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Writers Theatre's 2022-23 season to include 'Tiger Style!,' 'Once' and other productions
-- From a press release
Glencoe, IL—Writers Theatre Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma and Interim Artistic Director Bobby Kennedy announce the company's 2022/23 four-play season, to include Mike Lew's Tiger Style!, directed by Brian Balcom; ...
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Goodman Theatre running musical 'Life After' through July 17
Goodman Theatre is running the musical Life After through Sunday, July 17. With humor and wit, this "luminous new musical…lush, poetic and surprisingly funny" (The San Diego Union-Tribune) explores how people move through and live with ...
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Billy Masters
"u don't know my alphabet."—Sexy Lukas Gage (from The White Lotus; Love, Victor; and the rebooted Queer as Folk) tweets his response to criticism that Hollywood shouldn't hire him to play LGBTQIA+ roles. When asked to ...
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WORLD Pride disruption, trans journalists, Tunisian play, marriage bills
Turkish police officers carrying clear-plastic riot shields, wielding batons and deploying pepper powder balls as well as tear gas violently broke up a Pride parade that Middle East Technical University students organized in the capital of ...
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SHOWBIZ 'Lightyear,' celebrity event, LGBT runner, Mariah Carey
Video below
Pixar's latest film Lightyear is hitting theaters, and it has a special moment for gay fans—a same-sex kiss between the character Hawthorne (voiced by Uzo Aduba) and her female partner—that almost didn't happen, Out Magazine note ...
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Steep Theatre's race-centered 'Paris' running June 17-July 23
Steep Theatre, 1044 W. Berwyn Ave., will run the Eboni Booth work Paris on June 17-July 23. Jonathan Berry will direct. Returning home to the small town of Paris, Vermont, Emmie tries to make ends meet ...
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PERFORMANCE 'Moonset Sunrise' at Navy Pier on June 16 and 18
Collaboraction announced that Moonset Sunrise, its 25th-anniversary production, with live performances on June 16 and 18 at 7:30 p.m. at Beat Kitchen's new Bar Sol on Navy Pier, 700 E. Grand Ave. Through healing ritual, storytelling, ...
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Queer-themed plays win Tonys; Hudson reaches EGOT status
On June 12, the 75th annual Tony Awards were held to honor the top performances from the theater industry. The event—hosted by LGBTQ+ Oscar winner/Tony nominee Ariana DeBose at New York City's Radio City Music Hall—followed ...
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SHOWBIZ Jodie Comer, 'Queer As Folk,' trans film, Tom of Finland photos
Jodie Comer—the Emmy- and BAFTA-winning actress perhaps best known for playing LGBTQ+ assassin Villanelle on BBC America's Killing Eve—will make her Broadway debut next spring in Prima Facie, a new play by Suzie Miller, Deadline noted. ...
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Theo Ubique marks 25th-anniversary season with four musicals
-- From a press release
CHICAGO (JUNE 10, 2022) Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre's Artistic Director Fred Anzevino and Managing/Casting Director Christopher Pazdernik announced the 25th Anniversary season today with four musicals including a Midwest Premiere ...
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Strawdog Theatre announces new managing director and production manager
Strawdog Theatre Company announced the appointments of Paul Cook (he/him) as its new managing director and Donna "Dante" Gary (they/them) as its new production manager. Cook has been the production manager at Strawdog since 2019 and ...
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TRAVEL Chicago theater blooms outside and out of town
Chicago Shakespeare Theater is keeping its show docked at its Navy Pier facility and Oak Brook's First Folio Theatre is taking the summer off before re-commencing in the fall, but playgoers eager to swap the urban ...
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Drama Desk Awards to be presented June 14 in NYC
-- From a press release
Winners for the 66th Annual Drama Desk Awards were announced today. This year's Drama Desk Awards will take place at Sardi's Restaurant (234 W 44th Street) on Tuesday, June 14, 3-6 p.m. The full list of ...
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Theater Wit to run 'Hurricane Diane' starting June 17
Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., will run Hurricane Diane on June 17-July 31. Hurricane Diane is described as "a hilarious whirlwind of a play about a butch lesbian gardener who just might be the Greek ...
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THEATER REVIEW The Magnolia Ballet
Title: The Magnolia Ballet. Playwright: Terry Guest At: About Face Theatre at the Den, 1333 N. MiIwaukee Ave. Tickets: $5-$35. Runs through: June 11 Ignore the play's title. Ignore the publicity photo, too. In fact, you ...
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THEATER Felicia P. Fields to star in 'Pearl's Rollin' with the Blues'
Writers Theatre, under the leadership of Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma and Interim Artistic Director Bobby Kennedy, concludes its 2021-22 season with Pearl's Rollin' with the Blues: A Night with Felicia P. Fields. The production runs ...
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THEATER REVIEW Seven Days at Sea
Title: Seven Days at Sea. Playwright: Martha Hansen At: Light and Sound Productions at the Edge Theater, 5451 N. Broadway. Tickets: $20-$40. Runs through: June 5 A story set aboard a lesbian cruise ship in 1995 ...
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THEATER Drury Lane announces 'Steel Magnolias' cast
Drury Lane Theatre announced the cast for its production of the Robert Harling work Steel Magnolias, directed by Johanna McKenzie Miller. Steel Magnolias has been extended and will now run June 10-Aug. 7 at Drury Lane ...
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16th Street Theater to run abortion-centered 'The Billboard' June 23-July 17
Berwyn's 16th Street Theater is running The Billboard on June 23-July 17 at Northwestern University's Abbott Hall, 710 N. Lake Shore Dr., Chicago. Natalie Y. Moore's play follows a fictional women's clinic in Chicago's Englewood neighb ...
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About Face to run immersive comedy about climate-change activism
About Face Theatre brings its 27th season to a close with a world premiere comedy created by and starring the About Face Youth Theatre ensemble. Gayme Changers will run June 18-24 at The Den Theater, 1331 ...
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THEATER Steppenwolf's gay-themed 'Choir Boy' to run June 16-July 24
Steppenwolf Theatre Company will run the Tony-nominated play Choir Boy. by Oscar-winning Steppenwolf ensemble member Tarell Alvin McCraney (Moonlight), on June 16-July 24. Directed by Kent Gash, the production features ...
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THEATER REVIEW Seagull
Title: Seagull. Playwright: Anton Chekhov At: Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St.; Steppenwolf.org Tickets: $20-$88. Runs through: June 12 The final test of success for any undertaking lies in how well it accomplishes its intended purpose. ...
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THEATER Lesbian-cruise drama 'Seven Days at Sea' running thru June 5
Light and Sound Productions is running the world premiere of Seven Days at Sea, written by Martha Hansen and directed by Margaret Knapp, through Sunday, June 5, at The Edge Theater, 5451 N. Broadway. The performance ...
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THEATER Musical 'Get Out Alive' running July 8-Aug. 7
Haven will continue its 2021-22 season with Nikki Lynette's multidisciplinary afrogoth musical Get Out Alive, co-directed by Roger Ellis and Lucky Stiff, which features the writer and her personal journey with mental health. The production will ...
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Billy Masters: Theater
"Well, thanks Colin. That's the end of my career. Because you know, that role really should have been mine."—Rupert Everett tells Piers Morgan his reaction when he heard Colin Firth would play the lead in Tom ...
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PREVIEW Here comes the sun: Summer plays are blooming indoors and outside
There were times when we thought that the sunshine would never return, but despite climate change and contagion, there's no stopping summer—and while we usually associate expanded daylight hours with outdoor activities, a number of theaters ...
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SHOWBIZ Broadway, JoJo Siwa, WEHO Pride, 'Jurassic World,' Madonna
The Broadway League announced that all 41 Broadway theaters in New York City have extended the current mask requirement for audiences through at least June 30, Playbill noted. Charlotte St. Martin, president of The Broadway League, ...
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THEATER REVIEW The Chinese Lady
It began in 1834 as an advertising gimmick: In order to promote sales of their Far East Oriental imported goods, the Carnes Brothers procured their company a real-life spokesperson. This was the teenage Afong Moy, known ...
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THEATER Season of Concern to present 'Jerry's Girls' on June 27
"Jerry's Girls: A Benefit for Season of Concern" will take place Monday, June 27, at 7:30 p.m. at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave. Season of Concern Chicago is dedicated to providing financial assistance to ...
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Quiz program 'Wait, Wait' to start taping June 16 at the Studebaker
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, NPR's weekly hour-long quiz program, will resume live audience recordings Thursday, June 16, in a new Chicago home: the historic Studebaker Theater at the Fine Arts Building, 401 S. Michigan Ave. ...
