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The World Premiere of
MIRACLE
A Musical 108 Years in the Making
A Miracle is coming to Chicago. Inspired by Chicago’s beloved 2016 World Series Champions the Chicago Cubs, MIRACLE, makes its highly-anticipated World Premiere at the Royal George Theatre (1641 N Halsted St) with previews May 8. With a book by Jason Brett (Co-Founder of the Apollo Theater and Co-Producer of the film About Last Night), and music and lyrics by Jeff Award-winner Michael Mahler (Chicago Shakespeare Theater: Jeff Award nominated Road Show; Drury Lane Theatre: Hot Mikado; American Blues Theater: Jeff Award Recipient Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story), this heartwarming musical is directed by Damon Kiely (World Premiere: Thieves Like Us; American Blues Theatre: Jeff Award nominated Hank Williams: Lost Highway; American Theater Company: Jeff Award nominated Oklahoma!) and produced by William Marovitz and Arny Granat.
Set against the backdrop of the Chicago Cubs 2016 Championship season, MIRACLE tells the story of a typical working class Chicago family and what it means to have faith, lose it and try to regain it again. The production chronicles the Chicago Cubs’ struggle to win the pennant, as well as the life of the Delaneys, a close-knit Chicago Irish family fighting to keep their bar near Wrigley Field afloat financially. Throughout MIRACLE, the audience will journey through Pops Delaney’s efforts to resolve conflicts with his son, Charlie, and Charlie’s attempts to keep the business alive, as well as cheer along with Charlie’s 11-year-old daughter Dani, who is completely enamored with the boys in blue, and his wife Sofia, a Chicago Public School teacher, who is the glue that keeps the family together.
“The Chicago Cubs have had a memorable impact on not only Chicagoans, but fans around the world,” says creator and producer William Marovitz. “This story is more than just baseball. It illustrates how hope, faith, and belief can take you somewhere where you never imagined. With this musical, we celebrate the highs and lows of life directly paralleled with the Cubs winning the World Series, and how believing in a miracle can get you further than you ever could have ever dreamed.”
MIRACLE stars Brandon Dahlquist as “Charlie” (Broadway: Bronx Bombers; San Francisco Playhouse: Dogfight; Writers Theater: Jeff Award nominated A Little Night Music; Porchlight Music Theatre: City of Angels), Gene Weygandt as “Pops” (Broadway: Wicked, Big; National Tour: Wicked, A Christmas Story; Marriott Theatre: Jeff Award Recipients A Day in Hollywood and Me and My Girl), Amaris Sanchez as “Dani 1” (Broadway: On Your Feet!; National Tour: On Your Feet!; Goodman Theatre: A Christmas Carol), Elise Wolf as “Dani 2” (Mercury Theater: The Christmas Schooner; The Artistic Home Theatre: By the Bag of Cats, Miracle on 34th Street), Allison Sill as “Sofia” (Marriott Theatre: Pinkalicious, Honeymoon in Vegas, She Loves Me; Paramount Theatre: Oklahoma!; Chicago Shakespeare Theater: Seussical), Jonathan Butler-Duplessis as “Larry” (Writers Theater: Jeff Award Recipient Parade; Marriott Theatre: Dreamgirls, Ragtime, Man of La Mancha; Paramount Theatre: In the Heights, Little Mermaid), Veronica Garza as “Babs” (Theatre Wit: Jeff Award Recipient Tonya and Nancy; Firebrand Theatre: Jeff Award nominated 9 to 5; Theo Ubique: Jeff Award nominated A New Brain), and Michael Kingston as “Weslowski/Sleaze” (National Tour: Flashdance The Musical; Paramount Theatre: Hairspray; Jackalope Theatre: Ideation).
The production will feature choreography by Dina DiCostanzo, musical direction by Kory Danielson, set design by Collette Pollard, costume design by Izumi Inaba, lighting design by Christine Binder, sound design by Ray Nardelli, projection design by Mike Tutaj, and properties design by Angela McIlvain.
The performance schedule for MIRACLE is Wednesdays at 7:30pm, Thursdays at 2pm and 7:30pm, Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 3pm and 8pm, and Sundays at 3pm. For more information, please visit www.miraclethemusical.com, www.ticketmaster.com or by calling The Royal George Theatre box office at 312.988.9000.
