David Williamson, regarded as one of the top magicians in the world today, makes his Rhapsody Theater debut with Ridiculous! Known for his tours with Circus 1903 and The Illusionists on Broadway, Williamson’s Ridiculous! is a brand new solo full-length magic production created for The Rhapsody Theater. Mixing mind-bending illusions, side-splitting comedy, and a dash of anarchy, the show is an uproarious evening of controlled chaos ruminating on the meaning of the word ridiculous. Ridiculous! is performed at The Rhapsody Theater, 1328 W. Morse Ave. in Rogers Park, May 16 - June 30.

“Ridiculous! transcends the boundaries of a mere theatrical performance; it serves as a one-man rebellion against the monotony of a life too often bogged down by seriousness. This show is not just an escape, but a full-on revolt against the mundane, offering a sanctuary of laughter, wonder, and awe. Don’t miss the chance to be part of this unforgettable experience!” said Ricardo Rosenkranz, MD, Rhapsody Theater LLC managing partner and resident performer as the Physician Magician.

More about David Williamson

A born showman and accomplished sleight-of-hand artist, David Williamson dazzles audiences with a blend of heart-stopping magic and sidesplitting hilarity. He has been featured on ABC’s “Champions of Magic,” where he appeared with Princess Stephanie as he performed his miracles at various locations in and around Monaco. Williamson has also co-starred in several top-rated prime-time network specials, including CBS’ “Magicians’ Favorite Magicians,” NBC’s “Houdini: Unlocking His Mysteries” and NBC’s “World’s Greatest Magic III.” He was seen recently on The CW’s “Masters of Illusion” TV series as well as “America’s Got Talent.” Williamson has developed TV shows for Walt Disney Productions and ABC, as well as consulting on TV specials for illusionists David Copperfield and David Blaine. His bestselling magic book, Williamson’s Wonders, has been translated into three languages.

Williamson is also featured as the Ringmaster in the exciting show “Circus 1903” currently touring the world and returning to the UK for a holiday tour and is currently starring with fellow magicians in “The Illusionists” at the acclaimed Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, following its Broadway run. He is also a frequent favorite Guest Entertainer on Disney Cruise Lines. Recently, Williamson was honored with the Performance Fellowship by the Academy of Magical Arts and Sciences at the Magic Castle in Hollywood. In 2017, Williamson was named The Magic Castle’s Magician of the Year. He was also recently awarded Honorary Lifetime Membership by the UK’s Magic Circle, the world’s premier magical society.

Performance schedule & tickets

Ridiculous! with David Williamson will be performed at The Rhapsody Theater May 16 to June 30: Thursdays at 7:30pm; Fridays at 7:30 PM; and Saturdays at 2:00 PM, and 7:30 PM.  There are no performances on May 31 or June 1, instead there are special Sunday matinees on June 2 and June 30 at 2:00 PM. The run time is approximately 90 minutes with one intermission. Tickets starting at $20.00, are now on sale, online at https://rhapsodytheater.thundertix.com/events/218941 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, Chicago’s own Physician Magician, The Rhapsody Theater has brought a Vegas-style entertainment 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.

In advance of Ridiculous!, the Mexico City-born Dr. Ricardo Rosenkranz, MD, Chicago’s own Physician Magician, celebrates the festive Cinco de Mayo holiday weekend by performing a feat never before seen on Chicago stages: performing back-to-back magic shows in two different languages, Spanish and English, the weekend of May 4 & 5, 2024.  For more information about The Rhapsody Theater or to purchase tickets, please visit https://rhapsodytheater.com/

Chicago’s National Landmark Auditorium Theatre (50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive) proudly announces its 2024-25 performance season presenting a vibrant mix of contemporary and culturally significant dance companies, and the return of the Auditorium’s powerful Too Hot to Handel concert presentation.  Kicking off the season October 19 is the rousing return of Step Afrika!,  the first professional dance company dedicated to the tradition of stepping, now marking its 30^th Anniversary. Next, back by popular demand, Too Hot to Handel: The Jazz-Gospel Messiah, the lively jazz and gospel spin on Messiah by G.F. Handel, returns after a two-year hiatus for two performances commemorating the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, January 11 & 12, 2025.  Then, fresh off the resounding success of its David Bowie tribute, Star Dust, presented at the Auditorium this past season, Complexions Contemporary Ballet returns to pay homage to another rock icon, the band U2, February 7. March 2025 begins with a full weekend of the stunning and visually opulent history, culture, music, and dance of Mexico with Ballet Folklorico de Mexico de Amalia Hernandez March 1 & 2, followed by one of the most eagerly anticipated cultural events of every Spring - the return of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, March 5-9.  The prominent NYC-based contemporary dance company Parsons Dance makes its full company Auditorium Theatre debut May 3. The season closes with two gems from Chicago’s own robust dance scene: South Chicago Dance Theatre – a contemporary company led by the darling of the Chicago dance world, Kia Smith – May 3- and the genre-bending Hiplet Ballerinas, whose unique combination of classical pointe technique and hip-hop propelled them to fan-favorite status on America’s Got Talent, close the season May 17.

“The Auditorium Theatre’s 2024-25 season is a joyful mix of beloved classics and exciting new productions,” says Auditorium Theatre CEO Rich Regan. “The returns of perennial Auditorium favorites like the newly revamped Too Hot to Handel, the jubilant Ballet Folklorico de Mexico de Amalia Hernandez, and of course the always dynamic Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater are interspersed with debuts by companies like Parsons Dance and the Hiplet Ballerinas. The season is packed with local, national, and international talent showcasing top performers in an incredibly diverse array of styles that befits the Auditorium’s reputation as The Theatre for the People.”

In addition, the popular Auditorium Philms Concert series, a new multi-media experience presenting iconic films brought to life with scores performed in concert by the Chicago Philharmonic, continues its inaugural 2024 season with the North American debut of Bram Stoker’s Dracula November 9; and the pop holiday fan favorite, Love Actually December 7. Single tickets for the Auditorium Philms series are now on sale, plus subscription packages with discounted tickets are available for as few as two films. Find out more information about the series at auditoriumtheatre.org/.

2024-25 SEASON OFFERINGS:

(In chronological order, all programming subject to change)

Step Afrika!
Saturday, October 19, 2024 | 7:30PM

Tickets: $29-$79

Celebrating its 30^th Anniversary season, Step Afrika! is the world’s leading authority on the artform of stepping. Step Afrika! blends percussive dance styles practiced by historically African American fraternities and sororities; traditional African dances; and an array of contemporary dance and art forms into a cohesive, compelling artistic experience. Performances are much more than dance shows; they integrate songs, storytelling, humor, and audience participation. The blend of technique, agility, and pure energy makes each performance unique and leaves the audience with their hearts pounding. 

Too Hot to Handel
Saturday, January 11, 2025 | 6PM
Sunday, January 12, 2025 | 3PM

Tickets: $39-$99

Back by popular demand, Too Hot to Handel, the jazz-gospel-rock-funk version of one of the most beloved pieces from the classical music canon, G.F. Handel’s oratorio Messiah, returns to the Auditorium Theatre for the first time since December 2022 to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Too Hot to Handel: The Jazz-Gospel Messiah reinvents the original musical material from Messiah, using scat, backbeats, jazz and gospel vocals, and instrumental improvisation. New in 2025, George Stelluto, associate conductor of the Ravinia Festival and music director of the Peoria Symphony Orchestra, conducts and director Joan Curto returns to create an event that’s more theatrical than ever. A powerhouse 100-voice chorus is joined by a chamber orchestra and jazz combo made up of Chicagoland musicians, and gifted solo vocalists Alfreda Burke, Rodrick Dixon, and Karen-Marie Richardson and pianist Alvin Waddles.

Complexions Contemporary Ballet

Friday, February 7, 2025 | 7:30PM

Tickets: $39-$129

In the 2023-24 season, Complexions Contemporary Ballet brought the Auditorium Theatre house down with Star Dust, the rollicking tribute to rock icon David Bowie. Next season, the New York City-based contemporary dance company known for its unique mixture of methods, styles, and cultures, will return to pay homage to another rock legend, the band U2. Founded in 1994 by Alvin Ailey Dance alumni Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson, Complexions Contemporary Ballet celebrates its 30^th anniversary this season.

