Urban Bush Women Wow with “Walking with ‘Trane”
This past weekend, the New York-based Urban Bush Women dance company went on an explorative journey through the music, spirit and life of John Coltrane-and took Chicago audiences along for […]
Cocked Not Done By Halves
It is perhaps no accident that Cocked, a play about many things, but chief among them gun violence, takes place in Victory Gardens Theater, which is located in the Biograph […]
Goodman Takes on Bolaño’s 2666: It’s Extreme Theater and a Beautiful Mess
The Goodman Theatre’s new production of 2666, adapted from the massive novel by the late Roberto Bolaño, takes five stories and threads them loosely together with a couple of mysteries […]
Marnie & Phil: A Circus Love Letter Melds Circus with Theater
The Actors Gymnasium has always made a point of adding theater and music to their circus productions, long before contemporary circus made it a trend. But in Marnie & […]
Sister Act Gets The Marriott Theatre Dancing
It’s always interesting to see productions in the round at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire. Set design must be creative and lightweight, and the actors’ movements on the square stage […]
Tympanic’s “Blueberry Toast” Finds Itself Having To Scrape Off Its Burnt Edges
If you had a sinking suspicion that, hey, maybe Tympanic Theatre Company’s Blueberry Toast is not about fruity breads and Eggo waffles and a celebration of domestic bliss over an […]
The Flick at Steppenwolf: Reel Love Becomes Real Life in a Rundown Movie Theater
Annie Baker’s Pulitzer-winning script for The Flick, newly opened at Steppenwolf Theatre, gives us a chance to get to know three people, underpaid workers in a movie theater in Worcester […]
All the World’s a Stage is Emotional and Entertaining
It’s difficult to turn your life– and your pain– into art. Too often it ends up being therapy– good for you, but not necessarily good for the audience. But All […]
Pop Waits: It’s Punk Raucous Mixed with Melancholy
Pop Waits, the Neo-Futurists’ new production, directed by Halena Kays, is a punk rock operetta with some sweet and sad moments. Created by Malic White and Molly Brennan, Pop […]
Refuge Theatre Project’s High Fidelity Reclaims a Chicago Classic
Refuge Theatre Project, the no frills, contemporary music theater group that brought you Next Thing You Know and Glory Days in 2015, is starting off 2016 with a run of High […]
Porchlight’s “Far From Heaven” Takes Their Musical Theater Fare Shaken, Not Stoic
How do you take a cloyingly overused plot line and make it feel less decayed, more relevant, and, above all, interesting? That’s what Porchlight Music Theatre’s Far From Heaven attempts […]
Eclectic Full Contact Theatre’s Overworked Shape of Things
The first time I saw Neil LaBute’s The Shape of Things was at my small Midwestern liberal arts college, the same setting as the play itself. Afterwards, my friends and […]