Award-winning Porchlight Music Theatre presents Shake It Away: The Ann Miller Story, written by and starring Kayla Boye, directed by Porchlight Artistic Director Michael Weber, choreographed by Tammy Mader and music directed by Linda Madonia, Tuesday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m. at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn St. The running time is 75 minutes with no intermission. Shake it Away: The Ann Miller Story is a special event presented during Porchlight’s The Irish … and How they Got That Way, January 31 - March 15.  Tickets for Shake it Away are available now at PorchlightMusicTheatre.org for $25. More information on Shake It Away: The Ann Miller Story is available at ShakeItAwayPlay.com

On a soundstage at the infamous 1970 MGM Studios auction, dancer/singer/actress Ann Miller revisits the Golden Age of Hollywood and discovers her second act as a Broadway star while filmdom’s treasures — including the legendary “ruby slippers,” the “Cotton Blossom” show boat, Clark Gable’s “lucky trench coat” and more — are sold for pennies on the dollar. Featuring selections from the Great American Songbook, this love letter to entertainment is written by and stars Kayla Boye, who has appeared at Porchlight Music Theatre in Can-Can, Little Me, Billy Elliot and New Faces Sing Broadway 1969. 

Shake It Away: The Ann Miller Story returns to Chicago after a critically acclaimed world premiere tour that included the Hollywood Fringe in Los Angeles (Hudson Theatres, June 10 - 15, 2025), Off-Broadway’s “East to Edinburgh” in New York (59E59 Theaters, July 15 - 19, 2025) and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (theSpace at Surgeons’ Hall, August 1 - 9, 2025). This March 3 performance will feature new material not seen in the production’s previous performances in Chicago, Hollywood, New York and Edinburgh.  

Kayla Boye says, “I am so glad to be returning to Porchlight with Shake It Away and grateful to be collaborating with this terrific team. Ann Miller’s life exemplified resilience and optimism, which she shared through her incredible talents and authenticity. From films such as Kiss Me Kate, Easter Parade and On the Town, to productions such as Mame, Hello Dolly and Sugar Babies, she showed us what it meant to shake the blues away. I hope audiences find her story to be one of hope and joy, as I have.”

ABOUT KAYLA BOYE, Writer/Actor

Kayla Boye’s production ofCall Me Elizabeth, a critically acclaimed solo show about the life of Elizabeth Taylor, was streamed by BroadwayHD and Porchlight Music Theatre during the pandemic and continues to tour internationally following sold-out runs Off-Broadway at 59E59 Theaters, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Mexico’s San Miguel Solo Theatre Festival. Additional credits: The Wizard of Oz (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), South Pacific (Drury Lane Theatre), Holiday Inn, Guys & Dolls, Cinderella (Fireside Theatre), On the Town (Capital City Theatre), Pippin (Mercury Theater Chicago), Anything Goes, Gypsy, Mame (Music Theater Works), Not Now Darling (BrightSide Theatre), A Christmas Story (Citadel Theatre), Man of La Mancha, Annie, The Addams Family (Bigfork Summer Playhouse), The Drowsy Chaperone, Bye Bye Birdie, Carousel (The Huron Playhouse), Mary Poppins, Chicago, Curtains (The Youngstown Playhouse), and “Winnie” in Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days (City Lit Theater). Awards: Best Choreography, Chicago Musical Theatre Festival (Wonder Women: The Musical). Her work has been awarded grants from Illinois Arts Council and the Arts Midwest Touring Fund.

ABOUT MICHAEL WEBER, Director

Michael Weber is a nationally recognized, award-winning director, producer, actor and educator. He currently serves as artistic director of Chicago’s Porchlight Music Theatre where he recently directed Sunday in the Park with George starring Broadway’s Kathy Voytko and Tony Award-nominee Sean Allan Krill and he was resident director of the Chicago premiere of Titanique. He recently directed the Off-Broadway and European premieres of Call Me Elizabeth written by and starring Kayla Boye as “Elizabeth Taylor.” Under his artistic leadership, Porchlight Music Theatre was awarded Chicago’s Jeff Award for “Best Production” six times. He previously served as artistic director for the inaugural season of Chicago’s Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place (now Broadway in Chicago’s Broadway Playhouse) and at Theatre at the Center in Munster, Indiana. The recipient of two Joseph Jefferson Awards, he has been nominated for nine awards and he wrote and directed 14 Joseph Jefferson Awards ceremonies (2006-2018). Weber’s regional acting credits include The Merry Widow (starring Renée Fleming) at Lyric Opera, Annie Get Your Gun and Gypsy (both starring Patti LuPone) at Ravinia Festival, The Winter’s Tale and Henry V at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and more. He is author of the play WAR of the WELLeS (about Orson Welles’ infamous radio broadcast) and he is a longtime pledge host for PBS station WTTW channel 11.

ABOUT TAMMY MADER, Choreographer

Tammy Mader is a proud member of SDC, the union of professional Stage Directors and Choreographers. Credits include: Bye Bye Birdie, Hairspray (Jeff Award), Next To Normal, Sunset Blvd., Gypsy, Spamalot, Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (Jeff Nomination), Buddy; The Buddy Holly Story, Thoroughly Modern Millie (Jeff Award), Meet Me In St. Louis, Kiss Me Kate (Jeff Nomination), Anything Goes (Jeff Nomination), and My One And Only (Jeff Award) at Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace; Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, Meet Me In St. Louis, Grand Hotel and The Full Monty at Drury Lane Water Tower Place; Guys & Dolls and Invisible Man at Court Theatre; Singin' In The Rain, My One And Only (Jeff Nomination), 42nd St. (Jeff Award), Beauty and the Beast for Marriott’s Lincolnshire Theatre; Animal Crackers for Baltimore’s Center Stage, Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? for Drury Lane Theater in Evergreen Park; She Loves Me, Singin’ In The Rain (Jeff Nomination), Grand Hotel, 42nd St., Meet Me In St. Louis, and Swingin’ On A Star: The Johnny Burke Musical at Theater at the Center, Elizabeth Rex at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and Porchlight Music Theatre’s Anything Goes, Mack And Mabel and Assassins. 

ABOUT LINDA MADONIA, Music Director

Linda Madonia is currently the company manager for Porchlight Music Theatre. She also has music directed the ICONS Gala Celebrating Leslie Uggams and previously worked on Broadway in your Backyard, Anything Goes, Cabaret and A Chorus Line, all with Porchlight. Other projects include Annie, Guys and Dolls, Legally Blonde: The Musical, Shrek the Musical, Mamma Mia! and Camelot at Music Theater Works and Jersey Boys, Rock of Ages and Sister Act at Mercury Theater Chicago. Linda is the vocal coach for the master’s degree program in music theatre pedagogy at Carthage College and owns American Eagle Productions, which has been at the forefront of theatre education in the Chicago area for the past 35 years in Chicago.

ABOUT OFF THE PORCH

​​Created and led by Porchlight Music Theatre artistic associates, Off the Porch follows the great tradition of Chicago theatre by offering an open and safe environment for the exploration and creation of new musicals, adaptations and plays with music. Through this series, Porchlight nurtures local, regional and national talent by providing artistic resources to support the development of new musical works and by cultivating and showcasing the new work of composers, lyricists and playwrights. Recent productions include Making Marilyn Miller - An Immersive Musical, October 8 and 9, 2025, and pre-tour invited rehearsal of Shake It Away: The Ann Miller Story, June 1, 2025. 

ABOUT PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE

Porchlight Music Theatre, now in its 31st season, is the award-winning center for music theatre in Chicago. Through live performance, youth education and community outreach, we impact thousands of lives each season, bringing the magic of musicals to our theatre home at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts in the Gold Coast and to neighborhoods across the city. Porchlight has built a national reputation for boldly reimagining classic musicals, supporting new works and young performers, and showcasing Chicago’s most notable music theatre artists, all through the intimate and powerful theatrical lens of the “Chicago Style.” 

Porchlight's history over nearly three decades includes more than 70 mainstage works with 15 Chicago premieres and five world premieres. 

Porchlight's education and outreach programs serve schools, youth of all ages and skill levels and community organizations. Porchlight annually awards dozens of full scholarships and hundreds of free tickets to ensure accessibility and real engagement with this uniquely American art form. 

The company’s many honors include 179 Joseph Jefferson Award (Jeff) nominations and 50 Jeff awards, as well as 44 Black Theatre Alliance (BTA) nominations and 15 BTA awards. In 2019, Porchlight graduated to the Large Theatre tier of the Equity Jeff Awards and has been honored with seven awards in this tier to date including Best Ensemble for Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies (2019) and Best Production-Revue for Blues in the Night (2022). 

