OPENING: BUNNY BUNNY: Gilda Radner, A Sort of Love Story at Mercury Theater Chicago Through April 1,2018

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

Mercury Theater Chicago Announces Cast of 

BUNNY BUNNY: 

Gilda Radner, A Sort of Love Story 

February 9 – April 1, 2018

**running time approximately 2:20, including one 15 minute intermission**

ChiIL Live Shows will be ChiILin' at Mercury Theatre for the press opening Sunday, February 11th, so check back soon for my full review. I'm eager to catch this tribute to a fabulously funny, endearing and enduring friendship, written by and about Alan Zweibel and comedian extraordinaire, Gilda Radner. I'm also looking forward to another after party/reception in the fabulously fun and aptly named, Venus Cabaret space, next door to Mercury. They're ready to start hosting smaller cabaret shows there this spring. 

The performance schedule for BUNNY BUNNY is Wednesdays at 8pm, Thursdays at 8pm, Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 3pm and 8pm and Sundays at 3pm.

Individual tickets range from $30-$55, and are available online at MercuryTheaterChicago.com, over the phone at 773.325.1700, or in person at 3745 N. Southport Avenue, Chicago.

The perfect way to celebrate Valentine's Day. 
Valentine's Day is on its way, and BUNNY BUNNY: GILDA RADNER, A SORT OF LOVE STORY is the perfect way to celebrate. Join us for this intimate, touching play about the special relationship between Gilda Radner and Alan Zweibel. 

Valentine's Date Special
2 Tickets for the Valentines' Night Show plus a Champagne Toast for $80.
February 14th at 8pm

Join us for a champagne toast before the show and enjoy premium seats for BUNNY BUNNY: GILDA RADNER, A SORT OF LOVE STORY.

Enter code:
"VALENTINE" 

Limited availability - offer valid 2/14 only. Valid on "regular" full-priced tickets only. Not applicable on previous purchases.



Mercury Theater Chicago, 3745 N. Southport Avenue – is pleased to announce the cast and creative team of BUNNY BUNNY: GILDA RADNER, A SORT OF LOVE STORY, running from February 9th through April 1st. 

Led by Director Warner Crocker, Dana Tretta makes her Mercury Theater Chicago debut in the role of beloved comedian Gilda Radner, alongside Jackson Peter Evans as “Saturday Night Live” writer Alan Zweibel.

A funny, tender, and touching play, based on the book of the same name, former Saturday Night Live writer Alan Zweibel recalls his eccentric kinship spanning 14 years with beloved SNL actress Gilda Radner.



Gilda Radner was one of the great comic geniuses of the 20th century. Her life-long friend and comedy writer Alan Zweibel has written this loving tribute to Gilda. BUNNY BUNNY is based on their curious bond, a relationship that was always emotional but never physical. Comic and heartbreaking, this play follows these two overgrown kids as they ride bumper-car lives right up to Radner’s death from ovarian cancer. Their loyalty and love glows through every scene.

Gilda showed the nation that we should all live life to its fullest, that a sense of humor is key to survival and really does make the world brighter. She left a legacy of courage and comedy. In her honor, Gene Wilder established the first Gilda's Club in New York, a free counseling center for cancer patients and their families. A portion of the proceeds of this production of BUNNY BUNNY will be donated to Gilda's Club to help continue her important legacy.

Alan Zweibel is an original “Saturday Night Live” writer who the New York Times says has “earned a place in the pantheon of American pop culture,” Alan Zweibel has won multiple Emmy, Writers Guild of America, and TV Critics awards for his work in television, which also includes It’s Garry Shandling’s Show, Monk, PBS’s Great Performances, and Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Written by Alan Zweibel, BUNNY BUNNY will feature Dana Tretta as Gilda Radner and Jackson Peter Evans as Alan Zweibel. Jason Grimm will play the role of “everybody else” with Jake Bradley and Anna Segatti rounding out the cast. Scenic design is by Jacqueline and Richard Penrod, costume design is by Robert Kuhn, lighting design is by Kristof Janezic, sound design is by Mike Pryzgoda and wig design is by Kevin Barthel.



UPGRADE YOUR EXPERIENCE
Upgrade your experience at BUNNY BUNNY with a VIP Dinner Package. Packages include a premium ticket to the show, dinner at Grassroots Eatery, complimentary parking, intermission treats and a meet & greet with cast member(s) after the show. More information HERE.

