Yahdina Udeen and Rashawn Thompson in The Marvin Gaye Story at Black Ensemble Theater

Photo: Danny Nicholas

Behind the soulful music of R&B icon Marvin Gaye was a tragic story of abuse, currently captured on stage in Black Ensemble Theater’s newest bio-musical The Marvin Gaye Story. Rashawn Thompson gives a pitch-perfect performance as Gaye, with powerhouse vocals and crackling chemistry with costar Melanie McCoullough.
Raised in the South Side neighborhood of Englewood, Thompson first became involved with Black Ensemble Theater through their New Directions program, which uses theater arts to help teens transition into adulthood. Now a teacher with New Directions, he’s been with the company for 12 years. Thompson speaks to us about stepping into Gayes’ shoes, working with writer/director/producer Jackie Taylor, and how Black Ensemble Theater has impacted the community.

The Sunday fire that caused severe damage to the field house at Indian Boundary Park has forced Fury Theatre to move its upcoming outdoor production of A Midsummer Night's Dream a few blocks west, to Chippewa Park (6748 N Sacramento Ave).

Shakespeare's comedy is directed by Arin Mulvaney and features actors Patrick Bromley, Jill Matel, Matthew McDaniel, Jenny Tremblay, Nathan Thompson, Ellen Cribbs, Brian Conley, Keath Hall, Andrew Lund, Rand Ringgenberg, Isaac Samuelson, Beth Harris, Mark Dodge, Betty Lorkowski, Alex Levin, Christine Worden, Morgan Ziegelski, Izabella Mims-Haddad and Isabelle Roberts. The schedule remains the same: Fridays and Saturdays at 7pm and Sundays at 3pm, June 1–17. Reservations can be made at Brown Paper Tickets.

Muntu Dance Theatre

Photo: Marc Monaghan

The NATO summit promises more than CTA closures and tear gas. First Lady Michelle Obama celebrates her homecoming with a Sunday lunch for the spouses of NATO leaders at the South Side’s Gary Comer Youth Center, only two miles from the South Euclid Avenue apartment in which she grew up. The featured performers include Muntu Dance Theatre and the South Shore Drill Team, companies that, like the Obamas, call Chicago's South Side home. Also on the bill: the vocal talents of the Soul Children of Chicago.

Muntu Dance Theatre has been performing African, Caribbean and African-American works since 1972. Their piece for Sunday, entitled Tiba, is choreographed by West African master dancer Moustapha Bangoura and contains a live drum orchestra and customary costumes from Guinea.

Performing for the First Lady and hundreds of other dignitaries requires extensive security checks and weeks of training. “It was last month when we got a call from the Comer Center asking for a meeting. We’ve had a partnership with the Comer Center for some years now,” says Mignon McPherson-Stewart, Muntu’s resource development manager. “When we went to the meeting, they told me that the First Lady had requested for us to be involved in this event she was planning. Of course, we were ecstatic and immediately agreed.”

Jonathan Weir and Shannon Cochran in A Little Night Music at Writers' Theatre

Photo: Michael Brosilow

After years of muddle, aging actress Desiree Armfeldt is looking for a coherent existence in Hugh Wheeler and Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music. An actress who divides her time between on-camera work in Los Angeles and theater in Chicago, Shannon Cochran is a perfect fit for the character, and she delivers a beautiful performance in Writers’ Theatre’s stunning, intimate production. Born in Savannah, Georgia, Cochran began pursuing a career in theater since graduating from the Cincinatti Conservatory of Music, traveling around the country before settling down in Chicago for 12 years. She moved out to Los Angeles to pursue more TV and film work; there she found her future husband, but also a drought of substantial stage productions. Cochran speaks to us about her long relationship with co-star Deanna Dunagan, how the changes to Sondheim’s score influenced her character, and why she always finds herself returning to Chicago.