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Jackalope Theatre Company announces 15th season
-- From a press release
CHICAGO (September 20th, 2022) — Jackalope Theatre Company announces its return to in-person productions with its 2022-23 season featuring the Among the Dead by Hansol Jung, directed by Jackalope Artistic ...
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THEATER Underscore to permanently close; festival gains new home
The board of directors of Underscore Theatre Company announced the company will close its doors permanently after eleven dynamic years of producing musical theatre in Chicago, including 16 world premieres. However, the company's Chicago Musical Theatr ...
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THEATER The Gift running thriller 'The Locusts' Oct. 20-Nov. 19
The Gift Theatre will conclude its 2022 season with the world premiere of Jennifer Rumberger's thriller The Locusts, commissioned and developed by The Gift and directed by ensemble member John Gawlik. The Locusts will run Oct. ...
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COMEDY Extra performances added for Jerrod Carmichael at Steppenwolf
Due to popular demand, Steppenwolf Theatre has added two additional performances of Emmy award-winning comedian Jerrod Carmichael's new solo show on Friday-Saturday, Nov. 4-5, at 10 p.m. as part of ...
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MUSIC Cabaret singer Jeff Harnar talks Sondheim, coming out
Jeff Harnar wasn't born in Chicago, but he will tell you first-hand that it is his home. Having spent his formative years in this city, Harnar discovered a passion for musical theater. Decades later, he has ...
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Out comic/writer Sam Jay talks career ahead of Wicker Park performance
Stand-up comic and Emmy-nominated writer Sam Jay will be performing at The Den Theatre, located in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood, on Sept. 23-24. The first Black lesbian writer in Saturday Night Live's history, Jay is a ...
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COMEDY Cameron Esposito at The Den Theatre on Dec. 30-31
The Den Theatre is welcoming back LGBTQ+ comedian Cameron Esposito, performing two stand-up shows on Dec. 30-31, 2022 on The Heath Mainstage, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. Esposito (a onetime Windy City Times 30 Under 30 honoree) ...
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Mercury Theater Chicago announces fun enhancements to the Clue live on-stage experience
-- From a press release
Chicago (September 16, 2022) — Mercury Theater Artistic Director Christopher Chase Carter, Managing Director Kristi J. Martens and Executive Producers L. Walter Stearns and Eugene Dizon have announced fun experiences ...
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'Phantom of the Opera' closing on Broadway after 35 years
After more than three decades, The Phantom of the Opera, the longest-running show in Broadway history, is closing. A representative verified that the play's final performance will be on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023. It will have ...
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THEATER 'Cabaret' at Metropolis through Oct. 22
Musical Broadway classic and hit film Cabaret re-creates the decadent and complicated world of 1929 Berlin at the Arlington Heights venue Metropolis Performing Arts Centre through Oct. 22. Cabaret is Kander and Ebb's legendary musical masterpiece ...
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'The Wizards,' a genderqueer play that examines racism, to run Oct. 14-Nov. 19
The Wizards, written by Ricardo Gamboa and directed by Katrina Dion, will run at the APO Cultural Center, 1438 W. 18th St., on Oct. 14-Nov. 19. The production follows Amado and Sam (played by Gamboa and ...
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THEATER Shattered Globe's 'Stew' running through Oct. 22
Shattered Globe Theatre will launch its 2022-23 season with the Chicago premiere of Stew, Zora Howard's Pulitzer Prize Finalist for Drama that Malkia Stampley is directing. The production is running through Oct. 22 at Theater Wit, ...
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THEATER PrideArts appoints new managing director, three new board members
The board of directors of PrideArts—the Uptown-based theater company focused on presenting queer stories on live stages and virtual platforms—announced the appointment of Amber Mandley (she/her/hers) as Managing Director, a ...
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League of Chicago Theatres names new executive director
The League of Chicago Theatres Board of Directors announces the selection of Marissa Lynn Ford as the organization's new executive director. Ford comes to the League of Chicago Theatres from Goodman Theatre, where she was associate ...
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ATTRACTIONS Haunted events set to scare Chicagoland residents
Fall is definitely approaching when the haunted events/sites start to emerge. —Dungeon of Doom, in the suburb of Zion, will take place Sept. 23-Oct. 31. Popular attractions and new updates for the site's 26th season include ...
