Jan. 07--Let's look ahead to what's likely to be going on in the business-that-is-show, here in the Middle West.
I'll begin with real estate; 2016 will be a banner year for new arts spaces. As designed by the architect Jeanne Gang and her Studio Gang Architects, the new Writers Theatre space in Glencoe nears completion. Tom Stoppard's "Arcadia," which is slated to open in March, will be the first show therein, and the high-roller donors who made this $34 million game-changer for Glencoe and the live arts on the North Shore will be feted in early February. Historically, affluent towns along Lake Michigan have resisted major arts buildings, fearing traffic congestion, parking woes and noise. Glencoe made a different choice and the results seem likely to transform the identity of Writers Theatre, a group that started in a tiny room in the back of a bookstore, and the village of Glencoe itself.
The new Chicago Children's Theatre, located in a former police station in the West Loop, broke ground at the end of the year. This development is a two-stage thing, with new offices and rehearsal space coming long before the planned 300-seat performance space. We're likely to see the former in 2017, and, even assuming the money falls into place, the latter maybe not until 2020.
Then we move to previously announced but more speculative projects. TimeLine Theatre hopes to firm up plans to move to a renovated space within the Trumbull School in Andersonville. Northlight Theatre has similar hopes for a new home in downtown Evanston. Strawdog Theatre also is expected to move to Evanston in 2017, although to Howard Street, just across the Chicago border.
And what big new announcements might we hear in 2016? Chicago Shakespeare Theater is expected to announce its new home on Navy Pier, occupying the footprint now held by the Skyline Stage, which will make its exit (no tears here). The Steppenwolf Theatre should make progress on its delayed expansion plan, directly to the south of its Lincoln Park location on Halsted Street. This spring, the Goodman Theatre will open its new Alice B. Rapoport Center for Education, part of its downtown structure. Second City, having recovered from an August fire, will take control of yet more space in Old Town, dedicated to training students. On the Southport corridor, Mercury Theater will open its new cabaret space, dubbed "Venus," in the space formerly occupied by Cullen's Bar Grill.
At the other end of the budget spectrum, Redtwist Theatre in Edgewater is eyeing some neighboring storefronts. Griffin Theatre might finally announce its long-awaited move to another former police station, this one on Damen Avenue, close to Lincoln Square. And Piven Theatre might make public its own, long-rumored plans for a move.
So much for real estate. What about art?
Shakespeare Theater's festival honoring its namesake scribe kicks off in January and runs all year. So if you are an avid Shakespearean, I'd say that 2016 will probably be the best year ever for the Bard in this town. The local productions probably would have happened anyway, but the festival format is bringing a plethora of visiting companies from across the globe. And it's rare, frankly, for producers and presenters to turn a lousy bit of Shakespeare into a world tour. There are too many existing barriers. The odds suggest, then, that mucho good stuff will be forthcoming.
The coming year also brings more pre-Broadway tryouts, including this summer's stand for "The SpongeBob Musical," which is a promising notion, especially since it is directed by Tina Landau, who is hungry for her first true commercial hit. Similarly enticing (and also in June) is the Goodman Theatre tryout of the new Broadway musical "War Paint" (it's not officially billed as such, but trust me). With a book by Doug Wright, music by Scott Frankel and lyrics by Michael Korie, this is the mostly true story of the battle between cosmetic rivals Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden. The show will star Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole, marquee Broadway celebrities of the first rank.
Speaking of celebrities, Tracy Letts will premiere his first major new play since "Superior Donuts," which did quite nicely. It's called "Mary Page Marlowe," explores a woman at different stages of her life, stars Carrie Coon, and opens in April at Letts' home court, the Steppenwolf Theatre Company. That will make some news in theaterland.
And in the fall, some of our artistic attention will be diverted by a little show from Broadway called "Hamilton." You might find yourself reading a bit more on that subject.
Happy new year.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
cjones5@tribpub.com
