Theatre Building Chicago opens 30th anniversary season with Stages
- a festival of eight new musicals; August 11-13, 2006

Theatre Building Chicago presents STAGES 2006, a festival of eight new musicals on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, August 11 12, and 13, 2006. The three-day musical extravaganza performs each new work twice in concert-style formats. Now in its thirteenth season. STAGES is committed to developing musicals and the writers who create them.

STAGES kicks off with HALF THE SKY, conceived by Donna Trinkoff, book by Marsha Lee Sheiness, lyrics Luis Santeiro, June Siegel, Greer Woodward, and music Rick Cummins.

STAGES features two musicals by homegrown Chicago writers. BEACH WARS by Nan Hoffman, Laurel Haines and Howard Pfeifer and MAIN-TRAVELLED ROADS by the 2005 Richard Rodgers award-winners Dave Hudson and Paul Libman were both developed in TBC's Musical Theatre Writers Workshop.

STAGES includes STUDIO by Charles Strouse, Broadway's preeminent composer of Annie, Applause, Bye Bye Birdie. STUDIO marks TBC's second Strouse premiere. (The first was THE FUTURE OF THE AMERICAN MUSICAL THEATRE in 1987). STAGES also highlights a "revisal" of the ground-breaking 1959 Broadway jazz musical THE NERVOUS SET, book by Jay Landesman with revisions by Tim Treanor and Lorraine Treanor, music by Tommy Wolf with additional music by Simon Wallace, and lyrics by Fran Landesman. Several of the show's songs have become international jazz standards, such as "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most" and "The Ballad of the Sad Young Men."

STAGES also presents FAIRYSTORIES by Paul Graham Brown. The National Alliance for Musical Theatres suggested this piece to TBC and several other Alliance members that are devoted to developing new work in order to expand the Alliance's capacity to encourage musical production.

STAGES also highlights THE COTTON CLUB by Arnold Margolin, Weslie Brown and Jason Kuller and SUGAR DUMPLING by Cheryl L. Davis and C. Colby Sachs.

THEATRE BUILDING CHICAGO's musical program offers an array of works in multiple "stages" of development. TBC nurtures new works through its Musical Theatre Writers' Workshop and through collaboration with theatre companies and artists across the country.

WHAT: STAGES 2006 - a marathon weekend of EIGHT new musicals
WHEN: STAGES kick-off gala (6pm reception; 7:30pm performance, Fri., Aug. 11)
Curtain times range from 9am-7:30pm, Sat.- Sun., Aug. 12-13
STAGES BRUNCH: 11:15am, Sun., Aug. 13, followed by PRODUCERS' FORUM: 11:45am
WHERE: 1225 W Belmont Ave., Chicago, IL Phone: 773.327.5252
TICKETS: $75: Opening Night performance and receptions; $85: Stages Pass (good for all Sat. & Sun. shows); $20: Brunch, followed by Producers' Forum (free); $15: Single tickets will be sold at the door as available

Reservations are strongly encouraged. Valet & metered parking available; enjoy dining discounts; enjoy dining discounts (with TBC ticket stubs) at neighborhood restaurants.

Visit our website: www.theatrebuildingchicago.org for details.

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STAGES kick-off gala (6pm reception; 7:30pm performance, Fri., Aug. 11) will include pre-show cocktail & hors d'oeuvres followed by the Chicago premiere of HALF THE SKY. Guests will have a chance to meet the entire festival of authors & artists involved. A post-show cocktail reception will conclude the opening night festivities.

