Neala Barron News

Join the 9th annual BELTING FOR LIFE benefit concert, presented by Jeff Award-winning director and HIV+ activist Christopher Pazdernik, supporting the AIDS Foundation Chicago. Learn how to purchase tickets.

Celebrating its 50th anniversary awarding recognition for Non-Equity theater, the Joseph Jefferson Awards have revealed the recipients for theater excellence among Non-Equity theater during the 2023 season. Learn more about the full list of winners here!

Porchlight Music Theatre has announced the cast for Chicago Sings Broadway Pop II,  its annual fundraising concert, Monday, April 15, at the House of Blues Chicago.

The Joseph Jefferson Awards will honor arts philanthropists Michael and Mona Heath at the 50th Anniversary Non-Equity Awards celebration.

Music Theater Works officially opened its first production of its 2024 season, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. The musical is now playing through March 31.  Check out photos from opening night here!

The semi-improvised, fourth-wall-breaking musical now receives a delightful production at Music Theater Works that's heavy on humor if occasionally light on heart. It runs through March 31 at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie.

Music Theater Works’ first production of its 2024 season, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, is now playing through March 31. See photos from the production!

At the milestone 50th Anniversary Joseph Jefferson Awards for Non-Equity Theater, more than 100 recognized artists and new emerging faces and voices will be honored. Learn more about the ceremony!

Celebrating its 50th anniversary awarding recognition for Non-Equity theater, the Joseph Jefferson Awards has revealed its nominations for theater excellence among Non-Equity theater during the 2023 season.

Award-winning Porchlight Music Theatre has announced the cast and production team for Porchlight in Concert: Sunday in the Park with George, starring Tony Award-nominated Sean Allan Krill and Broadway’s Kathy Voytko.

Award-winning Porchlight Music Theatre has revealed the cast and production team for Porchlight in Concert: Sunday in the Park with George.

BroadwayWorld announces the upcoming production of HAMILTON at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. The show will feature an all-star cast and promises to be a must-see for theater lovers. Get all the details here.

Although it debuted off-Broadway more than thirty years ago, Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s ASSASSINS remains a thrilling, bone chilling, brilliant, and immensely taut musical. Drawing on the United States history of successful and would-be presidential assassins, ASSASSINS is an astounding exploration of disillusionment and infamy. The musical feels remarkably prescient in the era of TikTok influencers and an epidemic of mass shootings in America; ASSASSINS unnervingly pre-dates both of these phenomena and yet is a real immediate reflection of them. When the ensemble sings in “The Gun Song” that “all you have to do is move your little finger/ and you can change the world,” it’s absolutely terrifying in a 2023 context. Sondheim and Weidman present a cast of historical characters that feel disenfranchised and disillusioned by American ideals, and modern America certainly hasn’t been disabused of this notion.

Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre has revealed the cast and production team of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's provocative musical Assassins.

The Beautiful City Project has announced the cast of 90s SUMMER BLOCK PARTY, with proceeds to benefit Guitars Over Guns Chicago, a charity that believes that music, combined with strong, consistent mentorship, can reshape the trajectory of a student's life from our vulnerable communities.

Chicago's favorite evening of big voices for a big cause, returns with the 8th annual Belting for Life. For one night only on Monday, May 15 at 7:30pm at Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre in Evanston, Jeff Award-winning director and HIV+ activist Christopher Pazdernik presents the beloved benefit concert.

Porchlight Music Theatre announces the roster of new faces starring in its latest 2022 – 2023 season offering, New Faces Sing Broadway 1984, hosted by Honey West, directed by Tommy Novak with music direction and arrangements by Micky York. New Faces Sing Broadway 1984 takes place Tuesday, April 25.

As the world commemorates William Shakespeare's 459th birthday this April, Chicago Shakespeare Theater will celebrate the Bard with multiple events throughout the month. The Theater will honor the legacy of Founding Artistic Director Barbara Gaines with the Spirit of Shakespeare Award, which will be presented at a fundraising event at the Theater's home on Navy Pier on Monday, April 24, 2023.

Porchlight Music Theatre will present New Faces Sing Broadway 1984, hosted by Honey West, directed by Tommy Novak with music direction and arrangements by Micky York.

Porchlight Music Theatre has announced the Chicago Sings Broadway Pop cast and that Rick Boynton of Chicago Shakespeare Theater is the 2023 Guy Adkins Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Music Theatre in Chicago recipient.