THE BAND'S VISIT, THE HOT WING KING & More Set for Writers Theatre 2023-24 Season

Writers Theatre has announced the inaugural season for Artistic Director Braden Abraham, in partnership with Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma, to include award winning plays and audience favorites. Abraham joined Writers Theatre in February 2023 and this marks his first full season at Writers Theatre.

The company's 2023/24 season launches with Tony and Pulitzer nominated playwright and Chicago/North Shore native Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice, directed by Braden Abraham in his Writers Theatre directorial debut. Coming off the heels of the acclaimed and sold-out success of Once is the Tony Award winning musical The Band's Visit, in a co-production with TheatreSquared, directed by Zi Alikhan. Next Spring will usher in Hershey Felder's tour de force performance in an original piece he wrote with Chopin's music, Monsieur Chopin, A Play with Music. Director Lili-Anne Brown will then bring her talents to Writers with Katori Hall's Pulitzer Prize winning play The Hot Wing King.

A highlight of the season includes a subscription add-on with the return of the stunningly beautiful new holiday tradition Manual Cinema's Christmas Carol with the company's groundbreaking creativity and powerful storytelling. The 2023/24 season introduces an expansion of Writers Theatre impactful educational programs and community offerings with Theatre for Young Audiences. The program begins this fall with FORTS: Build Your Own Adventure, a collaboration with Chicago's Filament Theatre, which celebrates and amplifies the perspectives and experiences of young people through the performing arts. Details will be available at a later date.

Season Packages are available online at www.writerstheatre.org, and at the Box Office by calling 847-242-6000.

Writers Theatre Artistic Director Braden Abraham comments, "This season aims to strengthen the bonds between our community and Chicagoland artists. The plays presented this year serve as a reminder of how a chance encounter could lead to a life-altering moment, how love appears and endures in unexpected ways, and how music and language have the power to reach across the boundaries of culture, space, and time. We hope these plays will help us connect more deeply with one another through exceptional artistry within our uniquely intimate theatre spaces.

Productions will be presented in the 255-seat Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Theatre and the intimate Gillian Theatre in the in the award-winning building at 325 Tudor Court in Glencoe, designed by Studio Gang Architects.

Writers Theatre is pleased to welcome back BMO Harris Bank as the distinguished 2023/24 Season Sponsor, marking the Bank's ninth consecutive year as season sponsor.

The Writers Theatre 2023/24 Season includes:

Eurydice

Written by Sarah Ruhl

Directed by Artistic Director Braden Abraham

September 21 - October 22, 2023

Opening Night: Friday, September 29, 2023

The season launches with Braden Abraham's directorial debut at WT, and it's even more thrilling that he begins with the acclaimed play by Sarah Ruhl-who was raised practically next door to Glencoe.

The newlywed and newly dead Eurydice arrives in the underworld without memories or language and struggles to recover her humanity with the aid of the father she lost years ago. When Orpheus arrives to rescue her, Eurydice must choose between staying with her father or escaping with her husband-between life and death. Pulitzer and Tony nominated playwright and North Shore native Sarah Ruhl infuses the ancient myth with humor, poetry, and hope as this classic heroine finds her voice.

The Band's Visit

Music and Lyrics by David Yazbek

Book by Itamar Moses

Based on the screenplay by Eran Kolirin

Directed by Zi Alikhan

February 8 - March 17, 2024

Opening Night: Friday, February 16, 2024

Following the blockbuster success of Once, Writers Theatre ventures into another immersive and engaging musical production. For this co-production with TheatreSquared, Writers welcomes director Zi Alikhan, previously the Associate Director for the First National Tour of The Band's Visit and the Resident Director for the National Tour of Hamilton.

In a small Israeli desert town where every day feels the same, a lost bus arrives carrying an Egyptian Police Band. With no hotel and no buses until morning, the musicians are taken in for the night by the locals. Under the spell of the desert sky, these misplaced musicians bring everyone together in the way that only music can. Winner of ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical, The Band's Visit is a beautifully intimate show, perfectly suited for the Nichols Theatre, about the unifying power of music.

Hershey Felder as Monsieur Chopin

A Play with Music

Music of Fryderyk Chopin

Book by Hershey Felder

Directed by Joel Zwick

April 10 - May 12, 2024

Opening Night: Friday, April 12, 2024

Storyteller, musician and Chicago favorite Hershey Felder makes his Writers debut with his original script and live performance of Chopin's gorgeous masterpieces.

Days after the February 1848 revolution, Fryderyk Chopin is teaching a piano lesson in Paris. Set in the Polish pianist-composer's intimate salon, Chopin shares with his students secrets about the piano and secrets about himself-as well as playing some of his most beautiful and enduring compositions. In a tour de force performance, the beloved virtuoso actor/pianist, Hershey Felder brings to life the romantic story and music of the man once called the "Poet of the Piano."