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THEATER Goodman running 'Pequenos Territorios' Sept. 21-25
Goodman Theatre and the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA) will present the Midwest premiere of Pequenos Territorios en Reconstruccion, by Teatro Linea de Sombra of Mexico City, Sept. 21-25 at the Goodman, 170 N. Dearborn St. ...
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THEATER Chicago Shakespeare running 'The Notebook' through Oct. 16
Chicago Shakespeare Theater is running the world premiere of The Notebook, a new musical based on the best-selling novel by Nicholas Sparks that inspired the iconic film. The production will run through Oct. 16. Allie and ...
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Broadway musical Chicago to open Sept. 12 with Angelica Ross as Roxie Hart
-- From a press release
The Broadway company of the Tony Award-winning, record-breaking hit musical Chicago will welcome actress and human rights advocate Angelica Ross ("Pose," "American Horror Story") making her Broadway debut in the ...
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Chicago Gay Men's Chorus, 'Carrie 2' part of Venus Cabaret Theater's fall programming
-- From a press release
Chicago, IL — Venus Cabaret Theater, the intimate performance space at Mercury Theater Chicago, under the director of Cabaret Director Honey West, Artistic Director Christopher Chase Carter, Managing Director Kristi ...
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THEATER Paramount to run 'BULL: a love story'
Aurora's Paramount Theatre will run BULL: a love story on Oct. 5-Nov. 20. Bull will be the first suburban production in Destinos Festival history. Destinos: Chicago International Latino Theater Festival is an annual, city-wide event produced ...
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DANCE Ensemble Espanol at Auditorium Theatre on Oct. 1
The Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Ida B. Wells Dr., will kick off the 2022-23 season of its Chicago Dance series with Ensemble Espanol Spanish Dance Theater, for one performance only, on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 7:30 ...
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Non-binary performer Tommy Novak talks being in Lyric Opera's 'Fiddler on the Roof'
Fiddler on the Roof is a series of stories based on Jewish life in a village that was made into a musical play in 1964. The North American premiere of a new production of this classic musical will debut Sept. 17 ...
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THEATER Griffin launches season with 'Marys Seacole'
Griffin Theatre Company will launch its 33rd season with the Midwest premiere drama Marys Seacole, written by Pulitzer Prize winner Jackie Sibblies Drury, and directed by Jerrell L. Henderson and Hannah Todd. The production will run ...
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THEATER Theo Ubique to launch 25th-anniversary season with 'Refuge'
Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre will open its 25th-anniversary season with the Midwest premiere of Refuge, a new play with music and puppetry from creators Satya Jnani Chavez and Andrew Rosendorf, with translations by Mari Meza-Burgos. Refuge ...
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About Face Theatre announces 2022-2023 season
-- From a press release
CHICAGO (August 31, 2022) — About Face Theatre is excited to announce plans for its 28th season. Dedicated to advancing LGBTQ+ equity through community building, education, and performance, AFT will ...
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MUSIC KOKUMO talks about moving to New York City, other endeavors
The multifaceted artist KOKUMO, The Queen of Queer Soul has recently released a new album, Wildflowa': Da' Prelude Ta' Freedom Mixtape, featuring 16 tracks focusing on traumatology, Afro-Elysium and other ...
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Raven Theatre to open 40th season with Noel Coward's 'Private Lives'
Raven Theatre will open its 40th Anniversary Season with a fresh take on Noel Coward's iconic 1930 comedy Private Lives. The production, directed by Ian Frank, will run Sept. 29-Nov. 13 on Raven's 85-seat East Stage, ...
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THEATER Steppenwolf to run 'Spectacularly Lamentable Trial' Sept. 1-Oct. 9
Steppenwolf Theatre Company will open its 47th season with the Chicago premiere of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright James Ijames' fantastical play The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington. The production will run Sept. 1-Oct. ...
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Hollywood medium Tyler Henry talks tour, coming out and celebrity readings
Odds are that someone you know is familiar with the name Tyler Henry. Henry, star of the Netflix series Life after Death with Tyler Henry, continues to be the most sought-after clairvoyant medium both in the ...
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TPAN bringing back 'Barlesque' starting Sept. 1
Barlesque is back. On Thursday, Sept. 1, at 7 p.m. at Northalsted/Boystown nightspot Sidetrack, 3349 N. Halsted St., Barlesque will kick off. Nightlife figure Khloe Daniels will host introduce this year's bars, performers and choreographers. Attendanc ...
