Review: Blue Eyed Soul Sung by Brown Eyed People Revs Up the Soul at Black Ensemble Theater
There is not a lot of certainty in today’s world. The world may seem on 33 and 1/3 and you’re on 33. There is one thing that I can count […]
Review: Beethoven’s Fidelio Is an Abstraction of Love, Freedom, and the Cost of Tyranny at Lyric Opera
The Lyric Opera of Chicago continues its 50th season with Beethoven’s Fidelio, an opera not often staged in the repertoire of great opera houses. Perhaps it is the political tone […]
Review: A Book About Two Rabbits Sparks a Firestorm in Alabama Story by Ghostlight Ensemble
“Tell me a story.” That line is repeated by cast members in the prologue to Alabama Story, a play about a book for children 3 to 7. Set in Montgomery, Alabama, […]
Review: Ironbound at Raven Theatre Paints a Portrait of an Immigrant Woman Fighting for Survival—Although Her New Country Doesn’t Care
Darja is an all-American woman. She may be a Polish immigrant, escaping the wars and politics of her native land. But she has all the problems of her born-in-the-USA sisters. She […]
Review: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Is Sheer Magic
Sorting hats! Quidditch brooms! Wand duels! Dementors! We’re in the midst of the spooky season and over at the Nederlander Theatre they are brewing up the perfect potion: the launch […]
Review: American Blues Theater’s Misery Delivers Laughs but Is Light on Screams
Misery might be the Stephen King novel best suited for a theatrical adaptation. Not only because its single-bedroom setting makes it decidedly stage-sized, but also because its two main characters […]
Review: Goodman Theatre’s Inherit the Wind Renews a Century-Old Courtroom Drama With 21st Century Spirit
Inherit the Wind at Goodman Theatre has no flashy costumes or rapid costume changes, no chorus or dance squad. It’s simply two hours of enthralling courtroom drama with lacerating wit about […]
Review: The Destinations Are the Path in the 2024 Go To New Play Fest at Theater Wit
Flash theater is the theme of the 2024 Go To New Play Fest. Flash theater contains a plot, climax, and denouement similar to flash fiction but the impact is more […]
Dialogs: SCOTUS Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Shares Her New Memoir Lovely One at Chicago Humanities Festival
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson inaugurated the Chicago Humanities Festival’s autumn 2024 season in front of a packed, enthusiastic crowd at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance. In […]
Review: Steppenwolf’s Noises Off Hits on All Cylinders
Can you hear it? That finely tuned purr? It’s not the sound of a Rolls-Royce or Jaguar in the garage—but instead that other pinnacle of British engineering, Michael Frayn’s classic […]
Review: PARA.MAR Dance Theatre Gives Life to Loss and Passion in Anthology
Choreographer Stephanie Martinez founded PARA.MAR Dance Theatre in 2020 as an antidote to the pandemic’s despair, loss, and isolation. Anthology is a curated selection of six dances by Martinez and […]
Review: Catholic School Scandals Are a Familiar Story in Steep Theatre’s Happy Days Are Here (Again)
Steep Theatre’s world premiere play, Happy Days Are Here (Again) replays a familiar story (sexual abuse in the Catholic Church) and introduces a new one (a Palestinian adapting to American teen life) […]