Coming soon to a stage near you: Broadway tours, new tuners and classics re-imagined
While this time of year typically entices Chicago-area residents outside, theatergoers may decide to stay indoors considering the promising productions coming to local stages over the next few months.
In addition to Broadway shows “A Soldier's Play,” “Jagged Little Pill,” “Into the Woods” and “MJ The Musical” (which launches its national tour in Chicago), the upcoming months will include a new Lookingglass Theatre tuner, the Chicago premiere of a bio-musical about songwriter Lloyd Price, Robert Falls' return to his artistic home as well as several productions postponed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here's a look at some of the shows scheduled for spring and summer:
'The Cherry Orchard'
April 1-30 at Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago, (312) 443-3800, goodmantheatre.org
Former artistic director Robert Falls returns to the theater he helmed for 35 years to direct his adaptation of “The Cherry Orchard,” Anton Chekhov's classic about an aristocratic family on the verge of ruin. Leading the cast is Kate Fry as Madame Ranevskaya, who returns to her Russian home after five years to find it about to be auctioned.
'A Soldier's Play'
April 4-16 at CIBC Theatre, 18 W. Monroe St., Chicago, (800) 775-2000, broadwayinchicago.com
Broadway veteran Norm Lewis plays a Black officer investigating the murder of a Black soldier at a Louisiana army base in 1944 in the national tour of Roundabout Theatre's Tony Award-winning revival of “A Soldier's Play,” an adaptation of Charles Fuller's Pulitzer Prize-winning examination of racism in the U.S. military.
'Is God Is'
April 6-May 28 at A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 N. Wells St., Chicago, (312) 943-8722, aredorchidtheatre.org
A pair of twins receive a letter from the mother they thought was dead and set out on a “mission from God” to exact revenge on the man who hurt her in “Is God Is,” a grim revenge drama by Aleshea Harris. A Red Orchid Theatre's Chicago premiere co-stars Ashli Rene Funches as Anaia and Aja Singletary as her sister, Racine.
'Jagged Little Pill'
April 11-23 at the James M. Nederlander Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St., Chicago, (800) 775-2000, broadwayinchicago.com
The musical inspired by Alanis Morissette's chart-topping 1995 album became a 2019 jukebox tuner that earned screenwriter Diablo Cody a Tony Award for best book of a musical. Centered on a troubled Connecticut family consisting of parents who've grown apart, a biological son headed for Harvard and a Black, 16-year-old adopted daughter, the domestic musical touches on racism, sexuality and addiction.
'Damn Yankees'
April 12-June 4 at Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire, (847) 634-0200, marriotttheatre.com
In time for opening day, Marriott revives the infrequently staged musical based on “The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant,” Douglass Wallop's novel about middle-aged baseball fan Joe Boyd who sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for leading his beloved Senators to victory in their pennant race against the New York Yankees. The production features the Marriott debuts of director James Vásquez and choreographer Tyler Hanes.
'Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'
April 21-June 11 at Mercury Theater Chicago, 3745 N. Southport Ave., Chicago, (773) 360-7365, mercurytheaterchicago.com
Mark Twain's 1885 novel inspired this infrequently revived 1985 musical by country singer/songwriter Roger Miller about young Huck and his adventures with his friend Jim, an enslaved man who Huck helps escape to the north.
'London Road'
April 21-June 3 at Shattered Globe Theatre at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago, (773) 975-8150, sgtheatre.org/london
Inspired by true events, this 2011 musical about a small British town's reaction to the serial murder of five sex workers incorporates verbatim lyrics and dialogue from actual interviews with the residents. Directed and choreographed by Elizabeth Margolius, Shattered Globe's production marks the musical's U.S. premiere.
'Ragtime'
May 4-June 10 at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights, (847) 577-2121, metropolisarts.com
Reviving “Ragtime,” a striking, musically rich portrait of America at the turn of the last century adapted from E.L. Doctorow's novel, poses several challenges for a theater. Among them is a large, diverse cast and singers and musicians capable of performing Stephen Flaherty's magnificent, Tony Award-winning score.
'Ernest Shackleton Loves Me'
May 6-June 1 at Porchlight Music Theatre, at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn St., Chicago, (773) 777-9884, porchlightmusictheatre.org
Porchlight, a company uniquely suited to revivals of little-known tuners, presents the Chicago-area premiere of this 2017 off-Broadway hit about a single mom contracted via a crossed cellphone connection by early 20th-century polar explorer Ernest Shackleton, who's stranded on an iceberg in the Antarctic. Michael Unger, artistic director of Milwaukee's Skylight Music Theatre, directs.
