Samantha Barks Can’t Do It Alone, Hunter Foster Takes the Helm & More Cross-Country Highlights

Broadway.com is beating the summer heat with five cool productions happening right now around the United States. From Hunter Foster directing his own musical Summer of ‘42 to the star-studded Hollywood Bowl presentation of Chicago, check out the most exciting regional theater productions in this week's Countrywide Guide.


Starry Chicago Concert Lights Up Hollywood
Stars from the theater, television, film and music industries will come together for a three-night staging of the Tony-winning musical Chicago. The Hollywood Bowl production stars Les Miz standout Samantha Barks as Velma Kelly, Ashlee Simpson as Roxie Hart, True Blood’s Stephen Moyer as Billy Flynn, Drew Carey as Amos Hart and Lucy Lawless as Matron “Mama” Morton. Directed by former Broadway Roxie Brooke Shields, Chicago plays from July 26-28 only, so catch the razzle dazzle while you can.


Michael Hayden & Angel Desai Have Murder on Their Minds
The noir crime classic Double Indemnity has been reinvented for the stage! This shady tale of an insurance agent and femme fatale who conspire to kill the woman’s husband for his insurance money stars Tony nominee Michael Hayden and Company vet Angel Desai in roles created by Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck. Grab your fedora and head to San Diego's Old Globe Theatre to see how the story plays out in a newly extended engagement, July 27 through September 1.


It’s Alive! John Bolton Creates a Monster
Get ready for a side-splitting role in the hay: Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein is coming to Maine. A Christmas Story star John Bolton takes on the role of Dr. Frederick Frankenstein at Ogunquit Playhouse in a production helmed by Jeff Whiting, the assistant choreographer on Susan Stroman's original Broadway production. This perfect summer treat runs through July 27, which doesn't leave much time for audiences to join the merry monster in "Putting on the Ritz." 


Richard Schiff Is One of The Chosen at Barrington Stage Company
Aaron Posner, the scribe behind the acclaimed off-Broadway production of My Name Is Asher Lev, is bringing another beloved novel by Chaim Potok, The Chosen, to Barrington Stage Company. The play centers on the coming of age of two boys from different Jewish communities in 1940s Brooklyn in the shadow of the Holocaust. The Chosen stars Emmy winner Richard Schiff, Richard Topol, Adam Heller, Jeff Cuttler and Ben Rosenbach, and is scheduled to run through August 3.


Hunter Foster Gives Audiences a Summer To Remember
Tony nominee Hunter Foster is directing the Bucks County Playhouse revival of Summer of ‘42, the 2001 musical he wrote with composer David Kirshenbaum. Based on the novel and screenplay of the same name, the show follows the adventures of three teenage boys during a wartime summer on a tiny island off the coast of Maine. The production stars Bunheads vet Bailey Buntain and Wicked alum F. Michael Haynie and runs July 25 through August 11.