Pictured: Sharriese Hamilton 

Firebrand Theatre has announced their inaugural season, which includes the Chicago premiere of LIZZIE, 9 TO 5 featuring Sharriese Hamilton as Doralee, and a season kick-off benefit.

Firebrand Theatre’s 17/18 Season (from press release):

NOTHIN’ LIKE A DAME: A CELEBRATION OF WOMEN IN MUSICAL THEATRE on Monday, February 27, 2017 at 7 pm at The Mercury Theatre, 3745 N. Southport Ave. in Chicago. Twenty-eight of Chicago’s fiercest divas take the stage for one-night-only to honor female composers and lyricists, pay tribute to iconic female roles and give audiences a sneak preview of Firebrand’s upcoming inaugural season.

Directed by Harmony France with music direction by Diana Lawrence and Andra Velis Simon, NOTHIN’ LIKE A DAME will feature performances by Brianna Aguilar, Kasey Alfonso, Neala Barron, Karla Beard-leroy, Becca Brown, Christine Bunuan, Lillian Castillo, Rashada Dawan, Lara Filip, Sophie Grimm, Christina Hall, Amanda Therese Horvath, Michelle Lauto, Donica Henderson, Courtney Mack, Laura McClain, Christine America Mild, Leah Pawlik, Sara Reinecke, Camille Robinson, Cassie Slater, Danni Smith, Bethany Thomas, Tiffany Tatreau, Andra Velis Simon and Lina Wass. The band includes Jennifer Grubb (bass), Lauren Vogel (banjo, fiddle) and Danielle Davis (drums). The evening is hosted by Sharriese Hamilton and Sara Sevigny.

Cast of NOTHIN’ LIKE A DAME

November 11 – December 17, 2017
LIZZIE – Chicago Premiere!
Music by Steven Cheslik-deMeyer and Alan Stevens Hewitt
Lyrics by Steven Cheslik-deMeyer and Tim Maner
Book by Tim Maneroria
Directed Victoria Bussert
Music Direction by Andra Velis-Simon
at The Den Theatre’s Upstairs Main Stage

“Lizzie Borden took an axe, gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done, gave her father forty-one.” So goes the nursery rhyme describing the crime of the century that took the nation by storm when Lizzie Borden murdered her parents with an axe in 1892. Or did she? LIZZIE is a musical that reimagines that bloody legend with four women fronting a female rock band. LIZZIE is American mythology set to a blistering rock score with rage, sex, betrayal and bloody murder.

April 7 – May 20, 2018
9 TO 5 THE MUSICAL
Music and Lyrics by Dolly Parton
Book by Patricia Resnick
Directed by Artistic Director Harmony France
Music Direction by Andra Velis-Simon
Featuring Sharriese Hamilton as Doralee
at The Den Theatre’s Bookspan Theatre

Based on the 1980 hit movie of the same name, 9 TO 5 THE MUSICAL follows three unlikely friends as they take control of their office and learn there is nothing they can’t do, even in a man’s world. Filled with Dolly Parton’s signature songs and packed with laughs, this heartfelt story still rings true today. 9 to 5 THE MUSICAL is about women shattering stereotypes, lifting each other up and succeeding beyond their wildest dreams.

Fore more information visit firebrandtheatre.org.