Through the global pandemic, Porchlight emerged as one of Chicago’s leaders in virtual programming, quickly launching a host of free offerings like Sondheim @ 90 Roundtables, Movie Musical Mondays, Porchlight by Request: Command Performances and WPMT: Classic Musicals from the Golden Age of Radio. In 2021, Porchlight launched its annual summer series, Broadway in your Backyard, performing at parks and venues throughout the city. 

Award-winning Porchlight Music Theatre presents Shake It Away: The Ann Miller Story, written by and starring Kayla Boye, directed by Porchlight Artistic Director Michael Weber, choreographed by Tammy Mader and music directed by Linda Madonia, Tuesday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m.  at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn St. The running time is 75 minutes with no intermission with tickets available now at PorchlightMusicTheatre.org for $25. More information on Shake It Away: The Ann Miller Story is available at ShakeItAwayPlay.com

The Story Theatre closes its critically-acclaimed, sold-out, award-winning Season V with the world premiere production of Pot Girls by Governing Ensemble member Paul Michael Thomson* and directed by Governing Ensemble member Ayanna Bria Bakari*. This new play about the power of women, words and weed will play February 12 – March 1, 2026 on Raven Theatre's Schwartz Stage, 6157 N. Clark St (at Granville) in Chicago, with multiple possible extensions. Tickets go on sale Monday, January 12, 2026 at thestorytheatre.org/tickets or by calling (773) 338-2177. The press opening is Monday, February 16 at 7:30 pm.

The production will feature Governing Ensemble member Brenna DiStasio* with Myah Bridgewater, Peter Ferneding, Tamsen Glaser, Emily Marso, Ireon Roach and Laney Rodriguez. Understudies include Jack Bowes, Sierra Coachman, Jennifer Ledesma, Lizzy Mosher and Hannah Rule.

About the Production: 

What is the duty of the artist? Well, tonight, her only duty is to get stoned and celebrate! Caryl is getting her first big Olivier-eligible production with a smart, sexy new play that centers women in the workplace. Her nearest and dearest friends – an assortment of feminist writers from throughout space and time – come to her London flat to kiki and drink grasshoppers. (Did we mention it's 1982?) But when the party's over and Caryl is presented with the ways her new play may be causing harm, she must decide whether or not she'll learn from history or else abdicate her responsibility altogether. What is the role of critique in creation? Can we judge the artist's politics by the artwork's problems? And is any of our art really activism?

An intertextual riff on Caryl Churchill's Top Girls, Pot Girls will run in creative conversation with Raven Theatre's production of Top Girls directed by Lucky Stiff and running on Raven Theatre's Johnson Stage from February 12 – March 22, 2026 The Story Theatre has been the storefront company in residence at Raven Theatre since 2019, and both companies are excited about this new chapter of artistic collaboration. The companies will offer "marathon days" where audiences have the opportunity to experience a matinee of Top Girls, a special event with the creative teams, and then an evening showing of Pot Girls – all at a discounted rate.

The production team for Pot Girls includes Katelyn Montgomery (Scenic Design), Racquel Postilgione (Costume Design), Seojung Jang (Lighting Design), Ellie Fey (Assistant Lighting Design), Gina Montalvo (Sound Design), Spencer Diaz Tootle (Properties Design), Jyreika Guest (Intimacy Direction), Stina Taylor (Technical Direction), Eva Breneman (Dialect Coaching), Emma Sipora Tyler (Dramaturgy), Anastar Alvarez (Stage Manager), Liv Morris (Assistant Stage Manager), Shelbi Weaver (Production Manager), Mark Brown (Master Electrician), David Hagen (Director of Design), Marlene Slaughter (Assistant Director) and Terry Guest* and Brianna Buckley (Producers).

*Denotes a member of The Story Theatre's Governing Ensemble

Content Advisory: If you would like content details before purchasing your ticket, please feel free to email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The Story recognizes that individual sensitivities are myriad, and we encourage you to reach out with any questions.

Production Details:

Title: Pot Girls

Playwright: Paul Michael Thomson*

Director: Ayanna Bria Bakari*

Cast (in alphabetical order): Myah Bridgewater (Phillis Wheatley, Naomi, Ayanna), Brenna DiStasio* (Caryl), Peter Ferneding (Edward Carpenter, Max, Paul Michael), Tamsen Glaser (Sappho, Annie, Brenna), Emily Marso (Lady Murasaki Shikibu, Mei-Lin), Ireon Roach (Edith) and Laney Rodriguez (Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Christine). Understudies: Jack Bowes, Sierra Coachman, Jennifer Ledesma, Lizzy Mosher and Hannah Rule.

Location: Raven Theatre Schwartz Stage, 6157 N. Clark St. (at Granville), Chicago

Dates: 

Previews: Thursday, February 12 at 7:30 pm, Friday, February 13 at 7:30 pm, Saturday, February 14 at 7:30 pm and Sunday, February 15 at 3 pm

Regular run: Thursday, February 12 – Sunday, March 1, 2026 (with multiple possible extensions)

Curtain Times: Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm.

Tickets: $20 – $48* (tiered options). Discounts available. Tickets go on sale Monday, January 12, 2026 at thestorytheatre.org/tickets or by calling (773) 338-2177 *Pricing includes processing fees

Group tickets: Special group grates are available. For more information, call (773) 338-2177 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Plan Your Visit: 

Free parking is provided in a lot adjacent to the theatre—additional street parking is available.

Nearest El station: Granville Red Line. Buses: #22 (Clark), #36 (Broadway), #151 (Sheridan), #155 (Devon), #84 (Peterson).

About the Artists:

Paul Michael Thomson (Playwright) is an actor, playwright, producer and PhD candidate based in Chicago. He is so grateful to bring this play to life with his fellow Governing Ensemble members and closest friends, Ayanna Bria Bakari, Brenna DiStasio and Terry Guest. As an actor, Paul Michael has worked regionally at Steppenwolf, Goodman, Chicago Shakespeare, Urbanite Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company, Southwest Shakespeare, and more, and his on-camera credits include All Happy Families, Drawn Back Home, Chicago Med and Chicago Justice. His plays have been developed and produced around the country, including: brother sister cyborg space (Raven Theatre); Bobby & Lorraine, or Something Left to Love (Rivendell Theatre, with Quenna Lené Barrett); Fremont Junior High Is NOT Doing Oklahoma! (Good Company Theatre, Live Theatre Workshop, Bramble Theatre); What a Time to Be Alive (You Say That Every Time) (Great Plains Theatre Commons, Definition Theatre); Leave Me Alone! (The Story Theatre); The G.O.A.T., or Who Is Ximone? (Theatre L'Acadie, O'Neill Center NPC Finalist); and more. Paul Michael is a PhD candidate in Afro-American Studies through the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and his scholarly work has been published in Theatre History Studies, the Black Theatre Review and Theatre Annual. He is a proud co-founder and Governing Ensemble member of The Story Theatre and is represented by Gray Talent Group. paulmichaelthomson.com @paulmichaelt

Ayanna Bria Bakari (Director) is an actor, producer director and a proud Governing Ensemble Member of The Story Theatre. She is delighted to be making her Directorial debut with the folks she has loved and made theater with for the past 8 years. She graduated with a BFA in acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University. Some of her Chicago theatre credits include: Purpose, Last Night and the Night Before (Steppenwolf); Relentless, Too Heavy for Your Pocket (TimeLine Theatre); Relentless, How to Catch Creation (Goodman); As You Like It (Chicago Shakespeare); The Niceties (Black Theater Alliance Award) and Stickfly (Writers Theatre); At The Wake of a Dead Drag Queen (Asst. Director, 2019 and Wig Design, 2025 at The Story Theatre), Leave me Alone! (The Story Theatre). Regionally, she has played in Blues for an Alabama Sky (Seattle Rep); The Colored Museum (Studio Theatre); The Salvagers (Asst. Dir. at Yale Repertory Theatre); Clyde's (TheaterWorks Hartford); Sunflowered (Northern Sky Theater); The Rainmaker (Peninsula Players); The Originalist (Indiana Repertory Theatre). Ayanna Bria's television credits include recurring roles in Wu-Tang: An American Saga on HULU and The CHI on Showtime along with guest roles on Chicago PD, Chicago Fire, Empire on FOX and 61st Street on AMC. She made her film debut in Holiday Heist on BET. She is represented by Stewart Talent. @ayannabakari_

About The Story Theatre: 

Founded in 2018, The Story Theatre will pose questions rather than provide answers. We develop and produce new work that is whimsical, melancholic, mythic in vision and intimate in scale. We are run by a Governing Artistic Ensemble, who ensures our work is actively dismantling racism and inequity, while cultivating community through activism and catharsis.

In 2025, The Story Theatre was awarded the Broadway in Chicago Emerging Theatre Award from the League of Chicago Theatres. Our world premiere productions and elevated staged readings have garnered sold-out extended runs and Joseph Jefferson Awards, including: At the Wake of a Dead Drag Queen by Terry Guest; the love object by Justine Gelfman; Marie Antoinette & the Magical Negroes by Terry Guest; Las Fantasmas y Frida Kahlo by Spencer Diaz Tootle, and more.

The Story Theatre is funded in part by The Michael and Mona Heath Fund, The Illinois Arts Council, DCASE CityArts and The Cecilia, Marcia and Jay Iole Foundation.

Chicago's Raven Theatre Company today announced the cast and production team for TOP GIRLS, Caryl Churchill's most famous work and regarded as one of the best British plays of the 20th century, directed by Lucky Stiff and running February 18 - March 22, 2026 (previews February 12 - 15). Tickets ($30 - $45) go on sale January 12, 2026 at www.raventheatre.com. 

Raven Theatre continues its commitment to timely plays in the theatrical canon, presenting Caryl Churchill's masterpiece on feminism, class, and politics, TOP GIRLS. From an Algonquin round table boasting some of history's most notable women, to the halls of the Top Girls Employment Agency, Marlene's exchanges with the women around her create a vivid and compelling exploration of their aspirations through time. Heralded as one of the best British plays of the 20th century, TOP GIRLS navigates the shifting dynamics of a patriarchal society. 

Throughout the run, TOP GIRLS will be presented alongside Raven Theatre resident company The Story Theatre's World Premiere of POT GIRLS by Paul Michael Thomson, directed by Ayanna Bria Bakari. POT GIRLS is a smoky riff on TOP GIRLS that pays loving homage while charting bold new ground. Celebrating The Story Theatre's seven-year residency at Raven, this collaboration reflects a mutual desire to expand artistic partnership between the companies. On exclusive "marathon days" audiences can experience both productions through a special double-feature package that will go on sale later this month.  

The TOP GIRLS cast features Claire Kaplan (Marlene), Susaan Jamshidi* (Isabella Bird / Joyce / Mrs. Kidd), Yourtana Sulaiman (Dull Gret / Angie), Hannah Kato (Lady Nijo / Win), Morgan Lavenstein (Pope Joan / Louise), Luke Halpern (Patient Griselda / Nell / Jeanine), and Collin Quinn Rice (Waitress / Kit / Shona).

The production team includes Sivan Spector (Assistant Director), Caroline Uy (Dramaturg), JuJu Laurie (Stage Manager), Isabelle Anderle (Asst. Stage Manager) Joonhee Park (Scenic Designer), , Anna Wooden (Costume Designer), Ben Carne (Lighting Designer), Dee Etti-Williams (Sound Designer), Paloma Locsin (Props Designer) Lucy Whipp (Production Manager), Catherine Miller (Casting Director), Ruby Lowe (Master Electrician), Eva Breneman (Dialect Coach), and Chels Morgan (Violence and Intimacy Design). 

Raven Theatre's TOP GIRLS runs February 18 - March 22, 2026, with previews February 12 - 15. Performances are held Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., and Sundays at 3 p.m. on the Johnson Stage at Raven Theatre, 6157 N. Clark St. Tickets are $45, with discounts available for students, military, and industry ($30 previews); to purchase tickets and for more information about Raven Theatre's 43rd season, visit www.raventheatre.com. 

TOP GIRLS

Written By: Caryl Churchill

Directed By: Lucky Stiff

Cast: Claire Kaplan (Marlene), Susaan Jamshidi* (Isabella Bird / Joyce / Mrs. Kidd), Yourtana Sulaiman (Dull Gret / Angie), Hannah Kato (Lady Nijo / Win), Morgan Lavenstein (Pope Joan / Louise), Luke Halpern (Patient Griselda / Nell / Jeanine), and Collin Quinn Rice (Waitress / Kit / Shona).

Production Team: Sivan Spector (Assistant Director), Caroline Uy (Dramaturg), JuJu Laurie (Stage Manager), Isabelle Anderle (Asst. Stage Manager) Joonhee Park (Scenic Designer), , Anna Wooden (Costume Designer), Ben Carne (Lighting Designer), Dee Etti-Williams (Sound Designer), Paloma Locsin (Props Designer) Lucy Whipp (Production Manager), Catherine Miller (Casting Director), Ruby Lowe (Master Electrician), Eva Breneman (Dialect Coach), and Chels Morgan (Violence and Intimacy Design).

* denotes Member of Actors' Equity Association 

Dates: February 18 - March 22, 2026 (Previews February 12 -15)

Schedule: Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.; Sundays at 3 p.m.

Location: Raven Theatre (6157 N. Clark St.)

Tickets: General Admission: $45; Student, Military, and Industry tickets $20. Previews $30.

Box Office: www.raventheatre.com 

Hot off their record-breaking runs of Jekyll & Hyde and Amélie the Musical, Kokandy Productions is back in 2026 with three full productions, including their first play with music. The season begins with the revolutionary "love-rock" musical HAIR, taking over the Chopin Theater Mainstage for an exhilarating summer of hope and fury. Splashes of tie dye give way to dots of color and light as Sunday in the Park with George comes into focus in the Chopin Downstairs Studio following in the footsteps of Kokandy's award-winning productions of Sondheim's Into the Woods and Sweeney Todd. The season concludes with A Clockwork Orange: A Play with Music, a live adaptation of Anthony Burgess' dystopian novel that brings the cult-classic "horrorshow" to visceral, pulsing, terrifying life on the Chopin Theater Mainstage.

Single tickets for Kokandy's 2026 Season will go on sale Monday, February 2, 2026 at kokandyproductions.com. The Chopin Theater is located at 1543 W. Division St. in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood.

In addition to three full productions, Kokandy is excited to continue stewarding the annual Chicago Musical Theatre Festival in 2026. Submission details and performance dates for this celebration of new work and musical theatre writers will be announced in early 2026.

Kokandy Book Club also returns next season, with the first scheduled "meet" on Monday, January 26. This community cabaret is an ongoing collaboration with The Understudy Coffee and Books, 5531 N. Clark St. in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood. 

"2025 was a year of risks for Kokandy, venturing upstairs for the first time and trying styles and scale we had not yet attempted," says Producing Artistic Director Derek Van Barham. "We're continuing to push in 2026 with a season of color and light. Pulling inspiration from Sondheim's gorgeous lyric, our 2026 season is about the brightness of life, about youth in revolt, about individuals challenging the system, facing the sensory overload of overwhelming obstacles. From tribe members at a protest and an artist at an easel to a disaffected youth strapped to a chair forced to watch the worst of the world, these are stories of souls at a crossroads: to resist or conform, to create or destroy, to build it up or burn it down."

Kokandy Productions' 2026 Season includes:

July 2 – October 18, 2026

HAIR

The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical

Book and Lyrics by Gerome Ragni & James Rado

Music by Galt MacDermot

Directed by Brennan Urbi

on the Chopin Theater Mainstage

Press opening: Saturday, July 18, 2026 at 7 pm

The American tribal love rock musical HAIR celebrates the sixties counterculture in all its barefoot, long-haired, bell-bottomed, beaded and fringed glory. To an infectiously energetic rock beat, the show wows audiences with songs like "Aquarius," "Good Morning, Starshine," "Hair," "I Got Life" and "Let The Sunshine In." Exploring ideas of identity, community, global responsibility and peace, HAIR remains relevant as ever as it examines what it means to be a young person in a changing world.

August 13 – November 11, 2026

Sunday in the Park with George

Book by James Lapine

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Directed by Producing Artistic Director Derek Van Barham

in the Chopin Downstairs Studio

Press opening: Saturday, August 29, 2026 at 7 pm

Inspired by the painting, "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" by Georges Seurat, Sunday in the Park with George, Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's stunning masterpiece, merges past and present into beautiful, poignant truths about life, love and the creation of art. One of the most acclaimed musicals of our time, this moving study of the enigmatic painter, Georges Seurat, won a Pulitzer Prize and was nominated for an astounding ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

November 5, 2026 – January 10, 2027

A Clockwork Orange: A Play with Music

By Anthony Burgess, adapted from his novel

on the Chopin Theater Mainstage

Press opening: Saturday, November 21, 2026 at 7 pm

A Clockwork Orange lures audiences into a glass-edged, testosterone-filled underworld of a dystopian future. The explosive story of little Alex and his rebellious gang of Droogs is a groundbreaking and twisted tale teeming with sexuality and "a bit of the old ultra-violence". As hauntingly relevant today as when Burgess's book first published in 1962 and when Stanley Kubrick's cult classic film caused a stir in 1971, A Clockwork Orange is an unapologetic celebration of the human condition. And Beethoven.

About Kokandy Productions

Founded in 2010, Kokandy Productions seeks to leverage the heightened reality of musical theatre to tell complex and challenging stories, with a focus on contributing to the development of Chicago-based musical theatre artists, and raising the profile of Chicago's non-Equity musical theatre community.

