The new year brings a fresh round of theater openings. Besides annual events, such as the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival (see next week’s story) and Pegasus Theatre Chicago’s 39th Annual Young Playwrights Festival, there are world premieres, innovative revivals, Broadway tours, exciting one-night stands and all sorts of surprises to enjoy in January and February.
Here are some of the openings we’re most excited about, starting in Hyde Park. Be sure to call ahead for details. And remember to snap up bargain-priced tickets offered for Chicago Theatre Week Feb. 5-15. They go on sale Jan. 6 at HotTix.org.
“Miss Julie” at Court Theatre
Feb. 6-March 8, courttheatre.org
Court continues its exploration of sexual politics undertaken in “The Taming of the Shrew” last fall with August Strindberg’s “Miss Julie.” Senior Artistic Producer Gabrielle Randle-Bent directs the fatal dance of domination and submission between the title aristocrat who wants to escape the constraints that trap her and her less-than-sympathetic social-climbing servant. Mi Kang plays Miss Julie with Kelvin Roston Jr. as the opportunistic Jean and Rebecca Spence as Christine.
“Black Cypress Bayou” at Definition Theatre
Feb. 13-March 15, definitiontheatre.org
Ericka Ratcliff directs the Chicago premiere of Kristen Adele Calhoun’s “Black Cypress Bayou,” a pandemic-set combination mystery, family drama and historical reckoning that had its world premiere in Los Angeles in 2024. On a sweltering Texas night, matriarch Vernita Manifold summons home her very different daughters, LadyBird and RaeMeka, because an extremely wealthy white man has turned up dead on their property under suspicious circumstances, and there’s evidence to be dealt with. When the mysterious Taysha arrives, buried truths rise from the swamp, according to the press materials.
“Eureka Day” at TimeLine Theatre Company in the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place
Jan. 13-Feb. 22, timelinetheatre.com
TimeLine teams up with Broadway in Chicago for the fourth time to present the Chicago premiere of Jonathan Spector’s “Eureka Day,” directed by Lili-Anne Brown. Called “as sharp a biopsy of wokeness and obtuseness as you could want,” by Jesse Green in the New York Times,the satire, which won the 2024 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play (the world premiere was in 2018 in Berkeley, California) dissects what happens when a mumps outbreak hits the ultra-progressive Eureka Day School, where everything is decided by consensus. Not surprisingly, the carefully cultivated culture of inclusiveness spirals into chaos, as parents and board members clash over vaccines, personal freedoms, and viral misinformation. In Chicago, the principal trying to hold things together is played by PJ Powers, TimeLine’s artistic director.
“Stereophonic” at the CIBC Theatre
Jan. 27-Feb. 8, broadwayinchicago.com
Hailed for its “fly-on-the-wall hyperrealism,” David Adjmi’s “Stereophonic,” with original songs by Will Butler, formerly of Arcade Fire, won the most Tony Awards (5) for the 2024 season and now is on its U.S. National Tour. Set in a California recording studio in 1976 and 1977, the play zooms in on a soon-to-be-famous band not unlike Fleetwood Mac in the throes of creating an album not unlike “Rumours” that could be their breakthrough — or cause their breakup.
“The Outsiders” at the Cadillac Palace Theatre
Feb. 10-22, broadwayinchicago.com
Winner of four 2024 Tony Awards including Best Musical, “The Outsiders” is based on S. E. Hinton’s novel, penned when she was 16, and Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 film about rival gangs—the working-class Greasers and preppy Socs—in Tulsa, OK. Set in 1967, the book for the coming-of-age crime story centering on Ponyboy Curtis and his Greaser family is by Adam Rapp and Justin Levine. The roots/country score is by the Austin, Texas-based Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance) and Levine, and Danya Taymor directed.
“Holiday” in the Goodman Albert Theatre
Jan. 31-March 1, goodmantheatre.org
Goodman Theatre continues its centennial season with the world premiere of Richard Greenberg’s contemporary adaptation of Philip Barry’s 1928 “Holiday,” which inspired George Cukor’s beloved 1938 film starring Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn (who understudied the role of Linda Seton in the original stage production). Recently retired Goodman artistic director Robert Falls, fresh from directing “Amadeus” at Steppenwolf, returns to direct what promises to be a delightful take on issues of class, privilege and personal fulfillment.
New Stages Festival in the Goodman Owen Theatre
Jan. 11-18
The 21st annual installment of this showcase for risky new drama features script-in-hand readings of works-in-progress by Ike Holter, Hansol Jung, and three other playwrights. See the hits of tomorrow for free — though reservations are required.
