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Buzz Center Stage

Thursday, 22 February 2024 13:15

SOME LIKE IT HOT is Coming to Chicago

Broadway In Chicago is pleased to announce SOME LIKE IT HOT, the "Super-Sized, All-Out Song-And-Dance Spectacular!" (The New York Times), will be coming to Cadillac Palace Theatre for a limited two-week engagement, October 22 – November 3, 2024. Tickets will go on sale at a later date.

TICKET INFORMATION

Groups of 10+ are now on sale by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by calling (312) 977-1710. SOME LIKE IT HOT will be part of the next Broadway In Chicago subscription. Current subscribers can renew beginning on Monday, February 26, and the season will be available to new subscribers on Wednesday, March 20. Single tickets will be on sale at a later date. Ticket prices range from $30 - $125 with a select number of premium tickets available. For more details, visit BroadwayInChicago.com.

Set in Chicago when Prohibition has everyone thirsty for a little excitement, SOME LIKE IT HOT is the "glorious, big, high-kicking" (Associated Press) story of two musicians forced to flee the Windy City after witnessing a mob hit. With gangsters hot on their heels, they catch a cross-country train for the life-chasing, life-changing trip of a lifetime.

And what a trip it is! With its irresistible combination of heart and laughs, song and dance, SOME LIKE IT HOT won more theater awards than any show in its season, and was named Best Musical by the Drama Desk, The Drama League, and the Outer Critics Circle. No wonder Deadline calls it "a tap-dancing, razzle-dazzling embrace of everything you love about musical theater."

SOME LIKE IT HOT features a book by Matthew López (The Inheritance) & Amber Ruffin ("The Amber Ruffin Show"), music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman (Hairspray) and direction and choreography by Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon). The musical is based on the classic MGM film Some Like It Hot which has been named the "Funniest American Movie of All Time" by the American Film Institute.

The creative team also includes Scott Pask (Sets), Gregg Barnes (Costumes), Natasha Katz (Lights), Brian Ronan (Sound), Josh Marquette (Hair), Milagros Medina-Cerdeira (Makeup), Christian Borle & Joe Farrell (Additional Material), Mary-Mitchell Campbell (Music Supervisor), Kristy Norter (Music Coordinator), Charlie Rosen and Bryan Carter (Orchestrations), Marc Shaiman (Vocal Arrangements), and Glen Kelly (Dance and Incidental Music Arrangements). The production team also includes Steve Bebout (Associate Director), John MacInnis (Associate Choreographer) and Juniper Street Productions (Production Management). 101 Productions, Ltd. serves as the general manager.

SOME LIKE IT HOT was produced on Broadway by The Shubert Organization and Neil Meron and co-produced by MGM on Stage, Roy Furman, Robert Greenblatt, James L. Nederlander, Kenny Leon, Hunter Arnold, John Gore Organization, The Dalgleish Library Company Group, Sheboygan Conservatory Partners, Ambassador Theatre Group Productions, Bob Boyett, Cue to Cue Productions, Janet and Marvin Rosen, The Araca Group, Concord Theatricals, Marc Howard, Independent Presenters Network, Juanita Jordan, Jujamcyn Theaters, Henry R. Muñoz III, Ostar and Mariah Carey; D. S. Moynihan, Executive Producer.

The North American tour is booked by The Booking Group (www.thebookinggroup.com) with casting by The Telsey Office.

Concord Theatricals Recordings released SOME LIKE IT HOT (Original Broadway Cast Recording) on streaming and digital platforms worldwide in March 2023 with CD and vinyl now available.

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Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the nation's premier ensemble theater company, is pleased to continue its 48th season with the world premiere of Purpose, an epic family drama by two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, directed by two-time Tony Award winner Phylicia RashadPurpose will play March 14 – April 21, 2024 in Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theater, 1650 N. Halsted St. in Chicago Single tickets for starting at $20 are now on sale at steppenwolf.org or the Box Office at (312) 335-1650. The press opening is Sunday, March 24 at 6 pm.

Purpose features ensemble members Alana Arenas (David Makes Man, The Brother/Sister Plays), Glenn Davis (King JamesDownstate) and Jon Michael Hill (Elementary, Pass Over) with Ayanna Bria Bakari (Last Night and the Night BeforeThe Chi), Harry Lennix (The Blacklist, The DC Universe) and Tamara Tunie (Law & Order: SVUI Wanna Dance with Somebody).

For decades, the influential Jasper family has been a pillar of Black American Politics: civil rights leaders, pastors and congressmen. But like all families, there are cracks and secrets just under the surface. When the youngest son Nazareth returns home to Illinois with an uninvited friend in tow, the family is forced into a reckoning with itself, its faith and the legacies of Black radicalism. Spirited, hilarious and filled with intrigue, Purpose is an epic family drama – a long-awaited world premiere from one of the country's most celebrated voices.

The creative team includes Todd Rosenthal (Scenic Design), Dede Ayite (Costume Design), Amith Chandrashaker (Lighting Design), Rob Milburn & Michael Bodeen (Sound Design), Tyrone Phillips (Associate Director), Matthew Hawkins (Fight Choreographer), Kate DeVore (Vocal Coach), Jonathan L. Green (Dramaturg), Patrick Zakem (Creative Producer), Tom Pearl (Producing Director), JC Clementz, CSA (Casting), Laura D. Glenn (Production Stage Manager) and Jaclynn Joslin (Assistant Stage Manager). For full cast and creative team bios, click here.

Production Details:

Title: Purpose – World Premiere!
Playwright: Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Director: Phylicia Rashad
Cast: Alana Arenas (Morgan Jasper), Glenn Davis (Solomon "Junior" Jasper Jr.) and Jon Michael Hill (Nazareth "Naz" Jasper) with Ayanna Bria Bakari (Aziza Houston), Harry Lennix (Solomon "Sonny" Jasper) and Tamara Tunie (Claudine Jasper).

Location: Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theater, 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago

Dates: Previews: Thursday, March 14 – Saturday, March 23, 2024
Regular run: Tuesday, March 26 – Sunday, April 21, 2024
Curtain Times: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 pm; Saturdays at 3 pm & 7:30 pm; and Sundays at 3 pm. Please note: there will not be a performance on Tuesday, March 19 or Tuesday, April 16; there will be a 2 pm performance on Wednesday, April 10; there will not be a 7:30 pm performance on Wednesday, April 10.

Tickets: Single tickets for Purpose ($20 - $102) are now on sale at steppenwolf.org and the Box Office at (312) 335-1650. Steppenwolf Flex Memberships are also currently on sale: Black Card Memberships with six tickets for use any time for any production and RED Card Memberships for theatergoers under 30.

Accessible Performance Dates:

Audio-described and touch tour: Sunday, April 7 at 3 pm (1:30 pm touch tour, 3 pm curtain)
Open-captioned: Thursday, April 4 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, April 13 at 3 pm
ASL-interpreted: public performance: Friday, April 12 at 7:30 pm 

Artist Biographies:

Alana Arenas (Morgan Jasper) joined the Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble in 2007 and created the role of Pecola Breedlove for the Steppenwolf for Young Adults production of The Bluest Eye, which also played at the New Victory Theater Off-Broadway. Recent Steppenwolf appearances include the Steppenwolf for Young Adults production of MonsterThe FundamentalsMarie AntoinetteTribesBellevilleHead of PassesGood PeopleThree SistersThe MarchMan in LoveMiddletownThe Hot L BaltimoreThe Etiquette of VigilanceThe Brother/Sister PlaysThe TempestThe CrucibleSpare Change and The Sparrow Project. Other theatre credits include Disgraced (American Theater Company), The Arabian Nights (Lookingglass Theatre Company, Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Kansas City Repertory Theatre), Eyes (eta Creative Arts), SOST (MPAACT), WVON (Black Ensemble Theater) and Hecuba (Chicago Shakespeare Theater). Television and film credits include David Makes Man, Canal Street, CrisisBossThe BeastKabuku Rides and Lioness of Lisabi. She is originally from Miami, Florida, where she began her training at the New World School of the Arts. Alana holds a BFA from The Theatre School at DePaul University.

Ayanna Bria Bakari (Angela Houston) Steppenwolf Theatre Company: Last Night and the Night Before. Chicago: Relentless, Too Heavy for Your Pocket (TimeLine Theatre); RelentlessHow to Catch Creation (Goodman Theatre); As You Like It (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); The Niceties – Black Theater Alliance Award, Stickfly (Writers Theatre). Regional: The Salvagers (Asst. Dir. at Yale Repertory Theatre); Clyde's (TheaterWorks Hartford); Sunflowered (Northern Sky Theater); The Rainmaker (Peninsula Players Theatre); The Orginalist (Indiana Repertory Theatre). Television: Wu-Tang: An American Saga (HULU), The CHI (Showtime), Chicago PDChicago FireEmpire (FOX) and 61st Street (AMC). Film: Holiday Heist (BET). Education: BFA, The Theatre School at DePaul University. Ayanna Bria is a governing ensemble member of The Story Theatre and is represented by Stewart Talent. #BLACKLIVESMATTER.

Glenn Davis (Solomon "Junior" Jasper Jr.) is an actor, producer and Artistic Director of Steppenwolf Theatre Company alongside Audrey Francis, where he has been an ensemble member since 2017. His Steppenwolf credits include: Downstate, The Christians, You Got Older, The Brother/Sister Plays, Head of Passes, King James (also Mark Taper Forum, Manhattan Theatre Club) and most recently Describe the Night. Broadway credits include: Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (also Kirk Douglas Theatre, Mark Taper Forum). Off-Broadway credits include: Transfers (MCC Theatre), Wig Out! (Vineyard Theatre) and Downstate (Playwrights Horizons). Other regional credits include: Moscow x6 (Williamstown Theatre Festival). International credits include: Downstate (National Theatre, UK), Edward II, The Winter's Tale and As You Like It (Stratford Festival), as well as Othello at The Shakespeare Company. Television credits include: Billions, 24, The Unit, Jericho and The Good Wife. Glenn is an artistic associate at the Young Vic in London and at the Vineyard Theatre in New York. He is also a partner in Cast Iron Entertainment, a collective of artists consisting of Sterling K. Brown, Brian Tyree Henry, Jon Michael Hill, Andre Holland and Tarell Alvin McCraney. Cast Iron is currently in residence at The Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. In 2021, Glenn founded The Chatham Grove Company along with his producing partner Tarell Alvin McCraney, which is currently in an overall deal with Universal Content Productions (UCP).

Jon Michael Hill (Nazareth "Naz" Jasper) joined the Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble in 2007. Steppenwolf: True West (also Galway International Arts Festival), Pass Over, Constellations, Head of Passes, The Hot L Baltimore, The Tempest, Kafka on the Shore, The Unmentionables. Broadway: Pass OverSuperior Donuts. Off-Broadway: The Refuge Plays (New York Theatre Workshop) Pass Over (Lincoln Center). Film: Pass Over, Widows, In The Radiant City, No Pay, Nudity. Television: Upcoming: A Man in Full (Netflix) Elementary (CBS), Detroit 1-8-7 (ABC), Eastbound and Down (HBO), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC) and Person of Interest (CBS).

