Here’s the press release from Red Tape:

Red Tape Theatre Company Announces
2011-2012 Season

Monday, August 15, 2011 – Red Tape Theatre Company is pleased to announce its 2011/12 Season. Information and tickets are available at www.redtapetheatre.org.

Brand
By Henrik Ibsen
directed by Max Truax
featuring ensemble members Carrie Drapac, Lona Livinston, Paul Miller, and Amanda Reader with Kevin Crispin, Todd Keich, Sarah Pretz, Cody Procter
Designs by ensemble member Emily Guthrie, with Ben Fuchsen, Jonathan Guillen, Mike Mroch, Karen Thompson, and Emily Waecker

Gingerbread House
Chicago premiere from acclaimed playwright Mark Schulz
directed by James D Palmer
Featuring ensemble members Nick Combs, Alex Kyger, Meghan Reardon and Paige Sawin.
Designs by ensemble members Emily Guthrie and Kyle Land with Scott Davis, and Miles Polaski.

Chicago Fringe Artist Networking Night
featuring dozens of Chicago fringe-artists from all disciplines
curated by Myah Shein

Elephants Graveyard
Chicago premiere from acclaimed playwright George Brant
directed by James D Palmer Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s the press release from Light Opera Works:

LIGHT OPERA WORKS’ 2011 Season continues in October

Evanston, IL: Light Opera Works’ 2011 season continues in the fall with RODGERS & HART: A CELEBRATION (October 2-November 6) on the Second Stage, and Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon’s THE SECRET GARDEN (December 26-January 1) on the mainstage. To purchase tickets call (847) 869-6300 or order online at www.LightOperaWorks.com Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s the press release from ShawChicago:

SHAWCHICAGO ANNOUNCES 2011-2012 SEASON

CLASSIC THEATER FEATURING
STRONG WOMEN AND VACILLATING MEN
NOEL COWARD IN TWO KEYS,
AND TWO WORKS BY GEORGE BERNARD SHAW:
ANDROCLES AND THE LION,
AND MRS. WARREN’S PROFESSION Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s the press release from Oak Park Festival Theatre:

Oak Park Festival Theatre Announces
2011-2012 Season

OAK PARK, IL-Oak Park Festival Theatre announces its 2011-2012 performance season. Following last year’s successful four-play season, there will be two productions indoors, in addition to the two outdoors in Austin Gardens.

In the fall of 2011, OPFT will produce Tennessee Williams’ American classic The Glass Menagerie, directed by Kevin Theis, in the studio space at the Madison Street Theatre. A spring production of Stones in His Pockets by Marie Jones, directed by David Mink and starring Alan Ruck and OPFT Artistic Director Jack Hickey, will play in the same location. The summer season in Austin Gardens will be two highly charged political masterpieces: Lawrence and Lee’s Inherit the Wind, directed by Steve Pickering, and Shakespeare’s Richard III, directed by Belinda Bremner.  Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s the press release from Links Hall:

Links Hall Announces its Fall 2011 Performance Series.

Chicago, IL – Links Hall is pleased to announce its Fall 2011 performance series featuring works from many returning artists, as well as new presentations from up and coming artists. Nasty Brutish & Short, presented by Links Hall and curated by Seth Bockley and Julia Miller returns for two more performances after a successful run in the Winter 2011 season. The Striding Lion Performance Group premiers their latest works in November, featuring a collaborative effort with another Chicago dance, theatre, or performing artist each night, culminating in a unique program for every audience. Links Hall’s 2011 Lisa Dershin LinkUP Artists Justin Cabrillos and Ni’Ja Whitson debut their brand new works in September as a result of a six-month residency at Links Hall, a highly anticipated performance. As we close out the year, December brings an annual favorite, the Winter Solstice Percussion Concerts, playing for their 21st year at dawn. For more information call 773.281.0824, or purchase tickets online at www.LinksHall.org. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s the press release from Piven Theatre:

Piven Theatre Workshop Announces 2011-2012 Season: Celebrating Historic 40th Anniversary!