The beautifully renovated Mercury Theater Chicago is an intimate jewel box of a theater in the heart of the Southport Corridor, a sophisticated neighborhood of restaurants and boutiques just steps from Wrigley Field. A delightful theater destination, Mercury Theater Chicago takes care of its guests from the moment they arrive with valet service and dining at its adjoining restaurant, Grassroots.

REVIEW: The Christmas Schooner Returns For Its Annual Holiday Voyage at Mercury Theater Through 12/31/17

ChiIL Mama's Chi, IL Picks List:

Mercury Theater Chicago

THE CHRISTMAS SCHOONER SETS SAIL 

Through December 31, 2017

Review: 
by Catherine Hellmann, guest writer 

Inspired by true events, The Christmas Schooner is a delightful musical currently playing at the Mercury Theater through the month of December. If you haven't seen it, the show is a wonderful addition to the other holiday-themed theatrical offerings now running in the Windy City. In its seventh year, The Christmas Schooner relates an inspiring story of a Michigan family who braved the icy waters of Lake Michigan to bring Christmas trees from the Upper Peninsula to Clark Street Docks in Chicago in the early 1900s. Selling the trees for fifty cents to a dollar apiece, Captain Herman Schuenemann would also give trees away to the needy. A letter from his cousin in Chicago woefully explains there are no evergreen trees to be had in the bustling city for her beloved Tannenbaum. Against his wife's wishes, she realizes a winter storm on the lake can be deadly, the captain is determined to bring Christmas cheer to the German immigrants of Chicago.
  
The first outing seems foolhardy, and wife Alma's dismay of her husband, Captain Peter Stossel, daring such a journey in the dead of winter is shown amusingly by Brianna Borger's silent treatment and angry knitting. Ms. Borger has a lovely voice and her stage presence is warm and perfect as the supportive wife, mother, and daughter-in-law. Her husband is played dutifully by a returning Stef Tovar, who was so convincing, and unrecognizable, as the lead character in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center of New York City. Also of particular note is Don Forston as the German grandfather Gustav Stossel. He lapses into his native German frequently at the beginning, but his daughter-in-law admonishes him to "speak in American." He also utters a "Gott im Himmel!" disguising his swearing in German. Coincidentally, my own father recalled his German grandmother using the exact same phrase when she wanted to curse in front of her grandchildren!  

The costumes and songs are delightful, and my companion and I enjoyed learning a little bit more about Chicago's immigrant past. One of the most memorable songs was the haunting "What Is It about the Water?" We forget what these ship workers and sailors went through, and how anxious life on land was for their patiently waiting wives.  



(There is also a funny scene about how the city could also be a dangerous place not to be trusted as a swindler takes advantage of the Michigan visitors and their gullibility.) On the first voyage, uncertain whether the crew would sell a single tree, they are shockingly greeted with a crowd of 500 people, mostly European immigrants who want to experience the familiar Christmas ritual of decorating a tree in their homes. The "Christmas Schooner," as it becomes dubbed, makes several subsequent journeys for years until tragedy strikes. The danger on the Great Lakes is very real. Interestingly, the last year of the original Christmas Schooner was also the year the Mercury theater opened in 1912.  

Plan to make The Christmas Schooner a part of your family tradition. It will sail into your hearts.

Individual tickets range from $30-$69, and are available online at www.MercuryTheaterChicago.com, over the phone at 773.325.1700, or in person at 3745 N. Southport Avenue, Chicago. 



Meet the creative team of THE CHRISTMAS SCHOONER! from Mercury Theater Chicago on Vimeo.

Hear from Director L. Walter Stearns, Music Director Eugene Dizon and Choreographer Brenda Didier and learn why THE CHRISTMAS SCHOONER is so special to them.

Mercury Theater Chicago, 3745 N. Southport Avenue – THE CHRISTMAS SCHOONER will be sailing for its seventh year at Mercury Theater Chicago, from November 24 through December 31, 2017. We are pleased to welcome new cast members to the Schooner family including Nicole Armold, Harter Clingman, Jared Rein, Ron Keaton, Ryan Stajmiger and Holly Stauder with Don Forston returning at the helm as “Gustav Stossel.” The cast will be led by the Jeff-award winning team of L. Walter Stearns (Director), Eugene Dizon (Musical Director) and Brenda Didier (Choreographer). Whether it is your first or tenth time seeing THE CHRISTMAS SCHOONER, this heartwarming Chicago-centric story never fails to remind us what the holidays are all about: sharing love.


