Review: Redtwist Theatre’s The Normal Heart—Riveting Drama Still Beats Strong
“Who cares if a bunch of faggots die?” Larry Kramer did. And, more than 40 years ago, that’s what caused him to write that caustic question in his remarkable play […]
Doug Mose grew up on a farm in western Illinois, and moved to the big city to go to grad school. He lives with his husband Jim in Printers Row. When he’s not writing for Third Coast Review, Doug works as a business writer.
Review: Chicago Shakespeare’s Lord of the Rings, a Musical Tale—an Epic Fail
It took J.R.R. Tolkien three books, 62 chapters and more than a half-million words to tell his legendary story of Frodo Baggins and the quest to save Middle Earth. Adapted […]
Review: Raw and Emotional Hedwig and the Angry Inch at Haven Chicago
This is a love letter. To Stephen Trask’s brilliant music and lyrics and John Cameron Mitchell’s searing wit. To one of the best musicals to ever come out of New […]
Review: Goodman Theatre’s Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil Needs Pruning
The new and eagerly awaited production of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil at Goodman Theatre fails to present a unified story and collapses under its own weight […]
Review: Blank Theatre’s On the Twentieth Century Never Reaches Full Steam
The new production of On the Twentieth Century by Blank Theatre Company, directed by Danny Kapinos, is the latest incarnation of many fabulous versions of this story—on stage and screen. […]
Storefront Theater Roundup: Neo-Futurist’s Cult-Show and Theatre Above the Law’s Prelude to a Kiss
We review two shows now running in Chicago’s storefront theater scene. Did you know that Chicago has more than 200 theater companies, many of them small and performing in storefronts […]
Review: Goodman Theatre’s Matchbox Magic Flute Is a Tiny Enchantment
Great works of art come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes, they are vast and sweeping, like the Sistine Chapel or Anna Karenina; and sometimes they are tiny, like a […]
Review: Court Theatre’s Antigone Asks the Old Questions for New Times
Every time an old play is revived, it inhabits two dimensions—the time of its writing and the time of its revival. You can’t exactly call a restaging of a 2,400+ […]
Review: Chicago Shakespeare’s Illinoise Inspires, Electrifies
Maybe one of the essential hallmarks of truly great art is the way it inspires others to produce creative efforts of their own. And that is nowhere more true than […]
Review: Porchlight’s Anything Goes—Delightful… Delovely
Get your tickets and grab your seats. On the relatively small stage at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, Porchlight Music Theatre is putting on a big, big show: […]
Review: Boop! The Betty Boop Musical Sizzles Thanks to Its Star—But Its Plot Fizzles
What do you say about a priceless diamond in a shabby setting? That it shines brilliantly, no thanks to what surrounds it—a dull distraction than can, by contrast, sometimes make […]
Review: Blank Theatre’s Promises, Promises a Holiday Delight
In 1960, when Eisenhower was still president and what we think of as “the ’60s”… counter culture… protests… civil unrest… had yet to really begin, Billy Wilder and his screenwriting […]