VIDEO: First Look – The Design of THE SPONGEBOB MUSICAL
Scenic and Costume Designer David Zinn takes us inside the making of THE SPONGEBOB MUSICAL, along with Director Tina Landau and Choreographer Christopher Gattelli.
INSIDE LITTLE SHOP Part 4: Opening the Shop
Going into our first preview, I think we were all a little nervous about putting the show in front of an audience for the first time, especially with so many tech elements involved. And the first preview being completely sold out—mostly to a huge group of high school students, no less—added even more pressure. However, the audience was enthralled and delighted, and the responsive crowd brought the show to life in a whole new way. After curtain call, as the house lights came up, I overheard the teenagers in front of me chattering about how it was one of the weirdest and funniest things they had ever seen. And that audience was just the beginning of a hugely successful preview week. One patron on Goldstar said “This was a great show! The singers were exceptional and the music was rousing.”
Red Orchid Extends Ike Holter’s SENDER
A Red Orchid Theatre will add six performances to the run of the world premiere of SENDER by Ike Holter, directed by Ensemble Member Shade Murray. Our Tonika Todorova says SENDER is “a hot summer plate of Chicago-hipster-rooftop-realness strewn with beer cans and honesty, lost in its desire to reject...
Sleek CHICAGO Has Plenty of Polish But Lacks Grit
The national tour of CHICAGO that arrived at Broadway In Chicago’s Cadillac Palace Theatre Tuesday night has glimmers of the shine and glitz at the heart of this musical about Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly’s ruthless journey towards fame and notoriety—timely themes that have allowed the current Broadway revival to play on for two decades.
Keeping Magic Relevant in the 21st Century
Wonder and amazement through secrecy, surprise, and trickery are difficult to pull off these days. We may not know how a magic trick works, but we comprehend enough about how magicians dupe us not to be surprised by another version of sawing a lady in half or the cups and balls.
Schedule Announced for Physical Festival Chicago
Exploring the art of storytelling through physical and visual means, the third annual Physical Festival Chicago will play June 3rd-11th and will feature 5 companies and solo artists from Europe, Latin America, and The United States. In addition to performances by Cia de Teatro Manual (Brazil), Laura Simms (New York), Rough...
A PIECE OF MY HEART Full of Originality, Grace, and Depth
As a woman, telling your emotional story in a male dominated society is hard. This story is even harder to tell when you are a woman working in the US Army in Vietnam, and there are people dying all around you.
SPONGEBOB Extends at Oriental
Broadway In Chicago announced a one-week extension of THE SPONGEBOB MUSICAL through Sunday, July 10. Performances will begin on Tuesday, June 7 at Broadway In Chicago’s Oriental Theatre. The Broadway-bound musical is co-conceived and directed by Tina Landau, book by Kyle Jarrow, orchestrations, arrangements & music supervision by Tom Kitt,...
Kimberly Senior to Receive Special Jeff Award
“The theatre world is full of creative people with lots of conflicting ideas. When three agree on something, it’s a breakthrough. When 73 do, it’s almost a miracle,” says Jeff Awards Committee Chair David Liesse, “Yet 73 members of the Chicago theatre community co-signed a letter nominating Kimberly Senior to...
LITTLE SHOP Makes for A Delectable Evening on Skid Row
American Blues Theater’s triumphant LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS will have Chicago audiences clamoring to head downtown to Skid Row. This intimately staged production has a full sound (with music director Austin Cook leading a four-piece band, you can feel the vibrations of the bass in the floor) and provides an all-encompassing, fully entertaining spectacle.