Top 10 theater productions in Chicago for fall 2023: Destinos, a true-crime musical and the return of ‘Hamilton’

From a true-crime musical to Mexican wrestling to Jim Henson-designed puppets, the fall season of Chicago-area theaters includes numerous fascinating projects. Also on tap: A Pearl Cleage Festival at the Goodman Theatre, a new Brett Neveu play at A Red Orchid Theatre and the Chicago premiere of Noah Haidle’s “Birthday Candles” at Northlight Theatre. There are many more shows on the docket, too, but here are our traditional 10 upcoming titles to whet your appetite for the exciting fall return of one of the best reasons to live in and around Chicago.

“Company”: The first national tour of the Broadway revival of George Furth and Stephen Sondheim’s exquisitely scored 1970 musical, as revived in both London and New York by director Marianne Elliott and famous for its Sondheim-approved gender-swap in the lead role of Bobby, now Bobbie. The story of a mysteriously unmarried New Yorker and a near-sacred show for Sondheim obsessives (including your critic), “Company” has some of Sondheim’s most exquisite compositions — including “Being Alive,” “The Ladies Who Lunch” and “Barcelona” — and this new tour will have a different cast from the Broadway crew, which should offer a whole new take on the experience. Oct. 31 to Nov. 12 at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 E. Randolph St.; tickets $27-$156.50 at 800-775-2000 and broadwayinchicago.com

“Hamilton”: When Lin-Manuel Miranda’s blockbuster musical closed here in January 2020, it left as the most successful show in Chicago history. “Hamilton” had rung up more than $400 million at the CIBC Theatre box office and it left town on the back of incomparable financial success, audience engagement and critical acclaim. The original Thomas Kail-directed production of this iconic show (to use a fully deserved adjective) returns this fall for an extended, monthslong run with a touring production likely to be fully comparable with the original Chicago engagement — and maybe for the last time. Notably, “Hamilton” now is playing at a different venue, the Nederlander Theatre, a larger space with more high-priced orchestra seats. “Hamilton” remains a huge hit on Broadway and likely will sell every seat here. But if you were priced out the last time, you’re likely to find a more reasonable ticket this time around and be surrounded by people who have come back for more. Sept. 13 to Dec. 30 (may extend) at the Nederlander Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St.; tickets from $42.50 at 800-775-2000 and broadwayinchicago.com

“Jenůfa”: A howl of anguish in the face of small-town secrecy and faux-moralism, Leoš Janáček’s “Jenůfa” from 1904 is an opera infused with the rhythms and culture of Moravia, a storied region in the east of the Czech Republic. The story is certainly serious — the plot involves an act of infanticide — but the piece also is widely celebrated as an exploration of both crime and forgiveness. Lyric’s production will star Lise Davidsen and Nina Stemme. Director Claus Guth first staged “Jenůfa” at London’s Royal Opera House in 2021; his radical, intense production was said to be suffused with existential loathing and dread. At the musical helm is the Czech maestro Jakob Hrůša. And the opera is sung in the original Czech. Nov. 12-26 at Lyric Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive; tickets from $40 at 312-827-5600 and lyricopera.org

“Jim Henson’s Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas”: With music and lyrics by Academy Award nominee Paul Williams (“Rainbow Connection”) and a book by Timothy Allen McDonald and Christopher Gattelli (who also directs and choreographs), this new family attraction for Thanksgiving is a live theatrical adaptation of the 1977 TV special known as “Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas,” which featured an ensemble cast of Jim Henson’s famous puppets. The work of Broadway designers in alliance with the Jim Henson Company, the show previously was seen at New York’s New Victory Theater in December 2021. Puppets in the show come from the famous Henson Creature Shop. Nov. 14 to Dec. 31 at the Studebaker Theater, 410 S. Michigan Ave.; tickets $43-$127 on sale soon at 312-753-3210 and fineartsbuilding.com/studebaker

“Lucha Teotl”: Part of the Destinos theater festival, which this year boasts of 17 productions including four world premieres, two North American premieres, one U.S. premiere and five Midwest premieres, “Lucha Teotl” is a theatrical look at the world of Lucha Libre pro wrestling, a freewheeling entertainment with Mexican origins, known for its use of masks and highly stylized movement. This show aims to re-create the Lucha Libre experience. It originated in Dallas and is the work of co-creators Jeff Colangelo and Christopher Llewyn Ramirez and their Prism Movement Theatre. The Goodman and the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance are promising audiences a “high-octane, immersive, 90-minute thrill ride.” Sept. 29 to Oct. 29 at the Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St.; tickets $35 at 312-443-3800 and goodmantheatre.org

