Mon. November 19, 2012
By Danny Bernardo
The holiday season is upon us again and there's some amazing theatre happening in the weeks to come to celebrate it. And while we've got some tied-and-true traditional fare like Goodman's A Christmas Carol and House Theatre's The Nutcracker, there are many more exciting new (and returning) productions coming to you this season:
We Three Lizas
Book & Lyrics by Scott Bradley; Music & Additional Lyrics by Alan Schmuckler
About Face Theatre blends classic Christmas tales with queer pop culture for its world premiere holiday production. We Three Lizas hijacks Christmas classics to create a dark, sexy holiday musical for a queer new world. In a quest for unrivaled glory, Conrad Ticklebottom and his anxious assistant Reggie conjure the Great Queen of Wishes to bestow upon him the trinity of power: youth, wealth and beauty. Instead, Liza Minnelli knocks at Conrad's door bearing holiday gifts and all hell breaks lose. Show times include a 45-minute "cocktail hour" in Liza's Lounge with special opening acts by guest artists.
Runs Thursday through Sunday at The Steppenwolf Garage, 1624 N. Halsted St., Chicago until December 23. Tickets are available online or by calling (312) 335-1650.
The Gifts of the Magi Music
Music by Randy Courts; Lyrics by Mark St. Germain and Randy Courts
Porchlight Music Theatre adds a new holiday family event to the Christmas calendar with the Chicago premiere of The Gifts of the Magi. Drawn from two short stories by the immortal O. Henry, "The Gift of the Magi" and "The Cop and the Anthem," this heart-warming charmer transports the audience to Christmas in New York, 1905 where they not only meet the famed penniless lovers but also a metropolis of people going about their holiday business including "Soapy Smith," a cheerful bum hoping to be arrested so he can spend winter in a warm cell. The Gifts of the Magi is an evening perfect for the whole family celebrating the true meaning of the season.
Runs Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 4 and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through December 23 at Stage 773, 1225 West Belmont Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are available online or by calling 773.327.5252.
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey
Written by Timothy Gregory and Michael Mahler
After a critically acclaimed world-premiere production last season, Provision Theater
presents this beautiful, moving Holiday treat is back by popular demand. When a broken-hearted boy named Thomas loses the treasured wooden nativity given to him by his now deceased father, his mother goes to the local woodcarver in hopes to obtain a replacement. Jonathan Toomey, known to the village as "Mr. Gloomy" takes the job – bit refuses to promise anything by Christmas. But when Thomas decides to watch the woodcarver work, the commission takes their relationship to unexpected places; even ad Christmas approaches, the real miracle is the transformation created in each of their lives.
Performances begin November 21, running Wednesdays at 10 a.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m at Provision Theater, 1001 W. Roosevelt Road (entrance on Morgan St) until December 23. For more info, visit their website.
BEST MUSICAL! Holiday Edition!
Conceived by Second City veteran Matthew Loren Cohen
A hit for Porchlight last spring, this holiday edition of BEST MUSICAL! takes audiences to the "Bestie Awards" ceremony where the cast performs the "Best Song from a Musical" nominees from a grab bag of audience-suggested titles. The audience votes for their favorite song as performed in Act 1 and comes back after intermission for an entirely improvised musical comedy with lights, costumes and fully improvised music and choreography featuring the "Bestie" winning song. Each performance guarantees a completely different musical comedy with completely new songs every week.
Performances begins November 28 and runs Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. through December 26 at Stage 773, 1225 West Belmont Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are available online or by calling 773.327.5252.
It's A Wonderful Life: Live At the Biograph!
Based on Frank Capra's film from a short story by Philip Van Doren Stern
The director and ensemble that have treated Chicago to Clarence, George and the characters of Bedford Falls for more than a decade; once again take the audience back to a 1940's radio broadcast of Frank Capra's holiday classic It's a Wonderful Life with American Blues Theater. This full-scale production with Foley sound effects, an original score and a cast of seven is now performed in the new Museum of Broadcast Communications on State Street.
