Photo: Lili-Anne Brown will direct Kokandy’s season opener—THE WIZ

Update 4/8/17: Kokandy has announced a final show to their season, GRAND HOTEL. Featuring a book by Luther Davis, music and lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest and additional music and lyrics by Maury Yeston, the Kokandy production will be directed by Artistic Producer John D. Glover, with music direction by Aaron Benham and choreography by Brenda Didier. GRAND HOTEL will run April 15th – May 28, 2018. 

Kokandy Productions announced its fifth season, with an expanded line-up from previous years, featuring four musicals, including two Chicago premieres. The 2017/18 Season will also include numerous readings and workshops as a part of Kokandy’s “New Works Initiative.”  The new season also marks the company’s transition to a not-for-profit organization.

Kokandy’s fifth season will launch in winter 2017 with the Tony Award-winning Wizard of Oz adaptation THE WIZ, directed by Lili-Anne Brown. The next two shows, Chicago premieres both, run in the summer—Michael John LaChiusa’s LITTLE FISH, an oblique parable for urban life after the attacks of September 11^th, directed by Co-Artistic Director Allison Hendrix, and BONNIE & CLYDE from the creative team of Frank Wildhorn, Ivan Menchell, and Don Black. David Alpert directs this story of two small-town nobodies searching for meaning at the height of the Great Depression.

Kokandys’ fifth season will conclude in Spring 2018 with a yet-to-be-announced production directed by Co-Artistic Director John D. Glover. The full 2017/18 season will be produced at Kokandy’s resident home, Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago.

Season subscription and single tickets will go on sale at a later date.

Comments Co-Artistic Allison Hendrix, “As we reflected on the past, present and future of the company, we sought out stories for our season that explore what it has meant – and now means – to live in America, with a particular focus on life in the ongoing wake of national distress and tragedy. The Great Depression, the attacks of September 11^th, the current climate of violence and unrest – these moments define us as individuals and as a nation. Each of our shows allows us to explore the danger and the joy of being human; in every moment, we have a choice to fight, to flee, to celebrate, to rage, to love. All of our characters in this season face such choices, and we will spend this year discovering how they succeed and fail at moving forward.”