Illegal Use of Hands
American Blues Theater takes the stage at Victory Gardens’ Biograph Theater with this dark comedy by ABT Artistic Affiliate James Still. Director Sandy Shinner and actor Dennis Zacek—till recently VG’s artistic leadership—team up for a notable world premiere.
Begins August 31 at American Blues Theater
Hamlet
Writers’ Theatre opens their season with a bang: Shakespeare’s great tragedy, directed by Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and featuring an all-star cast including Scott Parkinson, Timothy Edward Kane and Larry Yando, among others.
Begins September 4 at Writers’ Theatre
Spirits to Enforce
Twelve superheroes fundraise for their production of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.” What else needs to be said? Abraham Werewolf brings this Mickle Maher play back to Chicago.
Begins September 6 at Abraham Werewolf
Seascape
Nick Sandys assumed the role of Remy Bumppo’s Artistic Director after Timothy Douglas suddenly stepped down, and Sandys opens the season with Albee’s Pulitzer Prize-winner. The last Albee production at Remy Bumppo—also featuring Artistic Associate Annabel Armour—was a hit.
Begins September 12 at Remy Bumppo
Good People
Ensemble member K. Todd Freeman directs Steppenwolf’s first offering this year, a play by Pulitzer Prize-winner David Lindsay-Abaire about the consequences of letting go (or refusing to).
Begins September 13 at Steppenwolf Theatre
Sweet Bird of Youth
David Cromer’s latest project, so keep an eye on this one. Academy Award nominee Diane Lane and Broadway’s Finn Wittrock star in this Tennessee Williams classic.
Begins September 14 at the Goodman Theatre
The Magic Flute
Chicago Opera Theater turns their signature style to Mozart’s most famous opera. This marks the first new Chicago production of “The Magic Flute” in seventeen years.
Begins September 15 at Chicago Opera Theater
Photo: Liz Lauren
Metamorphoses
Ten years after the Broadway premiere that helped bring Lookingglass Theatre into the national spotlight, Mary Zimmerman again directs her “Metamorphoses.” First time around, it earned her a Tony Award for Best Direction.
Begins September 19 at Lookingglass Theatre
Geography of a Horse Dreamer
Carlo Lorenzo Garcia tackles Sam Shepard’s dark tale of exploitation and abduction. A man who can predict the outcomes of horse races through his dreams begins to lose his gift to the chagrin of his abductors, who have been capitalizing on it.
Begins September 20 at Mary-Arrchie Theatre
Photo: Bill Burlingham
Sunday in the Park with George
After last year’s hit “Follies,” Gary Griffin tackles Stephen Sondheim’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning “Sunday in the Park with George.”
Begins September 26 at Chicago Shakespeare Theater
One Name Only
Black Ensemble Theater opens their season committed to rhythm and blues with the ladies of soul. Written and directed by BE Associate Director Rueben Echoles, the show features the music of Aretha, Gladys, Patti, Diana and Chaka and the conceit of a reality show to offer up this audience-interactive tribute performance.
Begins October 7 at Black Ensemble Theater
Photo: Manuel Harlan
Black Watch
The National Theatre of Scotland returns with their brilliant “Black Watch.” If you didn’t catch it the first time, now is your chance.
Begins October 10 at the Broadway Armory
Thomas Hampson
Simon Boccanegra
One of Verdi’s great operas with a juicy part for a baritone—Thomas Hampson (of “Macbeth” fame) tackles the title role with a cast of Lyric favorites like Ferruccio Furlanetto and Frank Lopardo.
Begins October 15 at the Lyric Opera
Photo: Ursa Waz
Mike Daisey: “American Utopias”
After his foray into the realm of journalism with “The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs” kind of blew up in a not-so-good way, the storyteller brings his latest piece back to his familiar haunt: the theater.
Begins November 1 at MCA Stage
James Joyce’s “The Dead”
Multiple Jeff Award-winning director Charles Newell again teams with multiple Jeff Award-winning music director Doug Peck to present this wholly reorchestrated version of a Court favorite from the early 2000s.
Begins November 8 at Court Theatre
Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad
The Book of Mormon
Tony Award-winning. A smash hit. Incredibly irreverent. Need we say more? Get tickets if you can.
Begins December 11 at the Bank of America Theatre
—Erin Kelsey