Harry Lennix (Solomon "Sonny" Jasper) is a distinguished film, television, stage actor and producer. For the past 10 years, he starred as "Harold Cooper" in NBC's long-running, hit series The Blacklist. Lennix's breakout role was "Dresser" in 20th Century Studio's feature The Five Heartbeats, from director Robert Townsend. He has portrayed fan-favorite characters in blockbuster franchise films such as "General Swanwick/Martian Manhunter" in DC Entertainment's Man of SteelBatman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice and Zack Snyder's Justice League and as "Commander Lock" in Warner Brothers' The Matrix franchise films The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. He also starred as "Joe Adams" in the Oscar Award-winning feature Ray.

Lennix received widespread critical acclaim and a Golden Satellite Award as "Aaron" in Julie Taymor's Titus with Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange. Other select film credits over his decades-spanning career include Spike Lee's Chi-Raq and Clockers, Gina Prince-Bythewood's Love & BasketballStomp the YardCanal StreetNothing Is ImpossibleThe Last FallA Beautiful SoulState of PlayResurrecting the ChampChrystalBarbershop 2: Back In BusinessGet on the Bus and Bob Roberts. He has also starred in and produced several films for his production company Exponent Media Group.

On television, Lennix garnered acclaim starring as political activist "Adam Clayton Powell, Jr." in Showtime's Keep the Faith Baby. For his performance, he won a Black Reel Award and earned Golden Satellite Award and NAACP Image Award Nominations. He also starred as "Jim Gardner," the Chief of Staff to POTUS, in the Golden Globe-nominated ABC series Commander in Chief, for which he received an NAACP Image Award Nomination. Other television credits include Showtime's Billions, HBO's Insecure and Little Britain, CW's Emily Owens, M.D., NBC's ER, Fox's Dollhouse and 24, among many others. He recently lent his voice to Matthew A. Cherry's animated MAX series Young Love, based on his Oscar-winning short film, Cartoon Network's Transformers: Robots in Disguise and can soon be heard in Zack Snyder's animated Netflix series Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas.

In theatre, Lennix made his Broadway debut in August Wilson's Tony nominated Radio Golf. He also starred in August Wilson's King Hedley II at the Mark Taper Forum. His portrayal of "Malcolm X" at the Goodman Theater earned him the first Ollie Award. He received Joseph Jefferson Citations for his starring roles in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and Caught in the Act. He has directed and appeared in productions across the country including Northlight Theatre Company's Permanent Collection at LA's Greenway Arts Alliance, which was later remounted at The Kirk Douglas Theater. He directed the stage version of Robert Townsend's The Five Heartbeats, which received three NAACP Theater Award Nominations and The Glass Menagerie for Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company. In 2001, he was part of the first American company to be Invited to the Royal Shakespeare Company in the production of Cymbeline. This spring he returns to the Chicago stage in two new plays: Steppenwolf's Purpose and Congo Square's How I Learned What I Learned.

A proud Chicagoan raised on the city's South Side, Lennix is creating The Lillian Marcie Center and AAMPA (African American Museum of The Performing Arts), an arts complex he calls "the Black version of Lincoln Center." In 2019 he was named Ambassador for the Prostate Cancer Foundation and brings his message of early detection through PSA's and public speaking. He serves as Spokesman for NOBLE, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, and is an ambassador to the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. He is on the Advisory Council of Northwestern University, his alma mater, and is a board member of Reading Rescue, a training program for educators teaching reading skills to at-risk elementary school children.

Tamara Tunie (Claudine Jasper) has a distinguished body of work that encompasses stage, television and film. Last year she was seen in the role of Cissy Houston, mother of the great American icon Whitney Houston, in I Wanna Dance with Somebody, reuniting her with Caveman's Valentine and Eve's Bayou director, Kasi Lemmons.

Ms. Tunie also triumphed on the London stage last season at the Old Vic in the critically-acclaimed production of Mike Bartlett's The 47th, in which she starred as Kamala Harris opposite Bertie Carvel's Donald Trump in a futuristic imagining of a presidential run-off between the two. Under the direction of Rupert Goold, Tunie received glowing notices: "Tamara Tunie is magnetizing in her performance," "the charismatic Tamara Tunie," "utterly convincing," "sturdy under fire."

One of the distinct hallmarks of Ms. Tunie's remarkable career is a long examination of American culture and its unique social and power dynamics. Beginning with such films as Oliver Stone's Wall Street with Michael Douglas, Harold Becker's City Hall with Al Pacino, Taylor Hackford's Devil's Advocate with Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron, to Robert Zemeckis' Flight opposite Denzel Washington, with whom she also starred on Broadway as "Calpurnia" in Julius Caesar, Ms. Tunie's attraction to content with depth and meaning is apparent. This thread continues with the Sundance TV series The Red Road, where Tamara starred as the challenged Native-American tribal chief "Marie Van Der Veen" opposite Jason Momoa; the BBC/Netflix international drama Black Earth Rising, which scrutinizes the West's complicity in the destabilization of Africa, portraying "Under-Secretary of State, Eunice Clayton;" and AMC's Dietland where she explored the underbelly of the American Beauty-Industrial Complex as "Julia," manager of the mysterious "beauty closet."

Ms. Tunie's award-winning stage works include the world premiere of American Son, a searing examination of race and class in which she originated the role of "Kendra Ellis-Connor;" her Obie-Award winning turn as "Marvelous" in Danai Gurira's Familiar, which grapples with identity, assimilation, tradition and the clashing of ideals of an African-Immigrant family; and most recently she starred in the world premiere of Bernarda's Daughters, where she portrayed matriarch "Florence Delva" with "oracular grandeur," another contemporary play that "mines" the effects of gentrification, police brutality and what it means to be "American," in a Haitian-American family in Brooklyn.

Ms. Tunie's directing credits include the premiere of Feelin' Good! starring Tony Award-winner LaChanze. She produced and directed the feature film See You in September, and Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (a Pandemic/ZOOM film short, featuring Patina Miller), directed and co-wrote the world premiere of Jazzland at The Harlem School of the Arts, and is directing a new musical in development, entitled Marian, about the life of the world-changing Opera Diva, Marian Anderson. Most recently, Ms. Tunie won "The Best Director Award" from the New York Theatre Festival, 2023, for helming the new musical, Dorothy Dandridge! The Musical.

Ms. Tunie first gained an international following in the role of medical examiner "Dr. Melinda Warner" with 23 seasons on Dick Wolf's legendary NBC series Law & Order: SVU. She was a series regular on the Netflix cult favorite Cowboy Bebop, and she appeared on the Apple-TV futuristic-drama See as "The Bank" opposite Jason Momoa and Alfre Woodard.

Recurring guest-starring roles include such hit shows as Almost FamilyEmergenceBetter Call SaulBlue BloodsBillionsAlpha House24ElementaryThe Good Wife and Survivor's Remorse.

Ms. Tunie is a Founder of Black Theatre United. She is Chair Emerita of the Board of Directors of Figure Skating in Harlem, a non-profit organization that supports academic excellence and instills life skills to young girls in the Harlem community through the art and discipline of figure skating, to ensure they are champions "off the ice!" She serves on the Board of Directors at Harlem Stage/The Gatehouse, City Theatre Company in Pittsburgh, and is on the Advisory Board of Hearts of Gold, a not for profit that supports women and their children in New York City shelters, and helps them transition out of the system.

In 2005, Mayor Bloomberg awarded Ms. Tunie the "Made in New York Award" from the City of New York, for her support and commitment to Film, Television and Theater. Ms. Tunie holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Carnegie-Mellon University, and now serves on the Executive Board of Trustees.

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (Playwright) is a Brooklyn-based playwright and producer and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist. Recent theater credits include The Comeuppance (Signature Theatre), Girls (Yale Rep), Everybody (Signature Theatre), War (Yale Rep; Lincoln Center/LCT3), Gloria (Vineyard Theatre), Appropriate (Obie Award; Signature Theatre), An Octoroon (Obie Award; Soho Rep, Theatre for a New Audience) and Neighbors (The Public Theater). He was showrunner, executive producer and writer for HULU/FX's drama series, Kindred, based on Octavia E. Butler's groundbreaking novel. He currently teaches at Yale University and serves as Vice President of the Dramatists Guild council and on the boards of Soho Rep, Park Avenue Armory, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and the Dramatists Guild Foundation. Honors include a USA Artists fellowship, a Guggenheim fellowship, the MacArthur fellowship, the Windham-Campbell Prize for Drama and the inaugural Tennessee Williams Award.

Phylicia Rashad (Director) A two-time Tony Award winner (A Raisin in the Sun and Skeleton Crew), her directing credits include Stephen Adly Guirgis' Our Lady of 121st Street, The RoommateBlues for an Alabama SkyMa Rainey's Black Bottom, Joe Turner's Come and Gone (2014 NAACP Theatre Award for Best Director), Immediate FamilyFencesA Raisin in the Sun, and Four Little Girls . Producing credits include and Ossie Davis' revival of Purlie Victorious on Broadway and PBS film (KCET-TV) "The Old Settler." Ms. Rashad currently serves as Dean of the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts at Howard University.

Accessibility
As a commitment to make the Steppenwolf experience accessible to everyone, performances featuring American Sign Language Interpretation, Open Captioning and Audio Description are offered during the run of each STC production (see dates above). Assistive listening devices and large-print programs are available for every performance and all our spaces are equipped with an induction hearing loop. Our building features wheelchair accessible seating and restrooms, push-button entrances, a courtesy wheelchair and all-gender restrooms, with accessible counter and table spaces at our bars. For additional information regarding accessibility, visit steppenwolf.org/plan-your-visit/accessibility or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Sponsor Information
Purpose was created with funds from the Prince Prize for Commissioning Original Work, which was awarded to Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 2015. It is also sponsored in part by Northern Trust, the Zell Family Foundation and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois. United Airlines is the Official and Exclusive Airline of Steppenwolf. Steppenwolf is also grateful for the significant season support from Allstate Insurance Company, Amazon, ArentFox Schiff, Conagra Brands Foundation, Kirkland & Ellis, PNC, and Vinci Restaurant. Steppenwolf also acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council Agency. This project is partially supported by a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Chicago theater that is home to America's ensemble. The company began performing in the mid-1970s in the basement of a Highland Park, IL church—today Steppenwolf is the nation's premier ensemble theater with 49 members who are among the top actors, playwrights and directors in the field. Deeply rooted in its ensemble ethos, the company is committed to equity, diversity, inclusion and making the Steppenwolf experience accessible to all. Groundbreaking productions from Balm in Gilead and August: Osage County to Downstate and Pass Over—and accolades that include the National Medal of Arts and 12 Tony® Awards—have made the theatre legendary. Artistic programming includes a membership series; a Steppenwolf for Young Adults season; and LookOut, a multi-genre performance series. The nationally recognized work of Steppenwolf Education engages more than 20,000 participants annually in Chicagoland communities promoting compassion, encouraging curiosity and inspiring action. While firmly grounded in the Chicago community, more than 40 original Steppenwolf productions have enjoyed success nationally and internationally, including Broadway, Off-Broadway, London, Sydney, Galway and Dublin. 2021 marked the opening of Steppenwolf's landmark Lefkofsky Arts & Education Center—deepening the company's commitment to Chicagoland teens and serving as a cultural nexus for Chicago. Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis are the Artistic Directors and E. Brooke Flanagan is Executive Director. Keating Crown is Chair of Steppenwolf's Board of Trustees.