The company's artistic staff is comprised of Derek Van Barham (Producing Artistic Director), Scot T. Kokandy (Executive Producer) and Adrian Abel Azevedo & Leda Hoffman (Artistic Associates). The Board of Directors includes Preston Cropp, Scot T. Kokandy, Danielle Sparklin and Katie Svaicer. 

For additional information, visit kokandyproductions.com. 

Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the nation's premier ensemble theater company, is pleased to continue its 50th Anniversary Season with August Strindberg's master class in marital warfare The Dance of Death, adapted by Conor McPherson, directed by ensemble member Yasen Peyankov and featuring an all ensemble cast. The Dance of Death will play January 29 – March 22, 2026 in Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theater, 1650 N. Halsted St. in Chicago. Single tickets starting at $20 are now on sale at steppenwolf.org or the Box Office at (312) 335-1650. The press opening is Saturday, February 7, 2026 at 7:30 pm.

Steppenwolf ensemble member Jeff Perry (No Man's Land, August: Osage County, Scandal) returns home to the company he co-founded five decades ago, joined by fellow ensemble members Cliff Chamberlain (You Will Get Sick, Fool for Love, The Minutes) and Kathryn Erbe (The Grapes of Wrath, A Streetcar Named Desire, Law & Order: Criminal Intent), who returns to the Steppenwolf stage for the first time in nearly three decades.

About the Production:

In the high stone tower of an isolated naval fortress, Alice and Edgar are about to celebrate 25 years of wedded bliss – if decades of resentment, recrimination and mutual sabotage count as bliss. But when an alluring visitor arrives, the delicate balance of their tedious arrangement falls off its axis, cracks growing into canyons. In Conor McPherson's wicked take on Strindberg's masterclass in marital warfare, a twisted love triangle waltzes off the edge of a cliff, plunging us all into the deep.

Steppenwolf Artistic Directors Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis comment, "When we set out to program the 50th Anniversary Season, our priority was to welcome a large host of ensemble members from across Steppenwolf's storied history back home. Nowhere is this clearer than in The Dance of Death, which has an all ensemble cast and an ensemble director at the helm. With Jeff, Katie and Cliff – representing three generations of ensemble members – in one room, we know we're in store for a quintessentially Steppenwolf night of combustible and provoking theater."

The creative team includes Collette Pollard (Scenic Design), Ana Kuzmanic (Costume Design) Lee Fiskness (Lighting Design), Rick Sims (Sound Design), Jyreika Guest (Fight and Intimacy Consultant), Jason K. Martin (Voice Coach), Claire Kaplan (Movement Consultant), Abhi Shrestha (Dramaturg), Patrick Zakem (Creative Producer), Tom Pearl (Producing Director), JC Clementz, CSA (Casting), Laura D. Glenn (Production Stage Manager) and Kathleen Barrett (Assistant Stage Manager). For full cast and creative team bios, click here.

Production Details:

Title: The Dance of Death
Playwright: August Strindberg
Adaptor: Conor McPherson
Director: ensemble member Yasen Peyankov
Cast: ensemble members Cliff Chamberlain (Kurt), Kathryn Erbe (Alice) and Jeff Perry (Captain)

Location: Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theater, 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago

Dates: Previews: Thursday, January 29 – Friday, February 6, 2026
Press performance/Opening: Saturday, February 7, 2026 at 7:30 pm
Regular run: Tuesday, February 10 – Sunday, March 22, 206
Curtain Times: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 pm; Saturdays at 3 pm & 7:30 pm; and Sundays at 3 pm. Please note: there will not be 7:30 pm performances on Tuesday, February 3, Wednesday, February 11, Tuesday, February 17, Wednesday, February 25, Thursday, February 26, Tuesday, March 3 and Tuesday, March 17; there will not be 3 pm performances on Saturday, February 7, Saturday, March 14 and Sunday, February 8; there will be an added 2 pm matinee on Wednesday, March 11.

Tickets: Single tickets for The Dance of Death ($20 – $148.50*) are now on sale at steppenwolf.org and the Box Office at (312) 335-1650. Steppenwolf Flex Memberships are currently on sale at steppenwolf.org/memberships: Black Card Memberships with six tickets for use any time for any production and RED Card Memberships for theatergoers under 30. *Pricing includes an $8.50 handling fee

Steppenwolf offers 20 tickets for $20 (no added fees) for each performance of every membership series production. Use promo code 20FOR20 to redeem this offer online, available in advance until they're sold out for every main series show. Limit 2 tickets per person. You can also purchase by phone at (312) 335-1650 on the day-of show at 12 pm for main series performances. Limit 2 tickets per person.

Accessible Performance Dates:

Audio-Described and Touch Tour: Sunday, March 1 at 3 pm (1:30 pm Touch Tour)
Open-Captioned: Saturday, February 28 at 3 pm & Thursday, March 12 at 7:30 pm
ASL-Interpreted: Friday, March 6 at 7:30 pm

Education and Engagement:

Throughout the 2025/26 season, Steppenwolf continues its commitment to the next generation of theatre learners, makers and appreciators with robust education and engagement programming. Programming includes dedicated student matinee performances during four of the five Membership Series productions including Mr. Wolf, Amadeus, The Dance of Death and Windfall, in-school residencies in partnership with Chicago Public schools, workshops, panels and events specifically geared towards teens, as well as professional development trainings and resources for educators. Additionally, Steppenwolf is reimagining their community engagement and will pilot new public programming, continue accessibility programming and offer opportunities for deeper explorations for audiences throughout the season. For additional information about Steppenwolf's Education and Engagement programming and to register your school for a field trip visit steppenwolf.org/education-and-engagement/steppenwolf-field-trip-series.

Artist Biographies:

August Strindberg (Playwright) Johan August Strindberg was a Swedish author and playwright whose work engaged the concepts of naturalism and expressionism. He was born in Stockholm on January 22, 1849, to an unsuccessful shipping agent and a maidservant. He attended the University of Uppsala, but he would often leave to act at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, teach or write plays. He left Uppsala permanently in 1872 to work as a journalist and a librarian at the Royal Library in Stockholm. In 1879, Strindberg published his novel "The Red Room," making him famous in Sweden. His play Master Olof, a historical drama published in 1872, was finally performed in 1881, and he wrote several plays criticizing social conventions in Sweden, including Lucky Peter's Travels (1882), The Father (1887), Miss Julie (1888), Creditors (1888), The Stronger (1888) and Playing with Fire (1892). During the 1890s, Strindberg suffered from psychological and emotional stress, which he described in his novel "Inferno," that culminated in his adoption of mysticism. The post-"Inferno" period was more productive for Strindberg. He wrote thirty-six plays from 1898 to 1909, including To Damascus (1898), a trilogy, Gustav Vasa (1899), Erik the Fourteenth (1899), Easter (1900), The Dance of Death (1900), A Dream Play (1901), Queen Christinia (1901), Storm (1907), The Ghost Sonata (1907) and The Great Highway (1909). He died in Stockholm on May 14, 1912. 

Conor McPherson (Adaptor) was born in Dublin in 1971. He attended the University College in Dublin, where he began to write and direct. His plays include Rum & Vodka, The Good Thief, This Lime Tree Bower, St. Nicholas, The Weir (Olivier Award, Best Play), Dublin Carol, Port Authority, Shining City (Tony Award nomination, Best Play) and The Seafarer. Film work includes I Went Down, Saltwater, Samuel Beckett's Endgame and The Actors. Other awards include the George Devine Award; Critics' Circle Award; Evening Standard Award; Meyer Whitworth Award; Stewart Parker Award; two Irish Film & Television Academy Best Screenplay Awards; CICAE Best Film Award, Berlin Film Festival (Saltwater); Best Film and Best Screenplay Awards, San Sebastian Film Festival (I Went Down).

Yasen Peyankov (Director) last directed at Steppenwolf Theatre his own adaptation of Anton Chekhov's Seagull in 2022 and has been an Ensemble Member since 2002. Other Steppenwolf main stage directing credits include: The Fundamentals, Between Riverside and Crazy (Jeff nomination for Best Production), Grand Concourse and Russian Transport. He also directed Hushabye for Steppenwolf's First Look Repertory and The Glass Menagerie for Steppenwolf for Young Adults. He most recently directed Samuel Beckett's Endgame at Facility Theatre. He also translated and directed the Bulgarian premieres of August: Osage County and last fall Doll's House, Part 2 (still running) at the National Theatre in Sofia, Bulgaria. As an actor he has appeared in over 20 productions at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, some of which include: Amadeus, Time of Your Life (also in Seattle and San Francisco), Morning Star (Jeff Award), Hysteria, Lost Land, Cherry Orchard, Frankie and Johnny at the Claire De Lune (also in Dublin), Superior Donuts (also on Broadway), and others. Film: Maestro, Captive State, A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas, The Company, US Marshalls, and others. Television: Chicago Med, Chicago PD, Madame Secretary (recurring), FBI, Stranger Things, The Mob Doctor, Alias, The Practice, The Unit, Numb3rs, and others. Mr. Peyankov is a Professor and Head of Theatre at the School of Theatre and Music at UIC where he teaches acting and directs plays.

