Review: Goodman Theatre’s The Nacirema Society Showcases Stellar Cast and Hysterical Writing
Gracie: “I just can’t get as excited as you do about it, Gram. At the end of the day, it’s just a big ol’ poofy white dress.” Grace: (A beat) […]
Review: Murderous Fun With Some Kinks in American Psycho: The Musical by Kokandy Productions
American Psycho as originally conceived by author Bret Easton Ellis has a great elevator pitch. “A novel about an investment banker in the Reagan eighties who at night becomes a […]
Review: In The Lehman Trilogy, Three Actors Tell the Story of the Rise and Crash of an Iconic American Business
Timeline Theatre’s new production of The Lehman Trilogy tells the story of the rise and fall of an iconic American business—starting as an Alabama dry goods merchant and becoming one […]
Review: Trap Door Stages the Stylish if Mystifying Play, The Pragmatists—Is It an Anti-War Play?
Two old friends, their bonds apparently fractured by despair at a collapsing world or something else entirely, meet again. One is artistic and the other is a practical man, a […]
Review: Remy Bumppo Theatre Cast Shines in Pearl Cleage’s Blues for an Alabama Sky
Many tales have been told and legends passed down of the Harlem Renaissance when the “New Negro” emerged from the dust and toil of the American South. A surge of […]
Review: The Past Is Now in Jane: Abortion and the Underground at Idle Muse
Abortion has always been a hot-button issue and the arguments for and against it are about more than the termination of a pregnancy. It is about control and agency over […]
Review: Gift Theatre’s The Rise and Fall of Little Voice Barely Registers
Thirty years ago, Jim Cartwright’s play The Rise and Fall of Little Voice made a big noise first on London’s West End and then on Broadway and at Steppenwolf Theatre. […]
Review: Theo Ubique’s Baked! The Musical Cooks Up Something Funny and Tender
I have always said that there is no real American culture because we are a country of immigrants. The one thing that is a common denominator is the striving to […]
Review: Hamilton Returns to Remind Us That Today’s Politics Is History
Hamilton has landed in Chicago and I was not prepared for the mania that was opening night. The line wound down State Street from the Nederlander on Randolph for people […]
Review: Birthday Candles at Northlight Theatre Will Light Up Your Evening
Birthday Candles is a new play now on stage at Northlight Theatre. It’s a poignant comedy/drama that will cure your emotional ills for an evening with its story of love, life […]
Review: Shattered Globe’s A View from the Bridge Simmers with Raw Emotion and Physicality
Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge is a mid-century American story, a tale that’s rimmed with classic notions of honor and respect, as old as Greek tragedy and Sicilian immigrant lore. […]
Review: Congo Square Theatre Illuminates an Uncomfortable Truth in Welcome to Matteson
Congo Square Theatre is celebrating its 25th anniversary of staging a full spectrum of the Black experience in America. A part of that celebration is the world premiere of Welcome […]