Goodman Theatre 2014-2015 Season

Goodman Theatre (located at 170 N Dearborn Street in Chicago) is celebrating it’s 90th anniversary with a “Season To Celebrate!” They have announced six of eight plays that will debut in either their 856-seat Albert Theatre or the 400-seat flexible Owen Theatre. And as an added incentive for patrons, subscriptions for this coming season will be available for as low as $90. Here is what you can expect for the Goodman Theatre 2014-2015 season:

The World of Extreme Happiness
In the Owen
By Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, directed by Eric Ting A World
September 13–October 12, 2014
Opening night: September 22

When Sunny is born in rural China, her parents leave her in a slop bucket to die because she’s not a boy. She survives, and at age 14 leaves for the city, where she finds work in a factory and attends self-help classes in pursuit of a coveted office position. But when Sunny’s attempts at self-improvement lead to calamitous consequences for a fellow worker, she questions the system she’s spent her life trying to master. Savage, tragic and desperately funny, The World of Extreme Happiness is a provocative examination of individuals struggling to shape their destinies amid China’s dizzying economic transformation.

Smokefall
In the Albert
By Noah Haidle, directed by Anne Kauffman
September 20-October 26, 2014
Opening night: September 29

Smokefall was critically hailed as a “fragile, haunting, not-to-be-missed new family drama ” (Chicago Tribune) and a “rare treat…continually surprising, gently surreal…transcendently lovely new play” (Chicago Sun-Times). Change is in the air as Violet prepares to bring twin boys into the world. Inside her womb, her unborn sons contemplate their future, while the world around her is in transformation: her husband is secretly planning to leave her, her father is slipping into senility and her daughter has taken a vow of silence. Haunting and slyly funny, Smokefall explores the lives of this family in a lyrical treatise on the fragility of life and the power of love.

Rapture, Blister, Burn
In the Albert
By Gina Gionfriddo, directed by Kimberly Senior
January 17-February 22, 2015
Opening night: January 26

“Sharp-eyed and big hearted” (The Boston Globe), Rapture, Blister, Burn “keeps an impressive balance as its surfs several waves of feminism” (Time Out New York). Grad school pals Catherine and Gwen pursued completely different lives after graduation. Catherine became a controversial author, while Gwen married Catherine’s ex-boyfriend Don and raised two sons. After a decade-long estrangement, the women decide to spend a summer reconnecting. But their impulsive attempt to trade places soon erupts in a heated battle for Don’s affection and a fiery examination of their feminist ideals.

Goodman Theatre 2014-2015 Season

Two Trains Running
In the Albert
By August Wilson, directed by Chuck Smith
In Conjunction with
the Citywide Celebration of August Wilson
March 7-April 12, 2015
Opening night: March 16

In 2007, Goodman Theatre became the first theater in the world to have produced all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “20th Century Cycle,” of which Two Trains Running is a part (the Goodman previously produced this play in 1993, directed by Lloyd Richards). The civil rights movement is sweeping across Pittsburgh’s Hill District in 1969, but the promise of a better tomorrow hasn’t quite reached all of the city’s residents, some of whom gather daily at Memphis’ diner to gossip about the neighborhood, dream about their futures and confront the brutal realities of the present. Now Memphis must decide if he should allow the government to take over his building or sell the property to a ruthless businessman. In one of his most affecting plays, written in 1990, the legendary Wilson explores a time of extraordinary change — and the ordinary people who get left behind. Illinois Tool Works is a Corporate Sponsor Partner for Two Trains Running.

The Upstairs Concierge
In the Owen
By Kristoffer Diaz
March 28–April 26, 2015
Opening night: April 6

Ella can’t wait to start her new job as the upstairs concierge at a sleek hotel. Catering to celebrity guests is her dream — but it’s hard to keep track of which guests are in which room, which guest is the biggest celebrity and which guests like to strip naked. Playwright Kristoffer Diaz gleefully skewers today’s fame – obsessed society in this hysterically off-kilter new farce.

stop. reset.
In the Owen
Written and Directed by Regina Taylor
May 23–June 21, 2015
Opening night: June 1

As e-books and digital technologies transform the literary world, Chicago businessman Alex Ames must confront the likely demise of his long-standing African American book publishing company. While his employees fret over losing their jobs, Alex finds unlikely inspiration from a mysterious teenager, whose inventive, forward-thinking ideas may provide the solution to preserving Alex’s legacy.

Interested in reading more? View more Chicago Theater Reviews or Chicago Theater listings!

Broadway In Chicago 2014 Season

The Broadway In Chicago 2014 Season has been announced! These are shows that will run at various downtown Chicago theaters between May and December of 2014. Be sure to mark you calendars if there is something you want to see! Shows do sell out quickly, particularly when they’re appropriate for children. Here is what we’re going to see:

Broadway In Chicago 2014 Season:

BUYER & CELLAR starring Michael Urie
May 6 – June 15, 2014
Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place (175 E Chestnut)

MICHAEL URIE, star of TV’s “Ugly Betty” and Broadway’s How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, brings his Drama Desk and Clarence Derwent Award winning performance as Alex More to Chicago in the critically acclaimed smash hit comedy Buyer & Cellar. Alex is a struggling actor in L.A. who takes a job working in the mall in Barbra Streisand’s Malibu basement. One day, the Lady Herself comes downstairs to play. It feels like real bonding in the basement, but will their relationship ever make it upstairs? Written by Jonathan Tolins and directed by Stephen Brackett, BUYER & CELLAR is an outrageous comedy about the price of fame, the cost of things, and the oddest of odd jobs. BUYER & CELLAR swept the Best of 2013 Theater lists including The New York Times, Associated Press, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Post, NPR, The Huffington Post, The Advocate, The Daily Beast, Entertainment Weekly, NBC New York, and Time Out New York.  The New York Times’ Charles Isherwood raves Urie gives “a tour-de-force performance,” with Ben Brantley adding “I tell you to GO.”

