Welcome to Savannah! Performances of the world-premiere musical Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil begin tonight as high demand for tickets spurs an eight-performance final extension. The stage musical adaptation of John Berendt’s iconic non-fiction book is realized by creators MacArthur “Genius” Grantee Taylor Mac (book), Tony Award winner Jason Robert Brown (music and lyrics) with choreography by Tanya Birl-Torres. Tony Award winner Rob Ashford directs a cast led by Tony- and Grammy-Award winning actor J. Harrison Ghee as The Lady Chablis; Tony Award nominee Tom Hewitt as Jim Williams; and Olivier Award nominee Sierra Boggess as Emma Dawes; the full company follows. The world-premiere production of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil appears through August 11, 2024 only in the 856-seat Albert Theatre); opening night is July 8. For tickets ($25 – 175, subject to change), call 312.443.3800 or visit GoodmanTheatre.org/Midnight. Goodman Theatre is grateful for the support of Northern Trust (Lead Corporate Sponsor) and Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP (Corporate Sponsor Partner).
Southern charm is bountiful in Savannah, Georgia. But behind polite smiles, the eccentric residents are filled with secrets and motives. When wealthy antiques dealer Jim Williams is accused of murder, the sensational trial uncovers hidden truths and exposes the fine line between good and evil—which sparks Lady Chablis and other Savannahians to change the city forever. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil—John Berendt’s 1994 blockbuster non-fiction book, a Pulitzer-Prize finalist that was on the New York Times Best-Seller list for 216 weeks—becomes a seductive new musical.
EXTENSION WEEK SCHEDULE
-Tuesday, August 6 at 7:30pm
-Wednesday, August 7 at 7:30pm
-Thursday, August 8 at 2pm and 7:30pm
-Friday, August 9 at 7:30pm
-Saturday, August 10 at 2pm and 7:30pm
-Sunday, August 11 at 2pm
SPECIAL EVENTS
Play On Words Conversation with Poet avery r. young
Thursday, July 18 at 6pm
The Poetry Foundation partners with the Goodman to commission a different poet to respond to each play in Susan V. Booth’s first curated season as Artistic Director. Poet avery r. young will read their piece, “Savanah Georgia,” and speak about the creative process. Light refreshments will be provided, with wine provided by Doña Amalia.
Musical Monday at Sidetrack
Monday, July 22 at 10pm
The cast of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil heads to Sidetrack for a Midnight Pop-Up event! Catch a sneak peek of the music from the show and get a chance to win tickets to the world-premiere production. Sing along to hits from your favorite musicals and join us at this special event. Sidetrack, located in the heart of Lakeview, is committed to providing a safe and inclusive space for the LGBTQIA+ communities.
ENHANCED AND ACCESSIBLE PERFORMANCES
Visit Goodman theatre.org/Access for more information about Goodman Theatre’s accessibility efforts.
-ASL-Interpreted: July 19 at 7:30pm – An American Sign Language interpreter signs the action/text as played.
-Touch Tour (12:30pm) and Audio-Described Performance (2pm): July 27
-Spanish Subtitled: July 27 at 7:30pm
-Open-Captioned: July 28 at 2pm – An LED sign presents dialogue in sync with the performance.
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
The cast of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil features Tony- and Grammy-Award winning actor J. Harrison Ghee in the role of The Lady Chablis; Tony Award nominee Tom Hewitt as Jim Williams; and Olivier Award nominee Sierra Boggess as Emma Dawes; along with stage and screen notables Lance Roberts (The Best Man) as Bobby Lewis; Austin Colby (The Great Gatsby) as Danny Hansford; Bailee Endebrock (Parade) as Corrine Strong; Shanel Bailey (The Book of Mormon) as Lavella Cole; Jessica Molaskey (Sunday in the Park with George) as Alma Knox Carter; Brianna Buckley (the ripple, the wave that carried me home) as Minerva; Mary Ernster (War Paint) as Serena Barnes; McKinley Carter (Turn of the Century) as Vera Strong; and more.
