Chicago Spotlight: November 2006
The 2006-2007 theater season is shaping up as the busiest season ever in Chicago, and November is no exception. Among the most noteworthy openings is Asphalt Beach, a musical comedy about New Jersey Catholic schoolgirls, by Broadway composer Andrew Lippa (The Wild Party), T. C. Smith, and Peter Spears (American Music Theatre Project at Northwestern University, through November 12).
Other shows sure to generate a great deal of interest include
Disposable Nation, a new revue at the Second City etc (previews begin November 2); a revival of Lillian Hellman’s The Children’s Hour at Timeline Theatre (November 4-December 17); Trueblinka, written by fashionable author Adam Rapp at Chicago Dramatists (November 17-December 17); Hotel Cassiopeia, the latest work by playwright Charles L. Mee and director Anne Bogart, developed and performed by Bogart’s SITI Company and presented at Court Theatre (November 18-December 10); and the Chicago premiere of Christopher Durang’s wacky comedy about reincarnation, Miss Witherspoon by Next Theatre Company (November 20-December 17).
November will also showcase the city’s three top Latino theater companies, some of which perform in Spanish. Teatro Luna, an ensemble of women writers and performers, presents the world premiere of Quita Mitos by co-founder Tanya Saracho, at The Viaduct (through December 17). Theatre Aguijon offers the Chicago premiere of La Hija de la Llorona (November 3-December 3), by Cuban author Teresa Dovalpage; and Teatro Vista will co-produce Quiara Alegria Hudes’ critically acclaimed Elliot (A Soldier’s Fugue) with Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, at the Steppenwolf Garage Theatre (November 10-December 10).
Overdog Productions, a new entity, presents the world premiere of Momento Polonia, a memoir of life in Poland, performed in English at the Peter Jones Gallery (November 3-December 2). Chicago Shakespeare Theater offers Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, performed in Russian by an all-male cast and directed by Anglo-Irishman Declan Donellan (November 22-December 3). Meanwhile, an independent production of Frank and Malachy McCourt’s Irish memoir, A Couple of Blaguards, plays the Royal George Theatre (November 27-December 24), but not with the Brothers McCourt.
The Chicago Children’s Theatre opens its inaugural season with Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine, which is not a children’s work. but will be accessible to all but the youngest audience members. (Steppenwolf Upstairs, November 10-December 31).