“The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” in the Goodman Owen Theatre
Feb. 21 – April 5
Marco Antonio Rodriguez’s world premiere English stage adaptation of Junot Díaz’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel focuses on Oscar, a nerdy Dominican college freshman who, with the encouragement of his new roommate, sets out from New Jersey to Santo Domingo to give romance another chance and shake the dark “fukú” (curse) that has haunted his family for generations.
Short Shakespeare “Hamlet” in the Chicago Shakespeare Courtyard Theater
Jan. 31-Feb. 28, chicagoshakes.com
Artistic director Edward Hall stages CST’s first-ever 75-minute adaptation of “Hamlet.” In addition to weekday matinees for some 20,000 students, there will be public performances on Saturdays. Plus, every performance includes a post-show conversation with the cast to give you an insider’s perspective on bringing the story to the stage.
“Hamnet” in The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare
Feb. 10-March 8
The UK’s Royal Shakespeare Company returns to Chicago (after last year’s success with “Pericles”) with the U.S. premiere of Lolita Chakrabarti’s adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel “Hamnet.” In case you haven’t seen the movie, which came out last fall, the play looks at Shakespeare through the eyes of his wife, here named Agnes, and three children, including the son who gives the story its title, whose death at age 11 profoundly affected both parents. A press release calls it “a love letter to passion, birth, grief, and the magic of nature.”
Speaking of Shakespeare, CST has scheduled two very special benefits in The Yard this January. On Jan. 16 and 17, Suzy Eddie Izzard, whose one-person “Hamlet” was a palpable hit, “Talks Shakespeare N’Stuff [Forsooth]” — and answers all your burning questions — in a program moderated by CST’s artistic director Hall. And on Jan. 30, Sir Ian McKellen bows in with “One Knight Only!,” his look at his 60-year career with reprises from some of his most iconic roles (think Gandalf and Shakespeare).
“The Dance of Death” in Steppenwolf’s Downstairs Theater
Jan. 29-March 22, steppenwolf.org
Steppenwolf continues its 50th anniversary season with August Strindberg’s “The Dance of Death” in Conor McPherson’s adaptation directed by Yasen Peyankov. Ensemble members Kathryn Erbe and Jeff Perry play Alice and Edgar, who are approaching their 25th anniversary in this “master class in marital warfare.” When Alice’s cousin Kurt (Cliff Chamberlain) visits, the love-hate triangle spins out of control. The play may not be as famous as “Miss Julie” (at Court Theatre), but it is certainly as fraught.
“Bernadette, The Musical” at the Athenaeum Center for Thought and Culture
Feb. 12-March 15, athenaeumcenter.org
The story of Bernadette Soubirous, the teenager whose 18 Marian visions in Lourdes sparked the town’s religious industry and earned her a sainthood, is undoubtedly known by every French schoolchild and has spawned many films, novels, and other versions, but the involvement of actor Kelsey Grammer as a producer should give “Bernadette, The Musical” a boost here. Based on official accounts, historical documentation, and firsthand testimonies, and adapted from French into English by Barry Blue, the show features music by Grégoire with lyrics by Lionel Florence and Patrice Guirao. The director is Serge Denoncourt, and Eyma, who originated the title role for the 2019 premiere in France, reprises it here.
“Hedda Gabler” at Remy Bumppo Theatre Company
Feb. 5-March 8, remybumppo.org
Remy Bumppo’s artistic director Marti Lyons tackles Ibsen’s “Hedda Gabler,” adapted by Christopher Shinn, based on the literal translation by Anne-Charlotte Hanes Harvey. It will be interesting to see how her take on a woman who is desperate to escape her boring, loveless existence and doesn’t care who she destroys compares with her feminist interpretation of “The Taming of the Shrew” at Court. Aurora Real de Asua stars as Hedda, while Travis Knight is the betrayed Ejlert Løvborg.
“Morning, Noon and Night” at Shattered Globe Theatre
Feb. 13-March 28, sgtheatre.org
AmBer Montgomery directs Kirsten Greenidge’s “Morning, Noon, and Night,” which explores the overwhelming pressures faced by a mother and office worker returning to a post-pandemic world and coping with a teenage daughter who is obsessed with climate change and the internet. Both want everything to be perfect for the birthday of the teenager’s older sister, but a glitch ruins that in this dark comedy.
“The Irish… and How They Got That Way” at Porchlight Music Theatre in the Ruth Page Center for the Arts
Jan. 31-March 15, porchlightmusictheatre.org
Frank McCourt’s “The Irish… and How They Got That Way” takes a witty, irreverent look at 100-plus tumultuous years of Irish musical history using the likes of “Danny Boy,” “Galway Bay,” “Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ra,” U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I Am Looking For” and many more. Porchlight brings Rusty McGee’s original arrangements to life under the direction of David Girolmo with music direction by David Fiorello.