The award-winning creative team includes sets by Tony and Olivier Award winner Christopher Oram, costumes by Tony Award nominee Toni-Leslie James, lighting co-designed by Olivier- and Tony Award-winner Neil Austin and Jamie Platt, and sound design by AUDELCO Award-winner Jon Weston. Casting is by Lauren Port, CSA and The Telsey Office/Patrick Goodwin, CSA. The Production Stage Manager is Saori Yokoo and the Stage Managers are Jennifer Gregory and Mars Wolfe.
Conductor Thomas Murray leads the 12-piece orchestra, featuring Paul Mutzabaugh (Associate Conductor, Piano, Keyboard, Electric Guitar); Jo Ann Daugherty (Keyboard, Percussion); Christian Dillingham (Acoustic and Electric Bass); Tom Hipskind (Drumset, Percussion); Chris Forte (Acoustic and Electric Guitar); Heather Boehm (Violin); Tahirah Whittington (Cello); Steve Leinheiser (Woodwinds); Carey Deadman (Trumpet); Andy Baker (Trombone, Euphonium); Rachel Castellanos (Trombone); and Terry Leahy (Bass Trombone, Tuba).
THE COMPANY OF MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL
For images, bios and additional information about the artists, visit GoodmanTheatre.org/Midnight
Book by Taylor Mac
Music and Lyrics by Jason Robert Brown
Choreography by Tanya Birl-Torres
Directed by Rob Ashford
Based on the book by John Berendt
- J. Harrison Ghee…..The Lady Chablis
- Tom Hewitt…..Jim Williams
- Sierra Boggess…..Emma Dawes
- Lance Roberts…..Bobby Hutchins
- Austin Colby…..Danny Hansford
- Bailee Endebrock…..Corinne Strong
- Shanel Bailey…..Lavella Cole
- Jessica Molaskey…..Alma Knox Carter
- Mary Ernster…..Serena Barnes
- McKinley Carter…..Vera Strong
- Brianna Buckley…..Minerva
- Maya Bowles…..Stacey Brown
- DeMarius R. Copes…..Jeremiah Jones
- Sean Donovan…..Luther Driggers/Carl
- Jason Michael Evans…..Colonel Atwood/Burt/Theodore
- Christopher Kelley…..Bubbles/Gregory
- Andre Terrell Malcolm…..Josiah Domingo
- Jarvis B. Manning Jr …..Jethro Myles
- Wes Olivier…..Jack the One-Eyed Jill
- Kayla Shipman…..Millicent Moultrie/Mary Carter
- Rory Shirley…..Stefanie Davis
- Calvin L. Cooper, Daryn Whitney Harrell, Kayla Kennedy, Jake DiMaggio Lopez, Justin Rivers…..Ensemble
Set Design….Christopher Oram
Costume Designer.….Toni-Leslie James
Lighting Co-Designers…..Neil Austin and Jamie Platt
Sound Designer…..Jon Weston
Casting is by Lauren Port, CSA and The Telsey Office/Patrick Goodwin, CSA. The Production Stage Manager is Saori Yokoo and the Stage Managers are Jennifer Gregory and Mars Wolfe.
ABOUT THE CREATORS
Rob Ashford (Director) is a Tony Award, Olivier Award, Emmy Award, Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award-winning director and choreographer. Broadway credits include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Frozen, How To Succeed In Business, Promises, Promises, Evita, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Shrek, John Water’s Cry Baby, Curtains and The Wedding Singer. London credits include The Winter’s Tale, Romeo & Juliet, The Entertainer, Harlequinade, Macbeth, Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum and the Olivier Award-winning productions of Anna Christie, A Streetcar Named Desire and Parade. He directed and choreographed NBC’s “Sound of Music Live!” and “Peter Pan Live!”. He directed and choreographed Carousel, Carmen, & The Barber of Seville for Chicago Lyric Opera and Houston Grand Opera and choreographed Candide at La Scala, ENO, and Chatelet in Paris. He choreographed and staged the 2009, 2013, 2014, & 2015 Academy Awards winning an Emmy for his work on Baz Luhrmann’s 2009 production number featuring Hugh Jackman and Beyonce. He has staged The Tony Awards for eight years and has also staged tributes at The Kennedy Center Honors for Barbra Streisand, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jerry Herman, Barbara Cook, Tom Hanks, Shirley MacLaine and Meryl Streep. Films include choreography for Disney’s Cinderella, Beyond the Sea, A Million Ways to Die in the West, Ted 2, Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile.
