The Huntington announces 2025-2026 season
Nearly three dozen arts organizations are expected to be involved in stagings of Udofia's cycle by the time it is done. 'The Ceremony' will be part of the package offered to full-season subscribers to The Huntington.
That season, announced Thursday afternoon, will include Jez Butterworth's 'The Hills of California,' Chris Grace's 'Sardines (a comedy about death),' the wrenching musical 'Fun Home,' Luis Alfaro's 'Oedipus el Rey,' Joshua Harmon's 'We Had a World,' and Jonathan Spector's 'Eureka Day.'
In a telephone interview, Huntington artistic director Loretta Greco said that in mapping out the season, she sought 'great stories that are going to speak to us today' while also being mindful that 'there are too many humor-free things happening today. We have to be able to laugh.'
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Greco will direct 'The Hills of California,' which ran on Broadway last fall. It's about the fraught homecoming of four adult sisters in the mid-1970s who return to the seaside house where they grew up – and where their mother is dying. The mother had tried to prepare them for careers as singers, akin to the Andrews Sisters.
The play will be presented in association with Berkeley Repertory Theatre from Sept. 11-Oct. 12.
From Sept. 30-Nov. 9, The Huntington will present 'Sardines (a comedy about death).' Written and performed by Chris Grace, and directed by Eric Michaud, 'Sardines' is a seriocomic solo play about Grace's attempt to process a staggering amount of loss in a short time period: the deaths of Grace's partner, his parents, and two of his siblings. 'He performs it with the deft radar of a comedian,' Greco said.
Next up, from Nov. 14-Dec. 14, is
seven
years ago.
'Fun Home,' which is based on Alison Bechdel's graphic novel, focuses on a middle-aged gay cartoonist looking back at her complicated relationship with her closeted father. As with 'The Hills of California,' the musical offers a reminder, Greco said, that 'your parents are a piece of who you are.' With music by Jeanine Tesori and a book and lyrics by Lisa Kron, 'Fun Home' will be directed by Logan Ellis.
From Feb. 12-March 15, 2026, The Huntington will present 'We Had a World,' by
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Greco will be back in the director role for Luis Alfaro's 'Oedipus el Rey,' a reimagining of the classic drama by Sophocles that is set in present-day Los Angeles. It will run May 7-June 7, 2026.
Rounding out the year will be 'Eureka Day,' Jonathan Spector's comedy about parents at a progressive private school whose ideals are tested when they are confronted with a case of the mumps. Slated for May 28-June 28, 2026, 'Eureka Day' will be directed by Margo Bordelon, who helmed the Huntington production of
Don Aucoin can be reached at
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Chicago Tribune
9 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
Review: ‘The Color Purple' renews its Chicago welcome at the Goodman Theatre
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Mack's intensely focused performance suggests she long has been waiting for this particular role. She sings it superbly, which is no surprise, but her work in Act 1 is most striking in how intensely she captures the capturing of a wonderful young woman by a pair of brutally abusive men, and how she manifests the physical trauma that evokes. It's a rich and empathetic performance and it is, of course, key to the success of the production. I have my quibbles. The musical and dramatic tempos in Act 2 drag some and I don't care for how Sofia gets blocked by Celie for most audience members in the crucial dinner-table scene where she literally comes back to life by what both Walker and Norman imply is by the grace of God. I felt that way in 2019 and that scene is staged much the same. (I also still miss the much larger original orchestrations, although 'The Color Purple' now is often and effectively staged with eight musicians, as is the case at the Goodman.) 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USA Today
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Diddy made his career on stage. His sex-crimes trial is the biggest stage of his life.
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Boston Globe
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‘Back to the Future' celebrates 40 years, and a musical reworking
Luke Antony Neville, left, and Lucas Hallauer, right, in "Back to the Future." McLeod9 Creative Advertisement However, as they met with potential producers, they faced skepticism. 'We thought, 'This is going to be easy! Everybody and their uncle ought to be lining up to do this,'' Gale says. 'But it wasn't like that. They'd always say, 'Well, you guys have never done musical theater before. What makes you think you can do it?' And we'd say, 'Well, we invented the franchise! We know a whole lot about these characters and the story.'' Advertisement After a long-and-winding development path, 'Back to the Future: The Musical' finally bowed in Manchester, England, in 2020 before opening in London the following year, where it won the Olivier Award for Best Musical. Broadway beckoned in 2023, and now its national tour speeds into the Citizens Opera House, July 8-20, presented by Broadway in Boston, on the heels of the film's 40th anniversary on July 3. 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That meant leaning into the innovative magic of Tim Hatley's scenic design, Finn Ross' video design, and Chris Fisher's theatrical illusions. 'It's really spectacular,' Gale says. 'I think we raised the bar on what you could do on stage.' Of course, they worried about disappointing fans with a stage version that didn't live up to the film. But Gale says that most fans he's encountered have adored the show, including one woman in London who told him she quit therapy and instead spent that money on tickets to see 'Back to the Future' every week—and she's happier for it. Advertisement Gale speculates that the story continues to resonate 40 years later because it captures the moment in every child's life when 'they suddenly understand that my parents were once young like me. That's a cosmic idea.' It also powerfully illustrates how one decision in life can have far-reaching effects. 'We see these two different timelines for the McFly family—one where George stands up for himself, and one is where George wimps out. So it's a good reminder to people to say, 'The things that I do in my life matter. This may be an important decision I'm making, and I need to give it thought.' BACK TO THE FUTURE Presented by Broadway in Boston. At: Citizens Opera House, July 8-20. Tickets: from $40;
