CABARET, CATS, LES MIZ & More Lead Chicago's January Top Picks

Chicago is never lacking outstanding theatre, whether epic Broadway shows, engrossing dramas or bold fringe offerings. BroadwayWorld is rounding up our top recommended theatre every month.

Cabaret

The Ruth Page Center For the Art - January 14, 2023 through February 12, 2023

Bold and provocative, this winner of seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, shines a spotlight on Berlin in the late 1920s and the colorful, gritty and hedonistic lives found there. Filled with iconic songs and electrifying dance, Cabaret tells the story of the American writer Clifford Bradshaw and his relationship with English cabaret performer Sally Bowles on the eve of the Nazi party's rise to power. Overseen by an ominous Emcee at the fabled Kit Kat Club, Cabaret is a cautionary tale that has renewed resonance in today's political climate.

For tickets: click here.

Cats

James M. Nederlander Theatre - February 21, 2023 through February 26, 2023

Rediscover CATS - the beloved musical with breathtaking musicincluding one of the most treasured songs in musical theater, Memory. Featuring new sound design, direction and choreography for a new generation experience CATS for the first time as it begins a new life, or let it thrill you all over again!

For tickets: click here.

Les Misérables

Cadillac Palace Theatre - February 15, 2023 through March 05, 2023

Cameron Mackintosh presents the acclaimed production of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg's Tony Award-winning musical phenomenon, LES MISÉRABLES. Set against the backdrop of 19th century France, LES MISÉRABLES tells an enthralling story of broken dreams and unrequited love, passion, sacrifice and redemption-a timeless statement to the survival of the human spirit. Featuring one of the greatest scores of all time, with thrilling and beloved songs including "I Dreamed A Dream," "On My Own," "Stars," "Bring Him Home," "One Day More," "Do You Hear the People Sing" and many more, this epic and uplifting story has become one of the most celebrated musicals in theatrical history. Along with the Oscar-winning movie version, it has now been seen by more than 120 million people in 52 countries and in 22 languages around the globe. LES MISÉRABLES is undisputedly "one of the greatest musicals ever created" (Chicago Tribune) breaking box office records everywhere in its 35th year.

For tickets: click here.

Radial Gradient

Theater Wit - January 27, 2023 through March 11, 2023

Three women enter a research study hoping to create positive change after a hate crime takes place at a liberal university in America. Timelines in 2017 and 2020 intertwine as participants unravel their complicated shared friendships and histories. Jasmine Sharma's introspective and empowering new play, Radial Gradient, challenges what complicity looks like - what do we do if it looks like us?

For tickets: click here.

Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill

Mercury Theater Chicago - January 27, 2023 through March 12, 2023

Turn back the clock to 1956 for an intimate cabaret performance with the greatest jazz vocalist of all time, Billie Holiday. More than a dozen musical numbers are interlaced with salty, often humorous reminiscences revealing a portrait of the lady and her music. With a distinctive sense of musical structure and a deep knowledge of jazz and blues, she developed a singing style that was deeply moving. She left behind a body of work as great as any vocalist before or since.

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For tickets: click here.

Just Us Girls

The Jarvis Square Theater - February 02, 2023 through February 18, 2023

Nealshow Productions presents Just Us Girls, a new play written and directed by Pat Radke and inspired by the great Italian giallo films of Umberto Lenzi, Sergio Martino, and Lucio Fulci, among others.

After her husband, financier Frank Pereira, is murdered coming home from work, Lorna hires gumshoe Ferryboat Branton to track down the killer. On her treacherous path to the truth, Ferryboat encounters a dubious attorney, a professional dominatrix, the proprietor of an adult lemonade stand, a struggling playwright, prescription pills, Malbec, a hot new dance album, sex, and more murder.

Just Us Girls blends giallo trappings with Nealshow's brand of fear and laughter. Featuring music from composer Coleman Zurkowski, the show stars Hannah Boutilier, Sierra Buffum, Gabby Cointreau, Liz Greenwood, and Leslie Halverson. Who can transform a Chicago winter's night into a hotbed of passion, death, and fear? Just Us Girls. That's who.

All audience members must show proof of vaccination at the door and remain masked inside the venue.

For tickets: click here.

Almost, Maine

Oil Lamp Theater - January 19, 2023 through February 26, 2023

Welcome to Almost, a quaint sort of place located in northern Maine. The town is called Almost because the residents never really got around to organizing. One cold night, as the northern lights are set to appear, many of the residents, embodied by only four actors, fall in and out of love in the most charming, hilarious, and delightful of ways. Join us, as we journey to a place that may feel like the ends of the earth, but really can be found right in your own backyard.

For tickets: click here.

Shark Tank the Musical (a parody)

Annoyance Theatre & Bar - January 21, 2023 through March 11, 2023

See Daymond, Mark, Lori, Barbara, Robert and of course, Mr. Wonderful indulge pitches of all kinds from all kinds of people. You might even find yourself pitching to your favorite Sharks in this interactive comedy musical.

For tickets: click here.

Once

Writers Theatre - February 16, 2023 through March 12, 2023

This 2012 Tony Award-winner for Best Musical is based on the 2007 Irish musical film and features gorgeous songs like the Oscar-winning "Falling Slowly." Performed by an accomplished cast of actors playing their own instruments on the intimate Nichols Theatre stage, this will be a Once like you've never seen it before, playing from February 16 to March 26, 2023. Guy is a young Irish musician ready to give up his career because his songs, written about his ex-girlfriend, are too heartbreaking to perform any more. When he encounters Girl, an inquisitive young Czech woman who believes he could win his ex back by playing to her in New York City, he resumes writing and performing-now with Girl. As the two form their band and write new songs together, a love grows between them-one that inspires and challenges them.

For tickets: click here.

Chicago

CIBC Theatre - January 17, 2023 through January 29, 2023

After 25 years, CHICAGO is still the one musical with everything that makes Broadway shimmy-shake: a universal tale of fame, fortune, and all that jazz, with one show stopping song after another and the most astonishing dancing youve ever seen. No wonder CHICAGO has been honored with 6 Tony Awards, 2 Olivier Awards, a Grammy, and thousands of standing ovations. As we celebrate our 25th anniversary youve got to come see why the name on everyones lips is stillCHICAGO.

For tickets: click here.

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