Emerald City Theatre’s CHARLOTTE’S WEB
July 9 – August 17, 2014
Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place (175 E Chestnut)

The favorite on every child’s bookshelf, CHARLOTTE’S WEB, comes to the stage! When Wilbur is saved and sent to live on farm, he finds a new unexpected family. Follow our piggy hero as he grows from being the runt of the litter to “Some Pig” with the help of a remarkable spider, Charlotte. Join Wilbur, Charlotte, Templeton the Rat, and all the farmyard friends at the State Fair this summer!

AMAZING GRACE
World Premiere
October 9 – November 2, 2014
Bank of America Theatre (18 W Monroe)

AMAZING GRACE is a world premiere musical based on the awe-inspiring true story behind the world’s most beloved song.  A captivating tale of romance, rebellion and redemption, this radiant production follows one man whose incredible journey ignited a historic wave of change. John Newton (Tony Nominee Josh Young), a willful and musically talented young Englishman, faces a future as uncertain as the turning tide. Coming of age as Britain sits atop an international empire of slavery, he finds himself torn between following in the footsteps of his father – a slave trader – and embracing the more compassionate views of his childhood sweetheart. But when a perilous voyage on the high seas finds John in his darkest hour, a transformative moment of self-reckoning inspires a blazing anthem of hope that will finally guide him home.  Brimming with emotion and adventure, AMAZING GRACE is an unforgettable musical saga that captures the spirit of history’s sweetest and most powerful sound: freedom.

Broadway In Chicago 2014 Season

DEE SNIDER’S ROCK AND ROLL CHRISTMAS TALE starring Dee Snider
World Premiere
November 4, 2014 – January 4, 2015                                                        
Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place (175 East Chestnut)

DEE SNIDER’S ROCK AND ROLL CHRISTMAS TALE tells the story of Däisy Cütter, a heavy metal bar band looking to make it big even though the 80s are LONG over.  This year, these four guys are ready to take the ultimate step and, in mythic rock tradition, sell their souls to the devil in exchange for success beyond their wildest metal dreams!  But every time they try to seal the infernal pact, their head-banging anthems turn into warm-hearted carols.  Soon these rockers are forced to realize their dreams of stardom are no match for the Christmas spirit. Dee Snider, infamous lead singer of Twisted Sister, has created and stars in a VERY funny, VERY rocking and (sshhh!) VERY sweet new holiday musical, guaranteed to rock your whole family’s holiday.

ANNIE
November 18 – 30, 2014
Cadillac Palace Theatre (151 W Randolph)

Leapin’ Lizards! The world’s best-loved musical returns in time-honored form. Directed by original lyricist and director Martin Charnin, this production of ANNIE will be a brand new incarnation of the iconic original. Featuring book and score by Tony Award®-winners Thomas Meehan, Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin, ANNIE includes such unforgettable songs as “It’s the Hard Knock Life,” “Easy Street,” “I Don’t Need Anything But You,” plus the eternal anthem of optimism, “Tomorrow.”  Choreography is by Liza Gennaro, who will incorporate selections from her father Peter Gennaro’s 1977 Tony Award®-winning choreography.

NEWSIES
December 10, 2014 – January 4, 2015
Oriental Theatre (24 West Randolph)

They delivered the papers, until they made the headlines.  Direct from Broadway comes NEWSIES, the smash-hit, crowd-pleasing new musical from Disney.  Winner of the 2012 Tony Awards^® for Best Score and Best Choreography, NEWSIES has audiences and critics alike calling it “A MUSICAL WORTH SINGING ABOUT!” (The New York Times).  Filled with one heart-pounding number after another, it’s a high-energy explosion of song and dance you just don’t want to miss.

Based on true events, NEWSIES tells the captivating story of a band of underdogs who become unlikely heroes when they stand up to the most powerful men in New York.  It’s a rousing tale about fighting for what’s right and staying true to who you are.

NEWSIES was brought to the stage by an award-winning creative team.  It features a score by Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast) and Jack Feldman (The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride) and a book by Harvey Fierstein (La Cage Aux Folles), with choreography by Christopher Gattelli (South Pacific) and direction by Jeff Calhoun (Big River).

RODGERS + HAMMERSTEIN’S CINDERELLA
Dec. 16, 2014 – Jan. 4, 2015
Cadillac Palace Theatre (151 West Randolph)

Rodgers + Hammerstein’s CINDERELLA is the Tony Award^®– winning Broadway musical from the creators of The Sound of Music and South Pacific that’s delighting audiences with its contemporary take on the classic tale. This lush production features an incredible orchestra, jaw-dropping transformations and all the moments you love—the pumpkin, the glass slipper, the masked ball and more—plus some surprising new twists!  Be transported back to your childhood as you rediscover some of Rodgers + Hammerstein’s most beloved songs, including “In My Own Little Corner,” “Impossible/It’s Possible” and “Ten Minutes Ago,” in this hilarious and romantic Broadway experience for anyone who’s ever had a wish, a dream… or a really great pair of shoes.