The whole family will enjoy this heartwarming musical story of the first Christmas tree ship and the family who risked their lives to fill Chicago with the Christmas spirit. Hailed as "A sacred part of a Chicago Christmas!" by the Chicago Tribune, this production has become one of Chicago’s great holiday traditions. The production features a powerful, moving story, an exquisite score of original music and traditional holiday favorites.

 

Director L. Walter Stearns: “There are a great many holiday shows to choose from, but the importance of continuing THE CHRISTMAS SCHOONER is too great, not only to us personally, but to the families who have made us part of their holiday tradition each year. This show is a holiday slice of Chicago history...a story of immigrants sharing their family traditions. It seems we need that reminder this year more than ever”

 

The shipwreck of the Rouse Simmons, known as 'The Christmas Tree Ship,' served as inspiration for THE CHRISTMAS SCHOONER. Her captain and crew risked the notoriously violent winter lake to bring Christmas trees from Michigan's Upper Peninsula to Chicago's German immigrants. Each year, Captain Herman Schuenemann would sell trees right off of the ship at the Clark Street Docks, and was known to give free trees to the needy. On November 23, 1912, the ship was swept up in a terrible storm. It was not until 59 years later that she was discovered, lying in 170 feet of water. Today the Rouse Simmons and her cargo of 5,500 well stacked trees remain preserved in the cold, fresh waters of Lake Michigan and her legend has grown to mythical proportions. The Blaine Nickelodeon - the silent film theater that now houses the Mercury - opened that very same year.

 

THE CHRISTMAS SCHOONER has entertained audiences in hundreds of productions including a twelve-year run at Chicago's Bailiwick Repertory Theatre. A timely and uplifting tale of love, THE CHRISTMAS SCHOONER is a poignant ode to the rich legacy of Chicago and a reminder of our responsibility to celebrate the living while honoring our heritage. In 2011, Mercury Theater Chicago revived THE CHRISTMAS SCHOONER with a full orchestra and an all-star cast, garnering a "Best Production" nomination for the 2012 Jeff Awards. 

The production has been called "A grand family tradition!" by the Chicago Tribune and "An inheritance to be treasured...Highly recommended!" by the Chicago Sun-Times. Time Out Chicago Kids says that “An emotion-packed, Christmas-themed tale of redemption give the Mercury Theater’s production of THE CHRISTMAS SCHOONER all the trappings of a family holiday tradition in the making!"



THE CHRISTMAS SCHOONER is written by Chicagoans John Reeger (book) and Julie Shannon (music and lyrics).  Don Forston will return to the helm as ‘Gustav Stossel’ with Brianna Borger as Alma and Stef Tovar as Peter Stossel.  Rounding out the crew on this year's schooner voyage are Kelly Anne Clark, Dan Gold and Christian Libonati.  New shipmates include Nicole Armold, Harter Clingman, Leo Gonzalez, Stella Hoyt, Ben Miller, Jared Rein, Ryan Stajmiger, Holly Stauder and Elise Wolf. The scenic design is by Jacqueline and Richard Penrod, with costume design by Carol Blanchard and sound design by Mike Ross.

The beautifully renovated Mercury Theater Chicago is an intimate jewel box of a theater in the heart of the Southport Corridor, a sophisticated neighborhood of restaurants and boutiques just steps from Wrigley Field. A delightful theater destination, Mercury Theater Chicago takes care of its guests from the moment they arrive with valet service and dining at its adjoining restaurant, Grassroots.

 

The performance schedule for THE CHRISTMAS SCHOONER is Wednesdays at 8pm, Thursdays at 3pm and 8pm, Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 3pm and 8pm and Sundays at 3pm.  There are additional holiday performances on Tuesday, December 19th at 8pm and Tuesday, December 26th at 8:00pm.

 

Connect with us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/MercuryChicago

 

Upgrade your evening. Click image for details:

OPENING: The Hypocrites' Dracula at Mercury Theater Chicago 10/7-11/5/17

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

Mercury Theater Chicago Presents

THE HYPOCRITES’ DRACULA

A world-premiere play adapted and directed by Sean Graney.

October 7 – November 5, 2017

Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we love it when our friends play well together. We're excited to see The Hypocrites emerge from The Den, their usual haunt, and present their world premiere take on Dracula at one of our favorite venues, Mercury Theatre. We'll be out for the press opening on Friday the 13th, so check back soon for our full review. We can't wait!