BEACH WARS (South Theatre - 7:30pm, Aug. 12; 9:00am, Aug. 13)
Book and Lyrics by Nan Hoffman and Laurel Haines, Music by Howard Pfeifer
A musical farce about a real estate war between two cantankerous couples over Lake Michigan beachfront property

THE COTTON CLUB (South Theatre - 3:30pm, Aug. 12; 3:45pm, Aug. 13)
Book by Arnold Margolin, Music by Weslie Brown, Lyrics by Jason Kuller
Energized by black performers but reserved for "whites only," prohibition's most famous speakeasy sets the scene for a backstage love story

FAIRYSTORIES (North Theatre - 7:30pm, Aug. 12; 9:00am, Aug. 13)
Book, Music and Lyrics by Paul Graham Brown
A musical romance freely adapted from the true story of the Cottingley "fairy" photographs that influenced Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's belief in spiritualism and the occult

HALF THE SKY (South Theatre - 7:30pm, Aug. 11; 12:30pm, Aug. 12)
Conceived by Donna Trinkoff, Book by Marsha Lee Sheiness, Lyrics Luis Santeiro, June Siegel, Greer Woodward, Music Rick Cummins
A contemporary musical odyssey based on the true stories of women around the world

MAIN-TRAVELLED ROADS (North Theatre - 12:30pm, Aug. 12; 6:30pm, Aug. 13)
Music by Paul Libman, Book and Lyrics by Dave Hudson
A new musical from the stories of Hamlin Garland about two families who cope with love, work and class distinctions in the nineteenth century Midwest

THE NERVOUS SET (North Theatre - 3:30pm, Aug. 12; 3:45pm, Aug. 13)
Book by Jay Landesman with revisions by Tim Treanor and Lorraine Treanor, Music by Tommy Wolf with additional music by Simon Wallace, Lyrics by Fran Landesman
A new look at the ground-breaking jazz musical about the dawn of the Beat Generation in "50's" New York City -- the Beats are back

STUDIO (South Theatre - 9:00am, Aug. 12; 1:00pm, Aug. 13)
Book, Music and Lyrics by Charles Strouse
A first look at a new work, by Broadway's preeminent composer of Annie, Applause, Bye Bye Birdie, which depicts generational influences on a young man as he decides between a career as an attorney or as an artist

SUGAR DUMPLING (North Theatre - 9:00am, Aug. 12; 1:00pm, Aug. 13)
Book and Lyrics by C heryl L. Davis, Music by C. Colby Sachs
Blue and Gray meet in Virginia near the end of the Civil War in a personal tale of redemption and new-found freedom

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ATTN: PROFESSIONAL THEATRE LISTINGS:

WHAT:
Theatre Building Chicago presents STAGES
A three day festival of new musicals featuring EIGHT new musicals, with artists and writers from Chicago, across the country and around the world.

WHERE:
Theatre Building Chicago
1225 W. Belmont
Chicago, IL 60657

DATES:
Friday, August 11, 2006 through Sunday, August 13, 2006

KICK OFF RECEPTION:
STAGES kick-off (6pm reception; 7:30pm performance, Fri., Aug. 11) HALF THE SKY (Conceived by Donna Trinkoff, Book by Marsha Lee Sheiness, Lyrics Luis Santeiro, June Siegel, Greer Woodward, Music Rick Cummins) is a contemporary musical odyssey based on the true stories of women around the world.

STAGES
A three-day forum of concert style performances of eight new musicals from 9am to 9pm where artists and audiences network and nurture new musicals in an intense weekend of creativity and discussion.

PRODUCERS' FORUM
An insightful, interactive panel discussion with moderator Jeff Rossen (Entertainment Editor, Gay Chicago Magazine). Get a free backstage glimpse from leading producers about the triumphs and challenges of staging new musicals.

TICKETS:
$75: Opening Night performance and receptions
$85: Stages Pass (good for all Sat. & Sun. shows)
$20: Brunch, followed by Producers' Forum (free)
$15: Single tickets will be sold at the door as available

BOX OFFICE:
For tickets and information contact Theatre Building Chicago located at 1225 W Belmont Ave. - Chicago, IL or call the box office: 773-327-5252.
www.theatrebuildingchicago.org

Reservations are strongly encouraged. Valet & metered parking available; enjoy dining discounts (with TBC ticket stubs) at neighborhood restaurants.

Visit our website: www.theatrebuildingchicago.org for a complete listing of dining partners.

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