Chicago
The Australian, lesbian comic Hannah Gadsby became popular with American audiences thanks to the trail blazing Netflix special Nanette. The show was her tenth and thanks to the hit special she won a Peabody Award. Gadsby ...
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Teens competing
at Jimmy Awards
Illinois High School Musical Theatre Awards' Marguerite Reed and Jacob Simon will be among 86 students being celebrated at the 11th Annual Jimmy Awards, honoring the best performances in U.S. high school production this past year, ...
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About Face Youth Theatre Ensemble celebrates 20th anniversary with 20/20
CHICAGO ( June 12, 2019 ) — The About Face Youth Theatre Ensemble is celebrating its 20th anniversary with the world premiere of 20/20, an exhilarating dive into recent queer history devised and performed by members ...
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Sweet Texas Reckoning
Playwright: Traci Godfrey At: Artemisia Theatre @ The Den Theatre, 1331 N Milwaukee Ave. Tickets: artemisia.org/plays; $25. . Runs through: June 30 In Artemisia's Sweet Texas Reckoning, the showdown between conservative and liberal, traditional and progressive, ...
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THEATER REVIEW Emma
Author: novel by Jane Austen, stage adaptation by Phil Timberlake At: Lifeline Theatre Company, 6912 N. Glenwood Ave. Tickets: lifelinetheatre.com or 773-761-4477; $20-$40. Runs through: July 14 Lifeline Theatre's Emma is charming and ridiculous in the ...
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THEATER REVIEW We Are Pussy Riot or Everything Is PR
Playwright: Barbara Hammond At: The Ready, 4536 N. Western, Chicago. Tickets: https://www.redtapetheatre.org. Runs through: June 29 In 2012, an anonymous Russian activist/punk rock group named Pussy Riot made headlines around the world by performing a ...
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'Hadestown' rules Tony Awards
Hadestown ( a take on an ancient Greek myth ) dominated the 73rd annual Tony Awards—winning eight categories ( out of 14 nominations ) on June 9 at Radio City Music Hall, including Best Musical and ...
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THEATER REVIEW Desire in a Tinier House
Playwright: Ryan Oliveira At: Pride Films and Plays at Pride Arts Broadway, 4139 N. Broadway. Tickets: PrideFilmsAndPlays.com;. 866-811-4111; $30-$40. Runs through: June 29 It's love at first sight, eyes meeting—not across a crowded room, but through ...
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THEATER REVIEW Ms. Blakk for President
Playwrights: Tina Landau and Tarell Alvin McCraney At: Steppenwolf Upstairs Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St. . Tickets: 312-335-1650 or steppenwolf.org; $20-$94. Run through: July 14 The past roars to the present in Steppenwolf Theatre's world premiere ...
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Ms. Blakk for President
Co-author and director Tina Landau, Co-author Tarell Alvin McCraney Steppenwolf Theatre through July 14. www.steppenwolf.org . Whether the effort was performative or real, Chicago witnessed history in the early 1990s when Joan Jett Blakk, an African ...
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ComedySportz hosting LGBTQ performances during June
ComedySportz Chicago ( CSZ ) will commence Pride Month with the company's very first ComedySportz Chicago Pride Month featuring a series of performances,and a Pride Weekend celebration with CSZ's LGBTQIA+ cast members from June 7-22 at ...
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'Tales' producer discusses return to 28 Barbary Lane
Producer Alan Poul, who is gay and is among the returning crew and cast for Netflix's Tales of the City revival, said that he's "thrilled" to return to Armistead Maupin's cast of characters at 28 Barbary ...
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Spotlight on Falsettos
Falsettos, continuing through June 9 at the Nederlander Theatre, is William Finn and James Lapine's 1992 landmark gay musical about thirtysomething Marvin. He's hard to like in Act I, set in 1979 New York. He has ...
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THEATER REVIEW Queen of the Mist
Playwright: Michael John LaChiusa ( words & music ) At: Firebrand Theatre @ The Den, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. Tickets: Firebrandtheatre.org; $55. Runs through: July 6 When I visited Niagara Falls as a boy, I ...
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Critics' Picks
First Love Is the Revolution, Steep Theatre, through June 8—Star-crossed species are a metaphor for many things as a boy and ( real ) fox fall in love, with disastrous consequences. Devon de Mayo directs this ...
