Review: Saw the Musical: The Unauthorized Parody of Saw Isn’t Worth the Sacrifice
Like the film it parodies, Saw the Musical: The Unauthorized Parody of Saw is not for the faint of heart. Playing at The Den Theatre, Saw the Musical is coming […]
Review: Chicago Shakespeare’s Lord of the Rings, a Musical Tale—an Epic Fail
It took J.R.R. Tolkien three books, 62 chapters and more than a half-million words to tell his legendary story of Frodo Baggins and the quest to save Middle Earth. Adapted […]
Review: Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre Empowers Ntozake Shange’s 1976 MasterWork
I was 16 when For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf premiered on Broadway in 1976 and started making waves in the Black community. I […]
Review: In Wells and Welles, Lucid Theater Portrays the Day in 1940 When the Two Prodigies Meet
Being considered a “boy genius” probably heightened Orson Welles’ substantial ego. In October 1940, his chutzpah enabled him to knock on the hotel room door of a man long recognized […]
Review: At Pegasus Theatre, Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea, Tells a Young Man’s Ancestral Dream Story
Pegasus Theatre’s play, Dontell, Who Kissed the Sea, benefits from the poetic language of playwright Nathan Alan Davis and the production’s water theme. The work is directed by Ilesa Duncan, who […]
Review: A Case for the Existence of God at Steep Theatre Walks a Thin Line Between Hope and Despair
Samuel D. Hunter has received a lot of attention in recent years, with Little Bear Ridge Road now receiving rave reviews at Steppenwolf, and the success of The Whale, a […]
Review: RIP World Premiere in Milwaukee Takes Gallows Humor to Extreme
If you agree that the only certainties in life are death and taxes, you could say that the world premiere of RIP—A Musical Comedy of Life & Death is certainly […]
On the Road: Letter from New York—Culture Hopping in the City of Islands
“I’m in a New York state of mind”–Billy Joel New York is a city of islands or near-islands. In all, there are more than three dozen of them, inhabited and […]
Review: American Blues Theater’s The Last Wide Open Is a Charming Romantic Comedy
“You know what I wish? Just once for my life to be like the movies.” Lina and Mikołaj sit on the ground of the Polish diner where they both work. […]
Review: Romeo and Juliet Simmers With Young Love and Tragedy in Midsommer Flight’s Theater in the Park
Is there anything as lovely as theater in the park on a warm summer evening? That’s the concept behind Midsommer Flight’s annual summer series of Shakespeare in the park. This […]
Review: Otherworld Theatre Tackles Problems of Parentage and Demigodly Puberty in The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical
The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical made its Broadway debut in 2017 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre and went on a national tour in 2019. The show’s source material, […]
Review: Theatre L’Acadie’s The Swan Is a Surreal Concoction of Magical Realism and Mythology
Theatre L’Acadie describes The Swan as a psychosexual fever dream. It is that, but there is more simmering beneath the murky surface. Playwright Elizabeth Egloff’s play takes place in Nebraska […]