BoHo Theatre
Encyclopedia
BoHo Theatre is a Chicago-based theatre company. Founded in 2003, their productions have garnered numerous critical raves (including Top Ten production assignations from the Chicago Tribune
, and Time Out Chicago), and have been favored with Joseph Jefferson Award (Jeff Award) recommendations and citations for several productions.
Their mission pledges to create theatre that incorporates the arts as a whole – Art for art’s sake, while their artistic goal involves challenging convention through literary originality and eclectic expression while fostering an ever-evolving artistic environment in which people are inspired to learn, think, dream, and feel. Additionally, to teach themselves and others how to expand, create, and present art through theatre while reveling not only in the process, but also in the journey.
Noted productions include critically acclaimed The Wild Party
by Andrew Lippa
, Side Show
by Bill Russell and Henry Krieger
, and Sophocles
' Electra
. Their production of Songs for a New World
by Jason Robert Brown
, played to sold-out houses, received much critical acclaim, and was chosen as the Chicago Tribune's "Hottest Ticket". Most recently, BoHo's productions of with Fire (after Frankenstein) and the Regional premier of Ahrens and Flaherty's The Glorious Ones
opened to glowing reviews, sold-out performances, and eight Jeff Award nominations.
Actor Sam Wootten received a non-Equity Jeff Award for his portrayal of Oscar Wilde in the BoHo production of Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde
, and BoHo Associate Artistic Director Peter Robel garnered an After Dark award for Outstanding Direction of a Play for the BoHo production of The Merchant of Venice
. Actor Adam Kander received an After Dark award in the acting category for that same production. Longtime BoHo collaborator Brenda Didier recently received a non-Equity Jeff Award for Outstanding Choreography for her work on the BoHo production of the musical The Life
.
Upcoming productions include the Tony Award-winning musical Big River
by William Hauptman
and Roger Miller
, Striking 12
by GrooveLily
, The Elephant Man
by Bernard Pomerance
, Dirty Blonde
by Claudia Shear
, and Icarus by Edwin Sanchez.
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
, and Time Out Chicago), and have been favored with Joseph Jefferson Award (Jeff Award) recommendations and citations for several productions.
Their mission pledges to create theatre that incorporates the arts as a whole – Art for art’s sake, while their artistic goal involves challenging convention through literary originality and eclectic expression while fostering an ever-evolving artistic environment in which people are inspired to learn, think, dream, and feel. Additionally, to teach themselves and others how to expand, create, and present art through theatre while reveling not only in the process, but also in the journey.
Noted productions include critically acclaimed The Wild Party
The Wild Party (Lippa musical)
The Wild Party is a musical with book, lyrics, and music by Andrew Lippa. It is based on Joseph Moncure March's 1928 narrative poem of the same name...
by Andrew Lippa
Andrew Lippa
Andrew Lippa is an American composer, lyricist, book writer, performer, and producer. He is a resident artist at the Ars Nova Theater in New York City.-Biography:...
, Side Show
Side Show
Side Show is a musical about Daisy and Violet Hilton, conjoined twins who make a change from being a circus act to becoming famous stage performers in the 1930s. The show was written by Bill Russell and Henry Krieger . The show starred Alice Ripley as Violet and Emily Skinner as Daisy...
by Bill Russell and Henry Krieger
Henry Krieger
Henry Krieger is an American composer.Krieger wrote the music for the Broadway shows Dreamgirls , The Tap Dance Kid , and Side Show , as well as other works of musical theatre.He was nominated for the Tony Awards for Best Score for both Dreamgirls and Side Show, won a Grammy...
, and Sophocles
Sophocles
Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...
' Electra
Electra (Sophocles)
Electra or Elektra is a Greek tragedy by Sophocles. Its date is not known, but various stylistic similarities with the Philoctetes and the Oedipus at Colonus lead scholars to suppose that it was written towards the end of Sophocles' career.Set in the city of Argos a few years after the Trojan...