Ballet Folklorico de Mexico de Amalia Hernandez
Saturday, March 1, 2025 | 7:30PM
Sunday, March 2, 2025 | 3PM

Tickets: $30-$120

For over 70 years, Ballet Folklorico de Mexico de Amalia Hernandez has brought the stunning and visually opulent history, culture, music, and dance of Mexico to audiences across the world. Founded by renowned choreographer, the late Amalia Hernández, Ballet Folklorico de Mexico is one of the most famous dance companies in the world. Performances include traditional Mexican dance, music, and costumes representing the entire history of Mexico from the pre-Columbian era through the Spanish colonial period all the way to modern day.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
March 5-9, 2025 – Wed 7:30PM | Thu 7:30PM | Fri 7:30PM | Sat 1PM | Sat 7:30PM | Sun 3PM

Tickets: $39 - $149

Every year, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s week of performances at the Auditorium Theatre –

the company’s artistic home in Chicago – is one of the can’t-miss cultural events of the Spring season. The 2024-25 performances will mark Alvin Ailey Dance Theater’s 56^th engagement at the Auditorium. In 1958, Alvin Ailey and a small group of young Black modern dancers took the stage in New York City and forever changed the perception of American dance and culture. Its 2023-24 season engagement launches April 17, 2024, featuring a mix of Chicago premieres and beloved classics by Alvin Ailey and current choreographic talent.

Parsons Dance
Saturday, April 12, 2025 | 7:30PM

Tickets: $30-$120

Celebrating 40 years since its founding, Parsons Dance, a contemporary dance company based in New York City, makes its full company Auditorium Theatre debut in 2025. Founded by esteemed choreographer David Parsons, the mission of Parsons Dance is to bring life-affirming performances and joy to audiences worldwide and, through education and outreach programs, to sustain an appreciation for dance. Parsons Dance embraces the power of diversity and inclusion to enhance awareness and empathy, engage with audiences of all ages, abilities and backgrounds, uplift individuals and bring people together.

South Chicago Dance Theatre
Saturday, May 3, 2025 | 7:30PM

Tickets: $39-$89

Chicago’s own South Chicago Dance Theatre is a cutting-edge multi-cultural dance that seamlessly fuses classical and contemporary dance styles while preserving historic dance work. Led by the indomitable Kia Smith, South Chicago Dance Theatre returns to the Auditorium Theatre for the third season in a row after the smash hit Memoirs of Jazz in the Alley – a world premiere work based on Smith’s memories of iconic Chicago jazz history – in the 2022-23 season, and New Horizons

featuring six world premieres from top local, national and international choreographers – this April 27.

Hiplet Ballerinas
Saturday, May 17, 2025 | 7:30PM

Tickets: $39-$89

Created by Artistic Director Homer Hans Bryant, Hiplet, a fusion between classical pointe technique, Hip-Hop and a variety of other dance styles, was specifically designed to make ballet accessible to all people. Based in Chicago, the Hiplet Ballerinas perform all over the world and became fan favorites on the 16^th season of America’s Got Talent. This performance of the genre-bending Hiplet Ballerinas who wowed Auditorium Theatre Audiences at Dance for Life in 2023, will mark the company's first solo evening performance on the Auditorium stage.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

Subscriptions for the Auditorium Theatre’s 2024-25 season are on sale now. Subscribers can create their own series by purchasing tickets for any three or more shows in the season and receive 10%-30% discounts on tickets in addition to other subscriber benefits including access to the best seats, exclusive access to added events, reduced fees, free ticket replacement and exchanges, special access to Fireside Chats with guest artists, and more! Subscriptions are now on sale atauditoriumtheatre.org, by calling 312.341.2300, or at the Box Office at 50 E Ida B Wells Drive in Chicago, IL. Click here for phone and in-person hours. Special ticket pricing is available for groups and students; please visit auditoriumtheatre.org for more information.  Single tickets go on sale starting May 15.

Special thanks

The Auditorium Theatre wishes to thank our 2024-25 season sponsors: the MacArthur Foundation, the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, and the Illinois Arts Council Agency. The official hotel partner for the Auditorium Theatre is the Palmer House, a Hilton Hotel.

About The Auditorium Theatre

The Auditorium Theatre, located at 50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive in Chicago, is an Illinois not-for-profit organization committed to presenting the finest in international, cultural, community, and educational programming to all of Chicago and beyond as The Theatre for the People. The organization also is committed to the continued restoration and preservation of this National Historic Landmark that originally opened in 1889. For more information on the Auditorium Theatre and a complete listing of events at the Auditorium Theatre, please visit AuditoriumTheatre.org.

Chicago Writers' Bloc has announced the lineup of plays and musicals for its biennial festival of new plays, to be held this year from May 5 to 19 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. The 2024 festival will feature five new plays and five new musicals from 14 local Chicago playwrights, lyricists, and composers. This year's roster of writers includes John S. Green (Jeff winner and Pulitzer nominated for THE LIQUID MOON), Chloe Bolan (O'Neill semi-finalist for LOVE IN THE TIME OF DEMENTIA), and Joanne Koch (National Nantucket Short Play Competition winner for STARDUST). The works to be performed as staged readings will cover genres from comedies and dramas to documentary theatre, and subject matter that ranges from history to current events, and fantasy to reality.

The 2024 New Plays Festival will launch on Sunday, May 5 with a 7:30 pm benefit including a reception and an 8:00 pm performance of the musical HEARTS IN THE WOOD, with book by Joanne Koch, and music and lyrics by Jim Lucas. Lively bluegrass tunes and moving country ballads. weave through the story of a once popular West Virginia folk singer who decides to try for a comeback in Chicago when he discovers he has a grown granddaughter. The proceeds from the benefit will go toward continuing Chicago Writers' Bloc's mission to develop and present new plays and musicals from Chicago area writers. Over the past 32 years, the organization has helped launch many new plays and musicals. Many produced works have gone on to win national and international prizes with productions locally and around the country.

In addition to HEARTS IN THE WOOD, the festival will include four additional new musicals including HELL IS CANCELLED (by Wencke Braathen with music by Gerald H. Bailey), DRIVING THE DREAM (by Chloe Bolan with music by Gerald H. Bailey), DREAM CITY (Book and Lyrics by June Finfer, Music and Lyrics by Elizabeth Doyle), and "Merry Widows, The Musical" (Book by Joanne Koch and Diane Dorsey, Lyrics by Francesca Peppiatt, Music by Ilya Levinson).  Plays will include two documentary dramas about Venezuelan refugees by former CHICAGO TRIBUNE feature writer Fran Zell, John S. Green's REMEMBER ME, about a Nigerian American veteran from the war in Afghanistan, Nic Hamel's NO KIND OF HERO (about French philosophy professor Simone Weil pictured here, who fought fascism in the 1930s), and THE DECONSTRUCTION OF A HONKY, written by Blake Levinson.

LISTING INFORMATION
 
CHICAGO WRITERS' BLOC 2024 NEW PLAYS FESTIVAL
May 5 – 19, 2024
Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave.
www.theaterwit.org
Sunday – Wednesday, May 5 – 8
Sunday – Tuesday, May 12 – 14
Sunday, May 19
All performances at 7:30 pm
Further Information at https://writersblocfest.org/2024-play-festival
Tickets $25.00 for opening night benefit May 5. $20.00 all other evenings
Tickets available now at https://www.theaterwit.org/tickets/productions/box_office/#coming_soon
 
Staged readings of ten new works by Chicago writers. The festival features five new musicals and five new plays from 14 local Chicago playwrights, lyricists, and composers; including John S. Green (Jeff winner and Pulitzer nominated, THE LIQUID MOON), Chloe Bolan (O'Neill semi-finalist, LOVE IN THE TIME OF DEMENTIA), Joanne Koch (National Nantucket Short Play Competition winner for STARDUST), and former Chicago Tribune feature writer Fran Zell. The works to be performed as staged readings will cover genres from comedies and dramas to documentary theatre, and subject matter that ranges from history to current events, and fantasy to reality.
 
