"Hummingbird," a new virtual-reality play designed for younger tech-savvy audiences, debuts at @thisisUIC with plans to move to the @GoodmanTheatre this fall. bit.ly/3vMLRJt

Magda Krance, longtime director of media relations for the @LyricOpera will retire at the end of June. She has been the Lyric's its supremely confident and thoroughly unflappable public-facing problem solver for some 30 years, writes @ChrisJonesTrib bit.ly/3577NUK

The new @SteppenwolfThtr mural was designed in honor of the former artistic director Martha Lavey, who took over artistic direction in 1995 after the theater was built and who died in 2017 following a pair of debilitating strokes, writes @ChrisJonesTrib bit.ly/3g8xuKI

The Tony nominee Joaquina Kalukango ("Slave Play”) and the Canadian musical-theater star Chilina Kennedy (“Beautiful”) are to star in “Paradise Square,” the Garth Drabinsky musical trying out this fall in Chicago and then headed to Broadway. bit.ly/3g4ccyd

“Far Too Late,” the first song from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cinderella,” has been released ahead of the album drop on July 9. bit.ly/3iobQ77

Jay Españo, an actor, singer and director with experience in both film and live performance, has been appointed artistic director of @PrideArtsChi the Chicago theater company formerly known as Pride Film and Plays. bit.ly/3vNUFja

Naomi Osaka doesn't want to talk to the press? She'll win in the end because the nature of celebrity is changing with the younger generation, writes @ChrisJonesTrib bit.ly/2RidMmo

“Swing Low” is the latest in what has been a very moving little suite of pandemic-era @joffreyballet films from its Chicago black box studio, all offering the chance to see the superb dancers in close-up. @ChrisJonesTrib reviews: bit.ly/3g5bW0z

For many people, the COVID-19 pandemic has been just as traumatic as a world war. And the hugely successful vaccines are the equivalent of the American tanks. So when do we celebrate our liberation? @ChrisJonesTrib wonders. bit.ly/3wwjP5E

Two leading Chicago-area theaters have released plans to return to live performance this fall. Both are treading carefully with (at @courtchicago ) a shorter-than-usual season and (at @NorthlightThtr ), mostly small productions. bit.ly/3vnmiz5

Ever heard of Yannis Tsarouchis? If the answer is yes, it’s a good bet you have some connection to Greece. But a new exhibit in Chicago at the @Wrightwood659 argues this artist's work has international worth. Male nudes and all, writes @ChrisJonesTrib bit.ly/3v6US0v

A new pre-Broadway musical coming to Chicago this fall via one of the founding fathers of the city’s theater district. EXCLUSIVE from @ChrisJonesTrib bit.ly/3yjb6FM

The new musical @BreatheOnStage features Broadway-level talent that you can stream for $25, either on the show’s website or through Overture+. The piece can make a reasonable claim to being the first explicit COVID-19 musical, writes @ChrisJonesTrib bit.ly/3eUpTyT

Throughout the pandemic, theater-makers plunged into the uncharted territory of creating Zoom plays. The @GoodmanTheatre new “Live” series will instead be performed live inside the theater and broadcast in real time, writes @proudchismosa bit.ly/3fcF0Tt

The bridge between Chicago's Phase 4 and full reopening is coming May 14, but not every entertainment venue will suddenly take advantage of larger capacities, writes @DouglasGeorge bit.ly/3biwWzs

Millennium Park will be full of music and dance this summer, performances are coming back to theaters and venues in Chicago on Broadway. The arts recovery is happening, and fast, @ChrisJonesTrib writes. bit.ly/2QUNxlC

Steppenwolf’s artistic director, Anna D. Shapiro, to step down in August. @ChrisJonesTrib has story first bit.ly/337ZMhf

The new president and CEO of @RaviniaFestival Jeffrey P. Haydon says the festival will start later than usual this year but include a free week for first responders, healthcare workers and the other heroes of the pandemic, writes @ChrisJonesTrib bit.ly/3gNsb4h

Assuming the Chicago theater community puts its focus on its audience, live shows are about to come roaring back, @ChrisJonesTrib writes. bit.ly/3tZUwIr

In a world premiere, the @joffreyballet Under the Trees’ Voices” will stream Friday evening. The work is choreographed by Joffrey rehearsal director Nicolas Blanc, set to Symphony No. 2 by Italian composer Ezio Bosso, from which it borrows its title. bit.ly/3u45U63