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THEATER REVIEW For Services Rendered
By: W. Somerset Maugham At: Griffin Theatre Company at TheDen Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. Tickets: 773-697-3830 or GriffinTheatre.com; $32-$37. Runs through: July 6 Bisexual novelist and playwright W. Somerset Maugham kicked up a scandal ...
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Spotlight on Physical Theater Festival
Chicago plays host this week to the Sixth Edition of the Physical Theater Festival featuring shows from around the world ( Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, the UK and Puerto Rico are represented ), a hometown ...
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THEATER REVIEW Four Places
Playwright: Joel Drake Johnson At: Den Productions at the Den, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave. Tickets: TheDenTheatre.com 773-697-3830; $45. Runs through: June 30 We start out anticipating a comedy: our setting in the first scene, after all, ...
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Recipients of the 46th Annual Non-Equity Jeff Awards Announced
Chicago, IL — The Jeff Awards announced recipients of the 46 th Annual Non—Equity Jeff Awards on Monday, June 3, at the Athenaeum Theatre. Top honors were awarded to Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre's The Bridges of ...
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'Hedwig' cast announced
Cast, director and designers have been announced for Hedwig and the Angry Inch—the hard-rocking musical by Stephen Trask and John Cameron Mitchell that will close out Theo Ubique's first season in its new home on Howard ...
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Show with The Go-Go's songs to start July 1
Head Over Heels—featuring songs by The Go-Go's—will run July 1-Aug. 25 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. The cast includes Bridget Adams-King, Jeremiah Alsop, Emily Barnash, Frankie Leo Bennett, Caitlyn Cerza, Caitlin Dobbins, Britain Gebhardt, ...
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Chicago's First Ever Drag Festival Announces Full Lineup
CHICAGO, IL. —Chicago's first ever drag festival has just announced its 50+ artist lineup including internationally touring headliners, reality TV superstars and homegrown Chicago talent! Chicago Is A Drag Festival takes place on Friday, June 28thfrom ...
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Snow White and the Seven Drag Queens back in one-night only reunion
Ten years ago, even before RuPaul's Drag Race ruled the World of Wonder, a small independent theatre company called MidTangent Productions teamed up with Hydrate Nightclub to produce a new play. Little did they know that ...
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THEATER REVIEW Six
Playwright: Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss At: The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, 800 E. Grand Ave. Tickets: $32-62; chicagoshakes.com/SIX. Runs through: June 30 Everyone loves a diva. If this North American premiere is to be ...
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Volta, Cirque du Soleil
Writer & Director: Bastien Alexandre At: South of Soldier Field ( LSD at 18th Street ). Tickets: cirquedusoleil/com/usa/Chicago/volta; $49-$290. Runs through: July 6 In 1984, Cirque du Soleil reinvented the circus by eliminating animals, sideshows, name ...
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THEATER REVIEW Life on Paper
Playwright: Kenneth Lin At: Broadway Armory, 5917 N. Broadway, Chicago. Tickets: https://www.jackalopetheatre.org . Runs through: June 30 How much is a human life worth? For Mitch ( Joel Ewing ), one of the key figures in ...
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Second City's Salute to Pride to Bring the Party to UP Comedy Club this June
( CHICAGO, IL - April 3, 2019 ) The Second City is proud to announce the return of The Second City's Salute to Pride, a variety show written and performed entirely by an all-LGBTQ identifying cast. ...
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Eddie Izzard works Wunderbar in Chicago
Eddie Izzard has built a career on simply being his authentic self in life, comedy and politics. His West End debut came in 1993 with a show called Live at the Ambassadors, then much later followed ...
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SUMMER THEATER FEATURE Turn up the heat: Summertime LGBTQ theater
We all know that a high percentage of LGBTQ folks are theatergoers, and not just the opera-and-musical-theater queens. ( May they live long and prosper. ) There are opera-and-musical-theater kings as well. Whatever/whomever you are, we ...
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SUMMER THEATER FEATURE Destination theater: Light up the skies!
Summer is when theater moves outdoors to mate with picnics, wine, sun and stars. Indeed, dozens of Midwest theaters operate only in the summer, and several are destinations all by themselves. Theaters highlighted below all are ...
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SUMMER THEATER FEATURE Saving precious daylight, Summer theater in Chicago
The days are growing longer and the midyear solstice is only a few weeks away. It must be time for Shakespeare-under-the-stars and pre-show picnics on the green, but as we regard all this wide-awake time we ...
