It's Showtime Theatre Taps Jeff Cook To Direct First Scripted Production: ALADDIN

It's Showtime Theatre of Huntley, the new resident theater company of the Huntley Park District, announces the selection of Jeff Cook to serve as Artistic Director for the company's first scripted production: Aladdin coming June 2019.

"I am very excited to be a on the production team of It's Showtime Theatre's summer production," states Cook. "The folks behind the theater are passionate about bringing quality entertainment to the Huntley community, and to be a part of that is an honor."

Aladdin will run Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays June 14 - 23, 2019 at the Cosman Theater located in the Huntley Park District (12015 Mill Street, Huntley). This original version of Aladdin was extended three time during its run with Upstage/Downstage Theater making it the highest grossing production in the history of the former Skokie-based theater group.

This original version of Aladdin does not feature the score of the Disney animated film, but it has all the characters that people know and love derived from the same One Thousand and One Nights source material. It's not the movie, it's written specifically for the stage, bringing the characters to life just as effectively as in an animated film.

"Directing It's Showtime's Aladdin will be a labor of love but also a challenge," explains Cook. "The story is so well known to people. My goal is to create a fresh, magical experience for audiences that will have them leaving the theater with a smile on their faces."

"We are very pleased to have Jeff Cook on board to direct Aladdin," state's Rikki Lee Travolta, founding member of It's Showtime Theatre's advisory committee. "Jeff is a remarkable director who always delivers stellar entertainment."

Cook's directing experience includes hit productions of Young Frankenstein and Legally Blonde at the Woodstock Opera House and Once Upon a Mattress at Crystal Lake's Right-Center-Left Productions. Cook also wrote and directed every episode of the first season of the popular web-series Upstaged. Audiences can also enjoy Cook's brand of humor on the radio with Radio Parody Playhouse on 101.5 FM, in which voice actors bring to life parodies of classics from the Golden Age of Radio.

"I'm a character-first director. That means that every character has to have their own unique look and voice, and be able to connect on different levels with audience members. Everything evolves from that," notes Cook.

It's Showtime Theatre of Huntley produced a very well received Broadway Revue in August 2018, and look forward to bringing it's first scripted production to the stage in Aladdin.

Auditions will take place April 1 and 2, 2019.