Displaying items by tag: Christmas theatre

From an internationally renowned chef and the world-famous rock frontman of Wilco, to a Pulitzer Prize-nominated author and a handful of Chicago's nationally decorated actors, holiday theatergoers find two new seasonal offerings at The Goodman this year. Alongside the perennial favorite A Christmas Carol, now in its 49^th year, a one-night-only reading and discussion of Thornton Wilder's The Long Christmas Dinner and a limited three-performance engagement of the tuneful E. Faye & Friends: A Holiday Cabaret take the stage in the Owen Theatre. These three projects, along with ongoing performances of David Byrne's Theater of the Mind and Dennis Watkins' The Magic Parlour, welcome more than 100 local artists to work at The Goodman during the holidays.

The Long Christmas Dinner is a reading and discussion of Pulitzer Prize winner Thornton Wilder's classic one-act, directed and hosted by Jeremy McCarter, Wilder's literary executor. The star-studded cast includes Rick Bayless (chef, restaurateur, author), Lorena Diaz (Chicago Med), Ora Jones (The Nacirema Society), Rebecca Makkai (author of The Great Believers), Natalie Moore (journalist, playwright, author of The South Side: A Portrait of Chicago and American Segregation), Anthony Rapp (RENT original cast), Namir Smallwood (Primary Trust) and Jeff Tweedy (musician and author). In the course of a single unbroken holiday meal, 90 years of a family's history fly by in this moving, funny, sometimes sorrowful, ingeniously theatrical 40-minute one-act play. Immediately following the reading, the artists and audience engage in conversation about family, tradition and what brings people together during the holiday season. With this reading, The Goodman joins a nationwide event—The Thornton Wilder Estate's The Long Christmas Dinner Festival, which launches today.

E. Faye & Friends: A Holiday Cabaret transforms the Owen Theatre main floor into a nightclub atmosphere, with special seating at cabaret tables. Chicago's longtime leading lady E. Faye Butler (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) stars in this celebration of the season, featuring timeless blues and jazz standards. Each night, Ms. Butler invites "Friends" to join her on stage—including Kelvin Roston Jr. (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom), and more special guest artists to be announced. Musical Director, Conductor and Pianist Jeremy Kahn oversees the six-piece live band: Ron Haynes (trumpet), Charles Rick Heath IV (drums), Jeremiah Hunt (bass), Felton Offard (guitar) and Dudley Owens (woodwinds).

The Long Christmas Dinner appears December 15 at 7pm. Tickets ($39 - $59, subject to change) go on sale November 20; GoodmanTheatre.org/Dinner. E. Faye & Friends: A Holiday Cabaret appears December 18 and 19 at 7:30pm and December 20 at 2pm. Tickets ($44 - $89, subject to change) go on sale November 13; more details at GoodmanTheatre.org/Cabaret. A Christmas Carol appears November 13 – December 31; tickets are $34 - $188, subject to change. Visit the Box Office (170 N. Dearborn), call 312.443.3800 or purchase online at GoodmanTheatre.org/Carol. The Goodman is grateful for the support of PNC (Major Corporate Sponsor) and ITW (Corporate Sponsor Partner).

ABOUT THE GOODMAN

Since 1925, The Goodman has been a theatrical home for artists and a gathering space for Chicagoland, where bold stories spark connection, conversation and change. Now, as it enters its second century, The Goodman builds on that legacy with an eye toward the future. Under the leadership of Walter Artistic Director Susan V. Booth and Executive Director John Collins, the theater continues to champion new work—following hundreds of plays developed and a national reputation for commissioning and premiering original stories by living writers—while reimagining classics and produce large-scale musicals.

But The Goodman's reach today extends beyond its home in the heart of the Loop. From the intimate magic of The Magic Parlour, now in its third year, to the boundary-pushing world of Theater of the Mind—an immersive experience that blurs the lines between science, storytelling and sensation—and from citywide initiatives like 100 Free Acts of Theater to partnerships with artists and companies across Chicago and around the world, The Goodman is expanding what theater can be, and where it can live.

At its core, The Goodman is driven by a belief that a more empathetic, more connected city is built one story at a time. Generation-spanning productions and programs offer theater for a lifetime—from babies and young children to teens, adults and seniors—including Theater for the Very Young (ages 0–5) and the beloved annual A Christmas Carol, which has welcomed audiences for five decades. Education and Engagement programs, led by Clifford Director Jared Bellot and based in the Alice Rapoport Center, use the tools of theater to spark imagination, reflection and belonging—reaching thousands each year, the majority from underserved communities.

