Fans of longtime Chicago actress Carrie Coon have the chance to hear her sing about Santa and such, which feels a tad counterintuitive, to say the least. Coon is part of “Voices of The Gilded Age: The Christmas Album,” a spinoff from the popular HBO drama in which Coon stars. Perchance husband Tracy Letts will guest as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Funding for Milwaukee Rep
The Milwaukee Repertory Theater has announced a big infusion of endowment cash. Thanks to a so-called “challenge gift” from major donors Ellen and Joe Checota, the savvy and successful theater just to our north added some $12.5 million to its pot. The theater said the Checotas have become the largest donors to Milwaukee Repertory Theater in its 72-year history.
Final season for “Port of Entry”
The Albany Park Theater Project has announced the final season of its remarkable immersive production, “Port of Entry.” Produced in collaboration with Third Rail Projects, the show looks at the immigrant experience in the Albany Park neighborhood of Chicago through teenaged eyes, focused on a fictional apartment building. The cast and crew have changed many times as the show has accommodated more than 10,000 audience members, 28 audience members at a time; the theater reportedly has spent more than $1 million on employment for its youth artists. This final season begins Oct. 29 and goes through Feb. 27, 2027, at 3547 W. Montrose Ave. Tickets for the last hurrah go on sale Oct. 8 at portofentrychicago.com.
Bustling downtown Evanston
The Barn, Amy Morton’s Evanston eatery, has launched pre-theater dining in collaboration with Northlight Theatre, its new landlord now located next door in downtown Evanston. The Barn will offer a special matinee-day lunch service, a nightly happy hour from 4-5 p.m and a new, three-course pre-theater dinner menu. Diners who present a Northlight ticket will get 10% off. Morton is a longtime theater fan and partner; she previously operated a restaurant next to the Paramount Theatre in Aurora.
“Come From Away” is a hot ticket
Extensions are very rare at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire as that theater operates almost every week of the year, rapidly moving new shows in the week. But “Come From Away” has been a total sell-out, the theater says. That’s not surprising; that title is in a category all of its own. So the theater has added an additional week of performances and now closes Oct. 25. The added week really is your only chance to see the show, which is excellent.
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Stratford Fest’s next season
Fans of the Stratford Festival of Canada have a newly announced season, the first under incoming artistic director Jonathan Church, to enjoy next summer. Highlights include William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” (directed by former artistic director Des McAnuff), “The Merchant of Venice” and “The Taming of the Shrew.” The big musicals are the classic “Chicago” and Disney’s “Mary Poppins” and there’s also a new Canadian musical, “Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang,” penned by David S. Craig, Anika Johnson and Britta Johnson. (Goodman Theatre audiences will remember Britta Johnson’s moving “Life After” here in 2022.) Church will direct Hilary Mantel’s “Wolf Hall” and “Bring Up the Bodies” in the Avon Theatre, and “Anne of Green Gables,” which I much enjoyed and is beloved by many Canadians, is returning for an encore. I’ll be back up there too, leading some discussions for the Meighen Forum.
In memoriam
Finally, this has been a difficult time for many veterans of the off-Loop theater movement. Losses include Scott Bradley, the actor, writer and all-around multi-hyphenate, who died from brain cancer on Sept. 8. Bradley’s extensive Chicago credits include numerous new performance works and events for About Face Theatre, Walkabout Theatre Company, About Face Theatre and Hell in a Handbag, and he was seen by many as a creative genius who deserved more attention. Scott also was a co-founder of the Chicago-based “Scooty & JoJo Show.”
William “Billy” Bullion, who died Sept. 24 at the age of 63 after working in off-Loop theater for decades, was a frequent, witty and passionate online presence. (I sparred with him often and always enjoyably.) More importantly, he was artistic director of The Conspirators, a longtime Factory Theater ensemble member, a member of Akvavit Theatre, an instigator of the group known as The Performance Collective and the artist service organization called DirectorsLabChicago. That’s only a subset of his credits. His friend Steven Townshend described Billy online as “the heart of Chicago theater.”
Chris Jones Recommends
“Theater of the Mind” in an open run by the Goodman at the Reid Murdoch Building; “Pandemonium, Please Hold” in an open run on the Second City Mainstage; “Vape! The Grease Parody” through Jan. 3 at Apollo Theater; “Adolescent Salvation” through Oct. 3 at Theater Wit; “Sunday in the Park with George” by Kokandy Productions through Nov. 29 at Chopin Theatre; “Come From Away” through Oct. 25 at Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire; “Birds of North America” in a new production through Oct. 4 at A Red Orchid Theatre; “The Humanities” through Oct. 4 at Victory Gardens Theater; “The Attic” through Oct. 11 at the Goodman Theatre; “Jekyll & Hyde” through Nov. 8 at the Broadway Playhouse; “Play On!” through Oct. 18 in The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier; “Kowalski” through Oct. 25 at Lookingglass Theatre in the Water Tower Water Works; “The Front Page” through Oct. 25 at Northlight Theatre in Evanston; “Topdog/Underdog” through Nov. 1 at Steppenwolf Theatre.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.