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SHOWBIZ Queer playwright, LGBTQ+ films, BMI Pop Awards, new superhero
Jeremy O. Harris, the queer Tony-nominated author of Slave Play, has been named the presiding playwright for the 2023 Yale Drama Series Prize—one of the theater world's most prestigious playwriting honors, Deadline noted. Harris joins the ...
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THEATER 'The Secretaries: A Parable' running through June 11
First Floor Theater returns to live production with the world premiere of company member Omer Abbas Salem's The Secretaries: A Parable following the script's 2021 development as part of Goodman Theatre's Future Labs. The production will ...
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THEATER Underscore's 'Notes & Letters' running through May 28
Underscore Theatre Company celebrates its 10th-anniversary season with the world premiere of the musical Notes & Letters, which features book, music and lyrics by Annabelle Lee Revak (she/her) and is ...
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FILM 'The Adventures of Priscilla' to show nationwide on June 2
Iconic Events Releasing will kick off Pride Month with a special nationwide rerelease of MGM's classic 1994 Australian film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Screenings will take place in select theaters nationwide on ...
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Kokandy Productions to present 'Cruel Intentions: The '90s Musical' June 9-Aug. 7
-- From a press release
CHICAGO (May 10, 2022) — Kokandy Productions is launching its 10th-anniversary season this summer with the Chicago storefront premiere of Cruel Intentions: The '90s Musical—a flirty and fun, nostalgia-packed show ...
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Tonys: Queer-themed 'A Strange Loop' leads nods; 'Paradise Square,' 'MJ' close behind
Nominations for the 75th Tony Awards were announced May 9—and a Pulitzer Prize-winning original musical and a play that recounts the 2008 financial crisis led the nods, CNN reported. Leading the nominations was A Strange Loop, ...
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THEATER Performers Diana DeGarmo and Ace Young skate into the Windy City
The popular television show American Idol brought Diana DeGarmo and Ace Young together, even though they actually competed on separate seasons. Fate and destiny are also parts of the storyline in the duo's latest project Skates. ...
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THEATER Silk Road co-founders talk about journey from medical setback
Malik Gillani co-founded Silk Road Rising—a theater company focused on sharing the life stories of the overlooked and underrepresented people living along the Silk Road in Asia and the Middle East—with his husband, Jamil Khoury, almost ...
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Actors 30 and older needed for Bronzeville murder-mystery production
Actors and actresses who are at least 30 years old are needed for a murder-mystery production that revolves around a historical Bronzeville development. Wooley's Place will involve a murder that will take place in Chicago's Bronzeville ...
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Raven Theatre announces 40th Anniversary Season
-- From a press release
CHICAGO (May 2, 2022) — Raven Theatre is pleased to announce its 40th Anniversary Season, kicking off this fall with a fresh take on Noel Coward's iconic 1930 comedy Private Lives, directed by Ian Frank. The ...
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DANCE A&A Ballet to offer Family Dance Series starting May 14
A&A Ballet (A&A), under the artistic direction of Alexei Kremnev and Anna Reznik, announced a new Family Dance Series at the Athenaeum Theater, 2936 N. Southport Ave., premiering Saturday, May 14, at 3 p.m. Fresh from ...
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Refracted Theatre to launch inaugural Chicago season with queer production
Refracted Theatre Company has announced its inaugural Chicago season, featuring a launch event and a world-premiere queer-themed production where curiosity is rewarded with the unexpected, and an open heart is met with a colorful display of ...
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THEATER 'At the Vanishing Point' running through May 22
The Gift Theatre is welcoming back live audiences with the Chicago premiere of Naomi Iizuka's drama At the Vanishing Point, directed by Lavina Jadhwani. It runs through Sunday, May 22, at Filament Theatre, 4041 N. Milwaukee ...
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'Moulin Rouge' performance canceled after Loop shooting
Broadway In Chicago canceled the May 1 performance of Moulin Rouge! The Musical, at the James M. Nederlander Theatre, following the nearby shooting in The Loop, ABC 7 Chicago reported. A 27-year-old man and a 55-year-old ...
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SHOWBIZ 'Broadway Rising,' Webby Awards, 'Kinky Boots,' Tom Ford
The upcoming documentary Broadway Rising will have its world premiere on June 13 at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival, Playbill noted. The documentary follows theater subjects—ranging from stage doorman to actors—on their journeys back to the ...