Steppenwolf's Mission: Steppenwolf strives to create thrilling, courageous and provocative art in a thoughtful and inclusive environment. We succeed when we disrupt your routine with experiences that spark curiosity, empathy and joy. We invite you to join our ensemble as we navigate, together, our complex world. steppenwolf.orgfacebook.com/steppenwolftheatretwitter.com/steppenwolfthtr and instagram.com/steppenwolfthtr.

Renowned British magician Andi Gladwin presents his first-ever solo production, Shuffled – a mesmerizing fusion of storytelling and technology – at The Rhapsody Theater Chicago, 1328 W. Morse Avenue, for two weekends only, March 14-17 and March 21-24, 2024.  Developed exclusively for The Rhapsody Theater, with Shuffled, Gladwin encourages audience members to bring their own decks of cards for his sleight-of-hand mastery – and the already intimate venue will be reconfigured to accommodate only 44 guests per show, providing a close-up view and a special interactive experience! And Gladwin welcomes any sort of card decks, “from Grandma’s bridge cards to the family Uno card game;” saying “you’ll never look at that familiar deck of cards in the same way again.”

Shuffled truly illustrates what makes The Rhapsody Theater unique, as we provide internationally acclaimed headliner magicians, such as Andi, with the opportunity to create and perform brand new work for Chicago audiences. Our professional staging elements rival those of an off-Broadway theater venue, and we encourage our artists to stage full-length productions that simply couldn’t be accommodated in any other magic venue in the city,” said Ricardo Rosenkranz, MD, Rhapsody Theater LLC Managing Partner and resident performer, the Physician Magician.  

More about Andi Gladwin

British magician Andi Gladwin has dedicated his life to magic. “The best magic creates a story,” Gladwin says. “My aim is for everyone to walk away with a new experience that they will talk about for the rest of their lives.” And these stories have been told by guests at thousands of events over the past decade. In addition, Gladwin was a winner of Penn & Teller: Fool Us, where he managed to leave the magic duo completely dumbfounded. He has also appeared on British ITV’s Next Great Magician and is a season regular on CW channel’s Masters of Illusion. His magic has been called funny, upbeat, and downright deceiving.

In addition to Gladwin, upcoming headliner talent at The Rhapsody Theater includes award-winning Paris-based magician Alexandra Duvivier debuting her stunning new full-length  production, Extraordinaire! Thursday, February 22- Saturday, March 9, 2024 Look Closer with Joshua Jay, a new show of magic and sleight-of-hand in which Jay turns the concept of misdirection on its head, April 4-28; and Ridiculous! with David Williamson, an evening of relentless laughter, mind-bending tricks, and a dash of anarchy, May 17-June 30. PLUS, returning as resident artists with weekly performances are Chicago’s own Physician Magician, Ricardo Rosenkranz, MD showcasing never-before-seen illusions that dramatically illustrate the connection between medicine and magic, while Ross Johnson returns with his jaw dropping mind reading show, A funny thing happened… tomorrow!  Visit www.rhapsodytheater.com for more information on all upcoming performances.

Performance schedule & tickets

Shuffled!  with Andi Gladwin will be performed at The Rhapsody Theater in ten performances only over two weekends March 14-17 and March 21-24, 2024: Thursday and Friday, March 14 &15 at 7:30pm; Saturday, March 16, at 2 & 7pm; Sunday, March 17, at 2pm; Thursday and Friday, March 21&22, at 7:30pm; Saturday, March 23, at 2, 7, and 9:30pm; and Sunday, March 24 at 2pm.  The run time is approximately 70 minutes with no intermission.

Tickets for Shuffled! with Andi Gladwin, starting at $45.00, are now on sale, online at https://rhapsodytheater.com/ or at The Rhapsody Theater box office.

About The Rhapsody Theater

Built in 1912 as the Morse Theater, this destination at 1328 W. Morse Avenue has long-been a source of arts and entertainment (formerly operating as the Co-Ed Theater and the Mayne Stage). Since its reopening in 2022 by Ricardo Rosenkranz, MD and Chicago’s own Physician Magician, The Rhapsody Theater has brought a fresh, magical experience to Rogers Park. This includes a newly developed, full-service restaurant and three bars throughout providing a welcoming spot for both patrons and community members to enjoy year-round. The multi-faceted theater is perfectly primed for its world-class performances. With state-of-the-art acoustics and versatile seating arrangements, the space allows for enhanced, intimate and large format experiences. In addition to magic arts talent, The Rhapsody Theater also presents cabaret and other live music concert programming.

The Rhapsody Theater is conveniently located steps away from the Morse Red line ‘El’ station in Rogers Park. Complimentary parking is available in an adjacent lot (subject to availability) in addition to plentiful nearby street parking.

For more information about The Rhapsody Theater or to purchase tickets, please visit https://rhapsodytheater.com/

Carole King made more than beautiful music. She wrote the soundtrack to a generation with indelible songs like “You’ve Got a Friend,” “Natural Woman,” “Late,” “I Feel the Earth Move,” “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” and “So Far Away.”

Not so far away is Paramount Theatre’s 2023-24 season finale, the Broadway smash hit Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. Nominated for seven Tony Awards, with two wins, plus a Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album, Paramount will pull out all the stops in this season-finale jukebox musical celebration of one our most beloved music icons ever.

Performances are April 24-June 16. Opening Night is Friday, May 3 at 8 p.m. For tickets and information, visit paramountaurora.com, call (630) 896-6666.

Before she was the Carole King we know today, she was a young songwriter from Brooklyn trying to make a name for herself. Beautiful tells the inspiring true story of her remarkable rise to stardom with her husband and songwriting partner, Gerry Goffin, and how she went on to become one of the most successful singers, songwriters and musicians in contemporary music history. 

Paramount’s new production of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical will be directed by Paramount Theatre Artistic Director Jim Corti and Johanna McKenzie Miller, in her Paramount directorial debut.

Returning to Paramount in the title role of Carole King is Tiffany Topol, a multi-talented singer, songwriter, producer and performer based in New York and Chicago. Paramount audiences will recall Topol for her Jeff-nominated performance in 2018 as Girl in Once. Topol’s other credits include the first National Tours of Xanadu and OnceSweet Charity at Writers’ Theatre, Shining Lives at Northlight Theatre and Eastland at Lookingglass. 

The principal cast also features C.J. Blaine Eldred as Gerry Goffin, Rebecca Hurd as Cynthia Weil, Christopher Kale Jones as Barry Mann, Ian Paul Custer as Donny Kirshner and Laura T. Fisher as Genie Klein. The ensemble (at press time) includes Averis AndersonMarta BadyCorey BarlowCorey BarrowLydia BurkeAriana BurksMichaela DukesJared David Michael GrantConor JordanClare KennedyKevin KuskaDonna LoudenYasir MuhammadLuke NowakowskiColleen PerryCalvin Scott RobertsAbby C. SmithMatt Thinnes and Shelbi Voss.

Per usual, Paramount has assembled a stellar design and production team to create a night of Beautiful theater including Kenny Ingram, choreographer; Kory Danielson, music director and conductor; Jeffrey D. Kmiec, scenic designer; Theresa Ham, costume designer; Greg Hofmann, lighting designer; Adam Rosenthalsound designer; Katie Cordts, wig, hair and makeup designer; Jesse Gaffney, properties designer; Ethan Deppe, electronic music designer; Erin Barnett, assistant choreographer; Celia Villacres, associate music director and associate conductor; Jaci Entwisle, stage manager; and Madeline M. Scott and Lanita VanderSchaaf, assistant stage managers.

Times, Dates and Ticket Information

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical starts previews Wednesday, April 24 at 7 p.m. Opening Night is Friday, May 3 at 8 p.m. Performances run through June 16: Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Thursdays at 7 p.m.; Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.; Sundays at 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Run time is approximately 2 hours 30 minutes with intermission.

Paramount Theatre is located at 23 E. Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora. For tickets and information, visit paramountaurora.com, call (630) 896-6666, or stop by the Paramount box office, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and until show time on show days. For group discounts, contact Melissa Striedl, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or (630) 723-2461. 

For the latest updates, follow @paramountaurora on Facebook and Instagram, and Paramount Theatre on LinkedIn

Pay What You Can Performances

Paramount will offer two Pay What You Can performances of BeautifulThursday, April 25 at 7 p.m., and Saturday, April 27 at 3 p.m. Both days, starting at 10 a.m., visit the Paramount box office in-person to request tickets. Limit four per person. Subject to availability. See paramountaurora.com/pay-what-you-can for details. 

Access Services

Paramount offers assistive listening devices free of charge at all performances. Check in at the coat room before the show to borrow a listening device.

Paramount will offer American Sign Language interpretation on Friday, June 7 at 8 p.m. and open captioning on Wednesday, June 12 at 1:30 p.m.

If you require wheelchair or special seating or other assistance, please contact the box office at (630) 896-6666 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. in advance.

Behind the scenes of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical

Pop music would be very different without the contributions of Carole King, who at age 17 wrote her first #1 song with Gerry Goffin, “Will You Love me Tomorrow,” for the Shirelles. The dozens of hits Goffin and King wrote during this period became legendary, but it was 1971’s “Tapestry” that took King to the pinnacle, speaking to her contemporaries and providing a spiritual background to the decade. More than 400 of her compositions have been recorded by over 1,000 artists, resulting in 100 hit singles and six Grammys. She was recognized in 2015 by the Kennedy Center Honors for her unparalleled influence on American culture. King was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical features a book by Douglas McGrath that tells the inspiring true story of King’s early life and career, using songs that she wrote, often together with Gerry Goffin, and other contemporary songs by Barry MannCynthia WeilPhil Spector and others. Orchestrations, vocal and incidental music arrangements are by Steve Sidwall

The original production of Beautiful received its world premiere in October 2013 at the Curran Theatre, San Francisco, with direction by Marc Bruni and choreography by Josh Prince, starring Chicago’s own Jessie Mueller. It debuted on Broadway in January 2014 at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, earning seven Tony nominations and two wins, including a Tony for Mueller for best leading actress in a musical for her portrayal of Carole King. 

About Paramount’s upcoming production, Artistic Director Jim Corti said, “Collaborating with co-director Johanna McKenzie Miller, choreographer Kenny Ingram, and music director Kory Danielson, we’re set up for singer/songwriter, and music producer herself, Tiffany Topol, to star and lead us into a nuanced reveal of the great Carole King."

"From her little known personal story and trailblazing professional career, from her start as a 17-year-old songwriter for hire to her triumphant Carnegie Hall concert in 1971, the year she was the first woman ever to win four Grammy Awards for her record breaking album 'Tapestry,' which remained the bestseller by a female artist for a quarter century. Take a seat and ride with us for her rise to self realization as a pop music powerhouse while continuing her work and desire toward life as a wife and mother. As she honors and owns her fearless and true gift, witness the start of how Carole King becomes one of the most celebrated and iconic singer/songwriters of all time!”

