The musical adaptation of The Notebook will make its long-awaited world premiere at Chicago Shakespeare Theater September 6-October 16 at The Yard.
Based on the bestselling Nicholas Sparks novel, the new musical features music and lyrics by singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson, with a book by playwright Bekah Brunstetter. The planned premiere has been postponed multiple times due to COVID, having been previously announced to play the Chicago theatre in 2020 and March 2022. Once set to be co-directed by Michael Greif (Dear Evan Hansen, Next to Normal) and Schele Williams (Aida, Motown the Musical), the upcoming production has not yet announced its creative team or casting.
Also announced for the theatre's upcoming season is Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, directed by Henry Godinez and running October 21–November 27 in the Courtyard Theater; and an adaptation of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights reimagined by Emma Rice, running January 26–February 19, 2023, in The Yard.
Next up is Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors March 10–April 16, 2023, in the Courtyard Theater. CST Artistic Director Barbara Gaines will conclude her 36-year tenure with the company revisiting her signature interpretation of the work, which features newly rewritten scenes from Second City's Ron West. Gaines’ production sets Shakespeare’s comedy as a play-within-a-play in which an eccentric group of stage and screen actors gather on a London movie set in 1940 to film it as much-needed comic relief for the troops.
Through her three decades with Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Gaines has directed 60 productions, including nearly all of Shakespeare’s 38 plays.
Additional productions and programming, including a fifth major title in 2023, will announced in the coming months.
“There's nothing like the energy of live theatre, and there's no better place to experience it than Chicago Shakespeare Theater,” shares Gaines in a statement. “In my final season as artistic director, we couldn't be more excited to share this thrilling line-up of productions with audiences. The very heart and soul of this season is filled with boundless passion, wonder, hilarity, and romance, reflecting the very spectrum of our own human experience in this singular moment in history.”
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