Cliff Chamberlain (Kurt) joined the Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble in 2018. Steppenwolf Theatre Company: You Will Get Sick, Fool For Love, The Minutes, Belleville, Clybourne Park, Theatrical Essays, Superior Donuts. Chicago: The Seagull (Goodman Theatre); The Sparrow (The House Theatre of Chicago). Broadway: The Minutes, Superior Donuts. Television: Homeland, Altered Carbon, The Act, Dirty John: Betty, Easy, State of Affairs, Chicago PD, Paper Girls, The Chair. Film: The Wise Kids, Moses the Black, The Rip. Cliff trained at UCSB and The School at Steppenwolf.

Kathryn Erbe (Alice) first worked with Steppenwolf on the Broadway production of The Grapes of Wrath (1990 Tony Award for Best Play). Her most recent Steppenwolf production was A Streetcar Named Desire. She was nominated for a Tony for The Speed of Darkness. Kathryn also appeared in The Father (MTC) and A Month in the Country (Roundabout) on Broadway. Off Broadway credits include Yosemite, Ode To Joy, AZAK (Rattlestick); Checkers (The Vineyard); Nikolai and the Others (Mitzi Newhouse LTC); Something Clean (Roundabout Underground) and Down the Shore (Atlantic) and most recently Ashes & Ink (AMT). She is best known to television audiences for her work on Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Law & Order SVU. Her other TV credits include Oz, Homicide, The Runaway, George Wallace, Breathing Lessons, POSE, The Sinner, City On A Hill, Billions, How to Get Away With Murder and the upcoming Black Rabbit on Netflix. Film credits include 3 Backyards, Mistress America, Dating My Mother, Assassination Nation, Alex Strangelove, No Alternative, The Good House, Red Pill, Being Dead, Speaking of Sex, Stir of Echoes, Dream with the Fishes, Naked City, Entropy, What About Bob?, D2: The Mighty Ducks, Kiss of Death, The Addiction, Rich in Love and the upcoming The Plea.

Jeff Perry (Captain) is a co-founder of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and has acted and directed in over 40 Steppenwolf productions. Regional: No Man's Land, Seagull, Streamers, Time of Your Life, Anna Christie, A Steady Rain. International: The Grapes of Wrath, August: Osage County. Television: Nash Bridges, Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, $1, Dirty John, Inventing Anna, Alaska Daily. Upcoming: Co-Producer The Steppenwolf Theatre Documentary. "I owe my life in art to the guidance of every teacher, artist, student, and storytelling colleague I've been blessed to share time and space with."

Accessibility:

As a commitment to make the Steppenwolf experience accessible to everyone, performances featuring American Sign Language Interpretation, Open Captioning and Audio Description are offered during the run of each STC production. Assistive listening devices (ALDs), large-print programs and Braille programs are available for every performance and all our spaces are equipped with an induction hearing loop. Our building features wheelchair accessible seating and restrooms, push-button entrances, a courtesy wheelchair and all-gender restrooms, with accessible counter and table spaces at our bars. For additional information regarding accessibility, visit steppenwolf.org/access or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Sponsor Information:

United Airlines is the Official and Exclusive Airline of Steppenwolf. Steppenwolf is also grateful for the significant season support from lead sponsors Allstate Insurance Company, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Crown Family Philanthropies, Caroline and Keating Crown, Julius Frankel Foundation, Lefkofsky Family Foundation, Northern Trust, Anne and Don Phillips, John Hart and Carol Prins, Shubert Foundation, Inc, Walder Foundation, and Zell Family Foundation. Steppenwolf also acknowledges generous support from premier sponsors Anonymous, Andrew and Amy Bluhm, Michael and Cathy Brennan, Ann and Richard Carr, Chicago Community Trust, Steven and Nancy Crown, Conagra Brands Foundation, Rich and Margery Feitler, FROST CHICAGO, Joyce Foundation, Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, The Orlebeke Foundation, PNC, Polk Bros. Foundation, Thoma Bravo, Bryan Traubert and Penny Pritzker, Sacks Family Foundation, Smart Family Foundation of Illinois, and Vinci Restaurant. Steppenwolf also acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council. 

About Steppenwolf Theatre Company:

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is the nation's premier Ensemble Theater with 49 members who are among the top actors, playwrights and directors in the field. Thrilling, powerful, groundbreaking productions have made this theatre legendary. From the 1980 phenomenon of Balm in Gilead, to The Grapes of Wrath, August: Osage County, Downstate, The Brother/Sister Plays, and now, the 2025 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning Purpose, Steppenwolf Theatre has had a long-running and undeniable impact on American Theater and Chicago's cultural landscape. Founded in 1976, Steppenwolf started as a group of teens performing in the basement of a church. Today, the company's artistic force remains rooted in the original vision of its founders: an artist-driven theatre, whose vitality is defined by its appetite for bold and innovative work. Every aspect of Steppenwolf is rooted in its Ensemble ethos, from the intergenerational artistic programming to the multi-genre performance series LookOut, to the nationally recognized work of Steppenwolf Education and Engagement which serves nearly 15,000 teens annually. While grounded in the Chicago community, more than 40 original Steppenwolf productions have enjoyed success nationally and internationally, including Broadway, Off-Broadway, London, Sydney, Galway and Dublin. Steppenwolf also holds accolades that include the National Medal of Arts, 14 Tony Awards, two Pulitzer Prize-winning commissions and more. Led by Artistic Directors Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis, Executive Director Brooke Flanagan and Board of Trustees Chair Keating Crown — Steppenwolf continually redefines the boundaries of live theater and pushes the limits of acting and performance.

Steppenwolf's Mission: Steppenwolf strives to create thrilling, courageous and provocative art in a thoughtful and inclusive environment. We succeed when we disrupt your routine with experiences that spark curiosity, empathy and joy. We invite you to join our ensemble as we navigate, together, our complex world. steppenwolf.org, facebook.com/steppenwolftheatre, twitter.com/steppenwolfthtr and instagram.com/steppenwolfthtr.

Paramount Theatre’s smash hit musical Million Dollar Quartet has been extended once more due to popular demand.

Previously set to run through January 4, 2026, Chicagoland audiences can look forward to Million Dollar Quartet rocking for three more months, March 4-May 31, 2026.

See Paramount’s wildly acclaimed, immersive staging of Million Dollar Quartet before it’s gone. All remaining performances in 2025 are sold out, but tickets for spring extension performances go on sale today, exclusively to Paramount’s 2025-26 season subscribers.

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Monday, December 22 at 10 a.m. All seats are $76. For tickets and information, visit ParamountAurora.com, call (630) 896-6666, or stop by the Paramount Theatre box office, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Monday–Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and until show time on show days. Attention holiday shoppers: tickets to Million Dollar Quartet also make excellent gifts. Prices listed are for in-person purchases. Additional fees apply for phone and online orders. 

Performance days and times March 4-May 31, 2026 are Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., Thursday at 7 p.m., Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Paramount’s Stolp Island Theatre, 5 E. Downer Place, Suite G, in downtown Aurora, is surrounded by new restaurants and easy, affordable parking.

About Million Dollar Quartet

Paramount Theatre’s Million Dollar Quartet is like none before. Both the theater and the show were custom built as an immersive jukebox musical experience inside a replica of the original Sun Records studio in Memphis, Tennessee. There, on December 4, 1956, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins recorded one of the most historic jam sessions in rock ‘n’ roll history. 

As soon as audiences step into the lobby, they find themselves standing right outside the Sun Records recording studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where they can take selfies astride a vintage motorcycle, view displays about the history of the play, and step up to the Taylor’s Good Food concession counter for affordable snacks and beverages.

They then walk through a replica of Sun Studio owner Sam Phillips’ office to enter a theatrical recreation of the actual recording studio, where music legends Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins came together to record one of the most historic jam sessions in rock ‘n’ roll history. The recording studio is lined on two sides with just 98 seats, where audiences are treated to a personal, intimate, one-of-a-kind live musical theater experience, fully immersed by amazing talent and the dazzling production values audiences have come to expect from Paramount.

The production is anchored by incredible, up-close live performances of some of the best songs in rock ‘n’ roll history, including “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Folsom Prison Blues,” “I Walk the Line,” “Hound Dog” and “Great Balls of Fire.”  As a result, audiences, including repeat ticket buyers, can’t get enough of this radically unique restaging of one of the most popular jukebox musicals of all time.