“Birds of North America” at A Red Orchid Theatre
Jan. 15-Feb. 22, aredorchidtheatre.org
John Judd and Cassidy Slaughter-Mason star as father and daughter birders in the Chicago premiere of Anna Ouyang Moench’s “Birds of North America” directed by artistic director Kirsten Fitzgerald. As they scan the skies over their backyard in suburban Maryland looking for elusive birds during the course of a decade, we home in on their relationship and struggle to understand each other and the changing world around them.
“Pivot” at Rivendell Theatre Ensemble
Feb. 8 – March 22, rivendelltheatre.org
Ensemble member Hallie Gordon directs the world premiere of Chicago-based playwright Alex Lubischer’s “Pivot.” Dubbed “a dark comedy about getting your way, making a scene, and father-daughter dances to the Chicks,” it revolves around Kara (Ashley Neal) who apparently just wants “a giant wedding reception and a solid three-year crop rotation plan for the farm.” But when that plan blows up, “she’s prepared to upend the entire town of Milton, Nebraska to fight for the future that should have been hers.” The cast also includes Keith Kupferer, Glenn Obrero, and Tara Mallen, Rivendell’s artistic director.
“Top Girls” at Raven Theatre
Feb. 12-March 22, raventheatre.com
Lucky Stiff directs “Top Girls,” Caryl Churchill’s 1982 tour de force on feminism, class and politics that explores women’s aspirations through time in a patriarchal society. It has been called one of the best British plays of the 20th century.
Adding to the intrigue, Raven’s resident company, The Story Theatre, is planning to produce “Pot Girls,” ensemble member Paul Michael Thomson’s take on Churchill’s play, at about the same time. In it, Caryl’s friends — an assortment of feminist writers from throughout space and time — come to her London flat to party in 1982. ( storytheatre.org)
“Come Back, Little Sheba” at American Blues Theater
Feb. 6-March 22, americanbluestheater.com
ABT artistic director Gwendolyn Whiteside and ensemble member Philip Earl Johnson star as former beauty queen Lola and recovering alcoholic “Doc” Delaney in this intimate reimagining of “Come Back, Little Sheba,” William Inge’s 1950 classic about a couple whose regret-filled life is upended when a young college student (Maya Lou Hlava) becomes their boarder. Extra points if you remember who “little Sheba” is. Just kidding.
“My Life as a Cowboy” at Open Space Arts
Jan. 23-Feb. 8, openspacearts.org
OSA continues its mission of championing playwrights who celebrate the
complexity of queer identity with the American premiere of London-based Hugo Timbrell’s “My Life as a Cowboy.” The coming-of-age comedy focuses on 17-year-old Conor, who craves something bigger than his life so far and impulsively decides to enter a country-and-western dance competition. Two unlikely allies join him, and what starts as a half-joke becomes a joyful journey of reinvention.
“Trial in the Delta: The Murder of Emmett Till” Collaboraction Theatre Company at the Kimball Arts Center
Feb. 1-March 1, collaboraction.org
If you missed it at the DuSable Museum, Collaboraction inaugurates its new “House of Belonging” space with a reprise of “Trial in the Delta,” its immersive docudrama about the trial of the men accused of killing Till. The ensemble includes veterans of the moving show and newcomers. A short “Crucial Conversation” follows every performance.
A few in the suburbs
“Mary Jane” at Northlight Theatre in Skokie
Jan. 22-Feb. 22, nborthlight.org
Georgette Verdin directs Amy Herzog’s heart-breaking “Mary Jane” about the struggles of a young mother trying to care for her chronically ill toddler. The story is told through her encounters with eight other women. Lucy Carapetyan plays the title character, a role originated in 2017 in New York by Carrie Coon.
“Two Sisters and a Piano” at Writers Theatre in Glencoe
Feb. 26-Mar. 29, writerstheatre.org
Set in Havana in 1991, Nilo Cruz’s “Two Sisters and a Piano” brings together two sisters who are under house arrest, novelist Maria Celia and pianist Sofia, whose small world is shaken by the arrival of a romantic young piano tuner and a military officer who becomes infatuated with Maria’s writing. The tale of oppression, the human spirit and intertwining fates unfolds as the women await news of Maria’s exiled husband and dream of their freedom.
“Dear Evan Hansen” at Paramount Theatre in Aurura
Feb. 4-Mar. 22 ParamountAurora.com
Jessica Fisch directs the first homegrown production of “Dear Evan Hansen,” the six-Tony Award-winning musical about an anxious high school senior who invents a starring role for himself in a tragedy just because he’s lonely and wants to fit in. Naturally, his lies spiral out of control. Cody Combs makes his Chicago-area debut and learns a lesson or two as Evan.
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