SAVE THE DATES: 2018 SEASON ANNOUNCED FOR THEATRE AT THE CENTER IN MUNSTER

Linda Fortunato, Artistic Director of Theatre at the Center (TATC), Northwest Indiana’s only professional theater company, has announced the mainstage titles for TATC’s 2018 Season.

Fortunato will direct three of the five productions, including Steel Magnolias, which will launch the 2018 season. Forever Plaid and The Lady with All the Answers are the spring and summer shows. In the fall, Fortunato will also direct Ghost The Musical, a stage adaptation of the 1990 Academy-Award winning film. Closing the 2018 season, she will direct and choreograph Meredith Willson’s Miracle on 34th Street: The Musical inspired by the 1947 classic film.

Steel Magnolias (February 22 – March 25, 2018) is a hilarious and heart-warming play set in a Louisiana beauty shop. It follows the hopes, dreams, triumphs and tragedies of six colorful characters and inspired the 1989 film which starred Julia Roberts, Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine and Dolly Parton. It’s a story exploring the bond between a mother and daughter, and friendships of those who feel like family.

Spring welcomes Forever Plaid (May 3 – June 3, 2018), one of the most popular and beloved of musical revues. “The Plaids” are a quirky quartet of high school chums in the spotlight for the biggest performance of their lives. Their spirited antics and comic banter weave together such hits as “Three Coins in the Fountain,” “Heart and Soul” and “Love is a Many Splendored Thing,” in this playful tribute to the close harmony of “guy groups” of the 1950’s.

An up-close and personal introduction to the real Ann Landers awaits audiences in The Lady with All the Answers (July 12 – August 12, 2018).  Popular advice columnist Ann Landers had a life which seemed letter-perfect. With more than 90 million readers each day, she had a quick wit which could be comical and creative, as well as sharp and shocking, all in the same sentence. The play unfolds in Landers’ Lakeshore Drive apartment in 1975 where she shares some of her most fascinating stories as she prepares to write the most difficult column of her career.

In the fall, Ghost The Musical (September 13 – October 14, 2018) is the musical adaptation of the 1990 Academy-Award winning film sharing the love story of Sam and Molly. After Sam’s untimely death, he tries to protect Molly from an unknown threat. In an attempt to communicate with her, he enlists the help of a storefront psychic to hilarious and harrowing effect. This tale about the power of love features a score by Grammy Award winning songwriters Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard, and includes the classic “Unchained Melody.”

The holidays are celebrated with Meredith Willson’s Miracle on 34th Street: The Musical (November 15 – December 23, 2018), from the composer of The Music Man. Inspired by the beloved 1947 film, audiences will enjoy the gift of music and laughter. After Santa encounters a skeptical little girl during the season of sharing and caring, a message about the importance of believing is made clear to all. “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” became famous as one the memorable songs in this joyous favorite for all ages.

“In choosing Theatre at the Center’s 2018 season, I wanted to create a blend of different styles to engage our audience,” Fortunato said.

“Through intimate plays, a beloved musical revue, a new musical, and a holiday classic, we will explore the bonds of friendship and family, of loves lost and found, and meet strangers who feel like family. I hope our audiences will laugh heartily, maybe cry a little, and enjoy some favorite music and songs as they join us for both familiar stories and new ones, as well.” 

Founded in 1991, the 410 seat Theatre at the Center is a year-round professional theater at its home at The Center for Visual and Performing Arts, 1040 Ridge Road, Munster, Indiana. Theatre at the Center is the only professional theater company in Northwest Indiana, offering downtown caliber performance in an accessible venue with plenty of free parking. Theatre at the Center is located off I-80/94, just 35 minutes from downtown Chicago.

Renewal for existing Season Subscriptions begins Aug. 20 and continues through Sept. 24, with sales for new Season Subscription patrons beginning Oct. 10. Individual tickets for any of the five mainstage shows of the new 2018 Season are on sale beginning Dec. 12.

Theatre at the Center mainstage show performances are 2 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 7:30 p.m. Fridays, 3:00 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays; 2:30 p.m. Sundays and select Thursday and Sunday evenings.  Individual ticket prices range from $42 - $46.  To purchase individual tickets, including the remaining shows of the 2017 Season, call the Box Office at 219-836-3255 or Tickets.com at 800-511-1552.   Group discounts are available for groups of 11 or more and gift certificates are also available. 

For more information about Theatre at the Center, visit www.TheatreAtTheCenter.com.

OPENING: The Tin Woman at Theatre at the Center in Munster Indiana

Chi IL LIVE shows on our radar

THEATRE AT THE CENTER ANNOUNCES CAST FOR CHICAGOLAND PREMIERE OF 

THE TIN WOMAN

Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we'll be out for the press opening on the 16th. Check back soon for our full review. We're looking forward to catching this Chicago regional premiere. TATC has developed a great reputation as a stellar urban caliber professional theatre with small town charm (and free parking). We make a habit of bringing home renowned Munster Donuts from a few blocks away, whenever we make the trek to TATC.