With nearly 200 world or American premieres, two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards and nearly 200 Joseph Jefferson Awards, The Goodman remains a defining force in American theater—and the first to produce all 10 plays of August Wilson's American Century Cycle. The theater also frequently serves as a production partner—from national and international companies to Chicago's Off-Loop theaters—to help amplify a wide range of theatrical voices.

Founded by William O. Goodman and his family in memory of playwright Kenneth Sawyer Goodman, the theater carries forward a legacy of artistic ambition and civic generosity. With the help of Mr. Goodman's descendants—Albert Ivar Goodman and his late mother, Edith-Marie Appleton—that spirit continues to shape its future as The Goodman expands its impact across Chicago and beyond. Marsha Cruzan is Chair of the Goodman Theatre Board of Trustees; Diane Landgren is Women's Board President; and Christopher Way is president of the Scenemakers Board for Young Professionals.

The Goodman stands on the unceded homelands of the Council of the Three Fires—the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations—and acknowledges the many other Nations for whom this land now called Chicago has long been home, including the Myaamia, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac and Fox, Peoria, Kaskaskia, Wea, Kickapoo, and Mascouten. The Goodman is proud to partner with the Gichigamiin Indigenous Nations Museum (Gichigamiin-Museum.org) and the Center for Native Futures (CenterForNativeFutures.org)—organizations devoted to honoring Indigenous stories, preserving cultural memory, and deepening public understanding.

Citadel will be visited by Clarence the Angel and the beleaguered George Bailey from November 13 – December 13, when the company presents IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: THE LIVE RADIO PLAY, based on the perennial favorite holiday film that starred James Stewart, Donna Reed, and Lionel Barrymore. When the film premiered in 1946, before the television era, it was a common practice for popular films to be performed as live radio plays, and IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE was performed live on CBS's THE LUX RADIO THEATRE with Stewart and Reed recreating their film roles as George and Mary Bailey on December 23, 1947. This radio play adaptation by playwright Joe Landry not only brings the film's beloved story to the stage, but it also recreates the magic of the heyday of radio dramas. The cast of five will play radio actors who are performing all 50 roles of the "radio play within a play," recreating the tension and excitement of performing live before a studio audience and a nationwide radio audience of millions. Jack Hickey, the former Artistic Director of Oak Park Festival Theatre, who directed Citadel's THE COTTAGE in 2024, will return to Citadel to direct. IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY will open on Friday, November 13 after previews on November 11 and 12, and play through December 13.
 
Hickey's stellar cast will be led by Brian Parry, known in Chicago for such iconic roles as Willy Loman, King Lear, and Richard Nixon. Parry has been cast in the equally iconic role of the villainous Mr. Potter, created in the film by Barrymore. Jake and Sally – the radio actors playing George and Mary Bailey  - will be Jake Harrison Murphy (Puck in BrightSide Theatre's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM) and Rachel J. Jones (seen earlier this year in Writers Theatre's LEOPOLDSTADT, and as Juliet in Oak Park Theatre's ROMEO AND JULIET). Parry, along with John Dooley (of Citadel's ADMISSIONS and THE COTTAGE) and Cait Kelly (of POOR BEHAVIOR and CRY IT OUT with Oil Lamp Theatre), will be the radio actors playing all the other characters of the film. Caleb Ryan Jones will create the Foley sound effects and play the radio stage manager. Understudies are Bob Sanders (Freddie/Mr. Potter and others), Zach Kunde (Harry, Jake/George Bailey and others) and Ariel Dooley (Sally/Mary Bailey). The final cast members, it should be noted, will be the Citadel audiences themselves – who will play the studio audience.

The IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE design team that will take audiences back to a radio studio of the 1940's includes Jeff Award winners Bob Knuth (Scenic Design) and Rachel Sypniewski (Costume Design); Joel Zishuk (Lighting Design), Alex Trinh (Sound Design), and Reiley Duffy (Props Design). Also on the production team are Abby Austin (Stage Manager), Jason Clark (Master Carpenter), Adri Andreolas (Scenic Charge), Natalie Barowsky (Stage Crew), and Scott and Ellen Phelps (Production Managers).
 