SCHEDULE AND SYNOPSES
May 5 benefit performance at 8:00 pm, all other performances at 7:30 pm
 
Sunday, May 5 HEARTS IN THE WOOD. Book by Joanne Koch, and music and lyrics by Jim Lucas.
 
A West Virginia dulcimer maker and once popular folksinger discovers he has an adult granddaughter and decides to reconnect with life. His newfound granddaughter prompts him to bring his regional music to Chicago. Grandfather and granddaughter find unexpected romances and finally get past their differences, united by bonds of love and their special musical heritage.
 
Monday, May 6. HELL IS CANCELED. Book and Lyrics by Wencke Braathen, Music by Gerald H. Bailey 
 
Archangel Michael lands in Hell and announces to Lucifer that God has decided that this department is defunct and will be liquidated. Michael gets stuck in Hell with Lucifer and a lost soul while Hell disintegrates. Archangel Raphael causes problems from above, and Katie and Kevin save the day by sending new feathers to Lucifer's wings.
 
Tuesday, May 7. DREAM CITY. Book and Lyrics by June Finfer, Music and Lyrics by Elizabeth Doyle
 
The musical story of Chicago in a Gilded Age not unlike today, when immigrants, women, and minorities fight for inclusion in an economy controlled by the wealthy. The 1893 Chicago Columbian Exposition World's Fair seemed to offer all Chicagoans opportunities for participation, visibility, and jobs, from the architects who designed it to the workers who built it.

Wednesday, May 8. REMEMBER ME. Written by John S. Green.
 
The story of Jake, a second-generation Nigerian American who joined the army to prove that he was a "real American." When he returns from fighting in Afghanistan, he reaches out to his acting teacher, Earl, seeking comfort, sanity and a chance to rekindle his broken dreams. They work together to conquer their own personal demons and perform Hamlet.
 
Sunday, May 12. DRIVING THE DREAM,  Book and Lyrics by Chloe Bolan, Music by Gerald H. Bailey.
 
A musical bioplay on the life of Bertha Benz, the woman who drove the first motorwagen farther than anyone before her and so introduced the world to the age of the automobile. She might seem like a conservative hausfrau, but her rebellion at three different times in her life testify to her strong instincts, her indomitable courage, and her belief in a dream she and her husband shared. 
 
Monday, May 13. "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Venezuelans" / "My Name is Renny Edward Milano Salgado," both written by Fran Zell.
 
Two timely one-act documentary theatre pieces about asylum seekers will be presented. "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Venezuelans" is based on the playwright's experiences volunteering with asylum seekers in Chicago. "My Name is Renny Edward Milano Salgado" recounts one asylum seeker's journey, a story of loss, grief, mortal danger, and always, hope.
 
Tuesday, May 14. NO KIND OF HERO, written by Nic Hamel.
 
Amidst the growing threat of fascism in the 1930's, the young French philosophy professor Simone Weil struggles against the oppression she witnesses all around her. Caught between practical limitations and an unrelenting idealism, Simone's choices are both absurd and inspiring as she seeks to embody hope and heroism in an increasingly chaotic world.
 
Sunday, May 19 at 7:30 PM. Double-bill of "Merry Widows, the Musical," Book by Joanne Koch and Diane Dorsey, Lyrics by Francesca Peppiatt, Music by Ilya Levinson, Directed by Joan Mazzonelli;  and "The Deconstruction of a Honky" written by Blake Levinson.
 
In "Merry Widows, The Musical," women and men gather together in grief groups to help each other grieve. Only our grief group doesn't just talk about their profound losses. They, along with their empathic leader, use the magic of music and some gentle humor to go beyond their sorrow and bring themselves to reconnect with a new life. With 14 million widows and widowers in the U.S. today, and thousands of these grief groups, the creative team thought it was about time to offer something more than a fluffy operetta. 

In "The Deconstruction of a Honky," emerging white playwright Sam meets with DD, his influential Black director-dramaturg prior to the staged reading of his socially conscious play on racism. Their discussion takes a charged turn when she begins to question the authenticity of his Black characters. Tensions heighten as DD turns the spotlight on Sam's indomitably liberal character and exposes a shocking secret.
 
BIOS
 
Joanne Koch has had many of her eighteen plays and musicals toured to universities and produced in theaters around the country, including SOUL SISTERS, STARDUST, SOPHIE, TOTIE & BELLE and SAFE HARBOR. Joanne and Jim Lucas received an Illinois Arts Council grant for the original development of HEARTS IN THE WOOD. Through her work over the years as president of the Chicago Writers' Bloc, Joanne Koch has helped to bring over one hundred new plays to audiences in Chicago, with many of these new plays going on to other productions and publications.
 
Jim Lucas is a singer-songwriter who is a graduate of Hope College (B.A.), Indiana University (M.M.), and the University of Iowa (D.M.A.). He is Professor Emeritus of Music at Northeastern Illinois University, where he taught music for many years. While HEARTS IN THE WOOD is his only full-length musical, he has written many compositions for vocal and instrumental ensembles.
 
Wencke Braathen writes about relationships across dimensions. You'll find gods, angels, humans and ghosts in her work, and discover how they all influence each other's development. She delivers her controversial viewpoints unabashed, and challenges old dogmas and preconceptions wrapped in humor and entertainment and asks her audience to laugh with her.
 
Gerald H. Bailey In addition to his work on HELL IS CANCELED and DRIVING THE DREAM, Mr. Bailey has written music for COURTING, THE ENCHANTED ISLAND, and THE LEGEND OF KING ARTHUR, among others. Mr. Bailey is a proud member of The Dramatists Guild.
 
June Finfer has written plays and musicals and documentary films. Her plays, THE GLASS HOUSE and COUPLES THERAPY, were produced in New York at the Harold Clurman Theatre. Tonight's musical, DREAM CITY, is a rewrite of BURNHAM'S DREAM: THE WHITE CITY, which was produced at Theatre Wit in 2018 by Lost and Found Productions.
 
Elizabeth Doyle is an award-winning Chicago artist in demand for concerts and events. She is the composer of several theatre musicals, among them FAT TUESDAY, DUO, and BURNHAM'S DREAM, which have been mounted at prestigious locations such as Steppenwolf Theatre and Theater Wit.
 
John S. Green's play, THE LIQUID MOON, won Chicago's Jeff and After Dark Awards for Best New Work. It was subsequently nominated for a Pulitzer and published in New Plays Chicago. His play, TWILIGHT SERENADE, was published by Dramatic Publishing. His short story, "The Me Zone," won the Leon Forrest Prose Award and was published by Chicago Quarterly. 
 
Chloe Bolan recently had her O'Neill semi-finalist play, "Love in the Time of Dementia" stage-read for a Perennial fundraiser August 2023 and in Her Story Theatre's Women's Writers Festival in June 2023. She has received grants from the Illinois Arts Council ("Heart of Chac") and Target ("M. Kiki") besides a fellowship from Dale Wasserman's Midwest Playwrights ("Egg") sponsored by the University of Wisconsin.
 
Fran Zell is an award-winning playwright and fiction writer whose plays have appeared in festivals in Chicago and New York. Her book, THE MARCY STORIES, won the Banta Award for literary achievement from the Wisconsin Library Association. She is a former feature writer for the Chicago Tribune.
 
Nic Hamel is an actor turned playwright and the current artistic director of Chicago Writers' Bloc. A staged reading of his solo documentary play, TURKEY BOYS, was presented by the Writers' Bloc in 2016. In addition to artistic pursuits, Dr. Hamel is a scholar of theatre, performance, and disability studies with a specialty in theatre and intellectual disability.
 
Diane Dorsey is a Chicago actress/writer/director/coach and Meisner teacher who many years ago wrote a solo show called "Kaleidoscope." Today she thanks the creative team of "Merry Widows, The Musical" for inviting her to collaborate on the Book. And dedicates it to her husband Danny Goldring.
 
Francesca Peppiatt is a speaker, teacher, writer and performer. She wrote the book for the new musical "Golden" and book and lyrics for "Treasure Island." Francesca is an actor and Emmy nominated writer with 5 published books plus multiple produced non-musical plays. 
 
