Mercury Theater Chicago has announced its 2023 season of musical theater on Southport, lead by artistic director Christopher Chase Carter, managing director Kristi J. Martens and executive producers L. Walter Stearns and Eugene Dizon. Highlights include “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill” to open the year in January and the Mel Brooks musical “Young Frankenstein” next fall.
“Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill” (January 27 to March 26, 2023): Written by Lanie Robertson, starring Alexis J. Roston as Billie Holiday in the smaller Venus Cabaret Theater. Set in Philadelphia in 1959, telling the story of Holiday at one of her last concerts.
“Big River” (April 21 to June 11, 2023): Music and lyrics by Roger Miller, book by William Hauptman. Adapted for the musical stage from the novel “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain.
“Rock of Ages” (July 14 to September 17, 2023): Book by Chris D’Arienzo, arrangements and orchestrations by Ethan Popp. Set in a bar on the Sunset Strip, a loving tribute to the music of Styx, Journey, Bon Jovi and Whitesnake.
“Young Frankenstein” (October 13 to December 31, 2023): Music and lyrics by Mel Brooks, book by Brooks and Thomas Meehan. Frederick Frankenstein (it’s pronounced “Fronk-en-steen”) inherits his family’s estate in Transylvania.
Membership packages are on sale now for the season at the Mercury (3745 N. Southport Ave.); www.mercurytheaterchicago.com