Review: Wicked Returns and Thrills Its Exuberant Chicago Fans
I’m pretty sure I was the only person in the Nederlander Theatre who had never seen Wicked before. Most audience members were wearing green buttons that said “I’ve seen Wicked […]
Nancy S. Bishop is publisher and Stages editor of Third Coast Review. She’s a member of the American Theatre Critics Association and a 2014 Fellow of the National Critics Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. You can read her personal writing on pop culture at nancybishopsjournal.com, and follow her on Bluesky at @nancyb.bsky.social. She also writes about film, books, art, architecture and design.
Third Coast Review Joins Chicago-Area Media for Joint Fundraiser October 3-17
Third Coast Review is happy to announce we’re one of nearly 40 independent Chicago-area media outlets, members of the Chicago Independent Media Alliance (CIMA), joining forces for our third annual […]
Review: Natkin: The Moment of Truth Is a Gorgeous Tribute to the Music Photographer’s Four-Decade Career
Paul Natkin learned the moment of truth before he began photographing musicians. Working along with his father, Robert Natkin, a photojournalist and one of the first photographers for the Chicago […]
Review: Much More Than Sandwiches Are Being Served in Lynn Nottage’s Clyde’s at Goodman Theatre
Clyde’s is a truck stop diner somewhere on the highway. We meet and learn the skills and stories of the four prep cooks, all of whom are ex-convicts, trying to […]
Review: At Steppenwolf Theatre, Miz Martha Washington’s Crazy Dreamscape Offers Comic History Lessons and Discomfort
Leaving the theater after seeing this wise and hysterically funny play, my first thought was, I would like to see this produced in Florida, where the governor and legislature have […]
Review: Take the Kids—Take Yourself—to See Leonardo, a Wonderful Show About a Terrible Monster at Chicago Children’s Theatre
It was a rainy Sunday morning, so what’s the best thing to do (as an alternative to staying in bed)? About a hundred parents and kids—and I—thought the best thing […]
Review: Art and Politics at War in Chagall in School by Grippo Stage Company
Art is enmeshed in the politics of the Russian revolution in James Sherman’s new play, Chagall in School, now being staged by Grippo Stage Company at Theater Wit. Georgette Verdin […]
Review: The Story of Film: A New Generation Explores the Last 20 Years in Global Filmmaking With Emphasis on Communities Often Ignored
Irish filmmaker Mark Cousins has expanded his earlier documentary exploration of the first century of filmmaking (The Story of film: An Odyssey, 2011) with his research on the last two […]
Review: The Bliss Family Sets a Chaotic Table for Their Guests in Noel Coward’s Hay Fever at City Lit
A high farce, a comedy of manners, a play named after an irrelevant medical condition. Those would be a few ways to describe Noel Coward’s 1925 play, Hay Fever, now on […]
Review: Six Artists Imagine All That Glows in the Dark of Democracy at the Weinberg/Newton Gallery
It’s two months until our midterm elections. And four weeks for you to find some electoral insights by checking out All That Glows in the Dark of Democracy, an interactive exhibition […]
Review: Driehaus Museum Exhibit Honors Richard Nickel’s Passion to Preserve Louis Sullivan’s Legacy
The Richard Nickel story is both tragic and inspiring. The architectural photographer and salvager of ornament from Louis Sullivan buildings was committed to the fight for historic preservation in the 1960s, […]
Dialogs: Two Artists Discuss Developing The Notebook for Chicago Shakespeare in American Writers Museum Event
It may seem a daunting task to take on developing the stage version of a beloved book and film, with thousands of fans. Singer/songwriter Ingrid Michaelson and playwright/screenwriter Bekah Brunstetter […]