I would love to be a fly on the wall of the home of adapter/directors Sean Graney (Dracula) and Vanessa Stalling (United Flight 232), who are both currently working on intense Chicago productions. I sat in front of them for the United Flight 232 press opening, and can't rave enough about this award winning must see. Stalling's heartfelt and harrowing United Flight 232 is currently on stage as a critically acclaimed remount at The House Theatre. 

Award-winning director, Sean Graney's current project is directing The Hypocrites' Dracula, a script he adapted from an original script by Timothy F. Griffin for this world-premiere production. 

Mercury Theater Chicago, 3745 N. Southport Avenue – is thrilled to present The Hypocrites’ production of DRACULA, from October 7th through November 5th, 2017. Led by Jeff Award Winner Breon Arzell as Dracula, a multi-talented cast of accomplished Hypocrites company members will take audiences on a thrilling adventure of passion, yearning, cruelty and sacrifice.

The performance schedule for DRACULA is Wednesdays at 8pm, Thursdays at 8pm, Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 3pm and 8pm and Sundays at 3pm.

Individual tickets range from $30-$55, and are available online at www.MercuryTheaterChicago.com, over the phone at 773.325.1700, or in person at 3745 N. Southport Avenue, Chicago.

Director Sean Graney promises “exciting horror, at least a gallon of stage blood every night, moments of humor and a depth of character not often explored in this fantastical story.” Dracula just might stake its claim as this Halloween's most thrilling adventure.

“The characters in Dracula occupy a world on a threshold between repression and liberty,” commented director Sean Graney. “Women are beginning to live autonomous lives separate from the typical yolks of oppressive tradition. The men, though they will never admit it, fear the women and want them to return to their domestic posts. Dracula, to me, asks the question, ‘How do you deal with a society that claims to promote equality, yet everyday actions and attitudes prove that the gatekeepers are afraid of losing their advantage?’ To me, that is the world we occupy now.”



DRACULA features a strong ensemble of Hypocrites company members. 

Jeff Award Winning actor/director/choreographer Breon Arzell (The Wiz, Harry Ape) will be featured in this bloody mystery as Dracula. 

Janelle Villas (Chimerica, The King and I) will portray Lucy Seward, under the care of Rob McLean (Pirates of Penzance, Love’s Labor Lost, The Shakespeare Project of Chicago) as Dr. Van Helsing. 

Insane asylum administrator Jack Seward will be played by John Taflan (All Our Tragic, Adding Machine). Aurora Real de Asusa (You on the Moors Now) will be in the role of coveted young school mistress Mina. Erin Barlow (All Our Tragic, Men on Boats) will portray insane asylum inmate Renfield. Maurice Demus (You on the Moors Now, Sucker Punch) will be Jonathan. The scenic design is by John Musial with costume design by Samantha Jones, lighting design by Mike Durst, sound design by Joe Griffin with Jon Beal as the violence and gore designer. The production stage manager is Richard Lundy.

Sean Graney is a Chicago-based theater artist who has concentrated on adapting and directing stories to create relevant theatrical pieces for our contemporary society for the last 20 years. He currently serves as the Artistic Director of The Hypocrites, a company he founded in 1997.  In 2013, he was a Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University where he completed writing All Our Tragic, a twelve-hour adaptation combining all thirty-two surviving Greek Tragedies. It garnered six Joseph Jefferson Awards, including Best Director and Best Adaptation. As a director, Sean has helmed over 75 productions. He was a participant in the NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Directors in 2004. He has received four other Joseph Jefferson Awards for directing and adaptation. He is also the director and co-adaptor three Gilbert & Sullivan operettas, which have been playing at many great theaters across the country.

The Hypocrites is one of Chicago's premier off-Loop theater companies specializing in mounting bold productions that challenge preconceptions and redefining the role of the audience. Under the direction of Sean Graney, the company has a reputation in Chicago for creating exciting, surprising and deeply engaging theater as it reinterprets classics and tackles ambitious new works.

The beautifully renovated Mercury Theater Chicago is an intimate jewel box of a theater in the heart of the Southport Corridor, a sophisticated neighborhood of restaurants and boutiques just steps from Wrigley Field. A delightful theater destination, Mercury Theater Chicago takes care of its guests from the moment they arrive with valet service and dining at its adjoining restaurant, Grassroots.