Ilya Levinson is Assistant Professor at the Music Department of Columbia College Chicago and Music Director and Co-Founder of the New Budapest Orpheum Society, an ensemble-in-residence at The University of Chicago. Levinson has composed four operas, four musicals, various symphonic and chamber music, film scores and original music for theatre productions.
 
Joan Mazzonelli has produced, directed, and designed for the theater in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City. She has written "Border Crossing," a short play, with Marianne Kallen; the musicals REASONABLE TERMS with Marianne Kallen and Karena Mendoza; BOTTOM'S DREAM with James L. Kurtz, an adaptation of ALL IN THE LAUNDRY by Fred Rogers of MR. ROGERS NEIGHBORHOOD; and the operas HIGH FIDELITY and THE PROPOSAL with Philip Seward.
 
ABOUT CHICAGO WRITERS' BLOC
Chicago Writers' Bloc is a play development group that focuses on presenting new plays developed in monthly sessions and regular new play festivals. Led by Joanne Koch, a widely produced playwright and noted Emeritus Director of the National Louis University Master's in Written Communication Program, the not-for-profit 501 (c ) (3) Writers' Bloc has brought over 250 new plays and musicals to Chicago area audiences, supported in part by grants and by festival attendees and contributors. Many of these plays have gone on to win national and international prizes with productions locally and around the country, including Midwest, East Coast, West Coast, off-Broadway and in publications.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater announces today a thrilling addition to the season: Tony Award-nominated actor Eddie Izzard brings her celebrated solo theatrical performance of Hamlet to Chicago, direct from a triple-extended New York run at the Orpheum and Greenwich House Theaters and prior to launching a highly anticipated London transfer at Riverside Studios. Izzard portrays 23 characters in William Shakespeare's iconic play in this dynamic new staging adapted by Mark Izzard and directed by Selina Cadell. This strictly limited two-week engagement plays April 19–May 4, 2024 in the Courtyard Theater.

In Hamlet, The King of Denmark is dead, and Prince Hamlet is determined to take revenge—initiating a cascade of events that will destroy both family and state. Izzard portrays men, women, ghosts, scholars, tyrants, courtiers, lovers, fools, and poets.

She says of the monumental undertaking, "I have always gravitated towards playing complex and challenging characters and Hamlet is the ultimate. This is a production for everyone, a timeless drama with an accidental hero. Selina, Mark, and I want audiences to see and hear an accessible, touching, scary, and dramatic Hamlet."

CST Executive Director Kimberly Motes and Artistic Director Edward Hall shared, "After seeing Eddie's extraordinary performance in New York, we are thrilled she's agreed to join us at CST and share her Hamlet with Chicago audiences before London. It's a rare opportunity to see a Hamlet that makes this a play for all of us—truly a play for today."

A Tony Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning actor, Izzard's boundary-pushing career includes critically acclaimed roles in theater, film, and television. On Broadway, Izzard starred in Roundabout Theatre Company's 2003 revival of A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, garnering the Tony nomination for Leading Actor in a Play—and appeared in David Mamet's Race. Major London stage credits include The Cryptogram, Edward II, 900 Oneonta, Joe Egg, and Lenny. Izzard made her West End debut in 1993 in the solo show Live at the Ambassadors, receiving an Olivier Award nomination for Outstanding Achievement. Izzard's film roles include Stephen Frears' Victoria & Abdul opposite Dame Judi Dench, Julie Taymor's Across the Universe, Peter Bogdanovich's The Cat's Meow, Valkyrie, Ocean's Twelve, Ocean's Thirteen, and the recent Doctor Jekyll in which she plays Dr. Nina Jekyll and Rachel Hyde. She is the recipient of two Emmy Awards for her televised special, Dressed to Kill. She's also been seen as Dr. Abel Gideon in "Hannibal" and in FX's critically acclaimed series, "The Riches," in which Izzard both starred and executive produced.

In 2022, Izzard performed a solo adaptation of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations—also created in collaboration with Mark Izzard and Selina Cadell—which played to rave reviews and sold-out audiences in New York and in London's West End. The creative team reunites for Hamlet, which features set design by Tom Piper, lighting by Tyler Elich, costume styled by Tom Piper and Libby DaCosta, composer Eliza Thompson, movement director Didi Hopkins, and fight director J. Allen Suddeth. It is produced by Westbeth Entertainment, Mick Perrin Worldwide, and John Gore.

More information at www.chicagoshakes.com/hamlet or on social media at @chicagoshakes.

Hamlet will be presented April 19–May 4, 2024, in the Courtyard Theater. Single tickets starting at $69 are on sale now. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact the Box Office at 312.595.5600 or visit www.chicagoshakes.com.

ABOUT CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER

Regional Tony Award-recipient Chicago Shakespeare Theater produces a bold and innovative year-round season—plays, musicals, world premieres, family productions, and theatrical presentations from around the globe—alongside nationally recognized education programming serving tens of thousands of students, teachers, and lifelong learners each year. Founded in 1986, Chicago Shakespeare's onstage work has expanded to as many as twenty productions and 650 performances annually. CST is dedicated to welcoming the next generation of theatergoers; one in four of its audience members is under the age of eighteen. As a nonprofit organization, Chicago Shakespeare works to embrace diversity, prioritize inclusion, provide equitable opportunities, and offer an accessible experience for all. On CST's three stages at its home on Navy Pier, in classrooms and neighborhoods across the city, and in venues around the world, Chicago Shakespeare Theater is a multifaceted cultural hub—inviting audiences, artists, and community members to share powerful stories that connect and inspire. www.chicagoshakes.com.

Artistic Director Braden Abraham and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma announce Writers Theatre's 2024/25 season. The season launches with the Chicago premiere of the acclaimed musical Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, nominated for 12 Tony Awards, which reunites director/choreographer Katie Spelman and music director Matt Deitchman after their previous collaboration on WT's twice extended sold out run of Once. Kimberly Senior returns to Writers to direct the hilarious and compassionate one-person play Every Brilliant Thing. Acclaimed writer and performer Vanessa Severo will star as both herself and legendary Mexican painter Frida Kahlo in her searing new play Frida...A Self Portrait, directed by Joanie Schultz. Next spring, Braden Abraham brings Brian Friel's touching Irish drama Translations to the Writers stage before the season concludes with the World Premiere of Dhaba on Devon Avenue, directed by Chay Yew, co-produced with TimeLine Theatre Company.

Season Packages are available online at www.writerstheatre.org, and at the Box Office by calling 847-242-6000.

Writers Theatre Artistic Director Braden Abraham comments, "This season will take us on a theatrical odyssey traversing landscapes both familiar and foreign, where the echoes of history mingle with the vibrancy of contemporary life. From Russia and Ireland in the early 1800s to mid-20^th century Mexico to the present day in our beloved Chicago, these extraordinary plays are each an invitation to celebrate the human spirit in all its wonder, complexity, and heart. The deliberately intimate setting at Writers, where you are always close to the actors, promises an unforgettable experience that will linger long after the performance ends."

Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, Frida...A Self Portrait, Translations, and Dhaba on Devon Avenue will be presented in the 255-seat Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Theatre. Every Brilliant Thing will be in the intimate Gillian Theatre. Both spaces are in Writers Theatre's award-winning building at 325 Tudor Court in Glencoe, designed by Studio Gang Architects.

Writers Theatre 2024/25 Season includes:

Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812

Written by Dave Malloy 

Directed & Choreographed by Katie Spelman 

Music Direction by Matt Deitchman 

September 5 – October 27, 2024 

Opening: Friday, September 13, 2024

"There's a war going on somewhere out there, and Andrey isn't here." Young and impulsive, Natasha Rostova arrives in Moscow to await the return of her fiancée from the front lines. But when she falls under the spell of the roguish Anatole, family friend Pierre must push through his existential crisis to help Natasha pick up the pieces of her shattered reputation. Based on a scandalous slice of Leo Tolstoy's epic novel War and Peace, this innovative musical spectacle took Broadway by storm with its "electropop opera" score, earning 12 Tony Award nominations. Katie Spelman and Matt Deitchman, the inspired creative team behind WT's hit production of Once, reunite to bring this modern spin on a literary classic to Chicago for the first time. 

Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals. www.concordtheatricals.com 

Every Brilliant Thing 

Written by Duncan Macmillan 

With Jonny Donahoe 

Directed by Kimberly Senior 

October 31, 2024 – January 5, 2025 

Opening: Friday, November 8. 2024

"1. Ice Cream. 2. Water fights. 3. Staying up past your bedtime and being allowed to watch TV." This is how a six-year-old child begins a list of all the things that make life wonderful. They're making the list for their mother, who suffers from depression. As life goes on, and the challenges faced morph from childhood to adulthood, the list continues to grow and take on a life of its own. By shining a hilarious and compassionate light on life's small abundant joys, this big-hearted play—told in gentle collaboration with the audience—is a loving tribute to resilience and the lengths we will go to for those we love. 

Frida...A Self Portrait 

Written and Performed by Vanessa Severo 

Directed by Joanie Schultz 

January 23 – February 23, 2025 

Opening: Friday, January 31, 2025

Iconic Mexican painter Frida Kahlo was a woman who lived boldly, loved wildly, and painted prolifically in order to see herself and the world around her more clearly. Witness this extraordinary figure come to life onstage through playwright and performer Vanessa Severo, who brings breathtaking physicality and raw honesty to this stunningly creative production. With music and movement, Vanessa cracks open a powerful portal between herself and Frida, uncovering insights into the painter's physical limitations, complex love life, addictions, and, of course, the beauty in her art. 

Translations

Written by Brian Friel 

Directed by Braden Abraham 

April 3 – May 4, 2025 

Friday, April 11, 2025

Life in County Donegal, Ireland proceeds much the same in 1833 as it's always done. Irish-speaking young people gather at the local hedge school where the long-time and long-winded schoolmaster instructs them in lessons in Latin and Ancient Greek. This bucolic tranquility is shattered when the schoolmaster's son arrives home along with members of the British army on an assignment to map the country, draw new borders, and "standardize" local place names into the King's English. Soon, this quiet corner of the emerald isle is ablaze with political, cultural and personal tension. A powerful classic from one of Ireland's most revered dramatists, Translations is a celebration of the power of language—whether it be to kindle romance, incite violence, or build a bridge to a common understanding. 

Translations is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com 

The World Premiere of 

Dhaba on Devon Avenue 

Written by Madhuri Shekar 

Directed by Chay Yew 

In a co-production with TimeLine Theatre Company

June 19 – July 27, 2025 

Opening: Friday, June 27, 2025

Dhaba Canteen has been a stalwart institution on Chicago's Devon Avenue since the '60s, serving up delicious Sindhi food with the power to transport diners back to the halcyon days of undivided India. Times are changing, however. With the bank threatening foreclosure and Chef Neeraj's health in decline, the restaurant may soon be cooking up its last meal—unless sous chef Rita can convince her father to let her take over the kitchen. Rich with culinary tradition and dramatic twists, Dhaba on Devon Avenue serves up a searing Chicago-set story of family, legacy, and survival at all costs. 

SEASON PACKAGES

This season, Writers Theatre is offering five subscriptions with an option for every theatregoer. Each subscription includes a deeply discounted ticket price for one ticket to the 5-play series, Flex subscriptions, with options for either 4 tickets or 6 tickets, are available.

Subscriptions are now available for the 5-show season and range from $240 - $325. Flex subscriptions are $260 (4-pack) to $360 (6-pack).

Season package subscribers receive exclusive benefits including complimentary ticket exchanges by phone and mail (upgrade fees may apply), access to special play readings and lectures, special "subscriber-rate" prices on additional tickets, discounts at the bar, on Writers Theatre merchandise, event rentals, and more. For a complete list of benefits visit writerstheatre.org.

Season Packages are available online at www.writerstheatre.org, and at the Box Office by calling 847-242-6000.

Singles tickets will go on sale at a later date. Tickets for Every Brilliant Thing, Frida...A Self Portrait, Translations and Dhaba on Devon Avenue are $35 to $95 each. Tickets for Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 are $45 to $110.

AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES:

Throughout the season, Writers Theatre offers a variety of audience enrichment and special programming. This includes regularly occurring offerings like the Family Matinee Series, The Green Room artist interview series and podcast, and The Final Word Audience Discussion Series. Please visit writerstheatre.org/events for a full listing of upcoming offerings.

WT offers Open Captioning on select dates for each production. Please visit writerstheatre.org/accessibility for more information.

ABOUT WRITERS THEATRE 

Writers Theatre boldly looks to the future as it kicks off its 32^nd season in 2024/25. Having captivated audiences for years with its dedication to creating the most intimate theatrical experience possible, the theatre is now a major Chicagoland cultural destination with a national reputation for excellence, being called "America's finest regional theater company" by The Wall Street Journal.

Since 1992, Writers Theatre has stayed true to its core values: valuing the power of the written word and uplifting the artists who bring that word to life. The company has produced over 120 productions—everything from inventive interpretations of classics to groundbreaking new work. In 2016, Writers Theatre opened a new, state-of-the-art facility designed by the internationally renowned Studio Gang Architects. The new facility has allowed the Theatre to accommodate its growing audience, while maintaining its trademark intimacy.

Writers Theatre now welcomes more than 60,000 patrons each season and has helped establish the North Shore of Chicago as a premier cultural destination. Through its Literary Development Initiative, which has been responsible for the nurturing and premiering of over two dozen world premieres, the theatre has established itself as a major originator of new theatrical works. Serving as an extension of the Writers Theatre mission, WT Education programs engage an average 10,000 students each year with active learning opportunities centered around the written word.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company, under the leadership of Artistic Directors Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis and Executive Director Brooke Flanagan, today announced its 2024/25 Season, featuring a dynamic line-up of modern masterpieces, Chicago and world premieres. The 49th Season includes five Steppenwolf Membership Series productions that invite audiences to experience the next chapter of Steppenwolf's bold, visceral and muscular work, while celebrating a dynamic range of exciting new voices and Steppenwolf legends. The 2024/25 Season is presented at Steppenwolf's expanded campus, which includes three theaters: the in-the-round Ensemble Theater in Honor of Helen Zell, the Downstairs Theater and the intimate 1700 Theater.

Artistic Directors Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis comment, "Our 2024/25 Season demands the best from our ensemble. The plays we've chosen require our artists to bring the whole of themselves (physically, emotionally, spiritually) and leave it all onstage in a sprint to the finish. Night. After. Night. This season feels like the strike of a match, a lit fuse and a race to the explosive finale."

Raising the curtain on Steppenwolf's 2024/25 Season, Tony Award-winning ensemble member Anna D. Shapiro returns to direct Michael Frayn's classic comedy Noises Off, presented in a co-production with Geffen Playhouse, where ensemble member Tarell Alvin McCraney serves as Artistic Director. Steppenwolf's take on the funniest farce ever written features ensemble members Audrey Francis, Francis Guinan, Ora Jones, James Vincent Meredith and Karen Rodriguez. The 49th season continues with the world premiere of Ngozi Anyanwu's bluesy, seductive Leroy and Lucy, directed by Awoye Timpo. Featuring live music, ensemble member Jon Michael Hill stars in this tale of a musician and a stranger who meet at a crossroads on a dark Mississippi night. Up next, Jeremy Herrin helms Sam Shepard's masterpiece Fool For Love, a twisted and tequila-soaked love letter from one of the greatest American playwrights. In the spring, Steppenwolf is thrilled to present the Chicago premiere of The Book of Grace by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, an explosive family portrait directed by Steve H. Broadnax III and featuring ensemble member Glenn Davis. The 2024/25 Season concludes with the Chicago premiere of Noah Diaz's wildly imaginative new play You Will Get Sick, directed by Artistic Director Audrey Francis with an ensemble cast including Cliff Chamberlain, Amy Morton and Namir Smallwood.

2024/25 Classic Memberships are now on sale starting as low as $160 and include all five Membership Series productions – three plays in the Downstairs Theater and two in the Ensemble Theater. Classic Members receive priority access to seats along with full membership benefits, including unlimited ticket exchanges. The Black Card, Steppenwolf's flex membership, offers six ticket credits starting as low as $120 that allow patrons flexibility for when and how they see shows at Steppenwolf. For patrons under 30, RED Card Memberships offer six ticket credits for just $99. Discounted packages for students and teachers and accessible packages are also available. For more information and to purchase Memberships, visit Audience Services at www.steppenwolf.org or call (312) 335-1650.

