| Oodles of Chicago theater news. Let's get to it. A new (less purist) pop-up version of Marie's Crisis piano bar in New York (where I can occasionally be found) is coming to Chicago's Virgin Hotel (203 N. Wabash Ave.), beginning Oct. 1 and lasting throughout the fall. According to a group called Bucket Listers, the new
"fully immersive" bar will be called Broadway Sing-Along Bar and feature nightly showtune karaoke, giveaways, drag shows, photo ops, themed cocktails and the like. Enjoy. The Jeffs Committee has released details of its Sept. 29 Equity Jeff Awards, this year at the Harris Theater in downtown Chicago. Alexis J. Roston and Sean Fortunato will be the hosts. Johanna McKenzie Miller will direct. Musical direction will be from Michael McBride, and Janet Ulrich Brooks will be the announcer; tickets are $80-$100. May the ceremony come in at less than four hours. Rough House Puppet Arts will bring Chicago’s "only puppet horror experience" (it's a niche), “House of the Exquisite Corpse,” to Steppenwolf Theatre’s Merle Reskin Garage Space from Oct. 9 to Nov. 1. Also for your Halloween planning list, the people who bring you
"Drunk Shakespeare" in the Loop are branching out into “Drunk Dracula.” The bloody one starts feeding Sept. 24. Limited supplies (ages 21+). As conceived and directed by Scott Wittman, Patti LuPone is bringing her
"Matters of the Heart" concert to the Auditorium Theatre on Jan. 31, 2026. Big space, but her voice surely can fill it! Aurora Penepacker, Melanie Vitaterna, Lucas Burr and Quinn Rigg in “Amélie the Musical” by Kokandy Productions at the Chopin Theatre. (Michael Brosilow) Kokandy Productions’ "Amélie the Musical" has been extended through Oct. 19. That means
"Amélie" (downstairs) and the upcoming "Jekyll and Hyde" (upstairs) will be running at the Chopin Theatre at the same time for a couple of weeks — a first for Kokandy to have two shows running concurrently. Porchlight Music Theatre has added an additional Oct. 1 performance of
"New Faces Sing Broadway 1960." The revue of Broadway in 1960 with Chicago's up-and-comers is at the lovely Rhapsody Theater, 1328 W. Morse Ave. Chicago's Water People Theater took its "The Delicate Tears of the Waning Moon” to Florida as part of the 39th International Hispanic Theatre Festival of Miami. Longtime Chicago actor Phillip James Brannon will join the company of "Oh, Mary!" on Broadway in January. And Michael Patrick Thornton is looking good on the doors of the Hudson Theatre in New York, where he soon opens
"Waiting for Godot" with an actor named Keanu Reeves. Finally, the theater-supporting Driehaus Foundation has a new boss, the longtime Chicago nonprofit leader Lynn Osmond. See you at the theater. — Chris Jones, chief theater critic Jessie Fisher and cast in “Catch Me If You Can” at Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire. (Michael Brosilow) Our current list of Chris Jones Recommended shows: “Angels in America” through Sept. 21 by Invictus Theatre Company at the Windy City Playhouse; "Amélie the Musical" by Kokandy Productions at the Chopin Theatre through Oct. 19; “Catch Me If You Can” through Oct. 19 at Marriott Theatre. Sign up for the Theater Loop newsletter: Our weekly newsletter has the latest news and reviews from America’s hottest theater city. Theater critic Chris Jones will share a behind-the-curtain look at what you need to know. | 
