The lineup is dazzling. “Sunset Boulevard,” Marcel Marceau, “Beauty and the Beast,” Twyla Tharp, Gary Sinise in “A Streetcar Named Desire,” Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Johnny Mathis and Sheckey Green.
These are just a few of the highlights of Chicago’s 1996-97 theater season. You may choose drama, humor, dance or musicals, besides classics and innovative works, from those listed in the accompanying chart.
Favorite shows returning to Chicago will include “Stomp,” “Driving Miss Daisy,” “Animal Farm,” “The God of Isaac,” “Phantom” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”
Best of all, you can select these plays at discount prices when you subscribe for the season at the theaters listed. For example: Bailiwick Repertory’s 15th season mixes new work plus encore presentations in its Pride and Primary series.
Opening the Primary Series is a revival of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm.”
“We are the only regional theater to serve the gay and lesbian communities with our Pride Series,” says executive director David Zak.
Each series of five plays is offered at bargain prices with the use of either a Discovery Pass ($60 for six shows, $120 for 12) or a Master Pass ($75 for six shows, $150 for 12). Student and Senior Passes are $50 for six shows, $100 for 12.
“Randy Newman’s Faust” opens the Goodman Theatre’s mainstage season. The return of August Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” closes the series of five shows.
Subscribe and save at least 10 percent off single-ticket prices. Re-subscribers save even more. A Goodman membership card can be used in the theater’s gift shop, Rehearsal Room restaurant, Borders’ Books & Music stores and Graphic Expectations.
Centre East’s premiere season in the $18 million North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, on Skokie Boulevard south of Old Orchard Center, in Skokie, continues a tradition of feature attractions.
“Write your own series,” advises executive director Dorothy Litwin. Packages of four or more events reap a 15 percent discount. Seats are guaranteed through lost or stolen ticket insurance. There is a flexible ticket exchange policy.
In a yearlong celebration of African-American men, Jackie Taylor’s Black Ensemble Theater brings tributes to singers and musicians, culminating in the return of a past hit, “The Otis Redding Story.” When you subscribe, you may choose to see all five plays or elect to attend one play with four friends.
Candlelight and Forum theaters, located just off the Stevenson Expressway in Summit, offer dinner and show for as little as $18.25 when you subscribe.
Supersavers are 40 percent; Inner Circle subscribers save 25 percent; Economy Subscribers get a 50 percent discount.
Head north to Highland Park for savings at Apple Tree Theatre’s five-play season, which opens with Stephen Sondheim’s daring and provocative musical “Assassins.” their programs continue at a varied pace. Student and senior rates are available. The theater is wheelchair accessible. Free public parking at a city lot at the corner of Elm Place and Second Street is nearby.
Chicago actress Kristine Thatcher has written a play, “Emma’s Child,” which premieres at Victory Gardens Theater on Sept. 13.
Subscribers may attend open rehearsals, enabling them to meet actors, playwrights and directors. Three- and five-play series are available at healthy discounts. If you recommend a new subscriber you are invited to a free dinner at Travia next door.
“We’re going to do the new version of `Company’ this season,” says Arlene Crewdson, executive director of Pegasus Players. Crewdson is a devotee of composer Stephen Sondheim.
Beginning with the two-part “Kentucky Cycle,” subscribers will enjoy gallery openings in the lobby of the theater and be entitled to discounts for the Joel Hall Dancers, a contemporary group associated with Pegasus.
Joining Centre East at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie later this season, Northlight Theatre will inaugurate a 350-seat theater as its new home. The theater’s first show, “Driving Miss Daisy,” has already opened at Louis Theatre in Evanston.
A change of pace is next with “Always . . . Patsy Cline,” a musical revue. Subscriber benefits for the five shows include a $5 discount for extra tickets, senior and student discounts, and discounts at area restaurants.
The first subscription package in the theater’s eight-year history is being announced by Stephanie Howard of Lookingglass Theatre Company. She describes three ways to save money for the season, which includes three plays and a winter workshop.
Interested in attending opening night benefit performances? The cost is $95. Weekend shows are $42 and weeknight series (Thursdays and Sundays) are $35. Included in the series is unlimited access to workshop productions.
With a year that begins in January and ends in December, Drury Lane Dinner Theatre, Evergreen Park, has already scheduled its 1997 shows. Many subscribers choose dinners and shows at $143 for five shows, or $69 for the shows only. “Catch Me If You Can” is the current play of the 1996 season.
