Never Better, the new musical by Columbia College Chicago alum Preston Max Allen ’13, wraps up its premiere run at award-winning Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre on Sunday, October 13 at Theo’s space at 721 Howard Street in the Chicago suburb of Evanston. Student discounts for closing weekend are available for the show, which has garnered uniformly positive/”Highly Recommended” reviews. For tickets, click here.

Allen is a graduate of the Columbia College Theatre Program’s BA Program in Acting who also took courses in the Theatre Program’s Musical Theatre and Comedy programs. As previously reported in this blog, Allen was honored in June by Windy City Times‘ “30 Under 30” Awards for Pride Month 2024. Also, as previously reported in this blog, Allen‘s earlier musical We Are the Tigers, which enjoyed a 2019 Off-Broadway run at Theatre 80 St. Marks in New York City’s East Village, has been added to the catalogue of Broadway Licensing Global, which licenses rights to more than 8,000 plays and musicals for professional and non-professional productions around the world.

Never Better focuses on Davy, a jaded college sophomore struggling to keep up with her work and social life as she faces an illness she’s written off as a cold. As her symptoms escalate, Davy’s friends encourage her to get help. Unable to face a potentially devastating diagnosis, Davy ignores her doctor’s recommendations and soon starts spiraling in this intimate folk-punk musical about the value of survival in a world weighed down by grief, loneliness, and fears of an uncertain future. Columbia College alum Matthew Chase ’20, a graduate of the Theatre Program’s Theatre Technology program, is the show’s production director and sound designer. And Columbia College alum Rose Johnson ’21, a graduate of the Theatre Program’s BA Program in Theatre Design and Technology, is the production’s scenic charge.