REVIEW: "HAIR: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical" at Mercury Theater Through 9/17

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

**As I'm recovering from major knee surgery, Cath Hellmann will be guest reviewing for me throughout August. Cath is a lifelong theatre lover, on stage, directing, and in the audience. She's an English teacher, mom of three, and elated to be living in Chicago again, after a 10 year stint in the wilds of rural Michigan near Kalamazoo. **

Photo Credit for all: Brett A. Beiner

Guest Review by Cath Hellmann

On the way into the charming and intimate Mercury Theater, I spot a couple of anti-Trump buttons. It is an instant reminder that a hippie musical which premiered fifty years ago with its message of love, anti-war sentiment, and feeling disenfranchised from one's government is still sadly relevant today. In fact, a couple of the actors in their bios encourage the audience to support the ACLU or other causes in these troubling times.  



Even with its political intent, "HAIR" is a hell of a great experience at the theater with impressive singing, familiar songs you didn't think you knew, and exuberant performances, particularly by Matthew Keefer as Berger and Evan Tyrone Martin as Hud.

The transport back to the era of the late sixties begins immediately when an usher walks down the aisle bearing a sign with the requisite "turn your cell phone off" direction instead of a house manager announcing the rules. A lone woman with a large afro appears in the balcony singing about "When the moon is in the Seventh House and Jupiter aligns with Mars, then peace will guide the planets..." Suddenly the rest of the cast bursts in from the backstage door to join her in "The Age of Aquarius." ("They look like they just got back from Bonnaroo," my Mexican-Hippie-Music Lover-Companion [permission was suggested and granted for this nickname] whispers.  



When "HAIR" opened on Broadway in April 1968, it ran for an astonishing 1,750 performances. A Broadway revival in 2009 earned a Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for 2009 Best Revival of a Musical. TIME magazine stated in 2008 that "HAIR seems, if anything, more daring than ever." Indeed, one of the songs, "Sodomy," has the lyrics:  "Sodomy, Fellatio, Cunnilingus, Pederasty—Father, why do these words sound so nasty? Masturbation can be fun."  Hmmm...I had season tickets to Lyric Opera for a decade and never read anything close to that in the super titles.  

The plot of "HAIR" is rather thin, with the exception of Claude, played by Liam Quealy, torn over the peer pressure to burn his draft card or please his parents by being shipped off. One of the most affecting lines in the entire show is: "We're all Vietnam Bait." (Another modern tie-in: my teenage son's friend just joined the Marines. As his mother said, "I wouldn't be so worried if Obama was still in office." Parents are still scared for the safety of their children over our leader's political mistakes and hubris.)  

The music, performances, and message drive the show. Matthew Keefer's sexy portrayal of Berger is such fun to watch, as he kisses both genders, strips down to his loincloth, and sings about peace and love. Lucy Godinez, who was so poignant in Porchlight Music Theatre's "In the Heights," delivers as another effective character, the naïve and pregnant Jeanie. In an additional eerie display of timeliness, Hud, played by Evan Tyrone Martin, warns in "Colored Spade," confronting racial stereotypes, "And if you don't watch out, the boogie man will get you. Boo!" 

 

"HAIR" is known for its groovy costumes, drug references, nudity, rebelliousness, preaching love, and community. The ensemble at Mercury does not disappoint; when the entire group first raised their voices in unison, I got goosebumps. Such power from a small but mighty group of performers was inspiring.  At the end of Act I, when the cast strips down, the display of colored lights keeps the display of skin fairly hidden. Or as my surprised companion hissed, "I've never seen so many tits and dicks onstage!"   





Great singing, fabulous energy, a positive message of love and acceptance, "tits and dicks onstage." "HAIR," running at the Mercury Theater at 3745 N. Southport Avenue, through September 17, has it all. Read more here. Bring your friends for an exciting outing of theater. Maybe leave the kids and Grandma at home to watch Lawrence Welk. Peace out.  

OPENING: HAIR: THE AMERICAN TRIBAL LOVE-ROCK MUSICAL at Mercury Theater Chicago 7/27-9/17

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

Mercury Theater Chicago Casting Announcement 

HAIR: THE AMERICAN 

TRIBAL LOVE-ROCK MUSICAL

July 27 – September 17, 2017

**Note: The production contains scenes that briefly depict 

profanity, nudity and simulated drug use.** 

Mercury Theater Chicago, 3745 N. Southport Avenue – is pleased to announce the cast of HAIR: THE AMERICAN TRIBAL LOVE-ROCK MUSICAL, playing from July 27 through September 17. Press opening is Thursday, August 3rd at 8:00pm. 