Paramount Artistic Director Jim Corti will co-direct Paramount’s production of Beautiful. Corti inaugurated Paramount’s Broadway Series with President and CEO Tim Rater in fall 2011 with the critically acclaimed My Fair Lady and a subscriber base of 12,500 patrons. In 2015, Paramount’s Broadway Series became Jeff Award eligible. Since then, Paramount has garnered 115 nominations with 29 wins, including three consecutive Best Large Musical awards for Les MisérablesWest Side Story and Sweeney Todd. Corti helmed all three, and won Best Director for two of them, Les Misérables and Sweeney Todd. Corti also directed Paramount’s Fiddler on the RoofMiss SaigonRENTThe Who’s TommyOklahoma!Mamma Mia!Million Dollar QuartetOnce, The ProducersNewsiesGroundhog Day: The MusicalNext to Normal, and co-directed Into the Woods and Fun Home. A Broadway veteran, he appeared in the original New York casts of Ragtime and Candide, joined the long running A Chorus Line, and toured nationally in UrinetownCabaret and Bob Fosse’s Dancin’. Other highlights include being the only director to have two productions in the same year in the Chicago Tribune’s 2009 list of 10 Best Shows for Drury Lane’s Cabaret and Writers Theatre’s Oh, Coward! He remains the sole honoree to have won Jeff Awards as an actor (Marriott’s Grand Hotel), choreographer (Drury Lane’s Singin’ in the Rain) and director (Paramount’s Sweeney Todd and Les Misérables, Drury Lane’s Sweet Charity and Northlight’s Blues in the Night). In addition to Beautiful, Corti is also directing Paramount’s BOLD Series spring 2024 revival of A Streetcar Named Desire with Elizabeth Swanson, March 13-April 21 at Paramount’s Copley Theatre.

Johanna McKenzie Miller (co-director) is making her Paramount debut with Beautiful. Most recently she directed Shrek at Music Theatre Works. Other directing credits include Steel Magnolias (Jeff Award, Best Ensemble Play-Large), The 39 Steps and Shrek (TYA) at Drury Lane Theatre; Kiss Me, KateThe Wizard of Oz (TYA), Junie B. Jones (TYA) and Elephant & Piggie’s We Are in a Play! (TYA) at Marriott Theatre; A Peculiar Inheritance and Romance en Route, the 91st and 92nd Annual Waa-Mu shows at Northwestern University; How to Lobster with Steppenwolf LookOut series, and Shrew’d! with First Folio Theatre. McKenzie Miller is the co-founder and artistic director of Lombard Children’s Theater Workshop.

Direct from Broadway, A BEAUTIFUL NOISE, THE NEIL DIAMOND MUSICAL will make its Chicago debut, November 12 – 24, 2024, at Broadway In Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre as part of multi-year North American Tour. 

TICKET INFORMATION

Groups of 10+ are now on sale by calling (312) 977-1710 or by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.A BEAUTIFUL NOISE will be part of the next Broadway In Chicago subscription. Current subscribers can renewal beginning on Monday, February 26, and the season will be available to new subscribers on Wednesday, March 20. Single tickets will be on sale at a later date. Ticket prices range from $40 - $135 with a select number of premium tickets available. For more details, visit BroadwayInChicago.com.

"Some of my most thrilling nights have been while I was on tour, bringing my music to audiences across the world," said Neil Diamond. "Having A BEAUTIFUL NOISE go on tour is an honor and I can't wait for audiences across North America to experience this show. I hope they enjoy it as much as I have."

The tour will be lead produced by Ken Davenport, Bob Gaudio and NETworks Presentations.

Producer Ken Davenport said, "Neil is one of the best live entertainers the world has ever seen. In his fifty-year career, he's performed for millions of fans around the globe. I couldn't imagine a more perfect way to honor his legacy than having A BEAUTIFUL NOISE touring North America, visiting the same cities where he gave so many people so much joy."

Producer Bob Gaudio said, "When Neil and I first started talking about making a musical using his music, I knew how daunting that would be. With Jersey Boys, I learned how vital it is to have a first-rate creative team making sure everything weaves together. We have that on A BEAUTIFUL NOISE—an incisive book that tells Neil's story honestly, fantastic choreography, one of the best directors on Broadway guiding the entire production, and of course, Neil's iconic songs. Having the show go on tour is an exciting next step."

The Broadway production continues to play for cheering audiences nightly at the Broadhurst Theatre in New York City.

A full tour route and casting will be announced at a later date. Please visit abeautifulnoisethemusical.com to sign up for the email newsletter and be among the first to receive tour news and updates.

"SO GOOD, SO GOOD, SO GOOD!"

CBS, CNN, GMA, Entertainment Weekly, Morning Joe

"DAZZLING! WE SAW HIS SHOW, NOW WE'RE A BELIEVER"

WBUR

"THE BIOGRAPHICAL DRAMA IS A HEARTWARMING CELEBRATION OF MR. DIAMOND'S UPLIFTING MUSIC AND INSPIRATIONAL LIFE."

THE WASHINGTON TIMES

ABOUT A BEAUTIFUL NOISE, THE NEIL DIAMOND MUSICAL

This is the story of that Brooklyn kid who made it big and took us all along for the ride. From those exhilarating early days in New York to the sold-out spectacles that defined his career, A BEAUTIFUL NOISE, THE NEIL DIAMOND MUSICAL explores the life of a rock icon through the music that made him "a national treasure" (Los Angeles Times).

The story of the legendary Neil Diamond comes to life on stage in an uplifting new Broadway musical, A BEAUTIFUL NOISE, featuring all his hit songs including "Sweet Caroline," "America," and "Cracklin' Rosie."

The grandson of Jewish and Polish immigrants, Brooklyn born and raised, Neil Diamond was a New York kid down to his boots, strumming his guitar on the steps of Erasmus High School on Flatbush Avenue. 1960s America was hungry for change and so was he. He landed a gig selling songs for fifty bucks a week in the legendary Tin Pan Alley's Brill Building. At night he honed his voice on stage at the Village's Bitter End, but knew he was destined for something greater. This was New York, after all. City of dreams. Full of life and opportunity where anyone could write their story. And so he did, in song after song.

10 Top 10 Hits. 140 million albums sold. His 1972 concert and live album Hot August Night sung in front of 5,000 screaming fans catapulted him to fame as the ultimate entertainer. He sang his way to a Grammy Award, into the Rock and Roll and Songwriters Halls of Fame, then topped it off with a Lifetime Achievement Grammy and the Kennedy Center Honors.

Directed by Tony Award® winner Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening, Hedwig and the Angry Inch), choreographed by Olivier Award winner Steven Hoggett (Once, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), and written by four-time Academy Award nominee Anthony McCarten (Bohemian Rhapsody, The Two Popes), A BEAUTIFUL NOISE is a thrilling look at an artist's search for himself and a celebration of the enduring power of his music.

The design team for A BEAUTIFUL NOISE on Broadway features Tony Award winner David Rockwell (scenic design), Tony Award nominee Emilio Sosa (costume design), four-time Tony Award winner Kevin Adams (lighting design), Tony Award winner Jessica Paz (sound design), Jamie Harrison (Illusion consultant), and Luc Verschueren (hair and wig design). The production has music supervision and arrangements by Sonny Paladino, incidental music and dance music arrangements by Brian Usifer, vocal design by AnnMarie Milazzo, and orchestrations by Bob Gaudio, Sonny Paladino, and Brian Usifer. Casting is by Jim Carnahan, CSA & Jason Thinger, CSA. The A BEAUTIFUL NOISE tour will be directed by Austin Regan and choreographed by Yasmine Lee. The stage management team is led by production stage manager Stacy N. Taylor. The company management team is led by Erik Birkeland.

A BEAUTIFUL NOISE, THE NEIL DIAMOND MUSICAL is produced on Broadway by Ken Davenport, Bob Gaudio, Sandi Moran, Hunter Arnold, Scott Abrams, Marco Santarelli, Jonathan and Rae Corr, Marguerite Steed Hoffman, Ron Kastner, Rob Kolson, Valli Family Group, Caiola Productions, Paul Dainty AM, Gaudio Family Group, Joseph J. Grano Jr., Starlight Theatre, Roy Putrino, James L. Nederlander, Tricia Blake, Mark E. Jacobs, Universal Music Group Theatrical, Deborah Green, Patty Baker, Sheri and Les Biller, H. Richard Hopper, Sharon Karmazin, NETworks Presentations, Adam Riemer, Matthew Salloway, BB Investments LLC, Universal Theatrical Group, Witz End Productions, Theatre Producers of Color, and Ryan Conway.

The Original Broadway Cast Recording of A BEAUTIFUL NOISE, THE NEIL DIAMOND MUSICAL, produced by Bob Gaudio and released by UMe, is available now as a CD and to stream on all major platforms. To order the album or stream it, please visit www.abeautifulnoise.lnk.to/originalcastalbumpr

Follow the show online: abeautifulnoisethemusical.com

Facebook.com/abeautifulnoisemusical

@beautifulnoise on X

@abeautifulnoisemusical on Instagram

ABOUT BROADWAY IN CHICAGO

Broadway In Chicago was created in July 2000 and over the past 24 years has grown to be one of the largest commercial touring homes in the country. A Nederlander Presentation, Broadway In Chicago lights up the Chicago Theater District entertaining up to 1.7 million people annually in five theatres. Broadway In Chicago presents a full range of entertainment, including musicals and plays, on the stages of five of the finest theatres in Chicago's Loop including the Cadillac Palace Theatre, CIBC Theatre, James M. Nederlander Theatre, and just off the Magnificent Mile, the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place and presenting Broadway shows at the Auditorium Theatre.

For more information, visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com.

Follow @broadwayinchicago on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok #broadwayinchicago

Monday, 19 February 2024 12:45

What you need to know about Mozart's Requiem

Lyric Opera of Chicago will present two performances of Mozart's Requiem for the first time in the company's history on March 22 and 24, 2024. These special events also represent a first for Lyric Music Director Enrique Mazzola, who will be conducting his first Mozart work for North American audiences.

The creation of this special program by Maestro Mazzola has two distinct parts. The first, featuring the incidental music that Mozart composed for the play Thamos, King of Egypt, is full of splendid and dramatic choruses, a perfect showcase for the Lyric Opera Chorus, prepared by Lyric Chorus Director Michael Black, along with the forces of the Lyric Opera Orchestra. The second half is a performance of Mozart's Requiem, one of the world's greatest choral pieces, with esteemed guest artists.

Four internationally acclaimed vocal soloists will take center stage to perform the Requiem's profoundly moving score: soprano Heidi Stober, mezzo-soprano Elizabeth DeShong, tenor Matthew Polenzani, and bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen.

  • Soprano Heidi Stober has performed several roles at Lyric. Notable appearances include Gretel in Hansel and Gretel (2022/23) and Dalinda in Ariodante (2018/19). Beyond Lyric, her career has flourished since her acclaimed debut at Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2008, and she has graced stages worldwide, including Semperoper Dresden and the Metropolitan Opera.

 

  • Mezzo-soprano Elizabeth DeShong, a Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center alumna, is well known to Lyric audiences with 14 roles since the 2005/06 Season, including standout performances of Pauline in The Queen of Spades (2019/20) and Adalgisa in Norma (2016/17). Her recording of Messiah with the Toronto Symphony, conducted by former Lyric Music Director Sir Andrew Davis, received two Grammy nominations in 2018.

 

  • Tenor Matthew Polenzani, also a Ryan Opera Center alumnus, has portrayed 15 roles at Lyric since the 1995/96 season, including recent performances as the title role in Idomeneo (2018/19) and the Duke in Rigoletto (2017/18). Polenzani's 2023/24 season includes engagements at Wiener Staatsoper, Teatro di San Carlo, and a return to the Metropolitan Opera.

