For Season 62, the Valparaiso based not-for-profit volunteer theatre has selected an eclectic mix of musicals, comedies, dramas, family presentations, new works and cutting edge shows that have gained them an impressive reputation throughout the region. This year the award-winning company will be taking on two new musicals with one being one of two holiday offerings. Chicago Street Theatre’s Artistic Chairman, Traci Brant says that the group is very proud to have created an ambitious season of newer shows and plays that audiences are unlikely to see anywhere else in Northwest Indiana. She added, “What our committee has come up with is a truly thrilling group of productions that will have something for everyone.”
“Harriet The Spy”: August 19-September 3, 2016, FAMILY FUN: A favorite children’s books comes to life on stage to tell the story of an 11 year-old aspiring writer named Harriet M. Welsch, whose journal of mean observations about her peers falls into the wrong hands and mayhem ensues. Can Harriet survive 6th grade and her classmates’ all out attack to catch the young writer that they’ve dubbed a “spy?”
“Night Of The Living Dead,” October 14-29, 2016, Halloween Event: CST has thrilled audiences with Dracula, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, and Frankenstein over the past five years. This season, experience the cult classic about a disparate group of individuals attempting to survive a mishap that reanimates the bodies of the deceased that must feed on the flesh of the living.
“A Winnie-The-Pooh Christmas Tail,” November 18 – December 18, 2016, Bring the whole family to celebrate Christmas with all their friends in the Hundred Acre Woods as Christopher Robin is told about the holiday (not so long ago) when Eeyore lost his tail. Full of enchanting songs and beloved characters, A Winnie-the-Pooh Christmas Tail is the perfect holiday musical treat to share with your little ones.
“The Great American Trailer Park Christmas Musical,” November 25 – December 17, 2016, Holiday time at North Florida’s Armadillo Acres Trailer Park means that everyone’s filled with warmth and beer. However when a freak bout of amnesia strikes the trailer park’s resident Scrooge, neighborly love is put to the test, It’s a festive fracas just as much cat-fightin’, sun-worshipin’, chair-throwing fun as the original.
“Pale Dream,” January 27- February 11, 2017, New Drama: Two brothers, once united by their love of film and the desire to make movies together, have become estranged as their paths diverged toward lives neither of them imagined. When their father becomes sick, they must face each other and take stock on who it is they’ve become, and who they could have been. Chicago Street Theatre is proud to present this edgy new work penned by one of our own members.
“Betrayal,” February 23-26, 2017, Wood Studio: Taking place in the intimacy of Chicago Street Theatre’s upstairs Edith B. Wood Studio is Harold Pinter’s contemporary masterpiece about three individuals and the affair that shattered them all. Ingeniously told in reverse time, casting a harsh light on the lies and deceptions of Emma and Robert’s best friend Jerry that led to it all.
“A Year With Frog And Toad,” March 3-17, 2017, Family Fun: This family musical follows the woodland adventures of two friends-a worry-wart toad and his perky frog friend. Based on the storybook favorite, A Year with Frog and Toad broke new ground in bringing professional children’s theatre to acclaim on Broadway. Children of all ages will be delighted with the play’s whimsical score and colorful cast of characters.
“The Rose Tattoo,” April 7 – 22, 2017, Classic: This season we are proud to present the drama that served as the basis for the Oscar-winning film staring Burt Lancaster and Anna Magnani. In the play an Itallian/American neighborhood in Louisiana is rocked when a local truck driver is killed by police, leaving his wife devastated. Serafina’s grieving comes to an end when she learns of her husband’s infidelities and lured by the desire for a handsome drifter who has come into town.
“Incorruptible,” May 19- June 3, 2017, Comedy: Welcome to the Dark Ages in Priseaux, France, where everything is really, really bad and the monastery’s patron saint hasn’t worked a miracle in thirteen years. Threatened by the success of a rival church and a visit from the Pope, a group of desperate monks look to a shady one-eyed minstrel, to teach them outrageous ways to make their own miracles.
“Shakespeare In The Park: The Taming Of The Shrew,” July 7-8, 2017 FREE at Central Park Plaza , July 14-22, 2017 at Chicago Street Theatre: Join CTG under the stars for a classic romp about the love/hate courtship of Petruchio and the headstrong Katherina. Until the shrewish elder daughter of Batista Minola is wed, the two suitors fighting for the attentions of his younger daughter, Bianca will just have to wait. The game changes when a third suited, Lucentio arrives in Padua and hatches a plan to win the younger’s affections in a tale that is filled with mistaken identities, humor and wit.
Chicago Street will also host a number of special events and concerts through the year. Events will include the return of MeTV’s Svengoolie for its annual Halloween Party as well as numerous opening night parties and after hour events with the theatre’s “Dining Partners.” One new advantage to being a Viewer’s Choice subscriber will be a CST Dining Partner card at participating downtown restaurants. Patrons should check CST’s website for details and follow the theatre on Facebook for daily news on the company. Buy Tix Online or call: (219) 464-1636 ext 1. www.chicagostreet.org
Susie Young Baxter, CEO, has published PanoramaNOW Magazine for 31 years. Her hobbies are Camping, Boating, Hiking, Nature, Gardening and Outdoor Activities. She is an Artist, Graphic Designer, an Avid Seamstress, Dabbles in Homemade Crafts and Landscaping. Since her Father was a Health Teacher, she also likes homeopathic Health Solutions. Since blogging started over 10 years ago, PanoramaNow has been added to Newsbreak – a national news affiliate.