A celebration of 50 years since the 1967 “Summer of Love”, HAIR will inspire audiences to “let the sun shine in” and stand up for what they believe in. This rousing rock musical will be led by Jeff Award Winners Brenda Didier (Director) and Eugene Dizon (Musical Director) with choreography by Christopher Carter.  A talented cast of Chicago artists featuring Matt Keffer and Liam Quealy will take the stage in this celebration of love, life, and freedom. 



In the year 1967, a group of young hippies in Greenwich Village explore sex, love, and rock ‘n’ roll while fighting for civil rights and the end of the Vietnam War. A passionate cry for hope and change, HAIR defined one generation and continues to inspire today. To an infectiously energetic rock beat, the show wows audiences with songs like "Aquarius," "Good Morning Starshine," "Hair," "I Got Life," and "Let The Sun Shine In." Exploring ideas of identity, community, global responsibility and peace, HAIR remains relevant as ever as it examines what it means to be a young person in a changing world.

HAIR brought the passion and revolution of the late 1960s to audiences around the world. After an off-Broadway debut in October 1967, the show opened on Broadway in April 1968 and ran for 1,750 performances. Since then, numerous productions have been staged around the world. Some of the songs from its score became Top 10 hits, and a feature film adaptation was released in 1979. A Broadway revival opened in 2009, earning rave reviews and winning the Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for 2009 Best Revival of a Musical. In 2008, Time magazine wrote, "Today HAIR seems, if anything, more daring than ever."

HAIR was written by James Rado and Gerome Ragni, with music by Galt MacDermot. The scenic design is by Jeffry Kmiec with costume design by Robert Kuhn, lighting design by Nick Belley, sound design by Carl Wahlstrom and properties design by Mealah Heidenreich. The production stage manager is Kristi J. Martens with assistance by Hannah Wichmann.

HAIR will feature video projections designed by Peter Guither, Artistic Director of The Living Canvas, which will tell compelling stories with performers’ bodies clothed with the textures of projected images. The Living Canvas celebrates the beauty and expressive power of the human form through performance art and photography, nurturing a sense of body acceptance for performer and audience. It is spectacle and storytelling, utilizing creative lighting, sound, and multi-media imagery that interact with the human canvas. 

After an extensive casting process, Mercury Theater Chicago is pleased to introduce a talented cast of Chicago artists featuring 
Matt Keffer as “Berger” 



and Liam Quealy as “Claude.” 



The tribe will also include Caleb Baze, Chuckie Benson, Aaron Davidson, Candace C. Edwards, Lucy Godinez, Michelle Lauto, Miciah Long, Andrew Lund, Mallory Maedke, Evan Tyrone Martin, Cherise Thomas, Leryn Turlington, Marco Tzunux and Craig Underwood.


Michelle Lauto

The beautifully renovated Mercury Theater Chicago is an intimate jewel box of a theater in the heart of the Southport Corridor, a sophisticated neighborhood of restaurants and boutiques just steps from Wrigley Field. A delightful theater destination, Mercury Theater Chicago takes care of its guests from the moment they arrive with valet service and dining at its adjoining restaurant, Grassroots. 

The performance schedule for HAIR is Wednesdays at 8pm, Thursdays at 8pm, Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 3pm and 8pm and Sundays at 3pm. 

HAIR runs approximately 2 hours, 10 minutes. We recommend this production for theatergoers over the age of 12. The production contains scenes that briefly depict profanity, nudity and simulated drug use. 

Individual tickets range from $30-$65, and are available online at www.MercuryTheaterChicago.com, over the phone at 773.325.1700, or in person at 3745 N. Southport Avenue, Chicago. 

WIN A Pair of Tickets To The Bardy Bunch, Theatre Y's Macbeth or Dr. Seward's Dracula

Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we LOVE to ChiIL out at the theatre. Chi, IL may be called the second city, but our theatre scene is second to none. We have 3 sweet giveaways this week for free pairs of tickets so you can have a fun night out this October! Enter like we vote in Chi, IL... early and often. We're accepting entries for all three through midnight Wednesday 8/12. Feel free to enter all 3 but please read the details and be sure you can attend within the required date choices before entering.

