White City in the Limelight
The World’s Columbian Exposition
in theater and dance
THEATER WORKS ABOUT THE 1893 WORLD’S FAIR
- 1492: An Operatic Extravaganza words by R.A. Barnet and music by Carl Pflueger (1892)
- America by Imre Kiralfe (1893)
- Show Boat (1927)
- When Chicago Was Young (1932)
- Fair City (1993)
- Loving Little Egypt (2000)
- The White City (2013)
- Love Affairs and Wedding Bells (2015)
- Columbus and the Tesla Box (2017)
- The Light Years (2017)
- Fair Game (2017)
- Burnham’s Dream (2018)
- Deadly (2019)
- Sangamon Songs (2019)
- White City Murder (2019)
- Sophia Hayden Deserves Better (2021)
DANCE WORKS ABOUT THE 1893 WORLD’S FAIR
- The White City (Thodos Ballet, 2014)
- The Nutcracker (Joffrey Ballet, 2016)
RECENT POSTS ABOUT THEATER, DANCE, AND OTHER STAGE WORKS
Nov. 2, 2018: World Premier of Alex Temple’s “Three Principles of Noir”
Composer Alex Temple [Image from the American Composers Orchestra.] The American Composers Orchestra (ACO) will perform the world premiere a piece having a time-traveling science fiction narrative centered around a Chicago historian who travels back in time to the 1893 World's Fair. The ensemble will perform Alex Temple's Three Principles of Noir with singer Meaghan Burke, on November 2, 2018, at Carnegie Hall in New York. Three Principles of Noir is a “science-fiction micro-opera” for amplified voice and chamber orchestra with lighting and costume, set in Chicago’s past, present and future. Alex Temple, who graduated with her D.M.A. [...]
Oct. 6 & 7, 2018: Masks & Myths: Devils and Dancers from Sri Lanka (Chicago)
Mandala, a South Asian performing arts organization in Chicago, will present Masks & Myths: Devils and Dancers from Sri Lanka on Saturday, October 6 at 7 pm and again on Sunday, October 7, at 3 pm at the Reva & David Logan Center for the Arts, 915 East 60th St. in Chicago. Not since the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition have Sri Lankan dancers appeared as part of a highly visible international exchange. At that time, Kandyan artists performed in cages as so-called “devil dancers” at the Ceylon Pavilion on the fairgrounds. Dubbed “Devil Dancers,” Sri Lankan dance artists in the [...]
June 1-July 1, 2018: “Burnham’s Dream: The White City” musical
The world premiere of a new musical about the Director of Works for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition opens on June 1 for a one-month run in Chicago. “Burnham’s Dream: The White City,” written by June Finfer with music by Elizabeth Doyle, tells “the tale of ambition of a city and of an architect … Chicago’s Dream City that lived for only a few months, then vanished.” In her 2010 play, “The Glass House,” Finfer explored the life and great work of another famous Chicago architect, Mies van der Rohe and his Farnsworth House. This new show, directed by [...]
Nov. 30, 2017: “Fair Game” theater show at Northwestern University
An interactive theater show opening soon at Northwestern University will allow audience members to walk through the magic (and menace) of the 1893 World’s Fair. “Fair Game: A Chicago Spectacle” by Sit and Spin Productions explores Chicago in the years 1891 to 1893, as the city builds and then hosts the Columbian Exposition. Written and directed by Eli Newell, the choose-your-own-adventure “FAIR GAME” is described this way: As the 1890s commence and the new century beckons, Chicago is a city reborn into grand opulence, danger, and, above all, spectacle. Throughout the town, people of all ages and from all [...]
Nov. 16, 2017: “Making a New American Nutcracker” documentary premiers
The Joffrey Ballet's spectacular new production of The Nutcracker, which Tony Award-winning choreographer Christopher Wheeldon re-imagined taking place on the fairgrounds of the Columbian Exposition in the winter of 1892 (see our other post here), is the subject of a new documentary titled "Making a New American Nutcracker." Produced by Daniel Andries and narrated by actress Neve Campbell, the documentary will premiere on Thursday, November 16, at 8:00 pm on Chicago's WTTW11 and on wttw.com. Other PBS stations may pick up the show for broadcast in December 2017 (check your local listings). BroadwayWorld.com reports that: "'Making a New American Nutcracker' takes [...]
Dec. 1-30, 2017 (Chicago): Joffrey Ballet returns to the Fair
Chicago's Joffrey Ballet will be returning to the Columbian Exposition with their 2017 production of The Nutcracker, running from December 1 to 30 at the Auditorium Theater. This spectacular ballet by choreographer Christopher Wheeldon premiered in 2016 and invites the audience to ... "journey inside Chicago's 1893 World's Fair with Wheeldon's critically acclaimed holiday masterpiece. When young Marie and her mother, a sculptress who is creating the fair's iconic Statue of the Republic, host a holiday party, a surprise visit from the charming Great Impresario sets off a Christmas Eve dream of whirlwind romance and adventure. A must-see tradition [...]