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PASSAGES Playwright/disability-rights activist Susan Nussbaum dies
Susan Nussbaum—a Chicago playwright, novelist and longtime disability-rights activist—died April 28 at age 68. Nussbaum won the 2012 PEN/Bellwether Prize for Social Engaging Fiction for her novel Good Kings Bad ...
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Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's 'RE/UNION' to take place May 12-15
After reconnecting with audiences this spring at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC) has announced the program for the company's return to the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph ...
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PrideArts to present cabaret nights in May and June
-- From a press release
CHICAGO — PrideArts Artistic Director Jay Espano (he/him/his) today announced a series of four Monday night cabaret performances by Chicago area musical theater and cabaret artists at the Pride Arts ...
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'Rasheeda Speaking' now running through June 4 at Theater Wit
Shattered Globe Theatre is now running the workplace production Rasheeda Speaking through June 4 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. The production was supposed to run Feb. 25-April 9 but was pushed back due to ...
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THEATER Otherworld hosting sci-fi drag fantasy cabaret 'Hyperfantasia' on May 11
Otherworld Theatre Company, 3914 N. Clark St., has announced a special one-night-only performance of the sci-fi fantasy drag cabaret show Hyperfantasia, to be staged Wed., May 11. Employing original music ...
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THEATER 'Rock of Ages' at Paramount through May 29
Nominated for five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Rock of Ages will run through Sunday, May 29, at Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd., in downtown Aurora. According to a press release, Rock of Ages is ...
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Northlight Theatre announces 2022-23 season
-- From a press release
Northlight Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director BJ Jones and Executive Director Timothy J. Evans, announces its 2022-2023 season, opening with the buddy comedy The Garbologists by Lindsay Joelle, directed by Cody Estle; followed by ...
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Steppenwolf Theatre announces 2022-23 season in its expanded campus
-- From a press release
CHICAGO (April 19, 2022)—Steppenwolf Theatre Company Artistic Directors Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis and Executive Director E. Brooke Flanagan announced the 2022-23 season today. With six Steppenwolf Membership Series productions ...
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Chicago Circus & Performing Arts Festival on April 21-24
The multidisciplinary event Chicago Circus & Performing Arts Festival, produced by Yes Ma'am Circus, will run April 21-24 at The Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. Performances from 10 Chicago-based companies include traditional circus acts, avant-ga ...
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Chicago theater actress Hollis Resnik dies at 66
Chicago theater actress Hollis Resnick, who had a glittering resume, has passed away at age 66. The Chicago Tribune's Chris Jones tweeted, "Sad to report that Father Jim Heneghan tells me that the great Chicago actress ...
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THEATER 'When We Were Young and Unafraid' May 13-June 12 at The Edge
AstonRep Theatre Company will conclude its season with the Chicago premiere of Sarah Treem's drama When We Were Young and Unafraid. Directed by Sara Pavlak McGuire, it will run May 13-June 12 at The Edge Off-Broadway ...
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CircEsteem's youth-led 'Spring Circus' on May 7, 14 and 21
CircEsteem's Spring Circus is back in-person for the first time since 2019. The CircEsteem Spring Circus will take place on May 7, 14 and 21 at CircEsteem, 4730 N. Sheridan Rd., at 2 and 6 p.m. ...
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Black LGBTQ+ community leaders honored at Art & Soul Salon and Sneaker Gala
Social-justice agency Lorde, Rustin & Bates and Fahrenheit Chicago hosted the Art & Soul Salon and Sneaker Gala April 13 at Theater on the Lake (2401 N Lake Shore Dr.). The event featured performances from singer ...
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'Alan Turing,' 'King Roger' part of Chicago OperaTheater's 2022-23 season
-- From a press release
April 14, 2022 (Chicago) — In anticipation of 2023 marking the 50th year of Chicago Opera Theater (COT) producing vital art in the Chicago community, the company proudly announces its 2022/23 season under the direction of ...
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Bisexual comedian Hannah Einbinder ('Hacks') now at The Den on July 15
Bisexual comedian/actress Hannah Einbinder has announced a new date for her stand-up engagement at The Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. Originally scheduled to perform on Friday, June 17, Einbinder will now appear Friday, July 15, ...