. Their production of Songs for a New World
Songs for a New World
Songs for a New World is a work of musical theater written and composed by Jason Robert Brown. Its original off-Broadway production ran for 28 performances at the WPA Theater in New York City in 1995. The show sits on the boundary between musical and song cycle, but it is neither; it is an abstract...
by Jason Robert Brown
Jason Robert Brown
Jason Robert Brown is an American musical theater composer, lyricist, and playwright. Brown's music sensibility fuses pop-rock stylings with theatrical lyrics...
, played to sold-out houses, received much critical acclaim, and was chosen as the Chicago Tribune's "Hottest Ticket". Most recently, BoHo's productions of with Fire (after Frankenstein) and the Regional premier of Ahrens and Flaherty's The Glorious Ones
The Glorious Ones
The Glorious Ones is a musical with book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty. Set in 17th-century Italy, it concerns a theatre group in the world of commedia dell'arte and theatre of the Italian Renaissance....
opened to glowing reviews, sold-out performances, and eight Jeff Award nominations.
Actor Sam Wootten received a non-Equity Jeff Award for his portrayal of Oscar Wilde in the BoHo production of Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde
Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde
Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde is a 1997 play written by Moisés Kaufman. It deals with Oscar Wilde's three trials on the matter of his relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas, which led to charges of "committing acts of gross indecency with other male persons"...
, and BoHo Associate Artistic Director Peter Robel garnered an After Dark award for Outstanding Direction of a Play for the BoHo production of The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...
. Actor Adam Kander received an After Dark award in the acting category for that same production. Longtime BoHo collaborator Brenda Didier recently received a non-Equity Jeff Award for Outstanding Choreography for her work on the BoHo production of the musical The Life
The Life (musical)
The Life is a musical with a book by David Newman, Ira Gasman and Cy Coleman, music by Coleman, and lyrics by Gasman.Based on an original idea by Gasman, the show explores the underbelly of Times Square's 42nd Street, inhabited by pimps and prostitutes, druggies and dealers, and runaways and street...
.
Upcoming productions include the Tony Award-winning musical Big River
Big River (musical)
Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a musical with a book by William Hauptman and music and lyrics by Roger Miller.Based on Mark Twain's classic 1884 novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, it features music in the bluegrass and country styles in keeping with the setting of the novel...
by William Hauptman
William Hauptman
William Hauptman, born November 26, 1942, in Wichita Falls, Texas, is a writer, best known for the plays, musicals, and short stories he has written.- Work :*Big River*Comanche Cafe*Domino Courts*The Durango Flash*Gillette*Heat...
and Roger Miller
Roger Miller
Roger Dean Miller was an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor, best known for his honky tonk-influenced novelty songs...
, Striking 12
Striking 12
Striking 12 is the music group GrooveLily's off-Broadway holiday musical, based on Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Match Girl".The cast recording was released in 2004 by PS Classics.- Track listing : # Violin Ascension# Overture...
by GrooveLily
GrooveLily
Groovelily is a trio, a pop band made up of Valerie Vigoda , Brendan Milburn , and Gene Lewin . The band was originally formed in 1994 as "The Valerie Vigoda Band." Groovelily's music combines classical music, musical theatre, jazz and rock...
, The Elephant Man
The Elephant Man (play)
The Elephant Man is a 1977 play by Bernard Pomerance. The production's Broadway debut in 1979 was produced by Richmond Crinkley and Nelle Nugent, and directed by Jack Hofsiss...
by Bernard Pomerance
Bernard Pomerance
Bernard Pomerance is an American playwright and poet whose best known work is the play The Elephant Man. Pomerance was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1940. He studied at the University of Chicago and moved to London in 1968....
, Dirty Blonde
Dirty Blonde (play)
Dirty Blonde is a play by Claudia Shear.Conceived by Shear and James Lapine and featuring songs from I'm No Angel and She Done Him Wrong, it explores the phenomenon of the legendary Mae West, one of America's most enduring and controversial pop culture icons...
by Claudia Shear
Claudia Shear
Claudia Shear is an American actress and playwright.The Brooklyn-born Shear first came to prominence with her 1994 self-penned solo performance piece Blown Sideways Through Life, which enjoyed a run of 221 performances at the off-Broadway Cherry Lane Theatre and won her an Obie Award and a Drama...
, and Icarus by Edwin Sanchez.