We Take a Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Costumes of the Lyric Opera
[soliloquy id=”13643″] For me, a good lunch break is one where I pick up food from my favorite lunch spot and take a walk outside (weather permitting—this is Chicago […]
Goodman’s Objects in the Mirror: A Reflection on Stories
There’s a cinematic quality to Objects in the Mirror, now playing at Goodman Theatre in a production directed by Chuck Smith. Minimal and expansive, Riccardo Hernandez’s scenic design dwarfs the […]
A Little Bit Not Normal Interprets Genetic Depression With Humor
Arlene Malinowski has written and performs in A Little Bit Not Normal, her solo show about struggles with depression, personified here, peppered with humor as well as sign language, since […]
Timeline’s Paradise Blue Examines a Detroit Jazz Club Amidst Urban Renewal
[soliloquy id=”13453″] Paradise Blue by Dominique Morisseau muses on the troubled relationships of jazz musicians in an old jazz club, but she overlays their story with the political turmoil […]
Chicago Shakes’ Shakespeare in Love A Charming and Clever Love Story
The Oscar-winning film, Shakespeare in Love, has been adapted for the stage, and what better company to present its Chicago premiere than Chicago Shakespeare Theater, whose lush costumes and dynamic […]
Hookman at Steep Theatre Succeeds in Being Terrifying and Hilarious
Playwright Lauren Yee calls her play Hookman an “existential slasher comedy.” And Steep Theatre’s new production takes her up on that with creative staging, solid performances, especially by the three […]
Laurie Anderson Returns Home to Quell My Political PTSD in The Language of the Future
Photo by Ebru Yildiz Glen Ellyn native and iconoclast Laurie Anderson returns home for a lovely, lyrical and melancholy meditation on the current state of affairs in her ongoing exploration, “The […]
City Lit’s Forty-Two Stories: Behind the Scenes at a High-Rise Condo Where Stuff Happens
Do you live in a highrise condo on Lake Shore Drive? Or spend time with someone who does? Then all your suspicions about what goes on behind the scenes will […]
Aladdin Grants All Your Wishes at the Cadillac Palace
Broadway’s Aladdin takes a magical carpet ride into the Cadillac Palace Theatre! (no promises but I’ll try to keep the Aladdin-themed references to a minimum). Director Casey Nicholaw alongside the […]
Feeling Nostalgic? See Red Orchid’s 3C: R-Rated “Three’s Company” in ’70s Color
A Red Orchid Theatre’s new production, 3C, reminds me of two things I’d rather forget. The silly sitcom, “Three’s Company,” that aired on ABC for eight years, ending in 1984. […]
Raven’s Not About Nightingales Introduces Tennessee Williams’ Depression-Era Prison Tragedy
Not About Nightingales, an early Tennessee Williams script, is a Depression-era tragedy with many elements that foretell Williams’ genius as a playwright. Its setting—a large prison where the prisoners revolt […]
Teatro Vista’s La Havana Madrid: A ’60s Chicago Salsa Club Resurrected
La Havana Madrid, a 1960s Latino nightclub on the corner of Belmont and Sheffield, has been resurrected for five weeks by Teatro Vista. Colombian-American actor Sandra Delgado wrote and stars […]