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THEATER 'Skates,' with 'Idol' alums, to have world premiere May 24
American Idol alums Diana DeGarmo and Ace Young lead the cast of the new musical Skates. The production also features Adam Fane, Kelly Felthous, Cory Goodrich, Emma Lord, Jason Richards, Kelvin Roston, Jr., Michelle Lauto, Zach ...
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THEATER 'Seagull' opening Steppenwolf's new space April 28-June 12
Steppenwolf Theatre Company will open its new in-the-round Ensemble Theater in Honor of Helen Zell—the centerpiece of its recently unveiled Liz and Eric Lefkofsky Arts and Education Center—with ensemble member ...
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MUSIC Gay composer's historic 'Emancipation' at Harris Theater on April 29
The Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance will present Emancipation, by gay composer Adrian Dunn, with The Adrian Dunn Singers and Rize Orchestra on the Mainstage on Friday, April 29, at ...
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THEATER Tony-nominated 'Hand to God' in Aurora on May 25-July 10
Hand to God—the Tony-nominated production (with puppets) that's been described as "Avenue Q meets Little Shop of Horrors"—will run May 25-July 10 at the new Copley Theatre, 8 E. Galena Blvd., right across the street from ...
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Mary Lynn Rajskub: Actress/comedian discusses acting, sexuality in new book
Emmy-winning actresses and stand-up comedians who just finished publishing their new memoirs, while simultaneously embarking on their stand-up tours, rarely have moments to themselves. Thankfully, Mary Lynn Rajskub, best known for her work on the TV ...
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SHOWBIZ JoJo Siwa, Indigo Girls, singer Bitch, 'Shahs of Sunset'
The Fox show So You Think You Can Dance unveiled its new judging lineup, and LGBTQ Dancing with the Stars runner-up JoJo Siwa will be part of it, per Out Magazine. Siwa will be joined at the judge's table by Glee ...
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FILM/TV Molly Shannon talks about her gay father, LGBTQ projects and new book
Chicago Humanities Festival is hosting a very special night at Harris Theater with entertainers Molly Shannon and Jonathan Van Ness in two separate appearances. While Van Ness has a Queer Eye, Shannon has played queer and ...
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Shattered Globe Theatre and Chicago Dramatists to host 'Remembering Joel Drake Johnson' on April 30
-- From a press release
CHICAGO (April 8, 2022) — Shattered Globe Theatre and Chicago Dramatists will celebrate the life and legacy of longtime Chicago playwright Joel Drake Johnson—a member of the LGBTQ+ community—at a ...
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Victory Gardens Theater to present 'cullud wattah' June 11-July 17
-- From a press release
CHICAGO—Victory Gardens Theater concludes its 2021/22 Mainstage Season with the regional premiere of cullud wattah, written by Erika Dickerson-Despenza and directed by Lili-Anne Brown. cullud wattah runs June 11 — ...
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THEATER Drury Lane running 'The King and I' through May 22
Oakbrook Terrace's Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane, has opened its 2022-23 season with the celebrated Tony-winning musical Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I, which is expected to run through Sunday, May 22. Based on ...
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THEATER REVIEW Laced
Title: Laced. Playwright: Sam Mueller At: About Face Theatre at the Den, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. Tickets: $5-$35. Runs through: April 16 At the entrance to the Den's Bookspan cabaret, people are handed a flyer advertising ...
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OPERA REVIEW Fire Shut Up in My Bones
The Lyric Opera of Chicago's outstanding premiere of Fire Shut Up in My Bones continues to build upon this new work's historic importance. Last September, Fire Shut Up in My Bones was given pride of place ...
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THEATER REVIEW It's Just Like Coming to Church (Welcome to the Church of YOU)
Don't be fooled by the title. The Gospel of Jackie Taylor is not constructed on Old Rugged Crosses, Poor Wayfaring Strangers or Walks Through Lonesome Valleys. To be sure, there's a collection box at the entrance, ...
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Kokandy Productions announces 10th-anniversary season
-- From a press release
CHICAGO (April 1, 2022) — Kokandy Productions will toast its tenth anniversary with two fully produced musicals, plus a celebratory concert of the company's greatest hits. It's a cruel summer as Kokandy goes all the way ...
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Queer, sex-positive 'Hot Clown Sex' at Newport running April-June
Following the completely sold-out and extended run of Hot Clown Sex: The Second Coming, the Hot Clown Company has announced a new artistic residency with longtime host venue The Newport Theater, 955 W. Newport Ave. The ...
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