“Pick a play package that works for you,” advises Court Theatre, which celebrates the classics in Hyde Park. This venerable professional company is in an auditorium on the University of Chicago campus.
There are flexible ticket arrangements, at 35 percent savings.
The merger of two off-Loop theaters has resulted in a new beginning for the Organic and the Touchstone theaters. Their mid-size theater, named Organic/Touchstone Theatre, will eventually be in Organic’s 350-seat building at 3319 N. Clark St.
This season’s five-show series will remain at 2851 N. Halsted St.
“If you wish to sit with friends who are also subscribers, tell us who they are,” urges Steppenwolf Theatre. Director Eric Simonson has adapted Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s “Slaughterhouse-5” to open Steppenwolf’s season.
Lab readings of new plays and lecture series help to illuminate programs for subscribers. A variety of options from low-priced previews to audio-described and sign-language-interpreted performances are choices here.
Gary Sinise in “A Streetcar Named Desire” in April and John Malkovich directing a play in July are highlights.
Music, dance, theater and performance art, culled from artists from eight countries, comprise the list of productions offered by Performing Arts Chicago.
You can choose from 17 shows at healthy discounts. Purchase six or more events and save 25 percent, or choose four or five and save 20 percent. When you order seven events you get an eighth one free. That amounts to 36 percent.
The Arts Center at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn is host to Buffalo Theatre Ensemble. Free seminars and discussions are bonuses. Rotating repertory productions of Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap” and Tom Stoppard’s “The Real Inspector Hound” are part of the celebration of the ensemble’s 10th season in residence.
Steve Billig of the Illinois Theatre Center in Park Forest has announced the center’s 21st season. It includes three area premieres, a rarely revived musical play and the world premiere of a musical revue.
By subscribing you can see seven shows for the price of six. That’s a 20 percent savings.
The musical “Man of LaMancha,” starring Robert Goulet, is Rosemont Theatre’s opening show. Engelbert Humperdinck, Johnny Mathis and “Riverdance” help fill the theater’s Variety and Broadway Series.
Subscribers may purchase tickets to non-subscription shows at a savings.
On the mainstage at ETA Creative Arts Foundation on South Chicago Avenue will be seven shows, from a humorous courtroom drama to songs by blues greats.
New plays are examined by its Readers’ Theater in a series titled “Playwrights Speak.” Six shows are $50 on subscription. Students and seniors can see individual shows for $10 rather than $15.
Finally, how does Lyric Opera continue to sell out its entire season year after year? Last year it reported 103 percent of capacity sold. (The Lyric resells seats that generous subscribers return for resale.) Savings can be as much as 32 percent.
THE DETAILS COUNT FOR LOVERS OF MUSICALS, DRAMA AND OPERA
Theater: Apple Tree Theatre Company, 593 Elm Pl., Highland Park; 847-432-4335:
Programs: “Assassins,” “Family Secrets,” “Between Men and Cattle,” “Blade to the Heat” and “Kindertransport.”
Opening: Sept. 25 Prices: $67-$105
Theater: American Blues Theatre, 1909 W. Byron St.; 312-929-1031
Programs: “The Flight of the Phoenix,” “Don’t Disappoint Capt. January,” “Train of Thought” and “Toys in the Attic.”
Opening: Sept. 15 Prices: $40-$88
Theater: Bailiwick Repertory, 1229 W. Belmont Ave.; 312-883-1090
Programs: PRIMARY SERIES: “Animal Farm,” “The Christmas Schooner,” “Rope,” “Dark of the Moon” and 2 to be announced.
PRIDE SERIES: “Her,” “Objects in the Mirror,” “Scraped, “Dorian Gray and “Taking Care of Mrs. Carroll.”
Opening: Aug. 25 (Pride) Prices: $60-$150; Sept. 5 (Primary)
Theater: Black Ensemble Theater, 4520 N. Beacon St.; 312-769-4451
Programs: “A Love Song,” “A Tribute to Billy Eckstein,” “The Smoothness of Brook Benton, “The Otis Redding Story” and one TBA.
Opening: Feb. 1997 Prices: $50-$100
Theater: Buffalo Theatre Ensemble, Arts Center at College of DuPage, 22d St. & Park Blvd., Glen Ellyn; 630-942-4000
Programs: “The Mousetrap,” “The Real Inspector Hound,” “The Living” and “Frankie & Johnny in the Clair de Lune.”