'The Dream King'
May 11-June 18 at Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St., Chicago, (773) 687-8718, teatrovista.org
Teatro Vista premieres this musical about a man who, while dreaming, meets the woman of his dreams. Created by ensemble member Marvin Quijada and co-directed by Sandra Marquez and Alice da Cunha, the show incorporates music, clowning and silent film techniques.
'The Gospel at Colonus'
May 12-June 11 at Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave., Chicago, (773) 753-4472, courttheatre.org
Court Theatre's pandemic-delayed revival of experimental director Lee Breuer's play-with-music adaptation re-imagines Sophocles' “Oedipus at Colonus” tragedy as an African American Pentecostal church service. Kelvin Roston Jr. plays Oedipus, Timothy Edward Kane plays his brother-in-law Creon, and Mark Spates Smith plays Theseus, the king of Athens.
'Lucy and Charlie's Honeymoon'
May 24-Aug. 13 at Lookingglass Theatre, 821 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, (312) 337-0665, lookingglasstheatre.org
First generation Asian American newlyweds pursue the American dream across the nation's highways and byways in Lookingglass Theatre's world premiere of this musical by artistic associate Matthew C. Yee and director/co-composer Amanda Dehnert.
'Personality: The Lloyd Price Musical'
June 2-Sept. 3 at Studebaker Theatre, Fine Arts Building, 410 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, personalitymusical.com
Broadway veteran Saint Aubyn, who created the titular character in the 2022 bio-musical about songwriter-turned-record-executive Lloyd Price, composer of such 1950s chart-toppers as “Personality” and “Stagger Lee,” returns to the role for the jukebox show's Chicago premiere. Sheldon Epps directs.
'The Who's Tommy'
June 13-July 23 at Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago, (312) 443-3800, goodmantheatre.org
Goodman, which rarely produces musicals, re-imagines Pete Townshend's rock opera to commemorate the show's 30th anniversary. Tony Award-winning director and former artistic director of Canada's Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Des McAnuff, who helmed the 1993 premiere, re-imagines the show about a traumatized teen turned pinball champion.
'A Distinct Society'
June 22-July 23 at Writers Theatre, 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe, (847) 242-6000, writerstheatre.org
Playwright Kareem Fahmy directs Writers Theatre's Midwest premiere of his play “A Distinct Society” about an Iranian family subject to the “Muslim ban” whose members use a library on the U.S./Canada border as a meeting place, forcing the head librarian, a border patrol officer and a local teen to make some difficult decisions.
'Marie and Rosetta'
July 6-Aug. 6 at Northlight Theatre, North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie, (847) 673-6300, northlight.org
E. Faye Butler directs Northlight's revival of this play with music about pioneering gospel singer/guitarist Rosetta Tharpe, who was credited as the “original soul sister” and “godmother of rock 'n' roll” for her use of the electric guitar and for the influence she had on subsequent generations of gospel, jazz and rock performers. Bethany Thomas plays Rosetta, whose relationship with protégé Marie Wright is chronicled in this two-hander by George Brant.
'Next to Normal'
July 26-Sept. 3 at the Copley Theatre, 8 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora, (630) 896-6666, paramountaurora.com
The Copley Theatre, which inaugurated its acclaimed Bold Series in 2022, opens its second season with a revival of Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey's provocative, Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical about a suburban wife and mother with bipolar depression and the impact her illness has on her husband and children.
'MJ the Musical'
Aug. 1-Sept. 2 at the James M. Nederlander Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St., Chicago, (800) 775-2000, broadwayinchicago.com
Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage wrote the book for this jukebox tuner chronicling Jackson's emergence as the self-styled king of pop. Director/choreographer Christopher Wheeldon (who won a Tony Award for his choreography) helms the show, which incorporates dozens of Jackson's biggest hits.
'Gypsy'
Aug. 23-Oct. 15 at the Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire, (847) 634-0200, marriotttheatre.com
Among the 20th century's most popular shows, this Jule Styne/Stephen Sondheim/Arthur Laurents musical boasts some of Broadway's most beloved tunes and one of theater's most memorable characters: the ambitious Mama Rose, a woman for whom stardom is out of reach, who instead devotes herself to making her daughters stars. Amanda Dehnert directs and Stephanie Klemons choreographs.