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THEATER Otherworld's 10th-anniv. Halloween gala on Oct. 14
Sci-fi and fantasy theatrical production company Otherworld Theatre is hosting its 10th-anniversary celebration, "Gothic Galaween: An Evening Celebrating 10 Years of Otherworld Theatre," on Friday, Oct. 14, at Michelle's Ballroom ...
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THEATER 'Botticelli in the Fire' running Sept. 22-Nov. 5
First Floor Theater is launching its 10th season with the Chicago premiere of Jordan Tannahill's Botticelli in the Fire—described as "a hot-blooded queering of Renaissance Italy that questions the value of art at the collapse of ...
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The Jeff Awards marks 54th anniversary with Equity Wing Award nominations
-- From a press release
August 23, 2022 — Chicago — Recognizing a strong return to the spotlight over the 2021-2022 Equity theater season, the Joseph Jefferson Awards announces its nominations for theater excellence. This year's nominees include 201 theater art ...
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Mercury Theater Chicago announces cast for 'Clue'
Mercury Theater Artistic Director Christopher Chase Carter, Managing Director Kristi J. Martens and executive producers L. Walter Stearns and Eugene Dizon announced the cast and creative team for the murder mystery comedy Clue. This Chicago premiere ...
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Real-life-based gay military movie 'The Inspection' coming out Nov. 18
Video below
The movie The Inspection—based on director Elegance Bratton's own life—will be out in theaters on Friday, Nov. 18. In Bratton's film inspired by his own story, a young, gay Black man—rejected by his mother and with ...
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SHOWBIZ Ariana DeBose, trans child model, 'Take Me Out,' 'Feud'
Video below
Prime Video and Blumhouse Television announced the upcoming psychological thriller House of Spoils, starring queer Academy Award winner Ariana DeBose, per a press release. The film (directed by Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy from their ...
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THEATER Hell in a Handbag's 'Frankenstreisand' running Sept. 29-Oct. 31
This Halloween season, Hell in a Handbag Productions kicks off its 2022-23 season with the world premiere of Frankenstreisand, written by Tyler Anthony Smith and directed by Stephanie Shaw. It will run Sept. 29-Oct. 31 at ...
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THEATER Noel Coward's 'Hay Fever' to open Sept. 4 at City Lit
Producer and Artistic Director Terry McCabe will direct Noel Coward's 1924 comedy Hay Fever as the final production of City Lit Theater's 41st season. (It replaces the previously announced Aztec Human Sacrifice, which has been moved ...
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THEATER Red Summer, connecting the 1919 Chicago race riots to present-day Chicago, is Sept. 16-25
-- From a press release
University Park, IL—Governors State University's Center for Performing Arts announces the world premiere of Red Summer written by Lookingglass Theatre's Andrew White and MPAACT's Shepsu Aakhu, composed by Shawn Wallace ...
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THEATER Kokandy's 'Sweeney Todd' running Sept. 8-Nov. 6
Kokandy Productions will continue its 10th-anniversary season with a revival of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street that will run Sept. 8-Nov. 6. The production will feature music and lyrics by Sondheim, ...
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COMEDY Talking with 'World' traveler Annick Adelle
Bay Area attorney Annick Adelle has decided to face one of her biggest fears: stand-up comedy. After starting in 2016, she is releasing her own album and touring throughout the United States. ...
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Congo Square Theatre's 'What to Send Up When It Goes Down' at Lookingglass on Sept. 24-Oct. 16
-- From a press release
CHICAGO (Aug. 10, 2022)—Congo Square Theatre Company, one of the nation's premier African American ensemble theater companies, and Lookingglass Theatre Company announce that single tickets are now on sale for ...
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Billy Masters
"I wasn't trying to have his career because he sings, he dances. I'm barely a single threat. I'm just an actor."—Tuc Watkins, explaining how he emulated the career trajectory of Kevin Kline— to the best of ...
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SHOWBIZ Jane Lynch, Dwayne Johnson, 'Star Trek,' Beyonce, Shea Coulee
NBC has renewed the Jane Lynch-hosted game show Weakest Link for a third season, Variety noted. Season three will run for 20 episodes. The series is based on a British format distributed by BBC Studios that ...
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Casting announced for queer-centered play 'St. Sebastian'
Refracted Theatre Company announced casting for its world premiere of Andrew Kramer's dark comedy St. Sebastian, directed by Artistic Director Graham Miller. The play features Nolan Robinson, Mack Spotts and ...
