A new tour of “Annie” will land at the historic Chicago Theatre for a three-week run over the Thanksgiving season, venue owner Madison Square Garden Entertainment is expected to officially announce Wednesday.
The latest incarnation of the much-loved Charles Strouse, Martin Charnin and Thomas Meehan musical, first staged in 1977 and based on a comic strip created by Tribune cartoonist Harold Gray, is directed by Jenn Thompson and choreographed by Patricia Wilcox. Unlike many recent tours, this will be an Equity-affiliated production.
Tickets go on sale Friday for the Chicago dates of Nov. 12 to Dec.1; more at www.msg.com.
Separately, the recently restored Studebaker Theater inside the Fine Arts Building said it has reached a deal with Manual Cinema that will see the Chicago-based theater company, known for visual productions fusing theater with multimedia, reprise both its “Frankenstein” at the Studebaker from Oct. 25-27 and “Manual Cinema’s Christmas Carol” Dec. 13-29 at the downtown venue. The former title was previously produced at Court Theatre and the latter at Writers Theatre Chicago.
The holiday production will offer an alternative to the Goodman Theatre’s long-running production of the Dickensian classic. More at www.fineartsbuilding.com.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
cjones5@chicagotribune.com