Performances begin November 23; the show runs Thursday through Sunday through December 30 at the Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave in Chicago. For tickets and info, visit their website
Charles Dickens Begrudgingly Performances "A Christmas Carol." Again.
Created and Performed by Blake Montgomery
In 1853, ten years after having dashed off his surprisingly successful holiday story, A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens gave his first public reading of the work. The effort was so well received, as well as providing much needed cash that he continued to perform these celebrated readings for the rest of his career.
The only problem is that Dickens, himself, has long grown tired of this annual reading. Reports of his death in 1870 were greatly exaggerated, and year after year he has sustained himself with these solo performances — albeit with dwindling enthusiasm as he has moved from the grand concert halls of London to finally, this year, The Building Stage in Chicago's industrial West Loop. Now, as the world celebrates the 200th anniversary of his birth, Dickens has finally reached the breaking point. He knows he must grant the holiday wishes of his audience but desperately hopes to entertain them with anything but another performance of A Christmas Carol.
Performances begin November 24 and runs Thursday through Sunday through December 24 at The Building Stage, 412 N. Carpenter Street. For tickets and info, visit their website
Hellcab
by Will Kern
Profiles Theatre celebrates the twentieth anniversary of Hellcab by presenting the piece with no double casting. That's right, thirty-four of Chicago's finest actors take the stage and bring this piece to life. Hellcab portrays the story of a cab driver in for the longest night of his life as he transports a bizarre and mysterious array of customers through the gritty streets of Chicago. Playwright Will Kern draws from personal experience as a former cab driver to create this alternately frightening, hilarious and poignant journey. Throughout his long shift, the eclectic collection of passengers includes a trio of drug-addicts, a born-again couple, a smug lawyer, and a randy duo on their way to a motel. Set during a bitter cold Christmas Eve, Hellcab presents a rear-view image mirroring the passing parade of humanity.
Runs Thursday through Sunday until December 23 at The Profiles Mainstage at 4139 N. Broadway in Chicago. Tickets are available online or by calling 773-549-1815.
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Need a break from the holidays? Here are a couple of non-holiday shows running at the same time:
American Storm
Written by Carter W. Lewis
Theatre Seven of Chicago presents the world premiere of American Storm.In the summer of 1962, a small Ohio town discovers a prize thoroughbred in the stables of the local track. With big business promising to take Weldon Downs corporate, the track workers learn soon enough that not even hope comes for free. American Storm is a story of the working class fighting for survival when corporate interests change a small town forever.
Runs Thursday through Sunday until December 16 at Greenhouse Theater Center Upstairs Studio, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. For tickets and info, visit their website
Trainspotting USA
Based on the novel "Trainspotting" by Irvine Walsh, Adapted for the stage by Harry Gibson, Directed and readapted onto the American landscape by Tom Mullen.
In "Trainspotting USA" Tom Mullen adapts Irvine Welsh's classic story of Scottish heroin hooligans for the American landscape. In this world premiere adaption that tells the dark tale of a group of Heroin addicts living in the outskirts of Kansas City, Missouri. It's a wild mix of rebellious action and wicked humor powerfully told by a group of friends trying to make it in the world on their own terms.
Runs Thursday through Sunday until December 2 at Theatre Wit, 1229 W. Belmont in Chicago. Tickets are available online or by calling 773-975-8150.
And if you want to see some new work getting developed, check out Goodman's New Stages Festival, which begins December 8. Some of the nation's most exciting playwrights will be given the opportunity to either workshop their piece or see it for the first time as a staged reading. I'm most excited for Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig's The World of Extreme Happiness (directed by my pal Jonathan Berry and featuring an all Asian American cast, including my friends Mia Park and Kevin Matthew Reyes), Stutter by my friend Phillip Edward Dawkins (who also wrote About Face's hit The Homosexuals), and Martin Zimmerman's The Solid Sands Below, which I'll be participating in the staged reading of.
Hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving week!
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