Steve Leary - Page 5

THE BOWERY BOYS, a new musical, will make its highly anticipated world premiere at the Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Drive; previewing December 10th, opening December 17th, and running through February 15th. Inspired by the works of Horatio Alger Jr. and George M. Cohan, THE BOWERY BOYS? book and lyrics are by David H. Bell, with music by Jeremy Cohen.

Hear Carla Gordon singas part of the Tenth Anniversary Celebration at Davenport's.

Goodman Theatre opens its "Strong Women, Strong Voices" Owen Theatre Series with the world premiere of Lynn Nottage's Ruined, directed by Kate Whoriskey and co-produced with Manhattan Theatre Club. Commissioned by the Goodman and first seen in the 2007 New Stages Series, Ruined was developed through Nottage and Whoriskey's pilgrimage to Uganda-where countless interviews and interactions resulted in a portrait of the lives of the women and girls caught in the devastating armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Leading the Goodman's cast in the role of Mama Nadi is Saidah Arrika Ekulona (Well on Broadway; Righteous Kill), who previously collaborated with Nottage and Whoriskey on the world premiere of Fabulation at Playwrights Horizons. Ruined begins performances on November 8 (opening night is November 17) and runs through December 7. Tickets are $10 - $39. Ruined begins performances at Manhattan Theatre Club on January 21, 2009.

Brett Batterson, executive director of the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University (ATRU), is pleased to announce the return of Too Hot to Handel: The Jazz-Gospel Messiah to Chicago's National Historic Landmark Auditorium Theatre. For two performances only, Friday, December 12 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, December 14 at 3 p.m., the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, 50 East Congress Parkway, will be filled with the sounds of this soulful reinvention of Handel's Messiah. This joyful musical experience is quickly becoming one of Chicago's favorite annual events. Tickets are now on sale.

FOILED AGAIN, a cabaret act featuring Allison Bazarko, Rob Lindley, Anne Sheridan Smith and Jeff award-winning Doug Peck as musical director, will perform for the WILMETTE THEATRE EDUCATION PROJECT's holiday benefit: December 15, 2008, at 7:30 PM

American Theater Company (ATC) continues its 2008-09 season with the sixth annual production of It's a Wonderful Life: The Radio Play adapted from Frank Capra's classic film and directed by Damon Kiely. The production will run December 4 -December 28, 2008, at American Theater Company, 1909 W Byron St, Chicago, IL. Press opening is Monday, December 8, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.

Chicago Shakespeare opens three shows in the month of January reflecting the Theater's diverse programming. Artistic Director Barbara Gaines stages Macbeth in the Courtyard Theater, January 2-March 8, 2009; CST's World's Stage international program initiative, presents a company from Rwanda performing The Investigation in the Theater Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare, January 21-31, 2009; and CST welcomes families to the theater with an abridged production of one of Shakespeare's most popular comedies, Short Shakespeare! A Midsummer Night's Dream, January 24-March 7, 2009, on Saturdays in the Courtyard Theater.

THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS, the hit drama presented by Fellowship for the Performing Arts at The Mercury Theater, 3745 N. Southport Avenue, will feature special Wednesday night talk-backs with Max McLean (co-creator and star) and Jeffrey Fiske (co-creator and director) from November 5 through December 10 (there is no show on November 26.) The production, which had sold-out runs in New York and Washington, D.C., recently made its Chicago premiere and runs through January 4. During the talk-backs, McLean and Fiske will foster audience discussions about the show?s provocative themes and answer questions about how they adapted C.S. Lewis? classic novel into a hit stage production. The talk-backs schedule may be subject to change.

Victory Gardens Theater is offering two chances to go behind-the-scenes of The Snow Queen, the company¹s smash hit holiday musical, sledding back into town for her third go-around as Chicago's #1 alternative to traditional holiday fare.

Rubicon Theatre Project is excited to open its fourth season with Offsprung, a play by Rubicon ensemble member Bridget Fallen, at Stage Left theatre located at 3408 N. Sheffield, Chicago, 60657.

The Artistic Home at 3914 North Clark Street 2008/2009 season consists of three mainstage productions: Look Homeward Angel by Ketti Frings, Modigliani by Dennis McIntyre, and The Latent Heterosexual by Paddy Chayefsky. The Artistic Home Acting Studio will also produce two productions: The Fox by Alan Miller and another production to be announced.

If you're a die-hard fan of classic American musicals, then grab your checkbook and a few supportive friends and buy your way to stardom at Victory Gardens Theater's 27th Annual Casting Auction, Saturday, November 15 at 6 pm at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago.

Jake Ehrenreich's autobiographical 'comedy musical', A Jew Grows in Brooklyn comes to the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts (9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie) for a limited one-week engagement this November. A Jew Grows in Brooklyn played for fifteen months to sold-out houses and broke box-office records, first at the historic Lamb's Theatre in the heart of Broadway's Time Square, and then for 15 weeks at the Cuillo Centre for the Arts in West Palm Beach Florida. Universal in its appeal, ABC-TV exclaimed A Jew Grows in Brooklyn "speaks to anyone hoping to live out the American Dream," and the New York Times raved "you don't have to be Jewish or Brooklynish!" This Rock N' Roll true story will premiere in Chicago at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie for a limited one-week engagement November 5 - 9, 2008.

Writers' Theatre Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma announce Jean Genet's The Maids directed by Jimmy McDermott. The production runs November 18, 2008- April 5, 2009, at Writers' Theatre, 664 Vernon Avenue, Glencoe. The official press performances are December 3 and 4, 2008, at 7:30 p.m.

Theatre at the Center's Theatre for Young Audiences, 1040 Ridge Road, Munster, Indiana, will present The Christmas That Almost Wasn't, the 'behind the scenes' story of Christmas written for children, by children performed by Child's Play Touring Theatre. The Christmas That Almost Wasn't will run December 1 through December 15.

Greasy Joan & Co. launches its 13th year of producing innovative productions of classic plays with the world premiere comedy CHEKHOV'S LIFE IN THE COUNTRY, from short works by Anton Chekhov, with translations by Paul Schmidt, Ryan McKittrick and Julia Smeliansky, and directed by Interim Artistic Director Libby Ford. CHEKHOV'S LIFE IN THE COUNTRY will play Chicago's Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., November 7 through December 21, 2008. The press opening is Sunday, November 9 at 3:30 p.m.

Experience the New Residents' Showcase, January 10, 2009 at Chicago Dramatists. The new Residents in this 30th anniversary season are Mary Ruth Clarke, Cheryl Coons, Christopher De Paola, Sarah Gubbins, David Scott Hay, and Jon Steinhagen.

In just one night, learn the Sparkle Sisters secrets to keeping their curves! From Sondheim to Berlin, this hilarious musical evening will inspire you to find your own inner sparkle through a cabaret revue of story songs. 7 Secrets of Highly Effective Chicks will make audiences laugh, cry and go home happy.

Million Dollar Quartet, the new musical inspired by the famed 1956 recording session that brought together legendary rock 'n' roll icons Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley, will move to the Apollo Theater at 2540 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, immediately following the conclusion of its limited engagement at the Goodman's Owen Theatre. Performances in the Owen continue through October 26, 2008; preview performances at the Apollo Theater begin Friday, October 31, 2008. The official Apollo opening is Wednesday, November 5, 2008, at 7:30 p.m.. Tickets for the Apollo run are currently on sale through January 4, 2009.

Village Players Theater for Youth seeks singer/actors with strong operatic vocal technique and dancer/singers with strong lyrical/ballet training for its 5th annual production of Humperdinck's opera Hansel and Gretel. Roles sought are: