Pyewacket Theatre is calling it quits. According to artistic director Kate Harris, the troupe will be dissolved by the end of February 2006. The troupe has been producing small-scale theater in Chicago for the last 8 1/2 years (including several well-received productions), but now has run out of resources. . . . Quaker Family Saturdays is returning to Chicago Shakespeare Theater. This sponsored program aims to introduce young people to the arts. This year’s slate–which adds music to the usual theater–is made up of the Chicago Chamber Musicians performing “My, What Big Ears You Have (The Better to Hear Music With, My Dear),” performed on Jan. 21 and 22, followed by Chicago Shakespeare’s own 75-minute abridged production “Short Shakespeare! Macbeth,” which runs Feb. 4 through April 22. . . . You’ll have to travel all the way to St. Louis to see the Midwest premiere of the musical “Caroline, or Change.” The storied Black Repertory of St. Louis opens the show on Jan. 4. . . . The Neo-Futurists have made a change to their spring programming, canceling “Goodbye, Grover’s Corners,” originally scheduled for April 6 through May 13 and replacing it with “Neo-Solo,” moved from June and July. As the name suggests, “Neo-Solo” is new solo work from Neo-Futurist types, with one or two pieces performed each evening. The lineup changes every two weeks. . . . Beginning Friday night at the Royal George Theatre, Hershey Felder changes set, costume and style, and returns to the presentation of “George Gershwin Alone” for the holiday season. With Chopin temporarily on ice, Gershwin plays and sings anew through Jan. 8.
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–compiled by Chris Jones