 

  • Bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen has performed seven roles on Lyric's stage since the 2004/05 season, including Dulcamara in L'elisir d'amore (2021/22) and the King of Scotland in Ariodante(2018/19). Ketelsen's 2023/24 season includes a debut at Opéra National de Paris and performances at Staatsoper Hamburg and the Metropolitan Opera.


Production details:

  • Only two chances to see these special performances with very limited ticket availability: Friday, March 22 at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, March 24 at 2:00 p.m.
  • Performed in German and Latin with projected English titles above the stage.
  • A running time of 2 hours and 15 minutes, including 1 intermission.
Lead producer Colin Ingram together with Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, the creators of the Back to the Future film trilogy, and Broadway In Chicago are thrilled to announce the 2022 Olivier Award-winning Best New Musical, BACK TO THE FUTURE: The Musical will come to Chicago as part of its upcoming season package. The Broadway and West End hit show based on the Universal Pictures/Amblin Entertainment film will play the Cadillac Palace Theatre from August 13 – September 1, 2024. Casting will be announced at a later date.
 
TICKET INFORMATION
Groups of 10+ are now on sale by calling (312) 977-1710 or by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.BACK TO THE FUTURE will be part of the next Broadway In Chicago subscription. Current subscribers can renewal beginning on Monday, February 26, and the season will be available to new subscribers on Wednesday, March 20. Single tickets will be on sale at a later date. Ticket prices range from $40 - $135 with a select number of premium tickets available. For more details, visit BroadwayInChicago.com.
 
Following celebrated productions in London's West End and on Broadway, BACK TO THE FUTURE: The Musical will open its tour at Playhouse Square in Cleveland, Ohio, in June 2024 and continue to destinations across North America. The tour launches less than 12 months after the show's Broadway opening on August 3, 2023, at the Winter Garden Theatre. The critically acclaimed West End production of BACK TO THE FUTURE: The Musical officially opened in London on September 13, 2021, has been seen by more than 800,000 people to date, and broken multiple Adelphi Theatre box office records. The production won the Best New Musical Olivier Award as well as multiple WhatsOnStage Awards and a Broadway World Award for Best New Musical. BACK TO THE FUTURE: The Musical had its world premiere at the Manchester Opera House on March 11, 2020.
 
"BRINGS ALL THE MAGIC FROM THE SCREEN TO THE STAGE!" – Entertainment Weekly
 
Marty McFly is a rock 'n' roll teenager who is accidentally transported back to 1955 in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his friend, Dr. Emmett Brown. But before he can return to 1985, Marty must make sure his high school-aged parents fall in love in order to save his own existence.
 
Based on the Universal Pictures/Amblin Entertainment film, BACK TO THE FUTURE: The Musical has a book by Bob Gale, new music and lyrics by Emmy and Grammy Award-winning Alan Silvestri and six-time Grammy Award-winning Glen Ballard, with additional songs from the film including "The Power of Love" and "Johnny B. Goode." Bob Gale is the co-creator and co-writer of the Back to the Future film trilogy and Alan Silvestri composed the iconic film score for the series.
 
BACK TO THE FUTURE: The Musical is directed by Tony Award® winner John Rando and features a multi-Tony and Olivier Award-winning design team that includes Tim Hatley (set and costume design), Tim Lutkin and Hugh Vanstone (lighting), Gareth Owen (sound) and Finn Ross (video), with choreography by Chris Bailey, musical supervision and arrangements by Nick Finlow, illusions by Chris Fisher, orchestrations by Ethan Popp and Bryan Crook, dance arrangements by David Chase, and casting by Tara RubinBespoke Theatricals serves as General Manager.
 
"THE AUDIENCE GOES WILD!" – The New York Times
 
Bob Gale said, "To paraphrase Marty McFly, you guys are ready for this, and your kids are gonna love it (too)! If Bob Zemeckis and I time traveled back to 1980 and told our younger selves that the script they were struggling to write would become a Broadway musical 43 years later, they'd kick us out of their office and call us crazy. Well, sometimes, crazy ideas give birth to great entertainment, and now Bob and I are eager to share our musical vision with New York audiences. The London production exceeded our original expectations on every level, and we're certain the Broadway version, along with the fantastic songs by Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard, will be even better. Regardless of whether you've seen the original film, BACK TO THE FUTURE: The Musical, with its outstanding performances and incredible stagecraft, will delight and enthrall you, your kids, your parents, and everyone you know!"
 
Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard said, "It all began for us with the story and characters that made Back To The Future a much beloved, cinematic classic. The magic of musical theatre presented us with the possibility of adding new dimension and depth to our familiar Hill Valley residents. Through song and dance their innermost thoughts, hopes, and dreams are now revealed. It's a story first told in 1985, that traveled back to 1955, and will now be told in 2023 in New York City and, starting in 2024, across North America. We are thrilled and excited to invite you to join us on this epic journey through time."
 
Lead Producer Colin Ingram said, "Following London and Broadway, we are delighted to take BACK TO THE FUTURE: The Musical on the road. We look forward to entertaining and thrilling audiences, who have cherished this story for decades, with the moving and spectacular musical version."
 
The Original Cast Recording of BACK TO THE FUTURE: The Musical is available now from Sony Masterworks Broadway in all formats, including vinyl. (https://soundtracks.lnk.to/BTTFAlbum) A deluxe 2-disc edition of the Original Cast Recording featuring never heard before demos of the songs from the musical was released by Sony Masterworks Broadway on June 30, 2023.
 
A 240-page hardcover book, Creating Back to the Future The Musical by Michael Klastorin, the official behind-the-scenes companion to the stage musical adaptation of Back to the Future, published by Abrams Books, was released on July 3, 2023.
 
Back to the Future the film was released in 1985, starring Michael J. Fox as "Marty McFly" and Christopher Lloyd as "Dr. Emmett Brown." The film grossed $360.6 million at the box office worldwide and the total box office for all three films in the Back to the Future franchise was $936.6 million (over $1.8 billion in today's money).
 
Follow BACK TO THE FUTURE: THE MUSICIAL at @bttfbway on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram.
 
For more information visit www.BackToTheFutureMusical.com.
 
BIOGRAPHIES
COLIN INGRAM (Lead Producer). Olivier Award-winning producer Colin Ingram has worked in the theatre industry for 27 years with some of the world's leading producers, directors, designers and writers. He currently produces Back To The Future – The Musical and Grease on the West End and has just premiered Time Traveller's Wife – The Musical in Chester prior to a West End transfer. Back To The Future won Best New Musical at the Olivier Awards (after 7 nominations), What's On Stage Award and Broadwayworld.com and the London Lifestyle Award for Best Theatre Show. Colin produced Ghost the Musical which has been staged in 22 countries in 14 languages in over 30 productions including West End and Broadway. It was nominated for five Olivier Awards and three Tony Awards and won Best Musical at the Manchester Theatre Awards. He was Executive Producer of the multi-Tony and Olivier-Award winning Billy Elliot the Musical in the West End and consulted on the Broadway and Australian productions. He also lead-produced Breakfast at Tiffany's on Broadway and twice in the West End, and on the UK tour starring Emilia Clarke ("Game of Thrones"), Anna Friel and Pixie Lott. It won a Broadway.com award for Best Play. Prior to becoming an independent producer, Colin worked for Cameron Mackintosh for six years, general-managing Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, Oklahoma! (starring Hugh Jackman), The Witches of Eastwick and the Les Misérables 10th anniversary concert at the Royal Albert Hall. He then joined Disney Theatrical Productions to be UK Managing Director overseeing the London office and the productions of The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and other shows in development. Colin then joined the Old Vic as Executive Producer and produced Hamlet starring Ben Whishaw, Aladdin starring Ian McKellen, and Richard IIThe Philadelphia Story and National Anthems. He then produced the Billy Joel/Twyla Tharp musical Movin' Out in the West End, and co-produced Gone With the Wind directed by Trevor Nunn. In 2016, Colin joined Madison Square Gardens Entertainment as Executive Vice President of Productions. At Radio City, he produced the New York Spectacular starring the Radio City Rockettes – a major undertaking involving over 350 cast, crew and musicians – and produced the 2016 Christmas Spectacular starring the Radio City Rockettes, achieving the highest revenue in its 85-year history. coliningramltd.com
 
BOB GALE (Book, Co-Creator, Producer) is an Oscar-nominated Screenwriter-Producer-Director, best known as co-creator, co-writer and co-producer of Back to the Future and its sequels. Gale was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Cinema from the University of Southern California in 1973, where he met and began his association with his longtime collaborator, Robert Zemeckis. Gale has written or co-written over 30 screenplays and his other film credits include 1941, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, Used Cars, Trespass and Interstate 60, the latter which he directed. In addition to his film and television work, and being the "Gatekeeper" for the BTTF Franchise, Gale has written comic books including Spider-Man, Batman, Daredevil and IDW's Back to the Future series, thus proving to his father that he did not waste hours and hours reading comics in his youth. He has given talks on screenwriting in colleges across the USA, and enjoys meeting fans at Comic Conventions and Back to the Future events. He has also served as an Expert Witness in over 25 plagiarism lawsuits, even though this has occasionally required him to wear a suit and tie. When he's not in production, writing, or wasting time on the internet, he actually does take out the trash, even when his wife doesn't ask (well, sometimes he does). Gale lives in California with his wife and dog. Back to the Future the Musical is his first foray into writing for the stage.
 
ROBERT ZEMECKIS (Co-Creator, Producer) won an Academy Award©, a Golden Globe and a Director's Guild of American Award for Best Director for the hugely successful and popular Forrest Gump. The film's numerous honors also included a Best Picture Oscar and for Tom Hanks, a Best Actor Oscar. Early in his career, he co-wrote with Bob Gale and directed Back to the Future, which was the top-grossing release of 1985, and for which Zemeckis shared Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for Best Original Screenplay. He then went on to helm Back to the Future, Part II and Part III, completing one of the most successful film franchises in Motion Picture history. Zemeckis has continued to bring an impressive number of popular films to the screen including the comedies Used Cars and I Wanna Hold Your Hand, the romantic adventure Romancing The Stone starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner and the macabre comedy hit Death Becomes Her starring Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn and Bruce Willis. He also directed Who Framed Roger Rabbit, cleverly blending live action and animation in a feature film, resulting in a worldwide box office smash. Zemeckis re-teamed with Hanks directing and producing the contemporary drama Cast Away which opened to critical and audience acclaim. He directed and produced Contact, starring Jodie Foster, based on the best-selling novel by Carl Sagan. He also co-wrote and directed the motion capture film The Polar Express, starring Tom Hanks as a charming train conductor taking children on a magical adventure to the North Pole. Zemeckis produced and directed his second motion capture film, Beowulf which starred Anthony Hopkins and Angelina Jolie, based on one of the oldest surviving pieces of Anglo-Saxon literature, written before the 10th Century A.D. He released another advanced motion-capture film: A Christmas Carol, based on the celebrated and beloved classic story by Charles Dickens which he both wrote and directed for The Disney Studios. Zemeckis returned to live action direction with the critically-acclaimed dramatic feature film Flight, for Paramount Pictures starring Denzel Washington. Under the direction of Zemeckis, Washington received an Academy Award nomination for the role. For The Walk, he directed Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Ben Kingsley in the story of French high-wire artist Philippe Petit's 1974 attempt to cross the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. He then directed the romantic thriller Allied starring Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard, telling the compelling story of the relationship between a Canadian Intelligence Officer and a French Resistance Fighter against the backdrop of WWII in North Africa in 1942. Along with Caroline Thompson Zemeckis wrote the screenplay for Welcome to Marwen, which he directed for Universal Pictures. The film starred Steve Carell as artist Mark Hogancamp who created a miniature WWII-era village as a way to recover from a violent assault. He then directed The Witches for Warner Bros. Studios. Zemeckis produced such films as The Frighteners, Monster House, Last Holiday, and as a producer brought the true life story of The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio starring Julianne Moore and Woody Harrelson to the big screen. Along with Bob Gale, Zemeckis co-wrote Trespass. He and Gale previously wrote 1941, which began a long-time association with Steven Spielberg. For his present directorial effort, Zemeckis has completed Pinocchio which he co-wrote for the Disney Studios. The film is currently on Disney+. In 1998 Zemeckis, Steve Starkey and Jack Rapke partnered to form the ImageMovers, a production company dedicated to telling character-driven stories across many genres for film and television incorporating into their both cutting-edge and innovative digital technology. For the small screen, his television directing credits include episodes of Spielberg's Amazing Stores and HBO's Tales From the Crypt. He serves as Executive Producer on Medal of Honor, for Netflix and also Executive Produces on Blue Book for the History Channel and Executive Produces on Manifest for NBC and Warner Bros. Studios. In March 2001, the USC School of Cinema-Television celebrated the opening of the Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts. This state-of-the-art center is the country's first and only fully digital training center and houses the latest in non-linear production and post-production equipment as well as stages, a 50-seat screening room and USC student-run television station, Trojan Vision.
 
