Blog
Answering the Call
Answering the Call by Cheryl Lynn Bruce, Director of SPLASH HATCH ON THE E GOING DOWN For our 2023-2024 season launch party, we asked for some remarks from Cheryl Lynn Bruce, the director of our first production, SPLASH HATCH ON THE E GOING DOWN. A Chicago-based director, actor and playwright,...
Blow the Horn! Ring the Bell!
Blow the Horn! Ring the Bell! Next Act's Tribute Campaign Is Going Well! by Jane Flieller, Development Director Photo by Ross Zentner. Photo by Mark Frohna. As you may have heard, Next Act Theatre launched an important campaign on July 1, 2022. The Tribute Campaign is a two-year initiative created...
Next Up
Next Up Cody Estle Takes a Seat in the Artistic Director's Chair In April 2022, Next Act Theatre announced a big change: Producing Artistic Director David Cecsarini would be retiring in January 2023 following 30 years in the position. A nationwide search was conducted for a new Artistic Director, and...
Cez Says “See Ya!”
Cez Says "See Ya!" by A.J. Magoon Photo by Mark Frohna. On Sunday, December 11, 2022, Next Act Theatre hosted The Retirement Roast of David Cecsarini. A full house of friends, artists, patrons and other guests joined us as David was given the lovingly-comedic send-off he deserved. Panelists included longtime...
Behind the Curtain
Behind the Curtain “HAPPINESS” in Conversation with Mary MacDonald Kerr, Cassandra Bissell and Mickle Maher THERE IS A HAPPINESS THAT MORNING IS by Mickle Maher is hard to describe in one sentence - or a whole paragraph. In order to prepare for Next Act’s production of this play, we put...
Meet Our New Artistic Director
Next Act Theatre is pleased to announce that Cody Estle has been hired as our new Artistic Director. Cody was hired after a four-month national search and assumed the role on December 1, 2022. He overlapped outgoing Producing Artistic Director David Cecsarini before fully taking over leadership of the company in February...
Announcing Our 2022-2023 Season!
Our production of THE LAST WHITE MAN draws Next Act’s 2021-22 season to a close, and what a season it’s been! We returned to live theatre and welcomed you back into our space. Things looked a little different, with masks and vaccine checks, but you stuck it out with us....
The Fun is in The Details!
By Jane Flieller, Development Director
Bravo, Next Act 2022 is just around the corner: Saturday, June 11, 2022, from 5pm to 9pm, to be exact! Our indoor/outdoor, carnival-themed fundraiser will be held at Next Act as we wrap up the 2021-22 season by saying, “Bravo” and “Brava” to everyone who made this year possible. Actors,...
Classroom and Community
By Grace DeWolff, Education Manager and Ryleigh Carroll, Education Intern
My favorite part of this season happened on March 2, 2022. Each year, Next Act develops a student project that coincides with one of the season’s plays. The overall goal is to provide a group of students the opportunity and means to create an artistic response to the Next Act...
Updating Our Safety Policies
By A.J. Magoon, Marketing Director
Since the pandemic started, we have set COVID safety policy to keep our audiences, artists and staff safe based on local and national guidance. Since September 2021, we’ve made live theatre happen safely again at Next Act, and it’s all thanks to our incredible patrons. You have stood by us...