SEASON 34 | 2018-2019
MAIN STAGE
SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD
By Jason Robert Brown
Directed by Helen R. Murray
Sept 14 – Oct 14
It’s all about one moment. It’s about passing the point of no return and having to make a choice, take a stand or accept your decision. These are the uplifting stories and songs for a new world. The first musical from Tony Award winning composer, Jason Robert Brown (“The Last Five Years,” “Parade,” “Bridges of Madison County”), this moving collection of powerful songs takes us from the deck of a 1492 Spanish sailing ship, to a ledge fifty-seven stories above Fifth Avenue, through a fascinating array of characters that, when faced with a life changing moment, can only choose to step boldly into the future.
Content Advisory: None
MAIN STAGE
Regional Premiere
THE SECOND CITY’S, TWIST YOUR DICKENS
By Peter Gwinn and Bobby Mort
Directed by Matthew R. Wilson
Nov. 23 – Dec. 23
A madcap send-up of the holiday classic, “Twist Your Dickens” finds Scrooge, Tiny Tim and those know-it-all ghosts hopelessly mixed up in zany holiday sketches. This adult comedy is never the same show twice and was deemed by the Chicago Sun-Times as a “fresh and bountiful feast of funny.” Second City alums and veteran Colbert Report writers Peter Gwinn and Bobby Mort dreamt up this irreverently funny new take on “A Christmas Carol.”
Content Advisory: Adult language
MAIN STAGE
Regional Premiere
HOODED, OR BEING BLACK FOR DUMMIES
By Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm
Directed by Betty Hart
Jan. 18 – Feb. 10
“Hooded…” is a timely and irreverent examination of two very different 14-year-old black boys growing up in America. Meeting in a holding cell, Marquis, a book smart prep-school kid from suburban Maryland meets Tru, a street savvy Baltimorean. Tru thinks Marquis has lost his “blackness” and pens a manual entitled “Being Black for Dummies” to help him navigate a world of cheerleaders, Black Lives Matter, 2Pac, Nietzsche, Apollo and Dionysus—each vying for Marquis’ future.
Content Advisory: Adult language, Adult situation
MAIN STAGE
Regional Premiere
LIFE SUCKS
By Aaron Posner
Directed by Helen R. Murray
Feb. 22 – Mar. 17
This brash and revelatory reworking of “Uncle Vanya” finds a group of old friends, ex-lovers, estranged in-laws and lifelong enemies gathering to grapple with life’s thorniest questions… and each other. What could possibly go wrong? Called “sassy yet heartfelt” by The Washington Post and “altogether wise, profoundly humane and hilarious” by the Chicago Sun Times, this is not any Chekov you know. Never has unhappiness been so much fun.
Content Advisory: Adult language
STUDIO THEATRE
Regional Premiere
THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH
By Philip Dawkins
Directed by Matt Bassett
Mar. 8 – 24
One actor plays all the roles in this heartwarming play that takes us to the magical kingdom and one family’s reckoning with life after the death of their beloved father and husband. Now, more than fifty years after their journey, Philip retraces his own true life story that illustrates how the women of his family grew up and moved on while asking if there really is a place where dreams can come true.
Content Advisory: None
MAIN STAGE
Regional Premiere
CAROLINE, OR CHANGE
By Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori
Directed by Kenny Moten
Apr. 5 – May 5
Set in the heat of the Civil Rights Movement, the Tony-nominated “Caroline, Or Change” follows a black maid working for a middle-class Jewish family in Louisiana. When a small amount of money goes missing, buried tensions threaten to rip two families—and the struggling Caroline—apart. Loosely based on Kushner’s provocative and personal story, Caroline features a virtuosic score that blends blues, gospel, and traditional Jewish melodies into a magical, show-stopping musical masterpiece.
Content Advisory: None