“This exuberant new take really is all about trying to include the audience in the jam session” wrote the Chicago Tribune’s Chris Jones, calling out Million Dollar Quartet as “another example of how much the success of the nonprofit, audience-focused Paramount has transformed the center of Aurora into a live entertainment destination.” Dean Richards, WGN-TV/AM, said his experience was “like stepping into Sun Records where one special night took place." 

Casting for the return of Million Dollar Quartet in March is TBA.

The original production inaugurated Paramount’s new Stolp Island Theatre in July 2024, and has since been extended three times due to popular demand. Directors Jim Corti and Creg Sclavi worked with a “million dollar” production team including Kory Danielson, music director; Jeffrey D. Kmiec, scenic designer; Matt Guthier, costume designer; Greg Hofmann, lighting designer; Adam Rosenthal, sound designer; Mike Tutaj, projections designer; Katie Cordts, wig, hair and makeup designer; and Jonathan Berg-Einhorn, properties designer. The book for Million Dollar Quartet is by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux. Original concept and direction by Floyd Mutrix. 

Verano, a leading cannabis company that operates Zen Leaf dispensaries in Aurora and across Chicagoland, is Venue Sponsor for Stolp Island Theatre. Old National Bank is Marquee Sponsor for Million Dollar Quartet.

About Paramount Theatre

Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd., is the center for performing arts in Aurora, the second largest city in Illinois. The beautiful, 1,843-seat theater, graced with a strong 1930s Art Deco influence and original Venetian décor, nationally known for its high-quality productions, superb acoustics and historic grandeur, has been downtown Aurora’s anchor attraction since 1931.

Since launching its own Broadway Series in 2011, Paramount has amassed more than 40,000 subscribers, making it the largest subscription house in the U.S.

Paramount Theatre is one of five live performance venues overseen by the Aurora Civic Center Authority (ACCA) in downtown Aurora. ACCA also programs and manages Stolp Island Theatre,
5 E. Downer Place, Suite G, where its wildly acclaimed immersive production of Million Dollar Quartet has been running for more than a year; the 165-seat Copley Theatre, at 8 E. Galena in the North Island Center; the Paramount School of the Arts; and RiverEdge Park, 360 N. Broadway, downtown Aurora’s outdoor summer concert venue and home to Christkindlmarket Aurora. 

Paramount Theatre is overseen by Tim Rater, President and CEO, Aurora Civic Center Authority; Jim Corti, Artistic Director, Paramount Theatre; a dedicated Board of Trustees and a devoted staff of live theater and music professionals.

For the latest updates, visit ParamountAurora.com or follow @paramountaurora on Facebook and Instagram, and Paramount Theatre on LinkedIn.

Shattered Globe’s 35th season continues with the Midwest Premiere of Morning, Noon, and Night, a mind-bending exploration of teens, family, surveillance, and connection in a post-pandemic world by Obie Award-winning playwright Kirsten Greenidge, directed by SGT Associate Artistic Director AmBer Montgomery.

Previews start February 13. Performances run through March 28 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood. Tickets, on sale now, are $20-$60. For tickets and information, visit sgtheatre.org. For the latest updates, follow @shatteredglobe on Facebook and Instagram. 

It’s hard raising a teenager. For Mia and her daughter, Dailyn, it’s not going smoothly. They both want everything to be perfect when older sister Alex comes home for her birthday. But when an unsettling visitor steps out of the algorithm, their best laid plans glitch into pure chaos. Reality blurs in this sharp and stirring drama about how the “new normal” is pretty weird.

“Morning, Noon, and Night is exactly right for this moment, as we navigate life after 2020,” said director AmBer Montgomery. “I hope this production provides a space to reflect on who we’ve become since the world shifted, to laugh at ourselves, to grieve what was lost, and to imagine how we can continue to care for one another as we step into an uncertain future. Through Kristen Greenidge’s extraordinary writing, through lots of magic and the wisdom of youth, this story reminds us of our resilience and the enduring strength of community. I am so honored to share it with Chicago.” 

Shattered Globe’s cast for Morning, Noon, and Night features SGT Ensemble Members Christina Gorman (she/her) as Heather and Leslie Ann Sheppard (she/her) as Miss Candice, with Hannah Antman (they/she) as Nat, Emefa Dzodzomenyo (she/her) as Dailyn, Kristin E. Ellis (she/her) as Mia and Soren Jimmie Williams (she/her) as Chloe.

The production team includes Jackie Fox (set/lighting designer), Kotryna Hilko (costume designer), Abboye Lawrence (projections designer), Persephone Lawrence-Wescott (props designer), Stephon Dorsey (sound designer), Sydni Charity Solomon (assistant director), Ariel Beller (stage manager), Emily Nicholas (assistant stage manager) and SGT Ensemble Member Adam Schulmerich (production manager).

Morning, Noon, and Night premiered at Company One Theatre in Boston in April 2024. Shattered Globe’s is the second production of Greenidge’s timely new play.

Ticket information for Morning, Noon, and Night

The first preview of Morning, Noon, and Night on Friday, February 13 at 7:30 p.m. is Pay-What-You-Can. Previews continue Saturday, February 14 at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, February 15 at 3 p.m., and Wednesday, February 18 at 7:30 p.m. Performances run through March 28: Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m. No show Friday, February 20. There’s an added 3 p.m. matinee on closing day, Saturday, March 28. Run time is 95 minutes with no intermission

For tickets and information, visit sgtheatre.org, call the Theater Wit box office, (773) 975-8150, or purchase in person at Theater Wit. Take advantage of early-bird discounts. Otherwise, previews are $25. Performances are $20-$60 ($20 for students, veterans, active military, teachers, and under 30; $40 general admission; $60 for those who want to support accessible theater). For group discounts, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call (773) 770-0333.

Access Services

Audio Description and a Touch Tour for patrons who are blind or have low vision will be offered on Friday, March 20. The Touch Tour begins at 6:15 p.m. Show at 7:30 p.m. 

Shattered Globe will offer a captioned performance on Sunday, March 22 at 3 p.m. for patrons with hearing loss. Assisted Listening Devices are available for all performances.

Theater Wit is wheelchair accessible. All patrons with disability needs are invited to purchase $20 access tickets with the code “ACCESS20” at Theater Wit’s checkout page. Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to ensure the theater can reserve the right seat for your needs.

Collaboraction Theatre Company is thrilled to announce its inaugural production at Chicago’s newest live theater space, Collaboraction’s new House of Belonging in Humboldt Park: 

Trial in the Delta: The Murder of Emmett Till, the company’s award-winning live docudrama, will return in its most fully realized form yet. Featuring a powerhouse ensemble of returning artists and new voices, this urgent, unforgettable theatrical event invites audiences to confront the truth, honor a legacy, and experience history as if it were happening today.

A series of sneak-peek events will kick off in late January at Collaboraction’s new home in the Kimball Arts Center, 1757 N. Kimball Ave in Humboldt Park.

Previews of Trial in the Delta, Sunday, February 1 and Thursday, February 5 at 7:30 p.m., will be part of the Grand Opening build-up. Collaboraction’s Grand Opening Performance and Ritual Celebration is Friday, February 6 at 7:30 p.m. 

Performances of Trial in the Delta continue through March 15th: Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m. (Exception: No
3 p.m. show Saturday, February 7.) Run time is approximately one hour 50 minutes, including a short Crucial Conversation after every performance. Tickets are $25-$55, and go on sale today at collaboraction.org. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for information on group discounts.

“As Collaboraction turns 30 and opens our new House of Belonging in Humboldt Park, we couldn't co-dream a more relevant first production than Trial in the Delta: The Murder of Emmett Till, bringing to life the trial that served as a catalyst of the start of the Civil Rights movement," said Collaboraction Artistic Director Anthony Moseley. "When Mamie Till said that ‘everybody's business is my business,’ it’s as if she had a dream for a Beloved Community. We are honored to be a part of her legacy and manifesting our new space for arts, youth, social justice and community.”

Collaboraction, now open in the Kimball Arts Center, is a sleek, 4,000-square foot space featuring a new 99-seat flexible studio theater and a 50-seat cabaret with cafe/bar. Free and nearby street parking is available. For CTA riders, the 82 Kimball-Homan bus stops right in front of the building. The theater is also a short walk from the Kimball stop on the 72 North and 73 Armitage bus lines. For bikers and pedestrians, the Kimball trailhead on The 606 leads directly to the Kimball Arts Center.

On September 20, 1955, the trial of the men who murdered Emmett Till began—and the world would never be the same. In Trial in the Delta: The Murder of Emmett Till, Collaboraction transforms the original, long-buried trial transcript into a gripping, immersive theatrical experience that places audiences face-to-face with the people whose testimony shaped the civil rights movement.

