August is typically known for being a slow theater month. Many companies are using this down time to gear up for the fall season starting in September, while others with still-running shows are winding down toward a closing date.
Other companies use this time to make news announcements. Recently, the Marriott Theatre Lincolnshire and Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace released the line-ups of their 2010 seasons.
On the bill for Marriott's 35th anniversary season are Fiddler on the Roof ( Feb. 17-April 25 ) , The Drowsy Chaperone ( April 25-June 27 ) , Once on This Island ( June 30-Aug. 29 ) , A Chorus Line ( Sept. 1-Oct. 31 ) and The Music Man ( Nov. 3-Jan. 9, 2011 ) .
Over at Drury Lane, Ragtime is slated to run March 18-May 23, Sugar ( the musical version of the film Some Like it Hot ) plays June 3-Aug. 1, David H. Bell's version of The Hot Mikado plays Aug. 12-Oct. 2 and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers runs Oct. 14-Dec. 19, while Spamalot barely squeaks in the calendar year by starting Dec. 31 ( it continues until March 13, 2011 ) .
Unlike many theater companies that still adhere to the old practice of starting their seasons in the fall, the Marriott and Drury Lane in the suburbs opt to break up their seasons by calendar year.
It could be that Drury Lane and the Marriott buck the trend since a calendar-year theater subscription makes an easier Christmas gift instead of one that starts with the school year.
I'm still accustomed to the typical seasonal delineation, even though many theaters no longer need to close in the summer months when the heat became unbearable ( praise be to air conditioning ) .
Yet old traditions die hard. Broadway still ends its seasons in the spring, while big regional companies like Steppenwolf Theater and Chicago Shakespeare Theater still officially start their seasons in the fall.
Yet these companies essentially run year-round. You'll notice that Steppenwolf's Up plays until Aug. 23, 2009, while Aladdin at Chicago Shakespeare goes until Aug. 30.
A very busy Cromer
David Cromer may have built his directing career around Chicago, but he's becoming one of New York's most wanted.
Cromer recently finished his run as the stage manager in his Obie Award-winning production of Our Town off-Broadway. Cromer originally directed and starred in the acclaimed revival when it began life in Chicago with The Hypocrites in 2008 before transferring to New York. The Thornton Wilder classic has just been extended to Jan. 31, 2010.
Cromer is leaving the production to make his Broadway directing debut with a double bill of Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs and Broadway Bound, which are set to run in repertory starting in October. The revivals have another Chicago connection with Emmy Award-winning Steppenwolf Ensemble member Laurie Metcalf starring in both productions as the matriarch Kate Jerome.
Cromer added yet another high-profile directing assignment to his list. Last week, Lincoln Center Theater named him as director for the American premiere of the drama When the Rain Stops Falling by Andrew Bovell ( Strictly Ballroom, Lantana ) . Cromer helms the acclaimed Australian play starting Feb. 11, 2010, where it will play off-Broadway at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater.
Cromer will be back in the Chicago area eventually. He's returning to Writers' Theater in May 2010 to direct Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire.
Hopefully lightning will strike twice, especially since Cromer brought in national acclaim when he helmed Writers' Theatre's 2008 production of William Inge's Picnic.
Way out West
When it comes to theater in Chicago's western suburbs, the Equity companies Drury Lane in Oakbrook Terrace and the Oak Park Festival Theatre typically garner most of the media attention. The non-Equity Circle Theatre in Forest Park also regularly gets adulated for its adventurous work.
Yet one company poised to attract more notice is the Village Players Theatre in Oak Park. The company has been around since 1961, and it operates in the two-theater Village Players Performing Arts Center complex.
Just this month, Village Players took on Dan Taube as its new artistic director. Taube has been an artistic director before with Thunder Road Ensemble and Chicago Styles Workshop. He's done much freelance directing work.
Taube replaces Carl Occhipinti, who helped the company during financial troubles in 2001 and oversaw the theater complex's renovations in 2006.
For the 2009-10 season, Taube explores "American Classics" for the theater's main stage. On the bill are You Can't Take it With You ( Oct. 16-Nov. 22 ) , Brighton Beach Memoirs ( Jan. 15-Feb. 28 ) , A Chorus Line ( March 12-April 25 ) and The Marriage of Bette and Boo ( May 7-June 27 ) .
The season in Village Player's studio space were chosen under a "Women on the Edge" theme. It features The Miracle Worker ( Sept. 10-Oct. 4 ) , Savage in Limbo ( Jan. 21-Feb. 21 ) , Mud ( March 26-April 25 ) and Polaroid Stories ( June 10-July 18 ) .
Some of those selections are quite daring and difficult, so it will be interesting to see how Village Players pulls them off.
Please send theater news and other tidbits to scottishplayscott@yahoo.com and Andrew@WindyCityMediaGroup.com .
