Goodman Will Premiere Emmett Till Drama in 2007-08; Leslie Arden's New Musical Also Bows

//assets.playbill.com/editorial/dbe1929dde433a1c002d4c90e1b2f864-1BE0E3FD4CAB4399BAB9F3A2DD116536.jpg — Goodman Theatre artistic director Robert Falls. Photo by Aubrey Reuben

Launching the season in the 856-seat Albert Theatre is Pulitzer Prize finalist Sarah Ruhl's most recent work, Passion Play: a cycle, "an expansively theatrical rumination on politics, religion and loyalty," directed by Mark Wing-Davey, in September 2007.

Also at the Albert:

Falls' critically acclaimed production of Conor McPherson's Shining City, about a psychiatrist juggling clients and a double life. It may include some elements of the 2006 Tony Award-nominated Broadway production that played Manhattan Theatre Club's Biltmore Theatre. January 2008.

Harris Yulin — who appeared in Finishing the Picture and Frank's Home — directing Horton Foote's The Trip to Bountiful (as he did for Signature Theatre in New York City), as part of "a Horton Foote Festival, including events that highlight this playwright's celebrated career and artistry." Detailed information about the Horton Foote Festival will be provided at a later date. March 2008.

Kate Whoriskey, returning in spring 2008 to direct the world premiere of Chicago playwright Ifa Bayeza's The Ballad of Emmett Till — part documentary, part poetic elegy, based on interviews with the survivors of teenager Till's 1955 murder. April 2008.

The new musical, The Boys Are Coming Home, with music and lyrics by Leslie Arden, featuring a new book by Rebecca Gilman, directed by David Petrarca. Inspired by Much Ado About Nothing, it's a "witty, romantic new work first seen in a workshop at Northwestern University's American Musical Theatre Project." In it, "swing meets bebop…in the tumultuous, anything-can-happen post-World War II era." June 2008. Opening the season in the 400-seat Owen Theatre in October 2007 is Eduardo Machado's bittersweet 1958 Havana-set family drama The Cook, directed by resident artistic associate Henry Godinez. In it "the aristocratic owners of an estate flee the country, entrusting it to their young cook, Gladys, who vows to safeguard it until their return. Through the years she holds firm to her promise, as the dream of a new society crumbles under the weight of corrupted ideals."

Also in the Owen:

William Brown returns to direct the 30th anniversary production of the perennial holiday favorite, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, adapted by Goodman dramaturg Tom Creamer. November 2007.

The Latino Theatre Festival, curated by Godinez, returning for its fourth summer in August 2008. It will include performances "by some of the best international, national and local Latino theatre companies."

Two plays to be announced. Subscriptions to Goodman Theatre’s 2007-08 season are now on sale. For more information call (312) 443-3800 or visit www.GoodmanTheatre.org.

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