On today’s episode we’re joined by company members from HGBIC Productions’ upcoming World Premiere: The Greatest Night in Show Business; A new musical play about Judy Garland and the night of her Carnegie Hall concert.

Producer/writer and director of the piece, Mikey Duran, was Born and raised in Chicago. Studied acting At The Academy Of Art University of San Francisco, attended Illinois Media School, and hosted the LGBT Radio Show, “Pride Of The Chi” From 2018-2020. His first production, “Happy Birthday, Mr.President” premiered in March 2025.
Lisa Lindquist, was a child prints ads model and appeared in commercials until the age of 18. She then took time off to attend college and start a family. She is now back on the boards starring as Judy Garland in the production. She and Mikey have also been best friends since childhood.

For tickets to 'The Greatest Night In Show Business", please visit this link!

We talk about all this and more in today’s conversation with Mikey Duran and Lisa Lindquist.

Now let’s go to the top of the show!

We are extremely honored to introduce our guest on today’s episode.

For two decades, our next guest has been the chief theatre critic for the Chicago Tribune and as such, is the influential voice for one of the most vibrant theatre scenes in the world.

He’s seen it all, reviews about 200 shows a year in Chicago alone, and covers every major Broadway opening, establishing himself as one of the nation's most prolific and well respected critics.

A veteran of Variety, who developed a specialty in covering those crucial pre-Broadway tryouts, and who has twice served on the Pulitzer Prize for Drama jury. He’s even beat-boxed on stage with Lin-Manuel Miranda (look it up on YouTube!)

In 2001, he was named by American Theatre magazine as one of the 12 most influential theater critics in America. He, also quite literally, wrote the book on Chicago's theatrical history—Bigger, Brighter, Louder: 150 Years of Chicago Theater was published in 2013, and his second publication, Rise Up! Broadway and American Society from 'Angels in America' to 'Hamilton', was published in 2015.

In 2016, the New York Times cited Jones as an important reason that Broadway shows try-out in Chicago, noting the role his reviews have played in helping producers improve productions for New York runs.

As of 2021, he took on an added role: As Editorial Page Editor for the Tribune he now balances his reviewing responsibilities with guiding the entire opinion section of a major metropolitan newspaper.

And all of that just scratches the surface of his many contributions and accolades!

I hope you enjoy my conversation with Chris Jones!

Now let’s go to the top of the show!

*SPECIAL THANKS!*We appreciate the help of the following friends of the podcast for helping curate questions for this episode:Bob BullenAaron DavidsonAndres EnriquezVince GerasoleJames ShermanRyan StajmigerMatt Whelan

Hi everyone! John Michael Coppola with The Chicago Theater-Makers Podcast, here to give you a quick end of the year wrap up message before we take a much needed holiday break.

First, we want to thank all of our listeners, supporters and fans for giving us such an overwhelmingly positive response during our first season. From a huge variety of guests, to our live-stream from this year’s Jeff Awards, our efforts to raise the visibility of the Chicago Theater community continue to be a huge success!

Next, we’re excited to announce that our first podcast interview of season two drops on Monday, January 5th where we’ll be chatting with none other than Chicago Theater critic and journalist, Chris Jones!

Also coming up in season two is the launch of Special Feature Months, such as "National Cabaret Month" in March where each week we’ll feature a cabaret professional here in town; "National Pride Month" in June with theater-makers within the LGBTQ community, and "National Wellness Month" in August where we chat with theater adjacent practitioners on subjects including physical, mental, vocal and financial wellness.

Also to look forward to in Season 2 is the launch of our “Out of the Loop” Series; Where we chat with celebrity theater-makers who may not necessarily have ties to Chicago, but have famously graced the stages here, whose work has been a mainstay among the many theaters in town and the like.

And of course, many, many more guests to come including playwrights, teachers, designers, actors, directors, choreographers and producers throughout the Chicagoland area! So, lots of exciting stuff to come starting January 5th!!

In the meantime, while we’re on our holiday break, feel free to catch up on all of season one’s episodes wherever you get your podcasts. And most importantly, don’t forget to like, subscribe to and SHARE this podcast with your friends and colleagues who you think would appreciate the conversations we’re having. As always, we greatly appreciate your support in this way, so we can continue to bring these stories for years to come.

We look forward to welcoming you back after the new year. Until then, happy holidays, and we’ll see you on the boards soon!