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Angelica Ross to be first trans lead in Broadway's 'Chicago'
Trans actors have made all sorts of impressions on Broadway, but former Chicagoan Angelica Ross has set a precedent. Next month, the leading role of fame-hungry murderess Roxie Hart will be played by Angelica Ross. Ross ...
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PASSAGES Chicago Latino Theater Alliance Executive Director Myrna Salazar dies at 75
The Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA) announced that co-founder and Executive Director Myrna Salazar passed away Aug. 3—two weeks after celebrating her 75th birthday. According to a press release, "Salazar ...
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THEATER 'Cabaret' coming to Metropolis Arts on Sept. 15
Musical Broadway classic and hit film Cabaret re-creates the decadent and complicated world of 1929 Berlin at the Arlington Heights venue Metropolis Performing Arts Centre on Sept. 15-Oct. 22. Cabaret is Kander and Ebb's legendary musical ...
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Oak Park Festival Theatre's 'The Winter's Tale' running thru Aug. 20
Oak Park Festival Theatre's The Winter's Tale will run at Austin Gardens (167 Forest Ave., Oak Park) through Sunday, Aug. 20. The Winter's Tale marks Oak Park Festival Theatre's return to the stage after a devastating ...
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Story Jam and Cerqua Rivera collaboration on July 27 at Artifact Events
Story Jam's next storytelling show—in a series of monthly shows at Artifact Events —will take place Wed., July 27, at 7:30 p.m. at 4325 N. Ravenswood Ave. "Living Truth: True Stories" is a storytelling collaboration with ...
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SHOWBIZ Broadway, 'Game of Thrones' prequel, Dexter Mayfield, Shania Twain
The Broadway League announced that theaters will continue their recently adopted mask-optional policy for audiences at least through August, Deadline reported. The mask-optional policy—in which audiences are encouraged but not ...
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THEATER 'The Mamalogues' in Evanston on July 23-Aug. 7
The Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre will present Lisa B. Thompson's The Mamalogues—an evening of monologues about the experience of parenting while Black, unmarried and middle-class in the age of anxiety—from July 23 to Aug. 7 at the Noyes ...
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THEATER 'The Devil Wears Prada' cast members dish about musical's Chicago debut
"All right, everyone! Gird your loins" as a stage musical version of The Devil Wears Prada is set for a world premiere in the Windy City this July as part of the lineup for Broadway in Chicago. Tony Award winner Beth ...
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SHOWBIZ Warhol/Basquiat, 'Raven's Home,' Jonathan Bailey, Broadway, Ricky Martin
Video below
The Collaboration—Anthony McCarten's hit London play about artists Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat—will make its U.S. premiere on Broadway this fall, with Paul Bettany and Jeremy Pope as the two ...
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'A Midsummer Night's Dream' in Chicago parks through Aug. 21
For Midsommer Flight's annual summer production of Shakespeare in Chicago parks, the company will celebrate its 10th anniversary by revisiting the play that in 2012 began the company's 10-year run as an arts partner with Chicago ...
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Streisand interpreter Steven Brinberg at The Acorn on July 31
Celebrating Barbra Streisand's 80th birthday, Steven Brinberg will perform the live musical performance "Simply Barbra" on Sunday, July 31, at The Acorn, 107 Generation Dr., Three Oaks, Michigan (approximately 70 miles from Chicago). ...
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THEATER Lookingglass event 'Sunset 1919' taking place July 27
Lookingglass Theatre Company begins its 35th season with "Sunset 1919: A Ritual" on Wed., July 27, at the Eugene Williams Memorial Marker, 125 Ft. Dearborn Dr., at 7 p.m. The location is near 29th Street, on ...
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THEATER REVIEW A Fine Feathered Murder: A Miss Marbled Mystery
A Fine Feathered Murder: A Miss Marbled Mystery. Playwright: David Cerda At: Hell In a Handbag Productions at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St. Tickets: $29-$65. Runs through: July 31 If your source material is ...
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Kevin Spacey pleads not guilty in London in sexual-assault case
On July 14, two-time Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey pled not guilty of sexual assault in London's Central Criminal Court, according to WAGM-TV. The former House of Cards star, who ran London's Old Vic theater between 2004 ...
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A Red Orchid Theater announces 30th season
-- From a press release
CHICAGO — A Red Orchid Theatre announces its 30th season, kicking off the with world premiere of The Malignant Ampersands by Ensemble Member Brett Neveu, directed by Ensemble Member Dado (September 29 — November 20, 2022). ...
