inside scoop on 2 new theaters: Lake wooded area Theatre and The edge - Chicago Tribune

Two captivating new theater initiatives are taking shape in Chicagoland: one in Lake forest and the other in the Edgewater neighborhood.

Let's birth within the north suburb, the place a real estate entrepreneur, native resident, actor, administrator and musical theater aficionado named Steve Malone is opening knowledgeable theater to be established because the Lake woodland Theatre.

Malone, who will function producing inventive director, has put together a season of indicates, beginning next month with "the key garden," slated to open June 11. That should be followed by deliberate productions of "younger Frankenstein" (slated for October) and "A refrain Line" (March 2017).

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These suggests are to be staged on the John and Nancy Hughes Theater in downtown Lake woodland, a smartly-geared up, 309-seat civic venue that has simply undergone a $1.5 million renovation.

Over a fresh lunch, the genial and ebullient Malone talked about wanting his new enterprise eventually to be a full fairness operation in order to tap into what he sees as a huge market for knowledgeable theater in the north suburbs. he is still negotiating with the actors union, so this primary summer season construction might be a non-equity reveal however will, Malone talked about, be amply resourced, produced at the highest degree and feature each proper-tier talent and a full orchestra. Malone, who has made no small plans, additionally spoke of creating a rehearsal and a distinct-event area on separate property that he has bought in Lake woodland.

Malone is directing "the key garden" himself; casting has yet to be introduced. he is set single tickets at $49, with the three-show season going for $120. there's a domain up and working, too: lakeforesttheatre.com.

also up and operating is a brand new theater in Edgewater general as the area.

found at 5451 N. Broadway — not far from the Steep Theatre's a hit operation — The aspect is a 114-seat theater built out in what become formerly a industrial building. or not it's owned by a preserving enterprise it truly is owned by using Anne Phillips, who instructed me this week that she sees the venue primarily as a philanthropic undertaking and should be happy if the vicinity breaks even.

Phillips is a board member of the revered academic theater enterprise referred to as Li'l Buds, and assisting out that group was, she advised me, a big part of her motivation in setting up and funding a brand new theater space in which it may perform. however other businesses even have been renting this area because it opened quietly this spring.

i'm paying my first discuss with Sunday, to peer a brand new group known as the Underscore Theatre company produce a musical about the Haymarket Riots in Chicago titled "Haymarket: The Anarchist's Songbook." look ahead to my overview.

The edge Theatre is the rare storefront-fashion venue with fastened, proscenium-trend seating and a fly area over the stage. And it's additionally enjoying host to a captivating new undertaking from Tom Mullen, a Chicago theater expert with a protracted-standing activity in the construction of latest performs and musicals.

Mullen is launching a gaggle known as Chicago Theatre Workshop — modeled, he says, on the long island Theatre Workshop.

His notion is that numerous new suggests in Chicago get readings, and some get totally produced, however there is not any business dedicated to what Mullen calls "the teenage stage" of both new musicals or what Mullen phrases "plays where tune is fundamental to telling the story." That could be his sweet spot, he says.

Ergo, that you would be able to are expecting to see modest but fairness-affiliated productions of nascent works, as produced by means of the Chicago Theatre Workshop and introduced on the area Theater.

Mullen is planning a fundraiser this summer season to kick things off, followed by way of a 2016-17 season, with titles to be introduced.

He also plans a digital component to his undertaking: He says he'll movie the are living productions and make them purchasable for streaming, developing, Mullen says, "new revenue streams for Chicago artists."

Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.

cjones5@tribpub.com Twitter @ChrisJonesTrib

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