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Spotlight
"Caged Miami Heat" and "Murder on the Sicilian Express" are the deliciously irresistible titles of The Golden Girls: The Lost Episodes, Vol. 3, currently running at Mary's Attic in Andersonville, and presented ( as ever ) ...
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THEATER REVIEW The Winter's Tale
Playwright: William Shakespeare At: Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St. Tickets: $20-80; GoodmanTheatre.org/thewinterstale. Runs through: June 9 Why The Winter's Tale? Robert Falls may not know. In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, director Falls confessed ...
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THEATER REVIEW The Killing Game
Playwright: Eugene Ionesco, translated by Helen Gary Bishop At: A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 N. Wells St. Tickets: 312-943-8722; ARedOrchidtheatre.org; $30-$40. Runs through: June 23 In the '50s-'60s, you couldn't escape French-Romanian absurdist playwright Eugene ...
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Critics' Picks
Late Nite Catechism, Royal George Theatre, open run—On May 26th, Vicki Quade and MariPat Donovan's internationally acclaimed solo show celebrates its 26th-year anniversary with a return to 1993 admission prices for 26 chosen congregants. MSB Noises ...
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THEATER REVIEW La Havana Madrid
Playwright: Sandra Delgado At: Teatro Vista/Collaboraction at the Den, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave. Tickets: TheDenTheatre.com; $30-$60. Runs through: June 22 This joint production of the Teatro Vista and Collaboraction theater companies premiered in March 2017 ...
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THEATER REVIEW The Crowd You're In With
By: Rebecca Gilman At: AstonRep Theatre Company at Raven Theatre, 6157 N. Clark St. Tickets: 773-828-9129 or AstonRep.com; $25. Runs through: June 16 On its surface, Rebecca Gilman's 2007 drama The Crowd You're In With ...
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THEATER REVIEW Next to Normal
Book and Lyrics: Brian Yorkey; Music: Tom Kitt. At: Writers Theatre, 325 Tudor Ct., Glencoe Tickets: 847-242-6000 or WritersTheatre.org; $35-$80.Runs through: June 16 Writers Theatre in Glencoe scored an artistic coup by luring back director David ...
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THEATER REVIEW Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Playwright: adapted by David Catlin from the novel by Mary Shelley At: Lookingglass Theatre Company at the Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. Tickets: LookingglassTheatre.org 312-337-0665; $45-$86. Runs through: Aug. 4 In the season marking the ...
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THEATER REVIEW The Crowd You're In With
By: Rebecca Gilman At: AstonRep Theatre Company at Raven Theatre, 6157 N. Clark St. Tickets: 773-828-9129 or AstonRep.com; $25. Runs through: June 16 On its surface, Rebecca Gilman's 2007 drama The Crowd You're In With seems ...
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Xavier MaatRa on produce company, consulting, other pursuits
Giving back to the community has been the focus of Xavier MaatRa's professional life and that has culminated in the creation of their latest endeavors—Chi City Foods and DAB of Consulting. Xavier ( they prefer to ...
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Pride poetry-slam competition June 12
In honor of Chicago's Pride Month, The Blackstone, Center on Halsted and StoryStudio Chicago invite the community to celebrate all things love this June during a slam poetry competition on Wed., June 12. The event will ...
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New play by Black, Brown teens on coming of age in the age of Trump
MAY 2019, CHICAGO, IL: The ensemble of Black, brown, immigrant, queer, and trans teenagers who developed MAKE AMERICA TEEN ALREADY ( M.A.T.A. ) have come of age in the Trump era - a political moment marked ...
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THEATER REVIEW La Havana Madrid
Playwright: Sandra Delgado At: Teatro Vista/Collaboraction at the Den, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave. Tickets: TheDenTheatre.com; $30-$60. Runs through: June 22 This joint production of the Teatro Vista and Collaboraction theater companies premiered in March 2017 at ...
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Correct Arts to present All The World's a Stage, evolution of Chicago theater in art
Artists examine the evolution of Chicago area theaters from past to present ( including vaudeville stages, silent pictures, live performance venues and motion pictures ) to sometimes extinction. Featured theatres include the Auditorium, Aragon, Biograph, Calo, ...
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THEATER REVIEW La Havana Madrid
Playwright: Sandra Delgado At: Teatro Vista/Collaboraction at the Den, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave. Tickets: TheDenTheatre.com; $30-$60. Runs through: June 22 This joint production of the Teatro Vista and Collaboraction theater companies premiered in March 2017 at ...
