The measles ‘is not a benign disease’
March 5, 2025
A timely retelling of a classic musical kicks off the Wirtz Center’s spring season at Northwestern. Goodman Theatre resident director Henry Godinez reimagines “Man of La Mancha” –– arguably one of the world’s most popular musicals, which is set in a detention center on the U.S.-Mexico border, where a growing group of migrants from across the world, being held and readied for deportation, looks for safety and opportunity.
The season also includes the world premiere of a play of personal stories from queer Black Southern women. Imagine U, Northwestern’s theater for young audiences, returns with the beloved “A Tale of Peter Rabbit” — with a modern twist. “As It Is In Heaven,” a play with music about a Shaker community navigating a rapidly changing world, closes the season at the end of May.
Northwestern Now has summarized the entire spring season lineup.
Man of La Mancha
“Man of La Mancha” is celebrating its 60th anniversary. The original 1965 production won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Inspired by Miguel de Cervantes’ 17th-century masterwork “Don Quixote, Man of La Mancha” was originally set during the Spanish Inquisition when Cervantes is in prison awaiting trial. In this reimagined staging, director Henry Godinez has Cervantes and his fellow prisoners perform a play within the play. It tells the story of the elderly Alonso Quijana, who renames himself Don Quixote and goes on a quest to right all wrongs in the world. The score includes iconic songs like “The Impossible Dream.”
April 25 to May 4, Ethel M. Barber Theater, 30 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston.
Imagine U: A Tale of Peter Rabbit
Award-winning writer Trista Baldwin gives Beatrix Potter’s timeless tale of Peter Rabbit a modern twist. What does it mean to be a good bunny? If everyone thinks you’re a bad bunny, can you ever be good? In this moving and adventurous re-imagining of Beatrix Potter’s classic tale, Peter Rabbit and his three sisters come together to tell a story of their very own.
April 25 to May 11, Mussetter-Struble Theater, 1949 Campus Drive, Evanston.
Honeypot: Black Southern Women Who Love Women
Combining oral history with magical realism and poetry, “Honeypot” bears witness to the real-life stories of queer Black women throughout the American South. In this new adaptation for the stage of E. Patrick Johnson’s award-winning creative non-fiction book, women from all walks of life recount their experiences on topics ranging from coming out and falling in love to mother/daughter relationships, religion, sexuality, brutality, and political activism—richly and dynamically revealing the complexity of identity. This world premiere is produced in partnership with the City of Evanston’s Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre.
May 17 to June 1, Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre, Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes St., Evanston.
As It Is In Heaven
Based on true events in the history of the Shakers, this Arlene Hutton play, directed by Francesca Patrón, explores the generational shifts that occur when a younger cohort comes in and begins to disrupt or change how things have been done. “’Tis a gift to be simple,” sing the Shakers of Pleasant Hill. But as the young women in the community claim new spiritual gifts, Sister Hannah and the other elders must judge whether these gifts are real or rebellious. Set during America’s surge of Utopian communities, the play wrestles with belief and doubt in a swiftly changing world.
May 23 to June 1, Josephine Louis Theater, 20 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston.