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THEATER August Wilson's 'Fences' running through Aug. 6 at Theater Wit
American Blues Theater is running Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson's Fences at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., through Saturday, Aug. 6. This drama is about Troy Maxson, a former star of the Negro Baseball League ...
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Hannah Gadsby at Chicago Theatre on July 13
Australian LGBTQ+ comedian Hannah Gadsby will bring her "Body of Work" show to The Chicago Theatre, 175 N. State St., on Wed., July 13, at 7 p.m. Gadsby took the comedy world by storm with the ...
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THEATER REVIEW Hurricane Diane
Title: Hurricane Diane. Playwright: Elizabeth George At: Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave; https://www.theaterwit.org/ . Tickets: $25-$48. Runs through: July 31 If you had an exceptionally audacious lit professor, you probably read The Bacchae for your ...
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THEATER Theo Ubique hosting production about Elizabeth Taylor
Evanston's Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, 721 Howard St., will run Call Me Elizabeth—an acclaimed one-woman show about the early life of Elizabeth Taylor—on Aug. 20 (at 7:30 p.m.) and 21 (at 2:30 p.m.) only. The production ...
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Production based on Larry Kramer speech at Center on July 22-31
Open Space Arts announced its inaugural production of The Kramer Project, directed and adapted by David Zak from activist Larry Kramer's watershed speech "The Tragedy of Today's Gays." This will be the first production for Open ...
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SHOWBIZ Elliot Page, NPH, Madonna, Chita Rivera, Jennifer Lopez
Elliot Page talked with talk-show host Seth Meyers about how her Netflix show The Umbrella Academy incorporated the actor's own personal transition into season three of the series, Deadline noted. "With Steve Blackman, the showrunner of ...
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Writers Theatre's 2022-23 season to include 'Tiger Style!,' 'Once' and other productions
-- From a press release
Glencoe, IL—Writers Theatre Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma and Interim Artistic Director Bobby Kennedy announce the company's 2022/23 four-play season, to include Mike Lew's Tiger Style!, directed by Brian Balcom; ...
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Goodman Theatre running musical 'Life After' through July 17
Goodman Theatre is running the musical Life After through Sunday, July 17. With humor and wit, this "luminous new musical…lush, poetic and surprisingly funny" (The San Diego Union-Tribune) explores how people move through and live with ...
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Billy Masters
"u don't know my alphabet."—Sexy Lukas Gage (from The White Lotus; Love, Victor; and the rebooted Queer as Folk) tweets his response to criticism that Hollywood shouldn't hire him to play LGBTQIA+ roles. When asked to ...
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WORLD Pride disruption, trans journalists, Tunisian play, marriage bills
Turkish police officers carrying clear-plastic riot shields, wielding batons and deploying pepper powder balls as well as tear gas violently broke up a Pride parade that Middle East Technical University students organized in the capital of ...
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SHOWBIZ 'Lightyear,' celebrity event, LGBT runner, Mariah Carey
Video below
Pixar's latest film Lightyear is hitting theaters, and it has a special moment for gay fans—a same-sex kiss between the character Hawthorne (voiced by Uzo Aduba) and her female partner—that almost didn't happen, Out Magazine note ...
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Steep Theatre's race-centered 'Paris' running June 17-July 23
Steep Theatre, 1044 W. Berwyn Ave., will run the Eboni Booth work Paris on June 17-July 23. Jonathan Berry will direct. Returning home to the small town of Paris, Vermont, Emmie tries to make ends meet ...
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PERFORMANCE 'Moonset Sunrise' at Navy Pier on June 16 and 18
Collaboraction announced that Moonset Sunrise, its 25th-anniversary production, with live performances on June 16 and 18 at 7:30 p.m. at Beat Kitchen's new Bar Sol on Navy Pier, 700 E. Grand Ave. Through healing ritual, storytelling, ...
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Queer-themed plays win Tonys; Hudson reaches EGOT status
On June 12, the 75th annual Tony Awards were held to honor the top performances from the theater industry. The event—hosted by LGBTQ+ Oscar winner/Tony nominee Ariana DeBose at New York City's Radio City Music Hall—followed ...
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SHOWBIZ Jodie Comer, 'Queer As Folk,' trans film, Tom of Finland photos
Jodie Comer—the Emmy- and BAFTA-winning actress perhaps best known for playing LGBTQ+ assassin Villanelle on BBC America's Killing Eve—will make her Broadway debut next spring in Prima Facie, a new play by Suzie Miller, Deadline noted. ...
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