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Van Ness, Gadsby at Chicago Theatre in June
LGBT celebrities Jonathan Van Ness and comedian Hannah Gadsby will be performing in separate shows at The Chicago Theatre, 175 N. State St., during Pride Month ( June ). Van Ness—a television personality ( Queer Eye ...
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'Stonewall' exhibit talks, performances on May 22-25
Talks related to the Wrightwood 659 exhibit "About Face: Stonewall, Revolt and New Queer Art" will take place May 22-25 at the gallery, 659 W. Wrightwood Ave. The exhibit itself will run May 22-July 20. The ...
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Kokandy Productions announces casting for Head Over Heels
CHICAGO ( May 15, 2019 ) — Kokandy Productions is pleased to announce casting for its Chicago premiere of the bold new musical comedy Head Over Heels featuring songs by The Go-Go's, based on The Arcadia ...
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THEATER REVIEW The Winter's Tale
Playwright: William Shakespeare At: Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St.. Tickets: $20-80; GoodmanTheatre.org/thewinterstale. Runs through: June 9 Why The Winter's Tale? Robert Falls may not know. In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, director Falls confessed ...
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Megan Hilty sings Smash hits at the Goodman gala
Tony Award nominee Megan Hilty has had some unforgettable performances in the past with Glinda the Good Witch in Wicked and as Doralee Rhodes in 9 to 5: The Musical. As Ivy Lynn in the NBC ...
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THEATER The Secret of the Biological Clock
Playwright: Andie Arthur At: Eclectic Full Contact Theatre at the Athenaeum, 2936 N. Southport Ave. Tickets: Eclectic-theatre.com 773-935-6860; $25-$30. Runs through: June 2 Don't be fooled by the title: This is not another grim grown-up ...
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Cirque du Soleil to perform at Soldier Field
Tuesday, May 14 — Chicago, IL — To mark the arrival of Cirque du Soleil's latest spellbinding production, VOLTA, in Chicago, more than 60 men and women, including many Chicagoans, pushed more than 100 supporting poles ...
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Printers Row Lit Fest to include "Year of Chicago Theatre" in June
CHICAGO, IL ( May 14, 2019 ) — The 35th annual Printers Row Lit Fest, presented by the Near South Planning Board, is proud to announce its participating authors and programming highlights. The much-anticipated 2019 Printers ...
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Steppenwolf Theatre to present Ms. Blakk for President special events
CHICAGO ( May 14, 2019 ) — Steppenwolf Theatre Company and LookOut announce conversations and events designed to enrich the experience of audiences around Ms. Blakk for President, a new work by ensemble members Tina Landau ...
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Spotlight on The Golden Girls: The Lost Episodes
"Caged Miami Heat" and "Murder on the Sicilian Express" are the deliciously irresistible titles of The Golden Girls: The Lost Episodes, Vol. 3 currently running at Mary's Attic in Andersonville, and presented ( as ever ) ...
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Critics' Picks
Late Nite Catechism, Royal George Theatre, open run—On May 26th, Vicki Quade and MariPat Donovan's internationally acclaimed solo show celebrates its 26th-year anniversary with a return to 1993 admission prices for 26 chosen congregants. MSB Admissions, ...
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'Two Dykes and a Mic' on May 14-15
Rachel Scanlon and Mckenzie Goodwin will host the live stand-up comedy show "Two Dykes and a Mic" on May 14-15, at 8 p.m., at Under The Gun Theater, 956 W. Newport Ave. "Two Dykes' has been ...
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THEATER REVIEW Undeniable Sound of Right Now
Playwright: Laura Eason At: Raven Theatre, 6157 N. Clark St. Tickets: 773-338-2177; RavenTheatre.com; $43. Runs through: June 16 "There was a time when music mattered more than anything," laments Hank. It's 1992 and Hank—not yet 50—has ...
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THEATER August Rush: The Musical
Book & Lyrics: Glen Berger; Music & Lyrics: Mark Mancina. At: Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena August Rush: The Musical is a major occasion for the Paramount Theatre in Aurora. It's the venue's first world-premiere ...
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THEATER REVIEW The Children
Playwright: Lucy Kirkwood At: Steppenwolf Theatre Company, 1650 N. Halsted St. Tickets: 312-335-1650; Steppenwolf.org; $20-$99. Runs through: June 9 The hubris of humanity is to believe that each generation leaves the world a better place ...
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