Review: Oklahoma! Takes Us to the Dark Side
Broadway revivals have been the lifeblood of musical theater for decades. They are, for the most part, feel-good reminders of the golden age of Broadway. Big voices such as Howard […]
Review: A Hero’s Journey for Alaudin Ullah in Dishwasher Dreams at Writers Theatre
Every first-generation person has a story of integrating the ways of the old country, or of their ancestral region like the American South. It is how identities are built and […]
Review: The Play That Goes Wrong May Be Right If You Need Some Laughs
The Play That Goes Wrong opened Friday night at the Broadway Playhouse. By audience reaction, the play is a barrel of laughs; it’s a wannabe farce that doesn’t quite make […]
Review: Ben Scrooge Gets Jiggy in Q Brothers Christmas Carol at Chicago Shakes
What is this madness? Ebenezer Scrooge is alive in the Millennium and just as un-PC and crotchety as ever. Q Brothers Christmas Carol, directed by Q Brothers Collective members JQ […]
Review: Eclectic Theatre Adapts A Christmas Carol as Audio Play (With Visuals)
A new audio-play-with-visuals by Eclectic Full Contact Theatre has joined the holiday season array of productions of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Eclectic’s version, adapted and directed by Andrew Pond, […]
Review: When Harry Met Rehab, an Addiction Story With Heart and Humor
All you can do is begin. That’s the advice of Barb, the therapist in When Harry Met Rehab, the new play about addicts and addiction at the Greenhouse Theater Center. […]
Review: In Manual Cinema’s Christmas Carol, Aunt Trudy and the Puppets Bring a Message of Hope for the Holidays
If you like Dickens’ A Christmas Carol performed by shadow puppets with special effects from an overhead projector, Manual Cinema has an adaptation of the holiday classic for you. Its 2020 […]
Review: Theater Wit’s Bawdy and Hilarious Cindy Lou Turns the Table on PC Whoville in Who’s Holiday!
As kids growing up watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas, we were supposed to take comfort in the piety and altruism of the denizens of Whoville. It was a magical […]
Review: New Musical Paradise Square Aims for Lofty Themes, Gets Lost in an Unfocused Narrative
Chicago has long been a proving ground for new stage productions bound for Broadway, and the shows that head east from here go on to varying degrees of success on […]
Review: At Lookingglass Theatre, Her Honor Jane Byrne Tells the Story of Chicago Public Housing and Its People
Jane Byrne, whose name is enshrined in an expressway interchange, was Chicago’s first female mayor. She probably deserves a better memorial and J. Nicole Brooks’ play, Her Honor Jane Byrne, […]
Review: AstonRep’s Dark Comedy, God of Carnage, Rips Up the Veneer of Civilization
Two couples get together to discuss a playground dispute in which the son of one attacked the son of another. They’re there to have a civilized discussion. What could possibly […]
Review: The Soaring Language of Hamlet Thrills in Invictus Theatre’s Intimate Setting
Hamlet is all about the language. It’s thrilling to hear Shakespeare’s tragic tale spoken by a talented and well-directed team of actors. Invictus Theatre’s modern-dress production of the Bard’s 1601 […]