ALAN SILVESTRI (Music & Lyrics). In his ongoing, decades-long career as a composer, Alan Silvestri has blazed an innovative trail with his exciting and melodic scores, winning the applause of Hollywood and movie audiences the world over. With a credit list of over 100 films, Silvestri has composed some of the most recognisable and beloved themes in movie history. His efforts have been recognised with two Oscar® nominations, two Golden Globe nominations, two Emmy® awards, eight Grammy award nominations leading to three Grammy® awards and numerous International Film Music Critics Awards, Saturn Awards, and Hollywood Music In Media Awards. Born in New York City and raised in Teaneck, New Jersey, Silvestri first dreamed of becoming a jazz guitar player. After attending the Berklee School of Music in Boston, he hit the road as a performer and arranger. Landing in Hollywood at the age of 22, he found himself successfully composing the music for 1972's The Doberman Gang which established his place in the world of film composing. The 1970s witnessed the rise of energetic synth-pop scores, establishing Silvestri as the action rhythmatist for TV's highway patrol hit "CHiPs." This action-driven score caught the ear of a young filmmaker named Robert Zemeckis, whose 1984 hit film, Romancing the Stone, was the perfect first date for the composer and director. Its success became the basis of a decades- long relationship that continues to this day. Their numerous collaborations have taken them through fascinating landscapes and stylistic variations, from the Back to the Future trilogy to Toontown in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, the tension of What Lies Beneath and Death Becomes Her, to the cosmic wonder of Contact; the emotional isolation of Castaway , to the magic of The Polar Express, to Zemeckis' 1994 Best Picture winner, Forrest Gump, for which Silvestri's gift for melodically beautiful themes earned him an Oscar and Golden Globe nomination. This 39-year, 22-film collaboration includes such recent films as Flight, Allied, The Witches and Walt Disney's Pinocchio starring Tom Hanks. Zemeckis and Silvestri are currently working on Here starring Tom Hanks and Robin Wright which is scheduled for release in 2023. Though the Zemeckis/Silvestri collaboration is legendary, Silvestri has scored films of every imaginable style and genre. His energy has brought excitement and emotion to the hard-hitting orchestral scores for Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One, James Cameron's The Abyss as well as Predator 1 and 2 and The Mummy Returns. Alan's diversity is on full display in family entertainment films such as The Father of the Bride 1 and 2The Parent Trap, Stuart Little 1 and 2, Disney's Lilo and Stitch, The Croods as well as Night at the Museum 1, 2 and 3 while his passion for melody fuels the romantic emotion of films like The Bodyguard and What Women Want. In 2018-19 Alan composed the music for Marvel's Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. These films are the culmination of a partnership with Marvel that began in 2011 with his dynamically heroic score for Captain America: The First Avenger followed by The Avengers in 2012. Alan's collaboration with Marvel helped propel The Avengers: Infinity Saga to spectacular worldwide success. Silvestri's success has also crossed into the world of songwriting for film and stage. His partnership with six-time Grammy Award-winner Glen Ballard has produced movie hits such as the Grammy-winning and Oscar- nominated song 'Believe' (Josh Groban) for The Polar Express, 'Butterfly Fly Away' (Miley Cyrus) for Hannah Montana The Movie, 'God Bless Us Everyone' (Andrea Bocelli) for A Christmas Carol and 'A Hero Comes Home' (Idina Menzel) for Beowulf. Silvestri and Ballard's newest venture is the phenomenally successful Back to the Future: The Musical. Silvestri and Ballard cowrote the songs and Silvestri adapted his iconic score for the stage. This collaboration proved to be irresistible to audiences and critics alike as Back to the Future: The Musical was honored with the prestigious Olivier Award for Best New Musical of 2022
 
GLEN BALLARD (Music & Lyrics). Six-time Grammy Award winner Glen Ballard is one of popular music's most accomplished producers and songwriters, whose records have sold more than one hundred and fifty million copies worldwide. Through his Los Angeles-based production company, Augury, Ballard is developing a diverse slate of projects in which music plays a central role. His most recent project is the Netflix Original series "The Eddy": a music-driven multicultural drama about a jazz band trying to survive in chaotic modern-day Paris which debuted in May 2020. Ballard wrote and composed original songs and music for the limited series and served as an executive producer alongside Oscar-winning director Damien Chazelle, BAFTA and Tony award winning writer Jack Thorne, and Emmy winning producer/director Alan Poul. Ballard wrote original lyrics and music for GHOST the Musical which debuted in 2011 and has since been touring worldwide. Ballard's international production company, Augury is a producer of the stage adaptation of 1985's Back to the Future having worked on the project's development for more than 14 years. In collaboration with Grammy Award-winning and Oscar-nominated film composer Alan Silvestri, Ballard created original music and lyrics for the production which includes 17 new original songs and is directed by John Rando. Ballard is also writing songs for the stage version of the 1979 movie The Rose, to be produced by Gail Berman (The Jackal Group) and Michael Gorfaine and Sam Schwartz in association with Augury. Ballard produced and co-wrote Alanis Morissette's "Jagged Little Pill" (33 million worldwide, four Grammys, and named Best Album of the Decade by Billboard Magazine), and in 2019 a musical called Jagged Little Pill featuring all the songs from the album debuted on Broadway. Directed by Diane Paulus with a book by Diablo Cody, Jagged Little Pill the Musical was nominated for 15 Tony Awards in 2020. Ballard has written and produced songs for Quincy Jones, Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, Dave Matthews, Shakira, Katy Perry, Idina Menzel, George Benson, Ringo Starr, George Strait, Wilson Phillips, Van Halen, Chaka Khan, Patti Austin, Al Jarreau, Andrea Bocelli and many others. His production credits include producing and arranging records for Annie Lennox, No Doubt and POD. Ballard co-wrote and arranged "Man in the Mirror" for Michael Jackson and co-wrote and produced the Grammy-winning and Oscar-nominated song "Believe" (Josh Groban) for the feature film The Polar Express. His work in film includes writing original songs for Charlotte's Web, Beowulf, A Christmas Carol, The Croods, The Mummy's Return, Valentine's Day and Disney's live-action retelling of Pinocchio which premiered on Disney+ on September 8, 2022.
 
JOHN RANDO (Director) won the Best Director Tony Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for Urinetown. His hit production of Back to the Future is currently on London's West End. Other Broadway credits include Mr. Saturday Night, On the Town (Tony nomination), A Christmas Story, The Wedding Singer, Penn & Teller, A Thousand Clowns, and Neil Simon's The Dinner Party. For City Center Encores! he directed The New Yorkers, High Button Shoes, It's a Bird... It's a Plane...It's Superman, Annie Get Your Gun, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Damn Yankees, Face the Music, Of Thee I Sing, The Pajama Game, Do Re Mi and Strike Up the Band. At the New York Philharmonic, Carousel. Off-Broadway credits include Jerry Springer the Opera, David Ives' The Heir Apparent (SDCF Callaway Award) and All in the Timing (Obie Award). John's work can be seen in China in two original musicals: Jay Chou's The Secret and Spirit of Life – The Jonathan Lee Musical.
 
TIM HATLEY (Set and Costume Design). Double nominations at the 2022 Olivier Awards - Best Set Design for Back to the Future and Life of Pi. (Winner) Tim has designed extensively for The National Theatre, West End and Broadway, and is the winner of 2 Tony Awards, 3 Olivier Awards, & 4 Drama Desk Awards, including the 2022 Olivier Award for Best Set Design for Life of Pi. Recent theatre credits include: Life of Pi (West End); Back to the Future (West End & UK Tour); Dreamgirls (West End & UK Tour); Travesties (Menier/West End/ Broadway); Ghosts (Almeida Theatre/West End/Brooklyn Academy of Music); Little Eyolf (Almeida Theatre); Temple (Donmar Warehouse); Enemy of the People, Pajama Game (Chichester Festival Theatre); The Slaves of Solitude & Drawing The Line (Hampstead Theatre); Mr. Foote's Other Leg (Hampstead Theatre/West End), The Bodyguard (West End/International Tours); Shrek (West End/ Broadway/UK Tour/US Tour); Spamalot (West End/Broadway/US Tour/Las Vegas); Singin' in the Rain, My Fair Lady (Chatelet Paris) and Carmen & Don Quixote (The Royal Ballet). Film credits include Production Design for: Closer, Notes on a Scandal and Stage Beauty.
 
CHRIS BAILEY (Choreography) is a choreographer and director whose recent credits include Back To The Future (London, West End), Gettin' The Band Back Together (Broadway), Jerry Springer The Opera (The New Group, Chita Rivera Award Nominee), The New Yorkers (NY City Center Encores!), 1776 (NY City Center Encores!), The Entertainer with Kenneth Branagh (West End), Assassins (Menier Chocolate Factory), Cyrano De Bergerac (Broadway), A Little Night Music (Stratford), and Because Of Winn Dixie (Goodspeed). Chris choreographed the historic opening number 'Bigger' with Neil Patrick Harris of the 2013 Tony Awards (CBS) and served as associate choreographer numerous times for the Academy Awards. Feature films he has worked on include: Cinderella, Ted 2, A Million Ways To Die In The West and Beyond The Sea. Chris has worked closely with Charlize Theron, Channing Tatum, Seth MacFarlane, Neil Patrick Harris, Daniel Radcliffe, Kenneth Branagh, and Hugh Jackman. Chris is originally from Leicestershire, UK and now lives in New York City.
 