Throughout the 2024/25 season, Steppenwolf continues its commitment to the next generation of audiences with dedicated student matinee performances during four of the five Membership Series productions (Noises Off, Leroy and Lucy, Fool For Love and The Book of Grace). Reaching nearly 15,000 teens, educators and community members annually, Steppenwolf Education and Engagement also includes in-school residencies, teen programs, community partnerships and educator trainings for classroom teachers and teaching artists. For additional information about Steppenwolf's Education and Engagement programming and to register your school for a field trip visit steppenwolf.org/education.

Also in 2024/25, Steppenwolf's LookOut Series will continue to present an incredible breadth of work in the 1700 Theater. A home for Chicago's performing artists across disciplines, LookOut will shortly announce their eclectic lineup for Summer 2024 and beyond. Highlights will include: new work from Chicago theater legends, a recurring musical theater-themed drag show, solo showcases from Chicago's funniest comedians, evenings of exciting local music and much more. The LookOut Series is ongoing, with full programming at steppenwolf.org/lookout. 

Executive Director Brooke Flanagan adds "With next season, Steppenwolf is doubling down on our role as America's preeminent ensemble theater. Our commitment to bold ensemble-driven work, service as a launching pad for new plays and partnership in education to teachers and teens across Chicago has never been stronger. Our three-theater campus has also allowed us to welcome a broader spectrum of the arts community to create alongside us – through both the LookOut Series and visiting artist initiatives. The result is a dynamic calendar of offerings to complement our season of produced work that positions Steppenwolf as a cultural hub for Chicago."

Noises Off
By Michael Frayn
Directed by ensemble member Anna D. Shapiro
Featuring ensemble members Audrey Francis, Francis Guinan, Ora Jones, James Vincent Meredith and Karen Rodriguez
A co-production with Geffen Playhouse
September 12 – October 27, 2024
In the Downstairs Theater
Press opening: Sunday, September 22, 2024 at 6 pm

The cast and crew of Nothing On are scrambling to prepare for opening night, but despite their earnest efforts, the production is an absolute mess. Line flubs and lost props and missed cues, oh my! Can this beleaguered ensemble overcome egos and jealousies to pull the show together in time? 

Onstage antics collide with offstage foibles in Steppenwolf's production of Noises Off, the classic comedy that writes an ingenious, slapstick and zany tribute to "theatre-people" everywhere. By the end of this dizzying play-within-a-play, you won't know stage right from left.

World Premiere!
Leroy and Lucy
By Ngozi Anyanwu
Directed by Awoye Timpo
Featuring ensemble member Jon Michael Hill
October 24 – December 15, 2024 
In the Ensemble Theater in Honor of Helen Zell
Press opening: Sunday, November 3, 2024 at 6 pm

Two lost souls meet at a crossroads, in the dead of night, deep in the Mississippi of it all. With a yearning guitar between them, they tell secrets and conjure a sound once forgotten – a tune pitched with Leroy's longing and the sweet purr of Lucy's desires. In this sultry world premiere, a play with music from Ngozi Anyanwu, the Delta Blues fill the air, the future lies just down the road and we are everywhere and nowhere all at once. 

Fool For Love
By Sam Shepard
Directed by Jeremy Herrin
January 30 – March 16, 2025
In the Downstairs Theater
Press opening: Saturday, February 8, 2025 at 7:30 pm

In a sweltering motel room in the Mojave Desert, May and Eddie lick their wounds and get ready for another relentless round. This brawl is eternal and infernal. And the Old Man is always watching. 

Perhaps the sexiest, most haunting play of the 20th century, Fool for Love is a twisted and tequila-soaked love letter from Sam Shepard, one of the greatest American playwrights, indulging the need to get inside someone just to tear them apart.

Chicago Premiere!
The Book of Grace
By Suzan-Lori Parks
Directed by Steve H. Broadnax III
Featuring ensemble member Glenn Davis
March 27 – May 18, 2025
In the Ensemble Theater in Honor of Helen Zell
Press opening: Sunday, April 6, 2025 at 6 pm

Grace looks for the good in everything: in her husband's rules, in the border he patrols, in the return of his estranged son. But a want for goodness cannot unwind the past, as this taut family reunion explodes in all directions.

The Chicago premiere of Suzan-Lori Parks' The Book of Grace is an incendiary family portrait from the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer of Topdog/Underdog. Witness this startling reminder that the search for common ground can be bloody and brutal, leaving casualties on every side of the divide.

Chicago Premiere!
You Will Get Sick
By Noah Diaz
Directed by Artistic Director Audrey Francis
Featuring ensemble members Cliff Chamberlain, Amy Morton and Namir Smallwood
June 5 – July 13, 2025
In the Downstairs Theater
Press opening: Sunday, June 15, 2025 at 6 pm

A young man with a secret. An older woman who will listen. A predatory flock of birds. An upcoming audition for The Wizard of Oz. Welcome to You Will Get Sick, a wildly imaginative new play that traces the touching, hilarious, heartbreaking saga of one man's illness and his unlikely caretaker's pursuit of her dreams.  

Admired as "lively, surreal and surprising" by The New York Times, Noah Diaz's Chicago debut is equal parts comedy, form-bending experiment and sober meditation on mortality. Renowned ensemble member Amy Morton (a Tony Award nominee for August: Osage County and Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) returns to the Steppenwolf stage for the first time in over a decade, making this season finale a must-see experience! 

Ashley Wheater MBE, The Mary B. Galvin Artistic Director of The Joffrey Ballet, today announces the Joffrey's 2024–2025 Season at Lyric Opera House, featuring an adaptation from Ian McEwan's 2001 novel-turned-Academy Award®-winning film; the magical return of a holiday classic; two world premieres in an illuminating winter series; and a plunge down the rabbit hole into a whimsical Wonderland adventure.

The Joffrey Ballet begins its 69th season with Cathy Marston's U.S. premiere of Atonement, October 17–27, 2024, a full-length narrative ballet of a tragic love story set against the historical backdrop of 1935 England. Soon after, the Joffrey once again brings holiday magic with the return of Christopher Wheeldon's The Nutcracker, December 6–28, 2024, followed by Golden Hour, February 20–March 2, 2025, with original work by Dani Rowe and Yuri Possokhov, accompanied by pieces from frequent Joffrey collaborators Nicolas Blanc and Cathy Marston. Closing out the season is a not-to-be-missed highlight of the year—plunge down the rabbit hole into the fantastical world of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, where two-time Tony Award®-winner Christopher Wheeldon brings Lewis Carroll's fantastical world to life with instantly recognizable characters such as the high-strung Queen of Hearts, the entrancing Caterpillar, and the tap-dancing Mad Hatter, June 5–15, 2025.

"It is always an honor to set premieres on the Joffrey, whether new to Chicago, the U.S., or the world. Our 69th season is a special invitation for audiences to immerse themselves in an abundance of fresh, captivating narratives," says The Mary B. Galvin Artistic Director Ashley Wheater MBE. "We begin with the haunting echoes of redemption in Cathy Marston's poignant adaptation of Ian McEwan's novel Atonement, a co-production with Ballett Zürich making its North American premiere. In our winter series, Golden Hour, we'll infuse the Lyric with a touch of warmth through radiant interpretations, including Dani Rowe's Princess and the Pea. Lastly, we close the season on a celebratory note, as we are the first American company to stage Christopher Wheeldon's unique realm of beauty, curiosity, and delight with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. This year, Chicago will witness all that dance can offer."

"The coming season provides the opportunity for continued growth, both artistically and on a business front," says President and CEO Greg Cameron. "Ashley's vision is grounded in Robert Joffrey's founding principle to embrace the new, and in a city fostering creative growth and exploration, Chicago is the perfect home for a year as expansive and dynamic as this one. Our 2024-2025 season invites audiences of all ages to experience the many worlds of dance."