Evanston, IL – Piven Theatre Workshop proudly announces its 2011-2012 season! The exciting programs we’re offering this season are a celebratory retrospective on our 40 year history, mission & legacy. Productions include the world premiere of Cities of Light, an evening of theatrical cabaret with Rebecca Joy Fletcher and Encores: After the Theatre And Other Stories directed by Co-Founder Joyce Piven, featuring classic Piven Theatre adaptations of Chekhov stories originally created by Byrne and Joyce Piven as well as Sarah Ruhl. This season will also include a special Anniversary Production by our 2012 Young People’s Company performance troupe. Read the rest of this entry »

While the summer blockbuster season is primetime for the fan of comic-book superheroes, Jack Tamburri and the Society of Young Superheroes are offering a theatrical alternative to those too-often-unsatisfactory films. Tamburri is directing “POWERLESS: Issues 1-3” with the SYS, a “comic book play” about a group of Chicago-based young heroes.

The comic-book aspect of the performance is most evident in the 200 original “panels” that are projected onto areas of the stage throughout the performance. The panels depict scenes that contextualize the staged action with visual information or tell a parallel story, and were a key part of “POWERLESS” even from the early stages of the script. Comic books combine the visual and textual, Tamburri explains, and theater offers even more possibilities. “It’s a coagulation of a lot of different modes of storytelling,” he says. To the text of the script and visuals of the panels and staging, they have added voiceovers and a score, which is performed live. Read the rest of this entry »

The Infamous Commonwealth Theatre (ICT) has been producing critically acclaimed plays since 2001, but announced Monday that it has ceased operations. “It was something we all saw coming,” says Genevieve Thompson, founding artistic director of ICT, “but it was a sad resignation.”

Thompson describes the closing of ICT as an amiable end, but a regrettable one. “When we started the company, we were all in our twenties,” she explains. Much of the ensemble was just out of school and able to commit the time required to ICT. Ten years later, many of the ensemble members have demanding full-time jobs and families. “It required too much time from people who couldn’t give that time without pay,” she says. It became harder and harder to put up each show while maintaining the level of quality their audiences had come to expect. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s the press release from Theater Wit:

THEATER WIT ANNOUNCES 2011-12 SEASON, PLUS CHICAGO’S FIRST NETFLIX-LIKE LIVE THEATER MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM

Become a Theater Wit Member, see the company’s Chicago debuts of Jason Wells’ The North Plan, Kim Rosenstock’s Tigers Be Still, David Sedaris’ The Santaland Diaries, plus Chicago’s most diverse slate of off-Loop plays and musicals, whenever you like, as often as you like

CHICAGO, July 20, 2011 – Theater Wit Artistic Director Jeremy Wechsler has been busy pinning down the company’s 2011-2012 season line-up, which boasts the Chicago premiere of Jason Wells’ spine tingling apocalyptic drama The North Plan, the Midwest debut of Kim Rosenstock’s hot new dark comedy Tiger Be Still, plus the return of Chicago’s favorite alt-holiday comedy, The Santaland Diaries. Read the rest of this entry »

“Wear comfortable shoes,” says Marilyn Baysek, Morton Arboretum’s special events manager. “We had a woman once come from church wearing heels, and she did not have a good time.”

For those who follow Baysek’s advice and come prepared to the Arboretum’s Theatre-Hikes series this summer (she also recommends bug spray), she promises a unique and exciting theatrical experience. The shows of Theatre-Hikes take the audience on a tour of Morton as they follow actors from scene to scene throughout the Arboretum. The hikes can cover as much as two miles, though there are low-impact shows on Sundays for those unable to walk the full distance.

Theatre-Hikes began when founding director Frank Farrell—then an actor in New York City—was rehearsing in Central Park and decided he liked the venue. “The brainstorm was his, but it was a partnership between Frank and me and the Arboretum that gave the abundance to the theater company,” Baysek says. Now in its eleventh season, the company is fully professional. “We try to do shows that have broad, general appeal. What we have here is a way to combine interesting, professional theater with nature and culture.”

It may seem unusual for an arboretum to be providing space to a theater company, but Baysek feels the two are highly compatible. “It introduces the audience to the Arboretum, and hopefully they walk away from the Visitor’s Center and see things that they haven’t seen before. Hopefully they become ambassadors for the environment.” (Erin Kelsey)

Theatre-Hikes runs weekends through October 30, beginning with “The Hobbit,” now playing at the Morton Arboretum, I-88 and Rte. 53, Lisle, (630)725-2066, mortonarb.org. $13-$19.