Co-adapted by Willie Round and G. Riley Mills and co-directed by Anthony Moseley and Dana Anderson, Trial in the Delta unfolds like a live reenactment of the actual proceedings in Sumner, Mississippi. Actors seated among the audience rise to become witnesses for the prosecution and defense—including the trailblazing Mamie Till-Bradley, bringing raw, unfiltered history to life.

Born from a groundbreaking collaboration with NBC5 Chicago, Trial in the Delta won a National Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary, two Chicago/Midwest Emmy Awards and a Silver Gavel Award from the American Bar Association. Collaboraction grew the teleplay into a full-length, immersive theatrical experience that had two short runs at the DuSable Black History Museum. The final live performance in February 2023 was professionally filmed and has been screened for groups including the The Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley Institute, the Chicago History Museum, the Chicago Chapter of the Federal Bar Association and the First Circuit Court of Philadelphia. 

Now, Collaboraction’s live production will receive its most ambitious staging yet to inaugurate the company’s new House of Belonging. Boasting a dynamic cast of returning favorites and bold new talent, this multi-week run invites audiences to bear witness, honor Emmett Till’s legacy, interrogate America’s past, and ignite urgent conversation for our present.

Collaboraction’s path to its new House of Belonging

After departing its previous space of 10 years in Wicker Park’s Flat Iron Building at the start of the pandemic, Collaboraction leaders scouted more than two dozen spaces on Chicago’s south and west sides before breaking ground in Humboldt Park in March 2025

Today, in what used to be a pet store, Collaboraction boasts a sleek, 4,000-square foot space with a new 99-seat flexible studio theater plus a 50-seat cabaret with a cafe/bar. The company has begun activating both spaces with live theater, spoken word, music, dance, film, improv, workshops, community meetings and special events, produced by Collaboraction and with guest artists and companies. Collaboraction’s House of Belonging is also home to The Light, the company’s paid youth artist-activist program.

Collaboraction’s 99-seat performance space is a clean, hi-tech flexible studio with state-of-the-art light, sound and video equipment, including an HD multicam system ready to stream live and recorded content worldwide. The theater also serves as a digital studio for video projects and a learning space for youth interested in careers in production and tech. Collaboraction’s tech booth was intentionally designed to be ADA compliant, unlike most booths in Chicago theaters. Backstage, artists and staff have access to two brand new dressing rooms, bathrooms, storage, green room/office space and an exterior dock.

At Collaboraction’s groundbreaking in February 2025, Chicago 26th Ward Alderperson Jessie Fuentes said, “Poetry, theater and hip-hop saved my life when I was young and looking for community growing up in Humboldt Park. It was art that made me a politician. So this groundbreaking means more to young people and families than many of you may believe.“

To manifest its new home, Collaboraction has launched a $3 million House of Belonging capital campaign. The campaign kicked off with a $200,000 grant from the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. Other lead supporters include The Paul M. Angell Foundation, The Joseph and Bessie Feinberg Foundation, The LaChapelle Family Foundation, Kerry James Marshall and Cheryl Lynn Bruce, Cordogan, Clark & Associates, AV Chicago and ETC’s Light the Way Program. collaboraction.org/our-new-house-of-belonging

Collaboraction’s design and construction team was led by Cordogan, Clark & Associates, Evan Williams and John Clark, project architects; with general contractor Troy Riley, Oakwood Construction, and Collaboraction company member John Ross Wilson. AV Chicago, ETC, and Kerry James Marshall and Cheryl Lynn Bruce came together to support high production values. AV Chicago, a top Chicago provider of production solutions for live and virtual events, provided high-end gear, technical expertise and installation services. ETC, a leading supplier of lighting solutions and control equipment for theater, film, TV, architectural spaces and entertainment industries, provided lighting equipment through its Light the Way Program.

About Collaboraction

Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2026, Collaboraction is an award-winning Chicago theater company that uses immersive, socially conscious performance to spark change and build equity. Across all platforms, Collaboraction uses its KEDA methodology - Knowledge, Empathy, Dialogue, and Action - to spark changes in behavior and attitudes that manifest social change.

Collaboraction’s work includes NBC Chicago’s three-time Emmy Award-winning The Lost Story of Emmett Till: Trial in the Delta, the resulting live stage play film, Trial in the Delta: The Murder of Emmett Till, live productions of Crime Scene, Moonset Sunrise, A Blue Island In the Red Sea, its annual Peacebook and Sketchbook festivals, and its youth ensemble, The Light.

Collaboraction receives generous operating support and program funding from the Joseph and Bessie Feinberg Foundation, the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Marc and Jeanne Malnati Family, Gary Grube, the Lester and Hope Abelson Fund for the Performing Arts at the Chicago Community Foundation, Naperville Rotary Club, Field Foundation, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

Collaboraction is led by Darlene Jackson, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director; Anthony Moseley, Chief Programming Officer and Artistic Director; and a dedicated board, company members and staff.

For more, visit collaboraction.org or follow Collaboraction onFacebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Bluesky.

Producing Artistic Director Kyle Dougan-LeBlanc and Music Theater Works are proud to announce that Mrs. Kasha Davis will star as “Edna Turnblad” in the upcoming production of Hairspray, Dec. 17, 2026 - Jan. 3, 2027, directed by Keely Vasquez, choreographed by Reneisha Jenkins and music directed by Linda Madonia, in the George Van Dusen Theatre, at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie, 9501 Skokie Blvd, Skokie. Mrs. Kasha Davis is known for her work on two seasons of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” Season 7 and Season 8: All Stars and is an internationally recognized drag artist, performer, educator and advocate. For priority seating at Hairspray become a member for the 2026 season, with two, three and four show memberships available now and single tickets for all the 2026 productions going on sale Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026 at 12 p.m. For more information on the 46th season go toMusicTheaterWorks.com. 

“When I received the call from Music Theater Works offering me the role of “Edna” in Hairspray, I was overjoyed, it was truly a dream moment, and one I immediately celebrated with Mr. Davis. This is exactly the kind of work I hoped my drag career would make possible, especially following my time on “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” said Mrs. Kasha Davis.

She continued, “Mrs. Kasha Davis was created as a tribute to my mother and grandmother, and I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity to honor their legacy by stepping into such an iconic role. To join a cast dedicated to sharing messages of inclusion, acceptance and love, values they instilled in me long ago, is deeply meaningful. I look forward to the creative journey ahead: the rehearsal process, the collaboration, and the friendships and laughter that will undoubtedly unfold with the team at Music Theater Works and the audiences we serve.”

“The announcement of the incredible Mrs. Kasha Davis joining our 2026 season in this unforgettable role is a great way to kick off our 46th season and the new year,” says Producing Artistic Director Kyle Dougan-LeBlanc. “We look forward to what promises to be a thoughtful, heartfelt and hilarious take on this role that speaks to so many of the values she embodies herself… kindness, joy, acceptance and standing up for what is right.”

Full of heart and 1960s flair, Hairspray follows Tracy Turnblad, a big-dreaming teen who lands a spot on “The Corny Collins Show.” But when she sees injustice in Baltimore, she sets out to integrate the dance floor, proving one girl can make a difference. With infectious songs like “Good Morning Baltimore” and “You Can’t Stop the Beat,” this musical makes the perfect closer to Music Theater Work’s 46th season.

Music Theater Works’ 46th season opens with CATS, March 5 - 29, 2026 and is followed by West Side Story, August 3 - 30, 2026. The season will continue with Jimmy Buffet’s Escape to Margaritaville, October 8 - November 1, 2026 and concludes with Hairspray, starring Mrs. Kasha Davis, December 17, 2026 - January 3, 2027. Memberships are now available for the 2026 season with single tickets for all the 2026 productions going on sale Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026 at 12 p.m. For more information on the 46th season go to MusicTheaterWorks.com. 

ABOUT MRS. KASHA DAVIS

Mrs. Kasha Davis is a cornerstone of the Upstate New York drag scene and an internationally recognized drag artist, performer, educator and advocate. Together with her husband Steve Levins and their business partner Tim Evanicki, she co-founded the production company DRAG ME TO THE STAGE, which has become a leading platform for drag performance in their region and beyond.

After competing on “RuPaul's Drag Race” Season 7 and “RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars” Season 8, Mrs. Kasha Davis embarked on successful national and international tours, bringing her solo shows, speaking engagements and drag appearances to diverse audiences around the world.

Sober since 2015, she has used her personal journey to become an outspoken advocate for addiction recovery and mental-health awareness, frequently booked as a speaker on those issues. In recognition of her artistry and activism, she was named to Out magazine’s Out100 list in 2023, honored as an artist, trailblazer and storyteller making a difference for the LGBTQIA+ community. In November 2024, she received the “Visibility Award” from Human Rights Campaign (New England Chapter) for her work promoting drag and inclusivity through initiatives like Drag Story Hour.