All season performances take place at the Lyric Opera House in downtown Chicago at 20 North Upper Wacker Drive. All programs throughout the season feature live music performed by the Lyric Opera Orchestra, conducted by Scott Speck, Music Director of The Joffrey Ballet.  

About the 2024-2025 Season

Atonement | October 17–27, 2024

Choreographer: Cathy Marston | Music: Laura Rossi

Renowned choreographer Marston brings her re-imagining of Ian McEwan's 2001 novel-turned Academy Award®-winning film to the stage in a large-scale narrative ballet. The poignant story follows Briony Tallis, revealed in the book as its author and now portrayed in the ballet as a celebrated choreographer, as she grapples with the haunting echoes of her past through a breathtaking dance of redemption.

Marston's adaptation unfolds the tragic love story of Briony's older sister, Cecilia, against the historical backdrop of the First World War in 1935 England to explore the intricate layers of societal norms and the enduring impact of a single lie. Enveloped in Rossi's evocative musical score, with dynamic choreography portraying the complexities of self-deception, the transformation of memory, and the weight of guilt, Atonement shares an emotionally charged experience with a startling twist finale that will linger in the soul. Learn more about Cathy Marston here.

U.S. Premiere

With gratitude to Atonement Producing Sponsor Anne L. Kaplan and Presenting Sponsors Lorna Ferguson and Terry Clark, Mr. and Mrs. Joel V. Williamson, and the Rudolf Nureyev Fund at The Joffrey Ballet.

The Nutcracker | December 6–28, 2024

Choreography: ©Christopher Wheeldon | Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

On a magical Christmas Eve, mere months before the opening of Chicago's 1893 World's Fair, Marie and her mother, a sculptress creating the fair's iconic Statue of the Republic, partake in a festive celebration with a surprise visit from the mysterious Great Impresario. That evening, after awakening to an epic battle between Toy Soldiers and The Rat King, Marie is swept away by a Nutcracker Prince on a whirlwind journey to the dreamlike fairgrounds of the World's Columbian Exposition with sprawling attractions represented by countries from around the globe.

Set to Tchaikovsky's classic score, The Nutcracker features a celebrated creative team, including two-time Tony Award®-winning choreographer ©Christopher Wheeldon, Tony Award®-nominated set and costume designer Julian Crouch, Caldecott Medal Award-winning author Brian Selznick, Obie and Drama Desk award-winning puppeteer Basil Twist, Tony Award®-winning lighting designer Natasha Katz and Tony Award®-winning projection designer Ben Pearcy. Learn more about Christopher Wheeldon here.

With gratitude to The Nutcracker Presenting Sponsor Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Company.

Golden Hour | February 20–March 2, 2025

Bask in the glow of Golden Hour, a radiant mixed repertoire program of warmth and splendor. Featuring world premieres by Dani Rowe and Yuri Possokhov, the return of Cathy Marston, and an audience favorite by Nicolas Blanc.

The full program is as follows:

Princess and the Pea

Choreography: Dani Rowe | Music: Jim Stephenson

Heralded as a "choreographic storyteller," Rowe's artistic style has been described as "rich, flowing, and contemporary." The Australian choreographer will present an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's timeless fairy tale, Princess and the Pea, in a dynamic and modern re-envisioning.  When her parents are unjustly "canned and banned" in the authoritarian world of Pea Town, young Penelopea embarks on a daring quest for justice. As she battles the oppressive Master Pea to regain her parents' freedom, Penelopea discovers the power of individuality and growth, leading to a revolution that transforms Pea Town into something no one could have ever expected. Learn more about Dani Rowe here.

World Premiere

With gratitude to The Princess and the Pea Commissioning Sponsor Mary Jo and Doug Basler.

Heimat

Choreography: Cathy Marston | Music: Richard Wagner

A dance interpretation of the glorious symphonic poem Seigfried Idyll, composed by Wagner in Switzerland after the birth of his son, Heimat paints a halcyon picture of a family in the Swiss countryside. Marston defines the German word "heimat" as the feeling of home, which is not necessarily where one lives or was born. Rather, it's a term that suggests a place of spiritual and creative familiarity. Marston feels that "heimat" is a tender description of her personal feelings about Chicago and The Joffrey Ballet. Learn more about Cathy Marston here.

Under the Trees' Voices

Choreography: Nicolas Blanc | Music: Ezio Bosso

Under the Trees' Voices examines the persistence of community and connection in the age of distance and isolation. Set to Bosso's Symphony No. 2, Blanc's choreography arose from his observations of the nuances of people's temperaments during the spring of 2020 as the weather became warmer and the chill of pandemic restrictions thawed. In four distinct sections, Under the Trees' Voices imagines a future of hope and unity, reminding us that we are better together than alone. Learn more about Nicolas Blanc here.

With gratitude to Under the Trees' Voices Sponsor Mary Jo and Doug Basler.

World Premiere (title TBA)

Choreography: Yuri Possokhov | Music: Dmitri Shostakovich

Frequent choreographer at the Joffrey whose most recent productions include the critically acclaimed adaptation of Anna Karenina, in addition to The Miraculous Mandarin and Don Quixote, returns for the 2024-2025 season with an intimate world premiere created for three dancers. Known for his expansive choreography and powerful partnering skills, Possokhov's work has been described as among "the canon of 21st-century classics." Learn more about Yuri Possokhov here.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland | June 5–15, 2025

Choreography: ©Christopher Wheeldon | Music: Joby Talbot

Plunge down the rabbit hole into the fantastical world of Wonderland as two-time Tony Award®-winner Christopher Wheeldon brings Lewis Carroll's whimsical adventure to the stage with a modern twist. Immersed within Joby Talbot's hallucinatory sound world of sweeping melodies and ticking clocks, with Tony Award®-winning designer Bob Crowley's vibrant stagecraft and puppetry, Wheeldon makes Wonderland wonderfully real in this audience-favorite dance adventure. Things get curiouser and curiouser as Alice traverses a mysterious realm of instantly recognizable characters: the high-strung Queen of Hearts, the entrancing Caterpillar, and the tap-dancing Mad Hatter at his bizarre tea party. Lose your head in a seamless fusion of humor, eccentricity, and fantasy as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland takes you on a magical trip through the extraordinary. Learn more about Christopher Wheeldon here.

Experience this Chicago premiere with the Joffrey, the first American ballet company to bring Wheeldon's Wonderland to life.

With gratitude to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Major Sponsors Mary Jo and Doug Basler and Mr. and Mrs. Ronald V. Waters III, and Costume Sponsor Jane Ellen Murray Foundation.

Other Engagements

The Joffrey Academy of Dance: Winning Works | March 14–23, 2025

The Joffrey Academy of Dance, Official School of The Joffrey Ballet, presents five world premieres in the culmination of Joffrey's national call for ALAANA (African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, and Native American) artists. Winning Works will be presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago's Edlis Neeson Theater.

With gratitude to Winning Works Sponsors William Blair with Board Member Rita Spitz and Wilson Garling Foundation.

The Joffrey Ballet and Chicago Symphony Orchestra | April 10–13, 2025

New works and noteworthy collaborations with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra include world premieres of two newly commissioned ballets. Former Winning Works choreographer Amy Hall Garner sets her new ballet to Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson's Sinfonietta No. 1, and Joffrey choreographer Nicolas Blanc sets his new ballet to 20th-century French composer Darius Milhaud's Le Bœuf sur le toit.

Joffrey on Tour

Ravinia | September 13–14, 2024

Highland Park, IL

Baden-Baden Festival Tour | September 23–27, 2024

Baden-Baden, Germany

Tickets and Subscriptions for the Joffrey's 2024–2025 Season Performances 

Three-program subscriptions for the fall, winter, and spring season productions, which do not include The Nutcracker, start at $129. Subscriptions are available for purchase online at joffrey.org, by mail (Joffrey Ballet Subscriptions, The Joffrey Ballet, Joffrey Tower, 10 East Randolph Street, Chicago, IL 60601), by telephone at 312.386.8905, by fax at 312.739.0119 or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Single tickets for the October, February, and June performances, as well as The Nutcracker, will be available starting this summer, by telephone at 312.386.8905 or online at joffrey.org. Please visit our website for updates. 

