Goodman Theatre is proud to announce four distinguished actors in three upcoming productions in the 2024/2025 season. Harry Lennix in the role of attorney Henry Drummond and Alexander Gemignani as prosecuting attorney Matthew Harrison Brady are cast in the season opening production, Inherit the Wind—Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee’s three-time Tony Award-winning masterwork, directed by Goodman Resident Artistic Associate Henry Godinez (September 14 – October 13). Next, the Goodman welcomes a new Ebenezer Scrooge as Christopher Donahue steps into the role to lead the 47th annual production of Chicago’s long-running holiday tradition, A Christmas Carol, directed by Jessica Thebus (November 16 – December 30). Tony Award-nominated Ian Barford in the role of the husband, Robert Downs, joins Oscar, Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winner Helen Hunt in Susan V. Booth’s major revival of Betrayal by Harold Pinter (February 8 – March 16. 2025). The 2024/2025 Season begins in September and continues through August 2025. Membership, including flexible packages, is now available for purchase starting at just $48. Call 312.443.3800 or visit GoodmanTheatre.org/Connect. Single tickets go on sale for select productions beginning in July 2024, visit GoodmanTheatre.org/2024-2025-season. Goodman Theatre is grateful for the support of Abbott Fund, JPMorgan Chase & Co., The Elizabeth Morse Charitable Trust, Northern Trust, PNC and Winston & Strawn LLP for their support of Inherit the Wind, Betrayal and A Christmas Carol.
"We are thrilled to welcome Chicago’s own Harry Lennix and the multi-hyphenate Alexander Gemignani to the Goodman stage as they contend with the role of science and religion in our big and bold season opener Inherit the Wind," said Artistic Director Susan V. Booth. “Additionally, Ian Barford, long overdue for a return to the Goodman, is one of Chicago’s most riveting actors, and I can’t wait to see what he brings to our Betrayal triangle. And I am kind of over the moon at the prospect of Christopher Donahue, who recently appeared in The Cherry Orchard, bringing the curmudgeon with a heart we all know and love to life in A Christmas Carol.”
ABOUT THE ACTORS
HARRY LENNIX is a distinguished film, television stage actor and producer. For the past nine seasons, he has starred as Harold Cooper on NBC’s The Blacklist. Moviegoers know Lennix from The Justice League, Man of Steel, Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice, The Matrix: Reloaded, The Matrix: Revolutions, Ray and The Five Heartbeats. Lennix also recurs on the Showtime series Billions. Lennix made his Broadway debut in Radio Golf. For the stage, he directed A Small Oak Tree Runs Red, as well as The Five Heartbeats. Other directing credits include The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams for Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater Company. As an actor for the stage, he starred in King Hedley II at the Mark Taper Forum. In 2001 he played Iachimo in Cymbeline for Theatre for a New Audience at the Royal Shakespeare Company, the first American company invited to perform in Stratford Upon Avon. In July 2014, Lennix created Exponent Media Group, a movie production company he founded with longtime Chicago associate Steve Harris.
ALEXANDER GEMIGNANI Selected Broadway credits: Carousel (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Grammy noms), Les Misérables (Drama League nom), Sweeney Todd (Drama Desk nom), Assassins (Theatre World Award). Selected Off Broadway: Road Show at the Public (Drama League nom). Regional Faves: Hamilton (original Chicago company) and Big Fish (Jeff nom). TV/Film: Étoile (AMAZON), Servant (APPLE), Empire (FOX), Chicago Fire (NBC), Homeland (SHOWTIME), The Good Wife (CBS) and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel as Janusz (AMAZON). Music Supervisor/Orchestrator for Fiasco Theatre’s production of Merrily We Roll Along at the Roundabout, and Music Supervisor/Conductor for the 2020 Broadway revival of West Side Story. Recently, Music Supervisor/Arranger/Conductor of Sondheim’s final show, Here We Are. Composer/Lyricist of two new musicals in development: Diamond Alice and swingset/moon. Faculty at Northwestern University, Artistic Director for the National Music Theater Conference at the O’Neill. HIs greatest joys are his wife, director Erin Ortman and their beautiful daughter.
CHRISTOPHER DONAHUE has performed at Goodman Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Chicago Opera Theatre, Court Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre Company, Remains Theatre, Stories On Stage, Alliance Theatre, American Repertory Theatre, Annoyance Theatre, Arden Theatre Company, Arena Stage, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Boston Lyric Opera, Circle in the Square, City Theatre of Pittsburgh, Classic Stage Company, Hartford Stage, Huntington Theatre Company, La Jolla Playhouse, Lincoln Center's Serious Fun! Festival, Manhattan Theatre Club, McCarter Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, New York Shakespeare Festival, The Old Globe, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Public Theatre, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Second Stage, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre of DC, The Smith Center of Las Vegas, South Coast Repertory Theatre, Two River Theatre Company, Weston Playhouse Theatre Company and Yale Repertory Theatre.
IAN BARFORD returns to the Goodman stage after 27 years having appeared in All The Rage by Keith Reddin and Design For Living by Noël Coward. On Broadway, Tony nomination and Outer Critics award for his performance in Linda Vista. He originated the role of Little Charles in the Tony-winning play August: Osage County which also played at London's National Theater. Original Broadway company of the Tony-winning play Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime. Also, The Minutes and The Rise And Fall Of Little Voice. In Los Angeles, several stage appearances at the Geffen and Ahmanson Theaters. Ensemble member at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater, where he has appeared in plays for more than 30 years.
ABOUT GOODMAN THEATRE
Chicago’s theater since 1925, Goodman Theatre is a not-for-profit arts and community organization in the heart of the Loop, distinguished by the excellence and scope of its artistic programming and community engagement. Led by Artistic Director Susan V. Booth and Executive Director/CEO Roche Schulfer*, the theater’s artistic priorities include new play development (more than 150 world or American premieres), large scale musical theater works and reimagined classics. Artists and productions have earned two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards and more than 160 Jeff Awards, among other accolades. The Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle.” Its longtime annual holiday tradition, A Christmas Carol, now in its fourth decade, has created a new generation of theatergoers in Chicago. The Goodman also frequently serves as a production and program partner with national and international companies and Chicago’s off-Loop theaters.
As a cultural and community organization invested in quality, diversity and community, Goodman Theatre is committed to using the art of theater for a better Chicago. Using the tools of the theatrical profession, the Goodman’s Education and Engagement programs aim to develop generations of citizens who understand the cultures and stories of diverse voices. The Goodman’s Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement is the home of these programs, which are offered free of charge for Chicago youth—85% of whom come from underserved communities—schools and life-long learners.
Goodman Theatre was founded by William O. Goodman and his family in honor of their son Kenneth, an important figure in Chicago’s cultural renaissance in the early 1900s. The Goodman family’s legacy lives on through the continued work and dedication of Kenneth’s family, including Albert Ivar Goodman, who with his late mother, Edith-Marie Appleton, contributed the necessary funds for the creation of the new Goodman center in 2000.
Today, Goodman Theatre leadership also includes the distinguished members of the Artistic Collective: Rebecca Gilman, Henry Godinez, Dael Orlandersmith, Steve Scott, Kimberly Senior, Chuck Smith and Mary Zimmerman. Julie Danis is Chairman of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Lorrayne Weiss is Women’s Board President and Kelli Garcia is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals.
*Note: On September 1, 2024, John Collins becomes Executive Director of Goodman Theatre.