Theatre at the Center (TATC) presents the Chicagoland premiere of Sean Grennan’s newest play The Tin Woman, starring Erin Noel Grennan in the lead role. The Tin Woman begins previews on July 13 and opens on July 16 for a run that continues through August 13. Inspired by a true story, it’s a heartwarming comedy that’s a beautiful blend of family, humor and hope. Joy has had a heart transplant and is questioning her second chance in life. When she connects with the family of her donor, together they learn what it means to truly give one’s heart.



Erin Noel Grennan originated the role of Joy in the World Premiere of The Tin Woman in 2014 at Peninsula Players in Wisconsin. She last appeared at TATC in 2014 in Miracle on South Division Street. Erin has also appeared on the TV series Chicago Fire, Chicago Med and Law & Order.

Steve Pickering, who is making his TATC debut, has appeared in TimeLine Theater’s The Last Wife, Lookingglass’ Treasure Island, and The Little Foxes at the Goodman Theatre (more than 30 productions since 1987), is cast as Hank. Steve has performed on Broadway, Off-Broadway, in London’s West End, New York’s Shakespeare in the Park, and in the title role of Macbeth for Santa Cruz Shakespeare.

Annabel Armour, cast as Alice, is also making her debut at TATC. She is the recipient of three Joseph Jefferson Awards and two After Dark Awards. She has an artistic association with Remy Bumppo Theatre, appearing in Pygmalion, Fallen Angels, and The Clean House (Jeff Nomination). She has performed in Sunday in the Park with George at Chicago Shakespeare, The First Look Series at Steppenwolf and has received a Jeff Nomination for At Home at the Zoo at Victory Gardens Theater.

Doogin Brown, making his debut at TATC, is cast as Jack. His previous work includes Zoya’s Apartment at the Athenaeum Theatre and Saved at Kansas City Repertory Theatre. Cast as Sammy, Kayla Kennedy returns to TATC for the sixth time. Her credits include Nice Work If You Can Get It, All Shook Up, Spamalot, Big Fish and Women on the Verge. Jeri Marshall, who is making her TATC debut as Nurse/Darla, is a Sarah Siddons Scholarship Recipient and holds an MFA from the Theatre School at DePaul University.

Linda Fortunato is Artistic Director of Theatre at the Center and Director of The Tin Woman. Linda has been nominated for five Jeff Awards for her work as a Choreographer and Director. She received both the Equity and Non-Equity Jeff Awards for Outstanding Choreography in the 2013-2014 season, garnering TATC’s first award for her choreography of 42nd Street. Linda has been involved with more than a dozen shows at TATC, directing Cabaret, Annie Warbucks and A Christmas Story, and choreographing Spamalot, Big Fish, A Christmas Carol, Guys and Dolls, Crazy for You and Fiddler on the Roof.

Sarah Ross is Set Designer. Shelley Strasser-Holland is Lighting Designer. Kevin Barthel is Wig Designer, Victoria Deiorio is Sound Designer. Brenda Winstead is Costume Designer and Brittney O’Keffe is Prop Designer. Matt McMullen is Stage Manager and Ann Davis is Production Manager/Technical Director and Dennis Galbreath is Assistant Technical Director.

The idea for The Tin Woman was born when Sean’s sister, actress Erin Grennan, brought him a newspaper clipping she’d saved for years. It was a story about a woman who had received a heart transplant and her eventual meeting with the donor’s family. The Tin Woman uses humor and pathos to explore loss, family and what it means to be given new life.

According to Fortunato, “I was lucky enough to read an early draft of the script and was immediately taken with the interesting characters, beautiful relationships and moving story. I’m thrilled to be bringing it to Theatre at the Center.”

Playwright Sean Grennan studied English at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. An actor for many years, predominantly in Chicago, he began writing for the theatre in 1995 as co-librettist (with his wife, Kathy Santen) for Phantom of the Country Palace which was produced in the same year at the Marriott Theatre. The Tin Woman was first produced in 2014 by Peninsula Players Theatre in Fish Creek, Wisconsin with his actress sister Erin Noel Grennan cast in the lead role as heart transplant recipient Joy. Sean Grennan and his wife live in New York City, where his actress wife appears in Broadway’s Wicked.

Founded in 1991, the 410 seat Theatre at the Center is a year-round professional theater at its home; The Center for Visual and Performing Arts, 1040 Ridge Road, Munster, Indiana. Theatre at the Center is the only professional theater company in Northwest Indiana, offering downtown caliber performance in an accessible venue with plenty of free parking. Theatre at the Center is located off I-80/94, just 35 minutes from downtown Chicago.

Performances are 2 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursday; 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 3 p.m. Saturdays; 2:30 p.m. Sundays, and select Thursday and Sunday evenings. Individual ticket prices range from $40 - $44. 

To purchase individual tickets, call the Box Office at 219-836-3255 or Tickets.com at 800-511-1552. Group discounts are available for groups of 11 or more and gift certificates are also available. For more information on Theatre at the Center, visit www.TheatreAtTheCenter.com.