Review: Luis Carreon Captivates with Card Tricks in Intimo
The true marker of a successful magic show is not whether the audience speaks those five inevitable words—“How did they do that?”—but in the magician’s ability to captivate the crowd […]
Review: Goodman’s Ma Rainey Shows What the World Takes—and What It Breaks
August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is a play about music. Yes… about the blues. Yes… about the eponymous singer. And yes… about the heart‑breaking circumstances in which her recordings […]
Review: Eos Theatre Stages The Trojan Women, a Powerful Play About How Women Suffer in Wartime
The Trojan Women is a play about yesterday that speaks to today. It’s a powerful story about how women suffer in wartime, a commentary on the costs of war and […]
Review: The Ally at Theater Wit Relies Too Much on Volume, Rather Than Drama
The Ally, a play now on stage at Theater Wit, is a diatribe more than a drama. The script by Itamar Moses (book for The Band’s Visit) puts a university […]
Review: Walk Through David Byrne’s Head in Goodman Theatre’s Innovative Theater of the Mind
Ever wanted to attend your own funeral? Ever wondered if your memories are real or imagined? Ever desired to get inside the big brain of big-suited Talking Heads frontman David […]
Review: Lyric Opera’s El último sueño de Frida y Diego Is a Magical Ride of Love, Mystery, and Tradition
El último sueño de Frida y Diego premiered at the Lyric Opera last weekend, and it was one of the most thrilling operas I have seen. The music was written […]
Review: Trap Door Theatre’s The Cuttlefish, or the Hyrcanian Worldview Will Test Many but Rewards Everyone
After reading the play The Cuttlefish, or the Hyrcanian Worldview, about an artist driven to despair due to censorship, by the early 20th century Polish avant-garde writer Stanislaw I. Witkiewicz, […]
Review: Four Weddings and a Musical in Theo Ubique’s The Drowsy Chaperone
In 1998, the short and sweet musical The Drowsy Chaperone was created in Toronto as a bachelor party gift for creators Bob Martin and Janet Van de Graaff. The first […]
Review: Environmental Activist Drag Queen Pattie Gonia Electrifies Thalia Hall
This year, March 17 was not only Chicago’s annual St. Patty’s Day celebration, but also an observation of St. Pattie Gonia’s Day at Pilsen’s Thalia Hall. The Nebraska-born, Oregon-residing environmental […]
Review: The Seldoms Connect the Body and Spirit to Climate Change with Floe at the Columbia College Dance Center
The Seldoms are a Chicago dance company, known for dance as an intersection of movement, intellect, and social consciousness. The Seldoms’ performance, titled Floe, is a graceful yet urgent plea for action […]
Review: At Lyric Opera, Madama Butterfly Has Excellent Vocals But Distracting Design and Plot Choices
The Lyric Opera of Chicago opened its production of Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly on Saturday. It has been highly anticipated with a new vision for the story of Cio Cio […]
Review: Winning Works by Joffrey Ballet’s Grainger Academy Brilliantly Transcends the Ordinary
At Joffrey Ballet’s Grainger Academy, the best of the best train to become part of dance companies worldwide. The academy’s four programs are the Joffrey Studio Company, the Ballet Trainee […]