NICK FINLOW (Musical Supervision and Arrangements) is the Musical Supervisor, Additional Music & Vocal Arranger for the New Musical, The Time Traveller's Wife, Musical Supervisor, Vocal & Additional Music Arranger for Back to The Future London and Musical Supervisor for Dreamgirls UK Tour. He is UK Musical Supervisor for The Book of Mormon London and UK Tour and Associate Musical Supervisor for Mamma Mia! London. Previous work includes: Musical Supervisor and Conductor for Dreamgirls – London, Musical Supervisor: Memphis – London, Avenue Q UK Tour, Les Misérables UK Tour. Musical Director roles include: The Book Of Mormon, Jersey Boys, Avenue Q, Acorn Antiques, Mamma Mia!, Tonight's The Night, Tell Me on a Sunday & Rent. Recordings: Co-Producer & Musical Supervisor – Back To The Future Original London cast album, Musical Supervisor: Dreamgirls London cast album, Memphis London cast album. He graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and has a postgraduate diploma in Advanced Piano studies.
 
TIM LUTKIN (Lighting Design). London West End: Life Of Pi (Wyndhams Theatre) (Laurence Olivier Award - Won); Back To The Future - The Musical (Adelphi Theatre) (Laurence Olivier Award - Nomination); Four Quartets starring Ralph Fiennes (Harold Pinter Theatre); Chimerica (Harold Pinter Theatre and Almeida) (Laurence Olivier Award - Won); Fiddler On The Roof (Playhouse Theatre); Big - The Musical (Dominion Theatre & National Tour); Noises Off (Garrick Theatre); Elf - The Musical (Dominion Theatre & National Tour); Quiz (Noël Coward Theatre); The Girls - The Musical (Phoenix Theatre); The Go Between starring Michael Crawford (Apollo Theatre); Close To You Bacharach Reimagined (Criterion Theatre); Impossible (Noël Coward Theatre); Strangers On A Train (Gielgud Theatre) (WhatsOnStage Award - Nomination); The Full Monty (Noël Coward Theatre & National Tours); A Number (Old Vic Theatre); Lungs (Old Vic Theatre); Present Laughter (Old Vic Theatre) (WhatsOnStage Award - Nomination); The Crucible (Old Vic Theatre); David Blaine Live (Hammersmith Apollo and National Arena Tour); Dynamo Live - Seeing Is Believing (Hammersmith Apollo and World Arena Tour).
 
HUGH VANSTONE (Lighting Design) has designed lighting for over 200 productions worldwide and received many accolades for his work including two Tonys and three Olivier Awards for best lighting. Broadway credits include A Christmas Carol (2019 Tony award), The Boys in the Band, Groundhog Day, An Act of God, I'll Eat You Last..., Matilda (2013 Tony Award), Ghost (Tony nom), La Bête, Mary Stuart (Tony nom), A Steady Rain, God of Carnage, Shrek, Boeing-Boeing, Spamalot (Tony nom), Bombay DreamsLife x3, The Graduate, Blast!, Follies, The Unexpected Man, Closer, The Blue Room, ART . Hugh is based in London where he has won three Olivier Awards for Best Lighting. More at hughvanstone.com
 
FINN ROSS (Video Design). He has won two Oliviers, a Tony and three Drama Desks & four What's on Stage Awards. Recent work...Theatre: Tammy Fey, Spring Awakening (Almeida); My Neighbour Totoro (RSC); Dancin (Broadway); Back to the Future (West End); Frozen (West End) Les Misérables (West End); Sweet Charity (Donmar); Mean Girls (Broadway), Bat out of Hell (West End and International), Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (West End & Broadway), Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Broadway/West End/Tour); Jagged Little Pill, In the Body of the World (American Reparatory Theatre & Broadway); American Psycho (Broadway & Almeida); Betrayal (Broadway); Chimerica (Almeida & West End); The Tempest (The RSC & Barbican); Master and Margarita, All My Sons, Shunkin (Complicite) Opera: The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahogany (Royal Opera House); Missa Solemnis (LA Phil); Benvenuto Cellini, Death of Klinghoffer, Death in Venice, Damnation of Faust, Don Giovanni, (ENO); Hänsel und Gretel, Zäuberflote, A Dog's Heart (DNO, Amsterdam); La clemenza di Tito, Mr Brouček (Opera North); Les Pêcheurs de Perles, Béatrice et Bénédict, Turn of the Screw (Theatre an der Wien); Rinaldo (Glyndebourne); Dance: Anna Karenina (The Joffrey Ballet); The Nutcracker (Atlanta Ballet); The Feeling of Going (Skånes Dansteater and Malmö Opera) Music: Cold Play (Music of the Spheres); Sam Fender (17 Going Under); Foals (Life is Yours); Herbert Grönemayer (20th Anniversary Concert); Mark Ronson (Midnight Feeling), J Balvin Fornightmares (Fortnight), W Hotel Instillation (Guangzhou, China); Rolling Stones Exhibitionism (International).
 
GARETH OWEN (Sound Design). Sound Design Award highlights: Tony Award & Drama Desk Award for MJ: The Musical; Olivier Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Broadway World Award, Green Room Award, Dora Award, Craig Noel Award and the WhatsOnStage Award for Come From Away; Olivier Award for Memphis; Olivier Award for Merrily We Roll Along; Tony nomination for A Little Night Music; Tony nomination for End Of The Rainbow; Olivier nomination for Back To The Future; Olivier nomination for Bat Out Of Hell; Olivier nomination for Top Hat; Olivier nomination for End Of The Rainbow and Pro Sound Award for Sound Engineer Of The Year. Broadway highlights: MJ: The Musical, & Juliet, Diana, Summer, Come From Away, A Bronx Tale, Spring Awakening, End Of The Rainbow, Bat Out Of Hell, Secret Garden and A Little Night Music. West End Highlights: Back To The Future, ALW's Cinderella, Prince Of Egypt, & Juliet, Come From Away, Bat Out Of Hell, Strictly Ballroom, 42nd Street, Wind In The Willows, Memphis, I Can't Sing, In The Heights, La Cage Aux Folles and Top Hat. International highlights: Starlight Express (Bochum, Germany), Disney's Hunchback Of Notre Dame (Worldwide), Disney's Little Mermaid (Worldwide).
 
CHRIS FISHER (Illusions) is a member of The Magic Circle. He works worldwide as International Illusions & Magic Associate for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Theatre as Illusion Consultant in New York includes; Company (Bernard B Jacobs Theatre), Angels in America (Neil Simon Theatre), Superhero (Tony Kiser Theatre). Illusion Consultant in London and UK: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Leeds Playhouse), The Time Traveller's Wife (Chester Storyhouse), Back to the Future: The Musical (Adelphi); 2:22 - A Ghost Story (Criterion, Gielgud and Noel Coward). The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Gillian Lynne and UK tour); Bedknobs and Broomsticks (UK Tour), Wicked (NeueFlora Theatre, Hamburg); Merlin (Northern Ballet); The Prince of Egypt (Dominion); Big the Musical (Dominion); Company (Gielgud), Peter Gynt (National Theatre); Julie (National Theatre); Angels in America (National Theatre); Macbeth (RSC, Swan Theatre and Barbican); Titus Andronicus (RSC), Barnum (Menier Chocolate Factory); The Hypocrite (Hull Truck Theatre/RSC, Swan Theatre); No Man's Land (Wyndham's); Into the Woods (Royal Exchange); Here We Go, Treasure Island (National Theatre); The Skriker (Royal Exchange).
 
ETHAN POPP (Orchestrations) is a Grammy Award nominated music producer as well as an Olivier Award and two-time Tony Award nominated orchestrator. With a career spanning over the last twenty years, his work as a music supervisor, arranger, orchestrator and music producer has been seen and heard worldwide. Theatre: Back To The Future (2022 Olivier Award Nomination – Best Original Score Or Orchestrations), Mrs. Doubtfire, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical (2021 Tony Award Nomination – Best Orchestrations), School of Rock (2016 Tony Award Nomination – Best New Musical), Hedwig And The Angry Inch (2015 Tony Award Winner – Best Revival of a Musical), Motown The Musical (2013 Tony Award Nomination – Best Orchestrations & 2014 Grammy Award Nomination – Best Musical Theatre Album), Rock of Ages (2008 Tony Award Nomination – Best New Musical), Disney's Tarzan, We Will Rock You, Disney's Aida, Disney's The Lion King, Mamma Mia! and more. Television: Ethan has served as a composer, music producer, arranger and orchestrator on works from NBC/Universal's "Smash" and HBO's "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver." Film: His work on the big screen can be heard most notably as Music Director and Music Production Supervisor for 20th Century Fox's The Greatest Showman starring Hugh Jackman, and as vocal and piano coach to Academy Award winner Rami Malek in his starring role in Bohemian Rhapsody. www.ethanpopp.com
 
BRYAN CROOK (Orchestrations) is a Tony and Olivier-nominated orchestrator, songwriter, producer, composer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist. He has performed on and contributed to several Grammy-winning albums and his career has been full of varied collaborations, from orchestral, Broadway, film, and television to jazz, pop, rock, EDM, and heavy metal. Credits include Ice Age 4 (Fox), The Emmy Awards, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (Universal Studios), The Billboard Music Awards, The Tony Awards, Motown the Musical, The Book of Mormon, Back to the Future: The Musical, "Smash" (NBC), Legally Blonde, West Side Story, First Date, In the Heights, and Doubtfire among many others. He has played woodwinds in over 25 Broadway pit orchestras and touring shows around the world. Bryan maintains a busy studio schedule, composing, songwriting, recording, and producing music for film, TV, and commercial projects. He works with an amazing team of artists and producers through his production and publishing company Mana Music & Media with his best friends and partners Michael and Sarah Surprenant. Bryan's work can currently be heard in worldwide companies of Back to the Future: The Musical, Book of Mormon and Doubtfire. Bryan's most important credits will always be a husband to Hilary and father to Liam, Ethan, and Henry. I love you all dearly.
 
DAVID CHASE (Dance Arrangements). Music director, supervisor and/or arranger for over 40 Broadway productions. Many arrangements and orchestrations for the Boston Pops (including their signature Twelve Days of Christmas), The Kennedy Center Honors, Radio City Music Hall, and TV's "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," "Love and Death" and "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend." Music director and arranger for NBC's "Sound of Music Live!" and "Peter Pan Live!" (Emmy nominations for both), and Apple TV's "Schmigadoon!." Choral works recorded by Judith Clurman's EssentialVoicesUSA and published by Hal Leonard. Grammy and Olivier nominations. David lives in NYC with his wife, actress and Drama Desk nominee Paula Leggett Chase, and their two sons, Kyler and Dashiell. 
 
TARA RUBIN (Casting). Selected Broadway and National Tours: KPOP, Mr. Saturday Night, Six, Ain't Too Proud, King Kong, The Band's Visit, Prince of Broadway, Sunset Boulevard, Miss Saigon, Dear Evan Hansen, Cats, Falsettos, School of Rock, Bullets Over Broadway, Big Fish, Billy Elliot, Shrek, Spamalot, ...Spelling Bee, The Producers, Mamma Mia!, Jersey Boys, Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera. Selected Off-Broadway: Sing Street, Trevor, Between the Lines, Clueless, Gloria: A Life, Smokey Joe's Café, Here Lies Love.
 
ABOUT BROADWAY IN CHICAGO
Broadway In Chicago was created in July 2000 and over the past 24 years has grown to be one of the largest commercial touring homes in the country. A Nederlander Presentation, Broadway In Chicago lights up the Chicago Theater District entertaining up to 1.7 million people annually in five theatres. Broadway In Chicago presents a full range of entertainment, including musicals and plays, on the stages of five of the finest theatres in Chicago's Loop including the Cadillac Palace Theatre, CIBC Theatre, James M. Nederlander Theatre, and just off the Magnificent Mile, the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place and presenting Broadway shows at the Auditorium Theatre.
 