Opening: Oct. 4 Prices: $55-$59
Theater: Candlelight Dinner Playhouse & Forum Theatre, 5620 S. Harlem Ave., Summit; 708-496-3000
Programs: Candlelight: “It’s A Wonderful Life,” “Phantom,” “West Side Story,” and “Cabaret.” Forum: “The Odd Couple,” “Season’s Greetings,” “Sherlock’s Last Case” and “Cash on Delivery.”
Opening: Sept. 4 Prices: $56-$271
Theater: Centre East, North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie; 847-673-6305
Programs: Hubbard St. Dance Chicago, River North Dance Company, “Red Hot & Cole,” Blackstone Magic!, Shecky Greene, “Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and more.
Opening: Nov. 9 Prices: $26 (4)-$118 (4)
Theater: City Lit Theatre, 410 S. Michigan Ave.; 312-913-9446
Programs: (Call for locations). “Thank You, Jeeves,” “The King” and “Can’t Quit You, Baby.”
Opening: Nov. 1 Prices: $55-$75
Theater: Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave.; 312-753-4472
Programs: “Travels With My Aunt,” “Carmen,” “Tartuffe,” “The Philadelphia Story” and one to be announced.
Opening: Nov. 8 Prices: $80-$135
Theater: Drury Lane Dinner Theatre, 2500 W. 95th St.; 708-422-0404
Programs: “Play It Again Sam,” “A Bedful of Foreigners,” “The All Night Strut,” “A Talent for Murder” and “Holiday Festival on Ice.”
Opening: Jan. 8 Prices: $69/5 shows; $143/5 shows & dinner
Theater: Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace, 101 Drury Ln., Oakbrook Terrace; 708-530-8300
Programs: “Hello Dolly!,” “George M.” and 3 more to be announced.
Opening: March 5 Prices: $75-$90
Theater: ETA Creative Arts Foundation, 7558 S. South Chicago Ave.; 312-752-3955
Programs: “The Trial of One Short-Sighted Black Woman vs. Mammy Louise and Safreeta Mae,” Billy Branch and Maggie Brown in concert “Sasha sings Dinah,” “Boppin with the Ancestors,” “This Far By Faith,” “On the Black Hand Side” and “Comfort Stew”
Opening: Sept. 19 Prices: $50/6 shows
Theater: Footsteps Theatre Co., 5230 N. Clark St.; 312-878-4840
Programs: “The Taming of the Shrew,” “Salome,” “Warrior Women” and “Off the Map.”
Opening: Sept. 13 Prices: $50
Theater: Goodman Theatre, 200 S. Columbus Dr.; 312-443-3800
Programs: “Randy Newman’s Faust,” “The Young Man From Atlanta,” “Light Up The Sky,” “All the Rage” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”
Opening; Sept. 20 Prices: $111-$195
Theater: Goodman Studio Theatre, 200 S. Columbus Dr.;312-443-3800
Programs: “Seeking the Genesis,” “Transformation Six” and a Mary Zimmerman project.
Opening: Oct. 18 Prices: $46-$70
Theater: Griffin Theatre Company, 5404 N. Clark St.; 312-769-2228
Programs: “The Devil’s Familiar: A Comedy of Horrors,” “Iphigenia & Her Daughters’ and 2 to be announced. Three Kid Shows included.
Opening: Sept. 22 Prices: $45
Theater: Illinois Theatre Company, 400 A Lakewood Blvd., Park Forest; 708-481-3510
Programs: “Travels With My Aunt,” “The Prisoner of Second Avenue,” “A Tree Grows in Brookyln,” “Camping with Henry and Tom,” “Spunk,” “Keeping Going” and “Playing the Palace.”
Opening: Sept. 25 Prices: $65-$100
Theater: Lookingglass Theatre Co., 3309 N. Seminary Ave.; 312-477-8088
Programs: Location TBA . “The Vanishing Twin,” “In the Eye of the Beholder,” Winter Workshop Performance Festival and “28.”
Opening: Oct. 31 Prices $35-$95
Theater: Lyric Opera of Chicago, 20 N. Wacker Dr.; 312-332-2244
Programs: “Don Carlo,” “Il Trittico,” “The Consul,” “Salome,” “The Magic Flute,” “Turandot” and “Norma.”
