The Ravinia Festival in Chicago has announced its 2006 summer season. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Elaine Stritch, Audra McDonald and others are set to join previously-announced stars such as Patti LuPone in the festival's starry line-up.
The festival will kick off with a performance by
Jane Monheit as part of the cabaret series Martinis at the Martin. Monheit will perform on June 5th, followed by
Michael Feinstein and
Jekyll & Hyde's
Linda Eder on July 18th, Tony Award-winning theatre legend
Elaine Stritch on August 1st, the Tierney Sutton Band on August 21st, and four time Tony Award-winner
Audra McDonald (
Marie Christine, Ragtime) on September 10th.
McDonald, as well as frequent Tony-winning co-star
Brian Stokes Mitchell (
Man of La Mancha, Kiss Me, Kate) will be on hand for
Gershwin Gala: Rhapsody in Blue and More on July 15th.
Hershey Felder, who first rose to Broadway fame with his
George Gershwin Alone, will serve as host.
Next up will be
Lonny Price's highly anticipated staging of
Gypsy starring
Patti LuPone as indomitable stage mother Rose; the show will run from August 11th through 13th.
Paul Gemignani will conduct the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra for the show, which features music by Jule Styne, lyrics by
Stephen Sondheim and a book by Arthur Laurents.
Felder will return on September 7th for a performance of his play
Monsieur Chopin at the Martin Theatre; he will play the famed Polish-born romantic composer.
Tony Award-winner
Lillias White (
The Life, Dreamgirls) will headline the musical theatre workshop production
The Princess and the Black-Eyed Pea, which will be presented in association with the Steans Institute on September 15th and 16th. The show, by Karole Foreman and Andrew Chukerman, retells the story of the Hans Christian Andersen classic.
For more information, visit
www.ravinia.org.
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