`Arcadia”–one of Tom Stoppard’s more popular and seductive works in years–has joined the lineup at the Goodman Theatre next season.
The 1993 comedy, which opened to acclaim and hot box office on Broadway last season, is set in a country manor house and flies back and forth in time between the 18th and 20th Centuries, touching on landscape gardening, thermodynamics and a kind of scholarly mystery plot in its machinations. Michael Maggio, who has staged Stoppard’s “Travesties” and “The Real Thing” in Chicago over the years, will direct.
The production will be presented in one of two mainstage slots next spring. Previously announced offerings include “All’s Well That Ends Well,” directed by Mary Zimmerman, Sept. 22 through Oct. 28, and Charles Smith’s “Black Star Line,” directed by Tazewell Thompson, about the life of Marcus Garvey, Jan. 12 through Feb. 17. Two other selections will be announced later.
For tickets: 312-443-3800.
Also, Danny Hoch’s one-man “Some People,” a co-production by JAM Productions and the Goodman at the Organic Theater, has been extended through July 8. For tickets there: 312-327-5588.
– Performing Arts Chicago will bring Steven Berkoff’s outrageous staging of Oscar Wilde’s “Salome,” Oct. 12 through 14; Robert Lepage’s version of “Hamlet,” called “Elsinore,” in its U.S. premiere Feb. 15 through 18; and illusionist Philippe Genty and his company in a new work, “Voyageur Immobile,” April 18 through 20 to the Athenaeum Theatre as part of the organization’s dejAvant theater series next season.
Berkoff’s acclaimed production of “Salome” was first mounted at the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain. Lepage’s last one-man show was a hit during the International Theatre Festival of Chicago in 1994; Genty’s unique mingling of puppetry and acting also earned acclaim in visits in 1992 and 1993.
The dejAvant will also include “Field Trips” Feb. 23 at the Athenaeum, a collection of New York City’s P.S. 122 performance artists, including the return of Danny Hoch, now at the Organic Theater. Also, Teatro Hugo e Ines, a duo from Bosnia and Peru, will bring back their “The Adventures of Ginocchio” Oct. 19 through 22 at the Athenaeum.
Dance plans from Performing Arts next season include the acrobatic Streb/Ringside troupe in “PopAction” Sept. 22 and 23 at the Navy Pier Skyline; choreographer David Rousseve with a world premiere called “Whisper of Angels” Sept. 28 through 30 at the Athenaeum; and Alvin Ailey’s dance company next March at the Shubert Theatre as part of the spring dance festival.
Performing Arts also plans music and opera series. For more information: 312-722-5463.
– A fall dance festival featuring 19 Chicago area multicultural companies will run from Oct. 26 through Dec. 3 at the Athenaeum Theatre at 2936 N. Southport Ave.
Athenaeum general manager Fred Solari and John Schmitz are partners in the venture, an effort to allow emerging and lesser known companies to enjoy a hospitable showcase.
Solari, who ran the spring festival of dance at the Civic Opera House for years, plans to provide marketing, public relations and other resources to enable otherwise struggling troupes to receive a professional mounting. Under Solari, the Athenaeum has been hosting a wide variety of impressive undertakings, from Performing Arts Chicago’s presentation of the Maly Theatre of St. Petersburg to Lookingglass Theatre’s recent “dreaming lucia.”
Philip Morris Cos. Inc. with $25,000 and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation with $50,000 are providing the basic funding. The companies will be named later, but tentative participants include the River North Dance Company, the James Kelly Choreography Project, Jellyeye, Trinity Irish Dance Company, Hedwig Dances, Emergence, Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago and Ensemble Espanol. There will also be an independent choreographer’s series and a performance art series in a new studio theater in construction on the premises.
For more information: 312-935-6860.
– The world premiere of Keith Reddin’s “Almost Blue” will launch the season at Next Theatre in Evanston this fall.
Reddin’s latest–a kind of drama noir about an ex-convict pulled into a plot of blackmail and murder by the wife of his former cellmate–will be staged by Next artistic director Steve Pickering as the first show of the season. (Dates on all plays will be determined later.)
Other offerings include Allan Bates’ “Yellow Heat: Vincent van Gogh in Arles,” directed by Peter Rybolt, and “Macbeth,” directed by Shakespeare Repertory associate director Kate Buckley, with Pickering in the title role.
Also, Sarah Tucker has been named Next associate artistic director, succeeding Dexter Bullard. She will work primarily on new play research. Next is in negotiation at present with Actors Equity Association, hoping to reach an agreement to allow all shows next season to feature Equity contracts, reversing the mostly non-Equity trend of recent years.
For subscription ticket information: 708-475-1875.
Brian Friel’s daughter, Judy, will stage Touchstone Theatre’s Chicago premiere of his play “Wonderful Tennessee,” beginning Sept. 7 at 2851 N. Halsted St.
Judy Friel lives and works in Dublin, where she has staged works with the renowned Abbey Theatre, and she directed her father’s “Edmond” at the Dublin Theatre Festival. She recently directed his “Dancing at Lughnasa” at the State University of New York at Binghamton.
For more information: 312-477-5779.