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

The Bardy Bunch, Mercury Theater 

The Bardy Bunch: The War of the Families Partridge and Brady, a musical parody by Stephen Garvey that gained cult status during its Off-Broadway run in 2014, is now playing a limited engagement in Chicago at the Mercury Theater, 3745 N. Southport Avenue. It is 1974 and we join the Bradys and Patridges just after the ABC Network ceased airing their chronicles. It was a summer when these beloved TV families, no longer under America's watchful eye, met on a collision course in a blood-soaked, vengeance-fueled, lust-filled crossover episode of Shakespearean proportions. For more information, visit TheBardyBunch.com.

WIN 2 Tickets to The Bardy Bunch (up to $116 value) ENTER HERE through midnight Wednesday 8/12 *Valid for any shows through Oct 31st

First Folio Theatre Presents: October 8 - November 6 Come experience the legend of Dracula anew, as First Folio Theatre (Mayslake Peabody Estate, 31st St. & Rt. 83) presents the Chicago premiere of DR. SEWARD’S DRACULA, opening Saturday, October 8, 2016 at 8:15 p.m., and running through November 6, 2016, with previews October 5-7. This sinful and spooky adaptation by Joseph Zettelmaier is directed by Jeff Award nominee Alison C. Vesely and produced by David Rice, author of The Madness of Edgar Allan Poe and composer, adaptor, and lyricist of Shakespeare’s Cymbeline: A Folk Tale with Music. Tickets may be purchased by calling the box office at 630.986.8067 or online at www.firstfolio.org. WIN 2 DR. SEWARD’S DRACULA Tickets ($58 value) ENTER HERE through midnight Wednesday 8/12  *Valid for Wednesday and Thursday show dates ONLY through October 30th.

Theatre Y Presents: October 19 - December 4 Following a year-long artistic collaboration with French theatre luminary, Georges Bigot, the Theatre Y Ensemble presents William Shakespeare's MACBETH at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 West Division. An iconic figure to Ariane Mnouchkine's Theatre du Soleil and one of France's most lauded contemporary actors, Bigot brings his lifelong experience and hallmark style of highly physical ensemble work to direct MACBETH, featured as part of Chicago Shakespeare 400 International Arts Festival. What's done cannot be undone. www.theatre-y.com.

WIN 2 Macbeth Tickets ($50 value) ENTER HERE through midnight Wednesday 8/12

*Valid for any show dates October 19-November 27th 

OPENING: C. S. Lewis Onstage: The Most Reluctant Convert AT THE MERCURY THEATER Through August 14th

C.S. LEWIS ONSTAGE, STARRING JEFF AWARD WINNER MAX MCLEAN, MAKES ITS MIDWEST PREMIERE

JULY 22-AUGUST 14 AT THE MERCURY THEATER

 C. S. Lewis Onstage: The Most Reluctant Convert

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

Adapted and performed by Max McLean

July 23-August 14, 2016

CSLewisOnstage.com

Mercury Theater

3745 N. Southport Ave., Chicago, IL 60613

Tickets: $55 on weeknights and Sunday evening; $59 for all Saturday shows and Sunday matinee; limited $30 under 30 tickets available to theatergoers age 30 and younger (with valid ID)

By phone: 773-325-1700

On the web: mercurytheaterchicago.com

Groups of 10 or more call 866-476-8707 or email andrew@FPAtheatre.com

New York City-based Fellowship for Performing Arts produces theater from a Christian worldview presented in leading performance venues nationwide and created to engage diverse audiences. For more information visit www.FPAtheatre.com.

After a seven-year absence, Fellowship for Performing Arts makes its triumphant return to Chicago with an all-new original production, starting next Friday, July 22. Equity Jeff Award winner Max McLean (Mark’s Gospel, The Screwtape Letters) stars in the one-man/one-act show C.S. Lewis Onstage: The Most Reluctant Convert, July 22-August 14 at Chicago’s Mercury Theater, 3745 N. Southport Ave. Tickets, $55-$59, are on sale now at CSLewisOnstage.com. “$30 under 30” tickets will be available to audience members age 30 and younger, subject to availability. 

Max McLean’s 2008 production of C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters was cited as “the most successful production in the history of the Mercury Theater,” and his one-man show Mark’s Gospel earned him the 2009 Equity Joseph Jefferson Award. This summer, he brings to life one of the most engaging personalities of our age in C.S. Lewis Onstage: The Most Reluctant Convert, a brand new one-man one-act taking audiences on Lewis’ fascinating journey from atheism to Christianity.