Taylor Mac (Book) is a MacArthur Fellow, a Pulitzer Prize Finalist, a Tony Award Nominee (for Best Play), and the recipient of the Kennedy Prize (with Matt Ray), the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, a Guggenheim, a Drama League Award, a NY Drama Critics Circle Award, two Obie’s, two Bessies, and the first American to receive the International Ibsen Award. Mac is the author of Joy and Pandemic (Huntington Theater); The Hang (with Matt Ray); Gary, A Sequel to Titus Andronicus; A 24-Decade History of Popular Music; Hir; The Fre, The Walk Across America For Mother Earth, The Lily’s Revenge; The Young Ladies Of; and The Be(A)st of Taylor Mac. The documentary Taylor Mac’s A 24-Decade History of Popular Music recently premiered on HBO to critical acclaim.
Jason Robert Brown (Music and Lyrics) has written the music and lyrics to several of the most renowned and influential musicals of our time, including the generation-defining The Last Five Years, his debut song cycle Songs for a New World, and the seminal Parade, which just won a 2023 Tony Award for Best Musical Revival, starring Ben Platt and directed by Michael Arden. His other musicals include 13, which was made into a feature film on Netflix last year; The Bridges of Madison County, winner of Tony Awards for score and orchestrations; Mr. Saturday Night with Billy Crystal; and Honeymoon In Vegas. As a pianist, singer and bandleader, Jason has performed concerts around the world. His latest album, “Coming From Inside The House,” features Ariana Grande and Shoshana Bean and is available from Craft Recordings.
Tanya Birl-Torres (Choreographer) credits include How I Learned What I Learned (OSF), Twelfth Night (The Public Theater), The Red Letter Plays (The Signature Theater), Comedy of Errors (Classic Stage company), As You Like It (The Guthrie Theater) and Peter and the Star Catcher (Oregon Shakespeare Festival). Select performance credits, Broadway: Memphis the Musical, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, How to Succeed, On The Town. Others: The Lion King, The Bubbly Black Girl…, The Wiz, West Side Story. Birl-Torres is currently in the process of writing an original choreo-play titled ‘A Play in 3 Movements’ about intergenerational trauma/healing and its links to auto-immunity in women. She is a 2023/2024 MAP Fund Grantee, 2022 NoMAA artist in residence and a High-Arts/Critical Breaks Fellow in collaboration with OSF New Works.
John Berendt (Award-Winning Author) was born and raised in Syracuse, New York. He attended Harvard, where he majored in English and wrote for the Harvard Lampoon. Upon graduation he was hired by Esquire magazine--first as an editor, then as a monthly columnist. Later, he became the editor of New York Magazine. It was during a trip to the South in the mid-1980s that he discovered Savannah--a cloistered, inward-looking garden city that basked on the Georgia coast, reveling in its own peculiarities and giving not a thought to the outside world. He was enchanted and began writing about the city and its people in what would eventually become the non-fiction book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
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 earner two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards and nearly 200 Joseph Jefferson 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 fifth 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.
Using the tools of theatrical practice, the Goodman’s Education and Engagement programs aim to develop generations of citizens who understand and empathize with 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 for Chicago youth—85% of whom come from underserved communities—schools and life-long learners.
Goodman Theatre was built on the traditional homelands of the Council of the Three Fires: the Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi Nations. We recognize that many other Nations consider the area we now call Chicago as their traditional homeland—including the Myaamia, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac and Fox, Peoria, Kaskaskia, Wea, Kickapoo and Mascouten—and remains home to many Native peoples today. While we believe that our city’s vast diversity should be reflected on the stages of its largest theater, we acknowledge that our efforts have largely overlooked the voices of our Native peoples. This omission has added to the isolation, erasure and harm that Indigenous communities have faced for hundreds of years. We have begun a more deliberate journey towards celebrating Native American stories and welcoming Indigenous communities.
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 on the new Goodman center in 2000.
Julie Danis is Chair 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.