“The Lehman Trilogy”: This gripping piece of fiscal docudrama from London tells the story of the rise and fall of the infamous merchant bank and financial services company that fell apart during the financial crisis of 2008 and caused utter chaos. The script is by the Italian writer Stefano Massini as adapted by Ben Power. This show was a stunner on Broadway and, rather than present a tour, Broadway in Chicago instead has opened its smaller Playhouse theater at Water Tower Place to Chicago’s TimeLine Theatre, which will present the Chicago premiere of this searing, three-actor experience. Mitchell Fain, Anish Jethmalani and Joey Slotnick are the Chicago stars; Nick Bowling and Vanessa Stalling codirect. Sep. 19 to Oct. 29 at the Broadway Playhouse, 175 E. Chestnut St.; tickets $30-$90 at 800-775-2000 and broadwayinchicago.com

“POTUS”: Selina Fillinger’s silly Broadway comedy, which I greatly enjoyed in New York in the spring of 2022, is subtitled “Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive.” The name of the presidential buffoon at the core of this romp never is specifically mentioned in Fillinger’s White House farce, although there is a leading candidate whose mug has been prominently exposed of late. Dated? Not if you think there is a chance that we might be going through this all over again. Fillinger has a history in Chicago theater; the Northwestern graduate’s first professional play was produced at Northlight Theatre. For this Chicago premiere, Steppenwolf has cast a bevy of fine farceurs, including such whopping talents as Karen Aldridge and Caroline Neff. And here’s a chance for new Steppenwolf co-artistic director Audrey Francis to display her directing chops. Oct. 26 to Dec. 3 at Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St.; tickets $20-$114 at 312-335-1650 and steppenwolf.org

“Run Bambi Run”: One of the fall’s most interesting projects involves a trip to Milwaukee but some folks with an interest in new rock musicals are already looking at train schedules. With a book by Eric Simonson, music and lyrics by Gordon Gano of the Violent Femmes and direction from Mark Clements, “Run Bambi Run” tells the story of femme fatale Lawrencia Bembenek, a former Milwaukee police officer and Playboy Club waitress who was convicted for the 1981 murder of her husband’s ex-wife despite protesting her innocence. When the woman the media dubbed “Bambi” somehow escaped from the Taycheedah Correctional Institution in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, she became a famous figure and the origin story of the well-known slogan that forms the title of the musical. Bembenek died in 2011 but not before writing a book about her experience. Sept. 13 to Oct. 22 at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, 108 E. Wells St., Milwaukee; tickets $20-$90 at 414-224-9490 and milwaukeerep.com

“The Rise and Fall of Little Voice”: Now an itinerant company, Gift Theatre is this fall working a little further south on Milwaukee Avenue. This classic small Chicago company is staging a wonderful 1992 play with music that launched the career of movie director Sam Mendes but is best known in Chicago for a seminal Steppenwolf Theatre Company production in 1993, which later transferred to Broadway. Playwright Jim Cartwright’s poignant, and surely prescient, story is about a young girl from Yorkshire who can mimic cabaret stars but who has to learn to channel them into the discovery of her own vocal identity; Devon de Mayo and Peter G. Andersen codirect, with Emjoy Gavino in the title role. Sept. 14 to Oct. 15 at Filament Theater, 4040 N. Milwaukee Ave.; tickets $20-$45 at 773-283-7071 and gifttheatre.org

“Twelfth Night”: The new artistic director of Chicago Shakespeare Theater is the widely acclaimed British director Edward Hall, whose work will be seen early next year, but the Navy Pier theater this fall showcases the work of director Tyrone Phillips. The rising Chicago talent, known for his work at both Definition Theatre and Writers Theatre, will be at the helm of a new production of one of Shakespeare’s warmest and most romantic plays, a comedy of intrigue and disguise. Phillips is setting the fun in the Caribbean; Viola will be washed up on a tropical version of Illyria. Oct. 25 to Nov. 26 at Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier; tickets $38-$92 at 312-595-5600 and chicagoshakes.com

Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.

cjones5@chicagotribune.com