For more information, visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com.
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Trap Door Theatre is thrilled to close its 30th anniversary season by celebrating the past with a reimagining of our hit production of Nana. Adapted for the stage from Emile Zola's scandalous novel by Olwen Wymark, Nana will be directed by Resident Choreographer Miguel Long, and Nicole Wiesner, who originated the role of Nana in 2002. Nana will play April 11 – May 18, 2024 at Trap Door Theatre, 1655 W Cortland St. in Chicago. Tickets are now on sale at trapdoortheatre.com or by calling (773)-384-0494. The press opening is on opening night, Thursday, April 11, 2024 at 8:00 pm.

Olwen Wymark's splendid dramatization of Zola's Nana is a story of sexual and financial greed in nineteenth-century Parisian society, depicting the rise and tragic downfall of a young courtesan.

Managing Director Nicole Wiesner and Resident Choreographer Miguel Long team up again to direct this reimagination, first produced at Trap Door in 2002.


The production team includes Kayci Johnston (Stage Manager), Merje Veski (Scenic Designer), Richard Norwood (Lighting Designer), Rachel Sypniewski (Costume Designer), Danny Rockett (Music Composer/Sound Designer), Zsófia Ötvös (Make Up Designer), Ember Sappington (Dramaturg), Michal Janicki (Graphic Designer), and Genevieve Corkery, Caleb Lee Jenkins, Isabella Moran, and Jacqui Touchet (Understudies).

PRODUCTION DETAILS:

Title: Nana

Author: Emile Zola

Adaptor: Olwen Wymark

Directors: Miguel Long and Nicole Wieser

Cast (in alphabetical order): Maryam Abdi (Nana), Raúl Arámbula (Fanton), Dan Cobbler (Fauchery), Beck Damron (Georges), Eddy Karch (Muffat), Emily Lotspeich (Zoe), David Lovejoy (Bordenave), Emily Nichelson (Satin), Tia Pinson (Lerat), and Amber Washington (Sabine).

Location: Trap Door Theatre, 1655 W. Cortland St. Chicago, IL 60622

Dates: Regular Run: Thursday, April 11 –Saturday, May 18, 2024

There will be a special Gala performance on Sunday, May 19th.

Curtain Times: Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8:00 pm.

Tickets: $30 with 2-for-1 admission on Thursdays. Tickets are currently available at https://trapdoor.ticketleap.com/nana/ or by calling (773) 384-0494.

Group tickets: Special group rates are available. For information, call (773) 384-0494 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Plan your visit:

Free street parking is available.

Buses: #9 (Ashland), #50 (Damen), #72 (North), #73 (Armitage).

Metra: Clybourn metra stop.

Accessibility:

Trap Door Theatre is wheelchair accessible.

There will be a captioned performance on Friday, May 3rd.

Cirque du Soleil's CRYSTAL – a one-of-a-kind production that brings the circus arts to the ice for the very first time, returns to NOW Arena (5333 Prairie Stone Parkway, Hoffman Estates) from March 22-24, 2024. Tickets are available for purchase online at cirquedusoleil.com/crystal.

With seven jaw-dropping traditional circus acts all thrillingly adapted for Cirque du Soleil's first foray into a brand new creative territory – the ice – CRYSTAL takes audiences on an unforgettable journey into the vivid and whimsical world of imagination.

Since 2017, CRYSTAL has dazzled more than 1.9 million people in over 135 cities worldwide, blending the art of skating with adrenaline-inducing acrobatics and aerial feats.

Artistic Director Crystal Manich says, "CRYSTAL is a universal story about finding one's true voice through a journey of discovery. Anyone of any age will connect to the show and our protagonist's breakthrough experience. I am especially excited for CRYSTAL to contribute to the strong arts and culture found in the Chicago area."

CRYSTAL – Performance Schedule

Hoffman Estates, IL at NOW Arena

  • Friday, March 22ndat 7:30pm
  • Saturday, March 23rdat 3pm and 7pm
  • Sunday, March 24that 1pm and 5pm


About CRYSTAL
Created by Shana Carroll and Sebastien Soldevila, CRYSTAL takes audiences on an exhilarating journey of self-discovery full of whimsy and wonder. Feel your adrenaline soar as you dive into a world of playful imagination with the show's protagonist, Crystal, as she learns to see things differently and become whom she was always destined to be: herself.

Using larger than life visual projections on ice (a Cirque du Soleil first) and a soundtrack that seamlessly blends popular music with the signature sound of Cirque du Soleil, CRYSTAL transports audiences on an unforgettable visual and auditory experience full of magic and wonder.

The show is suitable for all ages.

Fun Facts

-       CRYSTAL is Cirque du Soleil's 42nd creation and the company's very first acrobatic experience on ice.

-       Since its creation in 2017, the show has toured to over 135 cities in 15 different countries, including Canada, the US, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, France, Germany, and more

-       This one-of-a-kind performance features seven traditional circus acts, including trapeze, hand-to-hand, Banquine, aerial straps, hand-to-trapeze, juggling, and hand balancing – all thrillingly adapted to be performed on ice!

-       CRYSTAL is the first Cirque du Soleil production that uses real snow – the team makes approximately 300 snowballs each week.

Broadway In Chicago is thrilled to announce that individual tickets for the Chicago premiere of Congo Square Theatre Company's HOW I LEARNED WHAT I LEARNED, August Wilson's autobiographical show will go on sale tomorrow, Friday, February 16. Ticket prices will range from $45.00 to $65.00 with a select number of premium seats available. Tickets are available by visiting www.BroadwayInChicago.com or going to any Broadway In Chicago venue box office. Directed by Ken-Matt Martin and featuring Chicago's own Harry Lennix, this limited engagement will run from April 20 – May 5, 2024 at Broadway In Chicago's Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place (175 E. Chestnut St). Additional ticket information and the performance schedule are below.
 
"We are thrilled to celebrate our 25th anniversary season with the production of August Wilson's incredibly intimate memoir HOW I LEARNED WHAT I LEARNED," Ericka Ratcliff, Artistic Director, Congo Square Theatre Company said. "Congo Square was founded on a commitment to create and produce works by and for people of color. Honoring one of our greatest playwrights alongside this unique partnership with Broadway in Chicago allows Congo Square to connect August Wilson's work to a whole new generation of audiences."
 
"Broadway In Chicago is proud to work with Congo Square Theatre Company to present HOW I LEARNED WHAT I LEARNED," Lou Raizin, President, Broadway In Chicago said. "It is important to have the opportunities to showcase our local companies on a larger scale enriching a broader audience with their artistry."
 
HOW I LEARNED WHAT I LEARNED follows Wilson's journey as a young Black writer from Pittsburgh to one of the most celebrated American playwrights of the 20th century. Written three years before his death, the one-man show recounts numerous stories from the author's long career and the lessons they taught about what it means to be a Black artist in America.
 
TICKET INFORMATION
Individual tickets for HOW I LEARNED WHAT I LEARNED will go on sale tomorrow February 16 and will range in price from $45.00 to $65.00 with a select number of premium seats available. Individual tickets are available by visiting www.BroadwayInChicago.com or going to any Broadway In Chicago venue box office. Groups of 10 or more may book now by calling (312) 977-1710 or emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Please visit BroadwayInChicago.com for more details and schedule. 
 
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
WEEK ONE
Saturday, Apr. 20 at 7:30 pm
 
WEEK TWO
Tuesday, Apr. 23 at 7:00 pm
Wednesday, Apr. 24 at 7:00 pm
Thursday, Apr. 25 at 7:00 pm
Friday, Apr. 26 at 7:30 pm
Saturday, Apr. 27 at 2:00 pm
Saturday, Apr. 27 at 7:30 pm
Sunday, Apr. 28 at 1:00 pm
Sunday, Apr. 28 at 6:30 pm
 
WEEK THREE
Tuesday, Apr. 30 at 7:00 pm
Wednesday, May 1 at 1:00 pm
Wednesday, May 1 at 7:00 pm
Thursday, May 2 at 7:00 pm
Friday, May 3 at 7:30 pm
Saturday, May 4 at 2:00 pm
Saturday, May 4 at 7:30 pm
Sunday, May 5 at 1:00 pm
The final performance is on Sunday, May 5 at 2:00 p.m.
For more information visit BroadwayInChicago.com.
 
ABOUT CONGO SQUARE THEATRE COMPANY
Congo Square Theatre Company is an ensemble dedicated to producing transformative work rooted in the African Diaspora. Congo Square is a haven for artists of color to challenge and redefine the theatrical canon by amplifying and creating stories that reflect the reach and complexities of Black Culture and is one of only two African American Actors' Equity theater companies in Chicago. Founded in 1999 with a mission to provide a platform for Black artists to present work that exemplified the majesty, diversity, and intersectionality of stories from the African Diaspora, Congo Square's guiding principles are radical generosity, radical community, and radical expansion.
 
Congo Square has risen to become one of the most well-respected African American theaters in the nation. Previously mentored by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson, Congo Square's August Wilson New Play Initiative has cultivated talents such as playwright Chadwick Boseman (Marvel Studio's Black Panther), who penned the 2006 Jeff nominated play Deep Azure, Lisa Langford who's play How Blood Go was premiered by Congo Square in 2023, and playwright Lydia Diamond, who penned the massively successful Stick Fly, a critically acclaimed play that explores race, class, and familial friction. Stick Fly ultimately ran on Broadway and is currently being developed into a full-length series for HBO with Alicia Keys serving as a producer. Congo Square also produced the widely praised Seven Guitars, which won top honors for best ensemble, best direction, and best production at the 2005 Joseph Jefferson Awards. This would earn the theater company the distinction of being the first African American theater company to receive such an honor.
 
Congo Square's Samuel G. Roberson Next Up Fellowship celebrates young playwrights by providing resources for college and high school aged students to enhance their writing and identity as a playwright. Each selected fellow not only has their ten-minute play workshopped into a full-length play with Congo Square, but they also receive a yearlong writing mentorship with playwright, Kristiana Rae Colón. The 2023-24 Fellow is Maria D. Smith.
 
Congo Square's Community Engagement and Education programs bring the impact of theater to young audiences. Its outreach programs, CORE (Curriculum Objectives Residency Enrichment), and CAST (Congo After School Theater), present and teach theater arts by providing classroom and after-school residencies that provide Teaching Artists to build upon already established Chicago Public Schools literature and art curriculums. CORE and CAST impact students, schools, and community organizations located on the South and West sides of Chicago.
 
For more information on Congo Square's 2023-24 Season, visit www.congosquaretheatre.org.
 
ABOUT BROADWAY IN CHICAGO
Broadway In Chicago was created in July 2000 and over the past 24 years has grown to be one of the largest commercial touring homes in the country. A Nederlander Presentation, Broadway In Chicago lights up the Chicago Theater District entertaining up to 1.7 million people annually in five theatres. Broadway In Chicago presents a full range of entertainment, including musicals and plays, on the stages of five of the finest theatres in Chicago's Loop, including the Cadillac Palace Theatre, CIBC Theatre, James M. Nederlander Theatre, Auditorium Theatre, and just off the Magnificent Mile, the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place.
 
For more information and tickets, visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com.
 
Facebook @BroadwayInChicago ● Instagram @broadwayinchicago ● TikTok @broadwayinchicago   #broadwayinchicago
 
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