Once again, Chicago has placed a few names on the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation's annual list of Fellows, giving them each a no-strings-attached grant of $500,000 over the next five years. Huzzah for geniuses! So who are this year's local connections? more ›

We know The Hypocrites Our Town is good, but now, it's officially the best. The acclaimed production, which moved to New York almost a year ago, is the longest running production of the play. Ever. Considering it's a very commonly produced play - more than 4,000 performances according to The New York Times - that's quite an accomplishment. This production, Off Broadway at the Barrow Street Theater, broke the record set by the original Broadway production from 1938. more ›

With more than 200 theater companies in Chicago, inter-group communication probably becomes a bit difficult at time. However, recent initiatives are helping connect theater artists and groups from around the city, the country and the world. more ›

Broadway doesn’t love Chicago as much as it led on. Just one week after the opening of Chicago director David Cromer’s Broadway debut with Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs, producers posted a closing notice for Sunday and cancelled plans for Broadway Bound, another Cromer-directed Simon show scheduled to open in a few weeks. Memoirs received mixed reviews, but apparently it needed rave reviews to live on. The show didn’t do well in the box office and advance ticket sales were weak. more ›

Last week was a big week for Chicago plays on Broadway. Steppenwolf’s Superior Donuts opened at The Music Box Theatre, the same venue where August: Osage County recently closed. Keith Huff’s A Steady Rain, which ran at Chicago Dramatists last year, opened at Gerald Shoenfeld Theater, and Brighton Beach Memoirs, helmed by Chicago director-of-the-moment David Cromer, began previews Friday. more ›

• David Cromer’s acclaimed production of Our Town, which originated at Hypocrites last fall, has been extended Off-Broadway at the Barrow Street Theatre until January 31. However, Cromer, who also plays the role of the stage manager, will only be in the production until August 16, and then he has to go onto his bigger Broadway obligations - directing Neil Simon’s Broadway Bound and Brighton Beach Memoirs. His replacement has not been announced.
• The original cast of Tracy Letts’ Superior Donuts, which premiered at the Steppenwolf last summer, will keep the same cast for its Broadway run, opening in October at the Music Box Theatre. The cast includes Michael McKean, known for his roles in Christopher Guest mockumentaries, as the donut shop owner, and ensemble member Jon Michael Hill as his only employee. We’re happy about the cast, but from what we’ve heard, the script should definitely not remain the same. Good luck editing Mr. Letts.

Chicago director David Cromer - currently enjoying critical acclaim for his Hypocrites and now Off Broadway production of Our Town -- will direct Tennessee Williams’ classic A Streetcar Named Desire at the Writers’ Theatre in Glencoe, Illinois, according to Variety. The show will be a part of the theater’s 2009-2010 season, and performances will run in 2010 from May 4 through July 11. more ›