Putting together a new musical is a big deal. It isn’t easy finding the right combination of words, melodies, characters and spectacle that will win over audiences. But three new musicals are hitting local stages in May, and hopes are high that they’ll leave us humming as we walk out the doors.
“Sense and Sensibility“
Through June 7
Jane Austen’s novels seem like a natural fit for stage musicals, with romance, longing and wit to spare. Chicago Shakespeare commissioned Tony Award-nominated composer Paul Gordon to write the book, music and lyrics for this new version of Austen’s first published novel, which follows the lives and loves of the Dashwood sisters. Chicago Shakespeare’s masterful artistic director, Barbara Gaines, is directing this world premiere. Chicago Shakespeare Theater, 800 E. Grand Ave., Chicago, 312-595-5600
“Shining Lives“
May 8 to June 14
This world-premiere musical tells the story of women who worked at Chicago’s Radium Dial Co. in the 1920s, hand-painting watch dials with radium—a supposedly harmless element that turned out to be deadly. Based on Melanie Marnich’s play “These Shining Lives,” the musical was created by three veterans of Chicago theater: Jessica Thebus wrote the book and lyrics, while Andre Pluess and Amanda Dehnert collaborated on the music. It has the potential to move us with its tale of courage. Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie, 847-673-6300
“Melancholy Play: A New Chamber Piece“
April 30 to June 14
Piven Theatre is where magic realist Sarah Ruhl got her start, and now the little stage in Evanston is hosting the Midwest premiere of the Tony Award-nominated playwright’s chamber musical, which features an onstage string quartet. North suburban native Polly Noonan, who frequently works with Ruhl, is directing and starring in the show, which adds Todd Almond’s music to an earlier play by Ruhl. It’s a portrait of a melancholy woman whose life turns strange when she suddenly becomes happy. (Another Ruhl play, “In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play,” runs May 15-24 at Northwestern University’s Josephine Louis Theater.) Piven Theatre, 927 Noyes St., Evanston, 847- 866-6597
“Doubt: A Parable”
May 5 to July 12
As Writers Theatre prepares to move into its shiny new home this fall, it’s wrapping up its “under construction” season with John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play about a Catholic priest suspected of sexual abuse in the 1960s. The esteemed William Brown, a Writers Theatre regular, is directing the show inside the library of an actual church, which should enhance the illusion that we’re eavesdropping on this riveting drama. Writers Theatre, performing at Glencoe Union Church, 263 Park Ave., Glencoe, 847-242-6000
Theater Guide
AMERICAN BLUES THEATER (AT GREENHOUSE)
“Side Man”
April 24–May 24
773-404-7336
BANK OF AMERICA THEATRE
“The Book of Mormon”
Through May 17
312-977-1700
CADILLAC PALACE THEATRE
“Jersey Boys”
May 12–24
800-775-2000
CHICAGO CHILDREN’S THEATRE (RUTH PAGE CENTER FOR ARTS)
“Wonderland, Alice’s Rock & Roll Adventure”
April 22 to May 24
872-222-9555
CITADEL THEATRE
“Don’t Dress for Dinner”
April 24 to May 24
847-735-8554
COURT THEATRE
“The Secret Garden”
May 21 to June 21
773-753-4472
DRURY LANE
“Billy Elliot the Musical”
Through June 7
630-530-0111
GOODMAN THEATRE
“stop. reset.”
May 23 to June 21
312-443-3800
LIFELINE THEATRE
“Soon I Will Be Invincible”
May 29 to July 19
773-761-4477
MARRIOTT THEATRE
“Anything Goes”
Through May 31
847-634-0200
PARAMOUNT THEATRE
“Menopause the Musical”
May 6 to June 28
630-896-6666
PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE (AT STAGE 773)
“A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”
Through May 24
773-327-5252
PROFILES THEATRE
“Our New Girl”
May 8 to June 28
773-549-1815
RAVEN THEATRE
“The Birdfeeder Doesn’t Know”
Through May 16
“Beast on the Moon”
Through June 6
773-338-2177
STEPPENWOLF THEATRE
“The Herd”
Through June 7
312-335-1650
TIMELINE THEATRE
“Inana”
May 6 to July 26
773-281-8463
WRITERS THEATRE
“The Diary of Anne Frank”
Through Aug. 2
847-242-6000