Opening: Sept. 21 Prices: $129-$855
Theater: Northlight Theatre, 600 Davis St., Evanston; 847-869-7278
Programs: Locations vary. “Driving Miss Daisy,” “Always….Patsy Cline,” “Atomic Bombers,” “Fires in the Mirror” and “The Glass House.”
Opening: Sept. 4 Prices: $85-$130
Theater: Organic Touchstone Theatre, 2851 N. Halsted St.; 312-404-4700
Programs: “Racing Demon,” “Love! Valour! Compassion!,” “Aristocrats,” “Sylvia” and “Indiscretions.”
Opening: Sept. 12 Prices: $60-$106
Theater: Pegasus Players, 1145 W. Wilson Ave.; 312-271-2638
Programs: “The Kentucky Cycle,” 12 annual Young Playwrights Festival, “Company” “One Touch of Venus” and “Nuts and Bolts” (Joel Hall Dancers at a discount).
Opening: Sept. 26 Prices: $60-$78
Theater: Performing Arts Chicago, 410 S. Michigan Ave.; 312-722-5463
Programs: “The Three Lives of Lucie Cabrol,” “How to Shop,” “Drawing on a Mother’s experience,” Marcel Marceau, “Faustus in Africa,” “The Seven Streams of the River Ota,” Twyla Tharp and more.
Opening: Sept. 4 Prices: 25% discount 6+ shows. 20% discount 4-5 shows
Theater: Rosemont Theatre, 5400 N. River Rd., Rosemont; 800-859-SHOW
Programs: Variety Series: Engelbert Humperdinck, “Riverdance,” “The Nutcracker,” Sept. 20 $106-$227 (Variety) The Johnny Mathis Show and Wayne Newton. Broadway Series: “Man of LaMancha,” “Riverdance,” “Annie,” “A Chorus Line” and “West Side Story.”
Opening: Oct. 8 Prices: $107-$264 (Broadway)
Theater: Shakespeare Repertory, 1016 N. Dearborn St.; 312-642-2273
Programs: “Hamlet,” “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” and “Timon of Athens.”
Opening: Oct. 11 Prices: $51-$150
Theater: Shattered Globe Theatre, 2856 N. Halsted St.; 312-404-1237
Programs: “In a Pig’s Valise,” “Bandagers” “Beckett.”
Opening: Aug. 10 Prices: $45-$90
Theater: Shubert Theatre, 22 W. Monroe St.; 312-977-1717
Programs: “Smoky Joe’s Cafe: The Songs of Leiber and Stoller,” “Applause,” “Beauty and the beast,” “Sunset Boulevard” and “Tap Dogs.” (and other venues)
Opening: Oct. 15 Prices: $136-$308
Theater: Stage Two, 410 Sheridan Rd., Highwood; 847-432-SHOW
Programs: PREMIERE SEASON: “Hamlet,” “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” “The Hammerstone,” 3 one-act plays and “This Blessed Knot.” PREMIERE SEASON PLUS! “The Telltale Heart,” “Atomic Field” and “Lemonade.”
Opening: Aug. 29 Prices: 60 Plus:$80-$95 $40 premiere
Theater: Stage Right Dinner Theatre, 276 E. Irving Park Rd., Wood Dale; 708-595-2044
Programs: “My Fair Lady,” “Rumors,” “Crazy For You” and “Run For Your Wife.”
Opening: Sept. 20 Prices: $100-$120
Theater: Steppenwolf Theatre Company, 1650 N. Halsted St.; 312-335-1650
Programs: “Slaughterhouse-5,” “Mojo,” “Time to Bury,” “A Streetcar Named Desire” and one to be announced.
Opening: Sept. 18 Prices: $66-$166
Theater: Victory Gardens Theater, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave.; 312-871-3000
Programs: `Emma’s Child,” “Drowning Sorrows.” Under consideration: “Sidney Bechet Killed a Man,” “Root Causes” and “The God of Isaac.”
Opening: Sept. 13 Prices: 3 plays $43-$67 5 plays $72-$112
Theater: The Theatre Building, 1225 W. Belmont Ave.; 312-327-5252
Programs: “Lepers & No.Side/So. Side,” “Hans Brinker,” “The Revellers,” “CLUE, The Musical,” and “School House Rock Live!.”
Opening: Aug. 19 Price: $60.
