Performing Arts
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Bohemian Theatre Company Under the guidance of cofounders Stephen Genovese and Thomas Samorian, BoHo specializes in pared-down stagings of dramas by writers ranging from Shakespeare to Brecht to David Henry Hwang, as well as intimate rethinkings of musicals like Jekyll & Hyde. The company’s fifth-anniversary benefit, More Than Skin Deep, takes place February 16 at the Heartland Studio, 7016 N. Glenwood, which has been home base since 2007. Next comes Playing With Fire (After Frankenstein), Barbara Field’s faithful 1989 adaptation of Mary Shelley’s novel (3/6-4/12). BoHo moves to Theatre Building Chicago for La Cage aux Folles (5/21-7/12), Jerry Herman and Harvey Fierstein’s musical comedy about a gay couple posing as a husband and wife. And next summer they return to the Heartland with Shakespeare’s The Tempest, (7/24-8/30). a866-811-4111 or 773-791-2393, bohotheatre.com. —AW
Lifeline Theatre Founded in 1982, Lifeline moved into its current home—an old Commonwealth Edison substation—in 1986. “We believe in storytelling,” says artistic director Dorothy Milne of the ensemble, known for imaginative literary adaptations and children’s shows. “Film does realism. We can’t do that, and don’t want to try.”
Upcoming guest productions include Idle Muse Theatre Company in Julia Jordan’s Saint Scarlet (2/5-3/8, idlemuse.org), a LiveWire Theatre staging of David Lindsay-Abaire’s Wonder of the World (3/13-4/5, livewirechicago.com), and the Curious Theatre Branch doing Harold Pinter’s The Caretaker (5/28-6/28, curioustheatrebranch.com). a Main stage, 1439 W. Jarvis, studio, 1520 W. Jarvis, 773-973-2150, thesideproject.net. —AW
Choreographed and directed by Iwona Tuc, the dancers tour extensively—both with and without the other Lira groups—and participate in the annual Lira show at Symphony Center, A Polish Christmas. And then, of course, there’s the odd civic event. “When Mayor Daley needs something Polish,” Migala says, “he calls us.”
