Douglas Clark

Due to popular demand, Hell in a Handbag Production' hit comedy I Promised Myself to Live Faster has added three additional performances, extending through May 7, 2023 at The Chopin Downstairs Theatre, 1543 W. Division St. in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood.

Hell in a Handbag Productions will continue its 21st season with the Chicago premiere of I Promised Myself to Live Faster, an intergalactic queer extravaganza featuring closeted extraterrestrials, high stakes pursuits and nuns from outer space, featuring text by Greg Moss and Pig Iron, originally created and conceived by Pig Iron Theatre Company and directed by JD Caudill.

Hell in a Handbag Productions will continue its 21st season with the Chicago premiere of I Promised Myself to Live Faster, an intergalactic queer extravaganza featuring closeted extraterrestrials, high stakes pursuits and nuns from outer space, created and conceived by Pig Iron Theatre Company, with text by Greg Moss and Pig Iron and directed by JD Caudill*. I Promised Myself to Live Faster will play March 23 – April 16, 2023 at The Chopin Upstairs Theatre.

Due to popular demand, Hell in a Handbag Productions’ hit parody A Fine Feathered Murder: A Miss Marbled Mystery has added five additional performances, extending through Saturday, August 13, 2022 at The Chopin Upstairs Theatre.

Hell in a Handbag Productions is concluding its 20th anniversary season with the world premiere of A Fine Feathered Murder: A Miss Marbled Mystery, by Artistic Director David Cerda*, directed by Cheryl Snodgrass. Get a first look at photos here!

Hell in a Handbag Productions will conclude its 20th anniversary season with the world premiere of A Fine Feathered Murder: A Miss Marbled Mystery, by Artistic Director David Cerda*, directed by Cheryl Snodgrass.

Hell in a Handbag Productions will continue its 20th anniversary season with the return of one of its most popular holiday musicals: Christmas Dearest, featuring book and lyrics by Artistic Director David Cerda*, music by Cerda and Scott Lamberty and direction by Derek Van Barham. 

Theatre Artists Studio is premiering Kirt Shineman's crisp and riveting new play, THE MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE, directed by Janis Webb and featuring a commanding performance by Pamela Fields as Dame Christie. The show runs through November 21st.

Hell in a Handbag Productions continues its 20th anniversary season with the return of one of its most popular holiday musicals: Christmas Dearest.

Like a comet that burns far too brightly to last, Janis Joplin exploded onto the music scene in 1967 and, almost overnight, became the queen of rock & roll. The unmistakable voice, filled with raw emotion and tinged with Southern Comfort, made her a must-see headliner from Monterey to Woodstock. A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN, the Broadway musical that recreates the excitement of a true Joplin concert, returns to Playhouse Square's Connor Palace Thursday, Nov. 9 for one 8 pm performance. (Tickets are $59, $49, $39, $29 & $10 Smart Seats, on sale at playhousesquare.org or 216-241-6000.).

Anyone who has heard Janis Joplin knows her immediately the give-all intensity, the great songs, and that rawly emotive voice. A Night With Janis Joplin presents an imagined concert, held a week before her untimely death, with the legendary performer joined by some of her greatest influences from Aretha Franklin to Nina Simone to Bessie Smith to Odetta. Exhilarating Remarkable A joyful ruckus (Washington Post).

Full casting has been announced on curious directive's Frogman which opens at the Traverse Theatre, Codebase, as part of the Edinburgh Festival.  A hugely ambitious, coming-of-age thriller, Frogman is told through live theatre and 360 film in Virtual Reality.

The equity professional Actors Shakespeare Company, in residence at the historic Snyder Academy in Elizabeth, New Jersey will participate in CelebrateHAMILTON 2017 with a staged reading of The Letters, Quotes, Speeches, and Poems of Alexander Hamilton, Elias Boudinot, Elias Dayton, and William Livingston on July, 7 at 7pm.

Oxygen Media presents a seductive “Homicide: Valentine's Day” weekend featuring the very best crimes of passion episodes such as the captivating Jodi Arias “Snapped” two-part special.  Following the network's recently announced commitment to crime programming, the rampage begins on Saturday, February 11th 7PM ET/PT. For a sneak peek, please visit: http://www.oxygen.com/snapped/season-19/videos/spend-valentines-day-weekend-with-oxygen

Every child has that one stuffed animal that they can't live without. Every parent knows the dilemma of what happens when the toy goes missing and the tantrum that follows. In the opening of Adventure Theatre - MTC's 65th season, Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical perfectly describes every parent's worst nightmare: the missing beloved toy.

Now that "Dracula," after enjoying many sold out evenings and ovations, is in its final week, the actor playing Van Helsing, James Rana, had time to answer a few questions asked by Gayle Stahlhuth, East Lynne Theater Company's artistic director who also directed this spellbinding play based on Bram Stoker's gothic novel.

Count Dracula must leave Transylvania for England, where, as he says, there are more "opportunities."

On Friday, August 26 at 8:30 p.m., there will be an American Sign Language Interpretation of 'Dracula' produced by the award-winning Equity professional East Lynne Theater Company. Since the early 1990s, ELTC has offered regularly scheduled ASL performances, as well as ASL performances upon request. The theatrical ASL interpreters are Gina Lanza, who has performed many times for ELTC, and Amy Anderson, who teaches ASL at Ocean City High School. The process involves them seeing the production at least once, plus going over the script several times to figure out who will interpret which roles, and in many cases, developing signs unique to the production for unusual names and words. The ASL interpreters do not distract audience members who do not require this service.  

Several 'Dracula' cast members have previously worked for ELTC, but new to the company is Rachel Holt, so we asked her a few questions, and here are the questions, with her responses.

The award-winning Equity professional East Lynne Theater Company's 2016 season is well underway, and although season tickets are no longer available, there are other ways to save at ELTC.