WILLIAM MAROVITZ (LEAD Producer, Concept Originator) was a State Senator in the Illinois Legislator. He spent 18 years in the Illinois General Assembly, receiving many Best Legislator Awards and sponsoring many landmark pieces of legislation. In 1987/88, as the State Senator representing the Wrigleyville community, Marovitz worked with Major League Baseball, the Chicago Cubs and the surrounding neighbors to forge a compromise that allowed for the installation of lights at Wrigley Field (8/8/88). Following his tenure in the Senate, he developed many buildings in Chicago’s River North area, some of which included 60 story residential high-rises. He is currently co-developing a new high-rise project in the hot Fulton Market Corridor. The project is called the City Tech Center. Marovitz is involved with many restaurants both in and out of Chicago, including his ownership of Carnivale Restaurant in the Fulton Market Corridor. He has been an investor in several Broadway shows, including Tony Award winners Spambot, Glengarry Glen Ross, and All the Way, and is currently an investor in Tootsie.
ARNY GRANAT (Co-Producer) is a full-time producer/promoter from Chicago focusing on traveling exhibits, concerts and events. Over the last 45 years he has been a partner at Jam Productions, Ltd, Jam Theatricals, Outback Concerts, Grand Slam Productions and a producer of many other events and tours. Among Granat’s many achievements in the music industry are being named Pollstar’s Talent Buyer of the Year and Performance Magazine Readers Poll Promoter of the Year. Granat has also won 10 Tony Awards as a producer on Broadway with Jam Theatricals.
DAMON KIELY (Director) is the Chair of Performance at DePaul’s Theatre School and the author of How to Read a Play: Text Analysis for Directors (Routledge 2016). His production of HANK WILLIAMS: LOST HIGHWAY won the Jeff Award for Best Musical Production Midsized. He recently directed Robert O’Hara’s Barbecue at Steppenwolf’s 1700 Space and Boyfor TimeLine Theatre. From 2002 through 2007 he served as Artistic Director for American Theatre Company and has directed for American Blues, Strawdog, Route 66, A Red Orchid, Next and many others. His original plays Thieves Like us and The Revelwere produced by The House Theatre of Chicago.
MICHAEL MAHLER (Composer & Lyricist) (ASCAP) is the Jeff award-winning composer/lyricist of October Sky, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Something in the Game, Hero, The Man who Murdered Sherlock Holmes, Wonderland: Alice’s Rock & Roll Adventure, How Can You Run with a Shell on your Back, and others. He contributed additional lyrics to Cameron Mackintosh’s Tony-nominated Broadway revival of Miss Saigon and served as original English lyricist for Boublil & Schönberg’s La Revolution Française. Projects in development include The Secret of My Success for Universal Theatricals, Jonestown, and Gravedigger’s Hamlet.
JASON BRETT (Writer) is the co-founder of Chicago’s famed Apollo Theater, where he produced dozens of plays and musicals featuring John Malkovich, Gary Sinise, Laurie Metcalfe, William Peterson, Megan Mullally, James Belushi and Lily Tomlin. In film, Mr. Brett produced the romantic comedy hit, "About Last Night...". He has written films for Universal, Sony, Tri-Star, and 20th Century Fox. In television, Mr. Brett has created and written more than thirty TV shows. As an entertainment industry executive, he headed the scripted TV division of Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions, was president of Second City Entertainment and oversaw the comedy unit of AOL.
JULIAN FRAZIN (Co-Producer and Co- Concept Originator) was principal writer, lyricist and producer of the Chicago Bar Association’s famed “Christmas Spirits” gridiron shows for more than 50 years. His musical “Lords of the Levee” written with Alan Barcus and Rick Kogan, was named one the year’s top five entertainment events by the South Bend Tribune. Julian collaborated with jazz greats Larry Novak, Ed Tossing and Bobby Schiff on songs recorded by Dennis DeYoung, Ron Hawking, Alma Balier and Lucy Reed. A retired Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, he has been a theater critic for Chicago’s Law Bulletin Publishing for the past 30 years.