Flex passes, which can be used in any combinations for any Citadel Main Stage shows, are available for four admissions at $140.00, or three admissions for $115.00 or two admissions for $80.00. Preview flex passes are also available for $45 (two shows), $55 (three shows), or $65 (four shows). Subscriptions and single tickets priced at $50 (plus ticketing. Fees) are on sale at www.citadeltheatre.org. 
 
Citadel Theatre is in residence in the West Campus of the Lake Forest School District at 300 S. Waukegan Road, Lake Forest. Further information and ticketing is available on the company's website at www.citadeltheatre.org.

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY
Adapted by Joe Landry
Based on the story "The Greatest Gift" by Philip van Doren Stern
Directed by Jack Hickey
Friday, November 13 – Sunday, December 13, 2026
(Previews November 11 and 12 at 7:30 pm)

Thursdays*, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Sunday matinees at 3 pm. Wednesday matinees at 1 pm on November 18 and December 2, Saturday matinees at 3 pm on November 28 and December 12. Understudy performance Wednesday, December 2 at 6:30 pm.
* No show on Thursday, November 26 (Thanksgiving Day)
Preview ticket prices $27.15 including ticketing fee. Regular run prices $53.40 including  ticketing fee. Discounts available for groups, seniors and students..
Citadel Theatre, located in the West Campus building of the Lake Forest School District, 300 S. Waukegan Rd., Lake Forest, IL.
Tickets available online at www.citadeltheatre.org or by phone at 847-735-8554, ext. 1
 
On one fateful Christmas Eve, George Bailey teeters on the edge of despair, until an unexpected visitor reveals the extraordinary impact of his life. The immortal story of the classic film is told as a lively 1940s radio broadcast. IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY blends humor, nostalgia and heart into a timeless reminder that the choices we make can change everything.

This holiday season, Overshadowed Theatrical Productions is thrilled to present the timeless holiday classic, It’s a Wonderful Life, live on stage. As Frank Capra’s legendary film celebrates its 80th anniversary, this stage adaptation offers the perfect way for families and the community to celebrate the Christmas season together.

Adapted by Jason LeBlanc from the film by Frank Capra—which was based on Philip Van Doren Stern’s short story The Greatest Gift—this stage version stands as the most faithful adaptation of the iconic movie. Audiences can expect the very same humor, warmth, and emotion that have made the story a beloved holiday tradition for generations.

"I'm so excited to put this story on stage in a time that you might need hope or you might like to give hope. It'll be a wonderful reminder of the Christmas season," said Reba Hervas, Director and Artistic Director of Overshadowed Theatrical Productions.

Performance Schedule:

• Opening Night: Friday, November 27
• Performance Days & Times:
  • Thursdays: 7:30 PM
  • Fridays: 7:30 PM
  • Saturdays: 2:00 PM (Matinee) and 7:30 PM
• Special Event: Friday evening performances will feature an exclusive post-show talk-back session with the cast and crew, giving audience members a behind-the-scenes look into the production.

Cast:

Angelo Campos ... George Bailey

Danielle Spence ... Mary Hatch Bailey

Mike Larsen ... Mr. Potter

Brad Holloman ... Clarence Oddbody

Jerry Wiel ... Uncle Billy

Mimi Sagadin ... Ma Bailey

Rob Valentine ... Ernie/Pa Bailey

Pete Aylward ... Bert

Jessica Means ... Violet Bick

Jacob Starr ... Harry Bailey

Emily Starr ... Ruth Dakin Bailey

Betsy Thompson ... Jo

Rex Nyquist ... Gabriel

Vincent Prisco ... Mr. Gower

Aiden Cox ... Sam Wainwright

Kelly Zea ... Jane Wainwright

Madelyn Jones ... Cousin Tilly

Ryan Marrano ... Cousin Eustace

Sharon Lindemann ... Annie/Mrs. Davis/Ensemble

Tina Wiethege ... Mrs. Hatch

Steven Dexheimer ... Mr. Martini

Anneri Burgos ... Mrs. Maria Martini/Ensemble

Wesley White ... Marty Hatch/Mr. Welch

Nick Koss ... Mr. Carter/Bouncer/Ed

Steven Mantel ... Tom Schult/Dr. Campbell/Nick

Steve Bond ... Board Director/Driver/Randall

Jim Falcone ... Grumpy Old Man/Board Director

Jordan Reed ... Mickey Dunwood/Board Member/Joe Hepner

James Thompson ... Freddie/Tollkeeper/Board Director/Bank Teller

Declan White ... Young George

Bella Lee ... Young Mary

Brooke Means ... Young Violet

Zeke White ... Young Harry

Annika Rosas ... Janie Bailey

Clementine Milburn ... Zuzu Bailey

Molly Versosky ... Zuzu Bailey

Spencer Schillinger ... Pete Bailey

Oliver Schillinger ... Tommy

Ethily Hancock ... Ensemble

Sarah Kwan ... Ensemble

Lauren Szymkowicz ... Ensemble

Christy White ... Ensemble

Hannah Voss ... Martini Child

Leah Voss ... Martini Child

Maeve Burns ... Martini Child

Josephine Milburn ... Martini Child

Willow Milburn ... Martini Child

About Overshadowed Theatrical Productions Overshadowed Theatrical Productions has provided quality, family-friendly drama that entertains, inspires, and promotes a biblical message for over 20 years. Along with providing a positive community experience, Overshadowed has also sought to train and encourage the next generation of theater performers and crew.

Oil Lamp Theater is proud to announce the cast and creative team for its next production and the final production in its 2026 season, It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, November 20 - December 27, adapted by Joe Landry and directed by Becca Holloway at Oil Lamp Theater, 1723 Glenview Road. The schedule includes preview performances Friday, Nov. 20 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 21 at 3 p.m. with the opening performance Saturday, Nov. 21 at 7:30 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 3 and 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. with additional Wednesday performances on Dec. 2 at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m, Dec. 16 at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. and Dec. 23 at 7:30 p.m. There will also be an understudy performance on Wednesday, Dec. 9 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale now for $30 for previews and $55 for the run at OilLampTheater.org.  

This heartwarming production is the perfect way to embrace the spirit of the Christmas season. Experience unmatched holiday cheer with Frank Capra's beloved classic, It's a Wonderful Life, reimagined as a captivating Live Radio Play, complete with foley sound effects and set in Oil Lamp Theater’s WBFR radio studio.

Audiences are invited to journey to Bedford Falls, where George Bailey's troubles lead him to wish he was never born. Clarence, an angel sent to intervene, steps in to make his wishes come true and George quickly learns just how blessed he is and how many lives he has touched.

The cast of It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play includes Ethan Smith (he/him, Jake Laurents); India Huy (she/her, Sally Applewhite); Adam Schulmerich (he/him, Freddie Filmore); Baxter Konstans (he/him, Harry “Jazzbo” Haywood); Julia Hope Budd (she/her, Lana Sherwood); Anthony Augustine  (he/him, Foley Artist); Christopher Ratliff (he/him, U/S Jake Laurents); Aly Mackenzie (she/her, U/S Sally Applewhite); Neil Figuracion (any, U/S Freddie Filmore); Payton Nesci (he/him, U/S Harry “Jazzbo” Haywood); Katherine Abel (she/her, U/S Lana Sherwood) and John N Williams (he/him, U/S Foley Artist).  

The production team includes Becca Holloway (she/her, director); Anthony Doyle (he/him, stage manager); Trenton Jones (he/him, scenic designer); Rachel D. Hemm (she/her, lighting designer); Taylor Pfenning (she/her, costume designer); Elly Burke (she/her, props designer); Conner Nicoson (they/them, technical director); Connor Windle (she/her, production manager and sound designer) and Rose Leisner (she/her, company manager). 

ABOUT JOE LANDRY, playwright

Joe Landry's plays have been produced across the country and internationally and include It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play (named one of the top-ten most produced plays by American Theatre Magazine). His other Live Radio Play adaptations include Vintage Hitchcock, Meet Me in St. Louis, War of the Worlds: The Panic Broadcast and A Christmas Carol, published through Playscripts/Broadway Licensing and Concord. Other plays include The Wicked Stage, Reefer Madness, Numb and Hitchcocked!. He attended Playwrights Horizons/NYU and has taught playwriting at Sacred Heart University.

ABOUT BECCA HOLLOWAY, director

Becca Holloway is a director/choreographer based in Chicago. She’s thrilled to return to Oil Lamp Theater, where she made her directorial debut 10 years ago! Favorite directing credits include Curious Circumstances of Louis Le Prince, Wise Guys, Die Hard 4 Your Luv (The Factory Theater), Muted (Red Theater) and Wanderlust and The Muses (Chicago Music Theater Festival). As an associate director: Godspell (Music Theater Works) and the upcoming Sunday in the Park with George (Paramount Theatre). Holloway has also worked extensively as a casting director for more than 30 productions including work with Wicked and The Lion King.