In 2024, Mrs. Kasha Davis added educator to her résumé, joining SUNY Brockport as an adjunct professor teaching a full course on drag, covering its history, theory and performance.

Bold, compassionate, and committed to community, Mrs. Kasha Davis brings authenticity, joy and insight to every stage, lecture hall and performance space she steps into.

Her press kit may be found here: MrsKashaDavis.net/epk

ABOUT MUSIC THEATER WORKS

Music Theater Works is a resident professional not-for-profit music theater founded in

1980. During its 46-year history it has presented more than 150 productions and intimate presentations. Music Theater Works is a professional theater company whose mission is to present works for the musical stage including historic repertoire, revitalizing the Golden Age of Broadway and earlier works, celebrating the Great American Songbook and introducing modern classics. The company uses collaborations among theaters, other artistic disciplines, social service agencies, local business, educational institutions and others to create music theater for the 21st century.

A Red Orchid Theatre is pleased to continue its 33^rd Season with the Chicago premiere of Anna Ouyang Moench's father-daughter drama Birds of North America, directed by Artistic Director Kirsten Fitzgerald*, playing January 15 – February 22, 2026 at 1531 N. Wells St. in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood. Single tickets are now on sale at aredorchidtheatre.org or by calling (312) 943-8722. Season subscriptions are currently available. The press openings are Saturday, January 24, 2026 at 3 pm and 7 pm.

Birds of North America will feature Ensemble Member John Judd* with Cassidy Slaughter-Mason. Understudies include Sahar Dika and Guy Wicke.

About the Production:

John and his daughter Caitlyn are birders. As they scan the skies over their backyard in suburban Maryland looking for elusive birds, years go by. Relationships begin and end. Children grow up and parents age. The climate and the world change in small and vast ways. Birds of North America takes a close look at the relationship of a father and daughter over the course of a decade as they struggle to understand the parts of one another that defy understanding. 

The production team includes Morgan Laszlo (Scenic Designer), Ben Argenta Kress (Costume Designer), Seojung Jang (Lighting Designer), Ethan Korvne (Composer & Sound Designer), Spencer Diaz Tootle (Props Designer), Jojo Brown (Dramaturg), Amy Carpenter (Assistant Director), Kyle Stoffers (Casting Director), Shelbi Weaver (Production Manager), Tom Daniel (Technical Director). Alivia Arizaga (Stage Manager) and Faith Locke (Assistant Stage Manager).

*Denotes A Red Orchid Theatre Ensemble Member

PRODUCTION DETAILS:

Title: Birds of North America

Playwright: Anna Ouyang Moench
Director: Artistic Director Kirsten Fitzgerald*
Cast: Ensemble Member John Judd* (John) with Cassidy Slaughter-Mason (Caitlyn)

Understudies: Sahar Dika and Guy Wicke

Location: A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 N. Wells St., Chicago

Dates: Previews: Thursday, January 15 at 7 pm, Friday, January 16 at 7 pm, Saturday, January 17 at 7 pm, Sunday, January 18 at 3 pm, Thursday, January 22 at 7 pm, Friday, January 23 at 7 pm and Saturday, January 24 at 3 pm and 7pm

Opening: Sunday, January 25 at 6 pm

Regular run: Thursday, January 29 – Sunday, February 22, 2026
Curtain Times: Thursdays and Fridays at 7 pm; Saturdays 3 pm & 7 pm; and Sundays at 3 pm. Please note: there will be an added Industry Night performance on Monday, February 9 at 7 pm.

Tickets: Previews: $33 – $44*. Regular run: $55*. Access, student, senior, and group discounts available. Single tickets are now on sale at aredorchidtheatre.org or by calling (312) 943-8722. Season subscriptions are currently available. *Ticket prices include a processing fee.

About the Artists:

Anna Ouyang Moench's (Playwright, she/her) is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter. Her plays include Your Local Theater Presents: A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, Again, Man of God, Birds of North America, Mothers and Sin Eaters. Anna's work has been produced at the La Jolla Playhouse, Williamstown Theatre Festival, the Geffen Playhouse, East West Players, the Playwrights Realm, NAATCO at the Public Theater, A Red Orchid Theater Company, The Gift Theatre, and many others. She is a former Jerome Fellow at the Playwrights' Center, Van Lier fellow at the Lark and Page One fellow at the Playwrights Realm. Awards include two 2023 WGA Awards for her work on Severance (Apple TV+), the 2020 Steinberg Playwright Award, the Gerbode Special Award in the Arts, the Paul Stephen Lim Playwriting Award from the Kennedy Center, and the NYFA Award in Playwriting/Screenwriting. Anna received her MFA in Playwriting from UCSD and now lives

in Los Angeles with her family.

Kirsten Fitzgerald (Director, she/her) is a proud member of the Ensemble at A Red Orchid Theatre and has served as the Artistic Director since 2008. Recent directing credits include the world premiere of Gorgeous by Keiko Green at Raven Theatre, The Moors at A Red Orchid (Jeff Award for Best Production and Best Director of a Play-Midsize) and Dance Nation at Northwestern University's Wirtz Center. As an actor Kirsten has originated roles in the world premieres of The Cave, Grey House, Traitor, Pilgrim's Progress, Weapon of Mass Impact, and more (A Red Orchid); Swing State, I hate It Here (Goodman); Lettie, Appropriate (Victory Gardens); Mary Page Marlow, The Qualms (Steppenwolf). TV: Dark Matter, Shining Girls, Somebody Somewhere, The Exorcist, Sirens, The Big Leap, Chicago Med/Fire/Justice, Underemployed, ER. Film: Widows, Working Man. Kirsten is represented by Grossman & Jack Talent.

John Judd (John, he/him) last appeared on the A Red Orchid Theatre stage in Six Men Dressed Like Joseph Stalin, and was previously seen in The Cave, The Malignant Ampersand, and Gagarin Way, as well as the McCarter Theatre's presentation of Simpatico. A Chicago based actor for forty years, John has acted at The Goodman, Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Writer's Theatre, Court Theatre, Drury Lane, Northlight, Shattered Globe, Lookingglass, Victory Gardens and Next, as well as numerous regional, international and Off-Broadway venues.

Cassidy Slaughter-Mason (Caitlyn, she/her) is an actor and writer based in Chicago. Recent theater credits include: Brooklyn Laundry (Northlight Theatre), The Luckiest (Raven Theatre, Equity Jeff Award for Best Performer in a Principal Role), How a Boy Falls (Northlight Theatre), Kiss (Haven Theatre), Natural Affection (Eclipse Theatre), Significant Other (Theatre Wit/About Face) and Rapture Blister Burn (Goodman Theatre, Equity Jeff nomination for Performer in a Supporting Role). Recent film and TV credits include: All Happy Families, Later Days, Ultra-City Smiths, Chicago Fire, Easy, APB and Soundtrack. Cassidy is a graduate of the school at Steppenwolf and is represented by Paonessa Talent Agency.

Sponsors: Production sponsor: Northern Trust.

About A Red Orchid Theatre:

A Red Orchid Theatre has served as an artistic focal point in the heart of the Old Town community of Chicago since 1993 and was honored with a 2016 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. Over the past 32 years, its Resident Ensemble has welcomed into its fold an impressive array of award-winning actors, playwrights and theatre artists with the firm belief that live theatre is the greatest sustenance for the human spirit. A Red Orchid is well known and highly acclaimed for its fearless approach to performance and design in the service of unflinchingly intimate stories.  

A Red Orchid Theatre is: Karen Aldridge, Lance Baker, Kamal Angelo Bolden, Esteban Andres Cruz, Dado, Mike Durst, Sherman Edwards, Myron Elliott, Jennifer Engstrom, Kirsten Fitzgerald, Joseph Fosco, Steve Haggard, Levi Holloway, Mierka Girten, Larry Grimm, John Judd, Karen Kawa, Karen Kessler, Travis A. Knight, Danny McCarthy, Shade Murray, Brett Neveu, Sadieh Rifai, Grant Sabin, Michael Shannon, Guy Van Swearingen, Doug Vickers and Natalie West.  

Sponsor Information: 

A Red Orchid Theatre remains grateful for the support of our board, donors and loyal audience who continue to champion our ambitious and powerful storytelling. These sponsors help to create a platform for our talented Ensemble to reach new audiences, and ensure that we remain a source for honest, compassionate, and aesthetically rigorous theatre-making. 

A Red Orchid Theatre's 33^rd Season is sponsored by Heidi Graham. The production sponsor for Birds of North America is Northern Trust.

Interested in sponsoring a production? By partnering with us as a sponsor, you will help to take our work to the next level of artistic excellence, while also receiving deeper access to our artists and the creative process. To learn more, please contact Development Director Stephanie Shum at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or (312) 943-8722.