The Hot Wing King

Written by Katori Hall

Directed by Lili-Anne Brown

June 20-July 21, 2024

Opening Night: Friday, June 28, 2024

Lili-Anne Brown, a Chicago native and a veteran of stages in Chicago and across the country, comes to Writers to direct this hot, new play by celebrated writer Katori Hall (P-Valley, Broadway's Tina: The Tina Turner Musical).

When it comes to wings, Cordell is king! Supported by his beau Dwayne and the best friends who serve as his fry crew, the group embarks on a fun night of pre-competition prep for Memphis' Annual "Hot Wang Festival." But when Dwayne's troubled nephew unexpectedly needs a place to stay, it quickly becomes a recipe for disaster. Winner of the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, The Hot Wing King is a fierce comedy about the risks and rewards of celebrating who you are.

Manual Cinema's Christmas Carol

Adapted from the Novel by Charles Dickens

Devised by Manual Cinema

Additional Writing by Nate Marshall

November 16 - December 24, 2023

Performances start November 16, 2023

An avowed holiday skeptic, Aunt Trudy has been recruited to channel her late husband Joe's Christmas cheer in a family Zoom call turned puppet show. But as Trudy becomes more absorbed in her own version of the Ebenezer Scrooge story, the puppets take on a life of their own, and the family's call transforms into a stunningly cinematic adaptation of this beloved ghost story. Named one of Chicago Tribune's Top Shows of 2022, the awe-inspiring, one-of-a-kind rendition of the Dickens classic returns this holiday season.

Subscribers will have exclusive first access to this limited run holiday performance and can purchase up to six tickets.

Theatre for Young Audiences

Writers is expanding its renowned educational programs and community offerings for young people and families-including the launch of an annual Theatre for Young Audiences production. The program begins this fall with FORTS: Build Your Own Adventure, a collaboration with Chicago's Filament Theatre, which celebrates and amplifies the perspectives and experiences of young people through the performing arts. Details will be available at a later date.

SEASON PACKAGES

This season, Writers Theatre is offering five subscriptions with an option for every theatregoer. Each subscription includes a deeply discounted ticket price for one ticket to the 4-play series, subscriber-only perks and an exclusive first purchase option for the limited run of Manual Cinema's Christmas Carol.

PREMIERE SUBSCRIPTION-$240

Reserved seats and fixed dates for Friday nights, Saturday matinees and nights, and Sunday matinees.

FLEXIBLE SUBSCRIPTION-$240

First choice of seats and dates, before tickets go on sale to the public. We'll send you reminders throughout

the season to give you the opportunity to select your dates, times and seats.

STANDARD SUBSCRIPTION-$212

Reserved seats and fixed dates for Wednesday matinees and nights, Thursday nights, and Sunday nights.

PREVIEW SUBSCRIPTION-$172

Reserved seats and fixed dates for preview performances.

NEW FLEXIBLE SAVER-$120

Claim select seats to Wednesday matinees and nights, Sunday nights, and preview performances before

tickets go on sale to the public.

Season package subscribers receive exclusive benefits including complimentary ticket exchanges by phone and mail (upgrade fees may apply), access to special play readings and lectures, special "subscriber-rate" prices on additional tickets, discounts at the bar, on Writers Theatre merchandise, event rentals, and more. For a complete list of benefits visit writerstheatre.org.

Season Packages are available online at www.writerstheatre.org, and at the Box Office by calling 847-242-6000.

AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES:

WT offers Open Captioning on select dates for each production. Please visit writerstheatre.org/accessibility for more information.

Writers Theatre is working with Erika Walker and Maylene Peña of the Walker Thomas Group on workplace culture and equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives. Additional information about this important and ongoing work can be found at writerstheatre.org/working-at-wt.

ABOUT WRITERS THEATRE

Writers Theatre boldly looks to the future as it concludes its 31st season. Having captivated audiences for years with its dedication to creating the most intimate theatrical experience possible, the theatre is now a major Chicagoland cultural destination with a national reputation for excellence, being called "America's finest regional theater company" by The Wall Street Journal.

Since 1992, Writers Theatre has stayed true to its core values: valuing the power of the written word and uplifting the artists who bring that word to life. The company has produced over 120 productions-everything from inventive interpretations of classics to groundbreaking new work. In 2016, Writers Theatre opened a new, state-of-the-art facility designed by the internationally renowned Studio Gang Architects. The new facility has allowed the Theatre to accommodate its growing audience, while maintaining its trademark intimacy.

Writers Theatre now welcomes more than 60,000 patrons each season and has helped establish the North Shore of Chicago as a premier cultural destination. Through its Literary Development Initiative, which has been responsible for the nurturing and premiering of over two dozen world premieres, the theatre has established itself as a major originator of new theatrical works. Serving as an extension of the Writers Theatre mission, WT Education programs engage an average 10,000 students each year with active learning opportunities centered around the written word.

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