All performances are subject to change. 

About The Joffrey Ballet 

The Joffrey Ballet is one of the premier dance companies in the world today, with a reputation for boundary-breaking performances for 68 years. The Joffrey repertoire is an extensive collection of all-time classics, modern masterpieces, and original works.  

Founded in 1956 by pioneers Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino, the Joffrey remains dedicated to artistic expression, innovation, and first-rate education and engagement programming. The Joffrey Ballet continues to thrive under The Mary B. Galvin Artistic Director Ashley Wheater MBE and President and CEO Greg Cameron. 

The Joffrey Ballet is grateful for the support of its 2024–2025 Season Sponsors: The Abbott Fund, Alphawood Foundation Chicago, Daniel and Pamella DeVos Foundation, The Florian Fund, and Anne L. Kaplan.

Live Music Sponsors Sandy and Roger Deromedi, Sage Foundation, Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation, and The Marina and Arnold Tatar Fund for Live Music. The Joffrey also acknowledges our Season Partners: ATHLETICO and Chicago Athletic Clubs.

For more information on The Joffrey Ballet and its programs, visit joffrey.org. Connect with the Joffrey on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. 

Court Theatre, under the leadership of Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director Charles Newell and Executive Director Angel Ysaguirre, is proud to announce its 70th season. The 2024/25 season will feature Eugene Lee's searing and rhythmic East Texas Hot Links, directed by Resident Artist Ron OJ Parson; the groundbreaking musical Falsettos, with music and lyrics by William Finn, book by William Finn and James Lapine, produced in partnership with TimeLine Theatre Company, and directed by Nick Bowling, TimeLine Theatre Associate Artistic Director; A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry's tale of class and aspiration, directed by Associate Artistic Director Gabrielle Randle-Bent; and finally, Berlin, the exhilarating world premiere by Mickle Maher based on Jason Lutes's graphic novel of the same name, directed by Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director Charles Newell.

Court's 2024/25 season spans genre and form, with productions that speak to our current moment with clarity and heft. The season begins with a skillful work of lyricism, simultaneously a love story and a thriller; it continues with a shimmering musical about family, followed by a South Side classic rooted in lived history and liberation; and it concludes with a fast-paced world premiere.

The landmark 70th season is a celebration of milestones. This season is the year in which Charles Newell will transition from Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director to Senior Artistic Consultant and the year in which Court will welcome its new Artistic Director. Furthermore, each production in the season is representative of a milestone of its own and is imbued with a keen sense of foresight; staging these plays at this moment instigates a fascinating exploration of what it means to live in a present that was imagined by works of the past. The 2024/25 season is here, and the time is now.

"The lineup for the 2024/25 season is jaw-droppingly good," shares Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director Charles Newell. "These productions interrogate community; the cost of striving for a better life; and the very ways we tell stories, all of which are themes that feel particularly resonant. The timeliness of this season speaks to the enduring power of classic theatre and the continued need to revisit these stories. We can't wait to share this season with our audiences."

"Court continues to push the boundaries of what classic theatre can be, and that is clearly reflected in the 2024/25 season," says Executive Director Angel Ysaguirre. "Each of these plays has an acute sense of relevance and urgency; now is the time to tell these stories with these artists. The work that we're doing offstage to complement and support the art – our engagement programming, our education initiatives, collaborations with the University of Chicago, a producing partnership with TimeLine Theatre, and deepening our relationships across the South Side – will only enhance these creative endeavors."

The 2024/25 Court Theatre Season Up Close:

EAST TEXAS HOT LINKS

By Eugene Lee

Directed by Resident Artist Ron OJ Parson

September 6 – September 29, 2024

Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, East Texas Hot Links is a gripping character study, a lyrical masterpiece, and portrait of community. It is 1955 in the piney woods of East Texas and racial tensions are high, yet the Top O' the Hill Café remains a haven. There, regulars share stories, joke, unwind, and trade friendly barbs. The café is a refuge that keeps the outside world at bay, until a mysterious omen forces the outside in.

Court's 2024/25 season opener is a tribute to Resident Artist and Director Ron OJ Parson's (Two Trains Running) first production in Chicago, his deep collaboration with playwright Eugene Lee, and the founding of Onyx Theatre Ensemble, the storied theatre company that first produced East Texas Hot Links in Chicago thirty years ago.

By returning to Top O' the Hill Café decades later, Parson asserts East Texas's place in the modern theatrical canon, honors the legacy of Onyx, and obliterates the line between America's fraught past and its charged present.

FALSETTOS

Music and Lyrics by William Finn

Book by William Finn and James Lapine

Co-produced with TimeLine Theatre Company

Directed by Nick Bowling, TimeLine Theatre Associate Artistic Director

November 8 – December 8, 2024

Tony Award-winning Falsettos is a tribute to family and its many forms; a playful interrogation of faith and identity; and a celebration of the beauty, complexity, and necessity of love.

Marvin has left his wife, Trina, for his male lover; Trina has married Marvin's therapist; and their son, Jason, is grappling with his parents' divorce and his looming Bar Mitzvah. Everyone's world has been upended and now they must explore what their new lives may hold. Featuring a sung-through score and set against the backdrop of the AIDS epidemic, Falsettos is a humorous and heartbreaking web of ex-spouses, co-parents, new lovers, and the lesbians next door.

TimeLine Theatre Associate Artistic Director Nick Bowling (The Lehman Trilogy) returns to Court Theatre – where he began his career almost thirty years ago alongside Charles Newell – to make his Court directorial debut with this celebratory co-production with TimeLine Theatre Company. Groundbreaking in its depiction of queerness, Falsettos shines with ingenuity and contemporary relevance.

A RAISIN IN THE SUN

By Lorraine Hansberry

Directed by Associate Artistic Director Gabrielle Randle-Bent

February 7 – March 9, 2025

Winner of the Tony Award for Best Play, a Pulitzer Prize, and the first play written by a Black woman to be produced on Broadway, Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun is a stunning portrayal of a family's fight for dignity and the right to dream.

As the Youngers await their recently deceased patriarch's life insurance check, they allow themselves to imagine a bigger life – a life with room to breathe – until those plans are thrown into jeopardy. Hansberry's language rings as wise and prescient as ever in her moving answer to Langston Hughes's question, What happens to a dream deferred?

Staged sixty years after Lorraine Hansberry's passing, Associate Artistic Director Gabrielle Randle-Bent (Antigone) brings Hansberry's masterpiece home to Chicago's vibrant South Side and Court's stage for the very first time.

BERLIN

WORLD PREMIERE

By Mickle Maher

Based on the graphic novel by Jason Lutes

Directed by Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director Charles Newell

April 25 – May 18, 2025

Berlin is an unforgettable mosaic of intersecting narratives set amidst the decline of Weimar Germany. This original commission brings Jason Lutes's exhilarating and acclaimed graphic novel to life.

Fascism is taking hold; revolutionaries are organizing; creatives are trying to capture the ineffable nature of their changing city; and – as everything falls apart – everyone is faced with a choice: abandon Berlin or fight to survive.

Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director Charles Newell (The Gospel at Colonus) directs Mickle Maher's propulsive adaptation, an ever-shifting kaleidoscope of everyday people trying to survive one of the most remarkable moments in history. Set almost one hundred years ago, Berlin speaks to our current moment, and our future, with undeniable urgency.

Subscription Information

Three and four-play subscriptions to Court's 2024/25 season range from $114 to $280 and are on sale now. To purchase a subscription or to receive more information, call the Court Theatre Box Office at (773) 753-4472, or visit Court's website at CourtTheatre.org. Individual tickets for all productions will be available in summer 2024.

Court Theatre reimagines classic theatre to illuminate our current times. In residence at the University of Chicago and on Chicago's historic South Side, we engage our audiences with intimate and provocative experiences that inspire deeper exploration of the enduring questions that confront humanity and connect us as people.

Recipient of the prestigious MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions in 2016, TimeLine Theatre was founded in 1997 with a mission to present stories inspired by history that connect with today's social and political issues. TimeLine Theatre Company is currently helmed by Artistic Director PJ Powers and Executive Director Mica Cole. For more information about TimeLine, visit timelinetheatre.com.