Fourth Annual LitFest Takes on F. Scott Fitzgerald
First Floor Theater has announced its fourth annual literary festival, FITZFEST, a festival of eight world premiere plays, inspired by the life and work of F. Scott Fitzgerald. FITZFEST will play August 5 – 13 at Collaboraction’s Pentagon Theatre in The Flat Iron Arts Building and will feature eight new short plays by Chicago and New York-based writers, marking the first time playwrights from both cities have participated in the festival.
Pivot Arts Finalizes Schedule for 2016 Arts Festival
Pivots Arts has finalized its schedule for the 4th annual Pivot Arts Festival June 2nd – 12th in the Uptown and Edgewater neighborhoods. The ten-day Festival will showcase some of Chicago’s top artistic innovators, feature live music, theater, dance, children’s performances, workshops, discussions, a community dinner, wine tastings and more....
Steppenwolf Adds LOVE KILLS to Their Summer LookOut Series
Photo: Steppenwolf Ensemble Member Ora Jones Continuing their diverse array of work for their summer LookOut series, Steppenwolf recently announced the addition of a concert reading of the new musical LOVE KILLS by Obie award winner Kyle Jarrow. Featuring Steppenwolf ensemble members Jeff Perry and Ora Jones with guest artist Patrick Rooney,...
VIDEO: First Look – The Music of THE SPONGEBOB MUSICAL
Director Tina Landau & Music Supervisor Tom Kitt take us inside the making of THE SPONGEBOB MUSICAL, along with some of the show’s all-star team of composers.
Ireon Roach Takes First Place at National August Wilson Monologue Competition
Chicago Public School student Ireon Roach was awarded first place in the National August Wilson Monologue Competition, which was held May 2 at the August Wilson Theatre on Broadway in New York City. A student of Nicholas Senn High School, Roach also won first place in the Chicago competition, which included a $500 scholarship and expenses paid for the final competition in New York.
Steppenwolf Adds Sandra Marquez and Caroline Neff to Ensemble
Caroline Neff. Photo by Chris Popio. Steppenwolf Theatre Company announced the addition of Sandra Marquez and Caroline Neff to its world-renowned ensemble. Both have performed in multiple shows with the company and can currently be seen on Steppenwolf’s stages in Mary Page Marlowe and The Flick respectively. Marquez and Neff are...
Strawdog Adds THE NIGHT SEASON to ’16 – ’17 Slate.
Strawdog Theatre Company Artistic Director Hank Boland announced the final production in Strawdog’s 2016 – 2017 season–British playwright Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s THE NIGHT SEASON, which tells the story of an Irish family and their attempts to find love–running May 11 – June 24, 2017. Strawdog’s 29th season will be produced in its itinerant home at the new Factory Theater in Rogers Park, 1621 W. Howard St. on the Chicago-Evanston border in the historic Howard Theatre building.“Over the last several seasons Strawdog has pushed ourselves and our audiences into new artistic territory; now the time has come to explore new geographic territory. We are excited to have found a temporary home with The Factory Theater. We are thrilled to be bringing our work to Howard Street.” said Boland. The space is a newly created 70 seat three-quarters thrust two blocks from CTA’s Howard Red Line terminal. Season subscriptions are on sale at Strawdog.org.
Molly Brennan Named Physical Theater Director at Actors Gymnasium
The Actors Gymnasium–a multi-disciplined artist training facility in Evanston–announced the addition of Molly Brennan as the new Physical Theatre Director for the Professional Circus Training Program’s 2016-17 year.
Steep Theatre Commissions New Calamity West Play
Steep Theatre recently announced the commission of a new play by Chicago-based playwright Calamity West. The commission is a first for the 15-year-old theater and will mark the first time West and Steep have worked together. This partnership, according to Steep, “will be an exciting next step, as will Steep’s 16th season, scheduled to be announced in June, a season which will include the ensemble’s second world premiere in as many seasons.”
AstonRep Announces Season
AstonRep Theatre Company announced its full 2016-17 Season, kicking off this fall with its first-ever world premiere – THE BLACK SLOT, Warren Hoffman’s satire about racial politics in the American regional theater, directed by Associate Artistic Director Derek Bertelsen.