Children's theater, Stages, Theater

Review: Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas Tells an Adorable Holiday Story with a Menagerie of Puppets

Much of the theater on offer this month involves a nutcracker or Christmas ghosts. And we have you covered on those performances. But if you are looking for something different in […]

Nancy S Bishop /
Stages, Theater

Review: Hell in a Handbag Serves up a Holiday Parody with The Golden Girls Save Christmas

The Golden Girls sitcom is in perpetual rotation on television it seems. It’s late at night and sometimes simultaneously on two channels as an alternative to the news. It presaged […]

Kathy D. Hey /
Stages, Theater

Review: Ride the Whale Road with the Sweet Scottish Folk Musical Islander

As part of its WorldStage series, Chicago Shakespeare Theater brings the lyrical tale Islander, a folk-inspired musical soundscape from Scotland, to the Windy City after an acclaimed off-Broadway run and […]

Karin McKie /
Dance, Opera, Stages

Review: Joffrey Ballet’s The Nutcracker Blends Holiday Cheer and Wonder With Its 1893 Chicago Backdrop

The basic plot of the famous The Nutcracker ballet is a familiar story. A young girl, Clara, receives the gift of a Nutcracker on Christmas Eve. That night, she has […]

Lauren Katz /
Burlesque, Stages, Theater

Review: The Buttcracker: A Nutcracker Burlesque Is a Ribald Revival of an Art Form

Burlesque combines circus, vaudeville, opera, and theater for the so-called common folk. The art is derived from classical composers and theater performers as far back as the mid-19th century. One […]

Kathy D. Hey /
Stages, Theater

Review: Manual Cinema’s Christmas Carol Sparks Holiday Magic and Joy

“These are but shadows of things that have been.” Those familiar with A Christmas Carol may recognize this haunting line from the Ghost of Christmas Past. The Ghost takes Ebenezer […]

Lauren Katz /
Stages, Storefront, Theater

Review: Dario Fo’s Marxist Farce, Can’t Pay? Won’t Pay!, by Gwydion Theatre Speaks to Our Economic Pains

Dario Fo’s 1974 Marxist farce, Can’t Pay? Won’t Pay!, has plenty of messages for us in today’s era of inflationary prices. In its staging by Gwydion Theatre Company, we learn […]

Nancy S Bishop /
Broadway, Stages, Theater

Review: Broadway in Chicago’s The Wiz Casts a Magic Spell

Just about halfway between MGM’s (and Judy Garland’s) immortal The Wizard of Oz and Broadway’s current box-office smash Wicked, there was another musical retelling of L. Frank Baum’s classic American […]

Doug Mose /
Stages, Theater

Review: Goodman Theatre Continues a Fine Holiday Tradition with A Christmas Carol

The Goodman Theatre’s 46th annual production of A Christmas Carol is the kickoff to the holiday season in Chicago. The last time I saw it was over 12 years ago […]

Kathy D. Hey /
Stages, Theater

Review: Milwaukee Pays Tribute to Hometown Legend in Liberace!

While Chicago can lay claim to many headliners of the past, only Milwaukee had a major influence in the life of a piano prodigy who eventually became known as a […]

Anne Siegel /
Stages, Theater

Review: The Conspirators Create Bizarre and Brilliant Magic in COMMEDIA DIVINA: It’s Worse Than That

Ask a few actors about their childhoods and you start to notice patterns. “My siblings and I made costumes and put on silly plays for our parents,” is a common […]

Adam Kaz /
Stages, Theater

Review: Witch by Artistic Home Uses a 17th Century Story to Question Our Hope for the Future

“Where do we go from here? Can we imagine a better world? Or is it time to burn it all down and start over?” That’s part of the opening speech […]

Nancy S Bishop /