Page 6 - Robert Falls News Today

Welcome to The Big Ticket, our weekly arts and culture roundup designed to help you figure out what to do in and around Chicago.

Good morning, Chicago. Here are some of the top stories you need to know to start your day.

Spring is busting out all over and our critics pick 20 promising offerings on local stages.

While new artistic leaders took over at Marriott, Goodman and Metropolis theaters this year, Auroras Copley Theatre heralded a new era with the inauguration of its Bold Series in its newly renovated, 165-seat theater.

The new production was previously set to embark on a U.S. tour, but will now begin abroad.

Director Henry Godinez’ new production opens in a freewheeling 1950s Havana playground of Cuban artistes and the Hotel Nacional.

That Goodman Theatres superb "Swing State" moves audiences from laughter to tears is no surprise. What is noteworthy about Rebecca Gilmans powerful new drama is how it elicits those contrary emotions within nanoseconds of each other -- within a single line of dialogue, even. And more significantly, how its humor and its pathos are entirely earned.

Gilman's pithy new work, starring Mary Beth Fisher, is having its world premiere at the Goodman Theatre.

Even with Robert Falls at the helm, good portrayals, and good technical work, the poor script by Gilman overwhelms everything else in "Swing State."

"Swing State" is the 10th play by Rebecca Gilman to be staged at the Goodman Theatre in the past 25 years, and one of the last plays to be directed there by her long-time champion, Robert Falls, who is now working his way through his final season as the Goodman's artistic director.