The Lyric Opera of Chicago gives us a fall doubleheader with two classic Italian operas rooted in the verismo tradition. Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana (1890) and Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci (1892) […]
This is the first in a series of articles spotlighting some of Chicago’s finest and funniest comedians worth watching. Though Laura Hugg has always loved comedy, it took many years […]
Chicago will have a new entertainment space that will enable you to “step into a new world of totally different experiences” from those you usually find in a theater or […]
Maestro Enrique Mazzola is now entering his 5th year as music director and conductor of the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Mazzola is the third music director since Bruno Bartoletti, when […]
When I open a book to review it, I view it as an assignment. Read it as thoroughly as practical, and perhaps skim over some sections. But by the time […]
Four Places is a tense family drama, played out over a lunch conversation between two adult children with their mother. The play by Joel Drake Johnson is now being staged […]
The definitive metaphor for the duality of mankind, the torrid tale of Jekyll and Hyde has been familiar to lovers of literature for nearly 140 years. Adapted for the stage […]
The musical Godspell was a colossal hit off-Broadway, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by John Michael Tebelak. It was 1971, and the news trumpeted stories about […]
Brave. Poignant. Inspirational. These are the default adjectives writers are supposed to use when describing an autobiographical narrative centered around a cancer battle. And while they all certainly apply to […]
The Chicago Opera Theater (COT) presented Shakespeare Sings last weekend, an excellent concert of arias from operas by Verdi, Wagner, Britten, and other composers whose works are performed less frequently. […]
It’s officially that time of year. The temperature is cooling down, the sun is setting earlier, and the spooky, Halloween vibe is starting to take over. If this is the […]
The lights come up and a fight begins. A Recruit chooses to fight an officer as a test of her fitness to join the Army. Members of the Army look […]