CHICAGO – Executive Director Walter Stearns announced he will launch a subscription series at the Mercury Theater including four full productions, which will transform the Mercury into the largest producer of musicals in the city of Chicago, employing almost 100 theater professionals.

Plans are to produce Rogers and Hammerstein’s “A Grand Night for Singing,” which features songs such as ‘Oh What a Beautiful Mornin’, ‘Some Enchanted Evening’ and ‘If I Loved You’ in January.  In March, the Mercury will stage a revival of “Barnum” the Cy Coleman circus musical centered around legendary showman P.T. Barnum, complete with professional circus performers. August brings the regional premiere of “The Color Purple,” the Broadway hit based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel and subsequent Steven Spielberg film. The season concludes with the return voyage of the popular holiday musical, “The Christmas Schooner.”

Single tickets are $29 and up, and three show subscription packages start as low as $80. Season packages are now on sale.

One of Chicago’s leading musical theater producers, Stearns, has renovated the Mercury Theater over the past two years. It now boasts a new front of house layout and state of the art lighting and sound systems.

Tickets are available online at MercuryTheaterChicago.com, over the phone at (773) 325-1700, or in person at 3745 N. Southport Avenue.