Adapted exclusively from Lewis’ writings, McLean inhabits Lewis from the death of his mother and his estranged relationship with his father to the experiences that led him from vigorous debunker to the most vibrant and influential Christian intellectual of the 20th century. C.S. Lewis Onstage is a joyous evening of Lewis’ entertaining wit and exhilarating insight, touted as “masterful…. spiritually invigorating and hugely moving” by The Washington Post.

“We are thrilled to return to Chicago with our latest production,” said McLean, FPA’s founder and artistic director who adapted and performs the show. “C.S. Lewis wrote more than 30 books that have sold more than 200 million copies, making him arguably the most influential religious writer of the past century. In The Most Reluctant Convert, we visit the agonizing events that led to his conversion.”

Broadway’s Smash Hit Musical Comedy “The Producers” Coming to Mercury Theater Chicago

    Chi, IL Live Shows On Our Radar:

The Producers” 

Book by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan, Music and Lyrics by Mel Brooks Directed by L. Walter Stearns April 14 –- June 26  

Mercury Theater Chicago, 3745 N. Southport Avenue, presents the award winning musical comedy sensation The Producers, from April 14 to June 26, 2016.  It is truly a “boffo” hit, winning a record twelve Tony Awards and wowing capacity crowds night after night. The production will be led by Jeff-Award winners L. Walter Stearns (Director), Eugene Dizon (Musical Director), and Brigitte Ditmars (Choreography).   

Matt Crowle (Leo Bloom), Allison Sill (Ulla) and Bill Larkin (Max Bialystock) in The Producers at Mercury Theater Chicago.   The Producers opens April 14 and continues through June 26.  

© Mercury Theater Chicago, photo by Time Stops Photography

A down-on-his-luck Broadway producer and his mild-mannered accountant come up with a scheme to produce the most notorious flop in history thereby bilking their backers (all “little old ladies”) out of millions of dollars. Only one thing goes awry: the show is a smash hit!  At the core of the insanely funny adventure is the surprising journey of two very different men who become friends. The Producers skewer Broadway traditions and takes no prisoners as it proudly proclaims itself an “equal opportunity offender!”   

The Mel Brooks musical comedy The Producers was first staged in Chicago in 2000 and later opened on Broadway in 2001 to rave reviews.  It is the recipient of the most Tony Awards in Broadway history (12, including Best Musical).  Hailed as one of, if not the funniest Broadway musicals of all time, The Producers spoofs the big, old-fashioned Broadway musical while paying tribute to it at the same time.  The Producers features a riotous mix of eccentric characters and show-stopping songs including “I Wanna Be a Producer,” “When You Got It, Flaunt It,” “Prisoners of Love” and of course “Springtime for Hitler”. 

Written by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan, with music and lyrics by Mel Brooks, The Producers features Jeff-Award winning comedians Bill Larkin as Max Bialystock and Matt Crowle as Leo Bloom with Mel Brooks favorite Allison Sill as the leading lady Ulla.  Rounding out the cast for this hilarious romp will be Harter Clingman (Franz Liebkind), Jason Richards (Roger De Bris), Sawyer Smith (Carmen Ghia) with Joe Capstick, Brian Elliott, Dan Gold, Katie Hunter, Leah Morrow, Melissa Reinertson, Steven Spanopoulos, Ryan Stajmiger, Stephanie Wohar and Tyler Austin Wright. The scenic design is by Jeffrey D. Kimec with costume design by Frances Maggio, lighting design by Nick Belley and sound design by Mike Ross. The production stage manager is Kristi J. Martens with assistance by Daniel J. Hanson.  

The beautifully renovated Mercury Theater Chicago is an intimate jewel box of a theater in the heart of the Southport Corridor, a sophisticated neighborhood of restaurants and boutiques just steps from Wrigley Field. A delightful theater destination, Mercury Theater Chicago takes care of its guests from the moment they arrive with valet service and dining at its adjoining new restaurant Grassroots, neighborhood eatery featuring simple, yet delicious farm to table comfort food, in a warm, inviting atmosphere.   

The performance schedule for The Producers is Wednesdays at 8pm, Thursdays at 3pm and 8pm, Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 3pm and 8pm and Sundays at 3pm.  

Individual tickets range from $30-$65, and are available online at www.MercuryTheaterChicago.com, over the phone at 773.325.1700, or in person at 3745 N. Southport Avenue, Chicago.