The Nance Teaches Us Some History in the Midst of Burlesque Routines
The play opens with a bubbly Sylvie (Melissa Young) singing and dancing to “I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate” on the stage of an old New York […]
A Life With No Limits and Dream Logic Meld Dance, Circus, Theater With Science
Aura Curiatlas Physical Theatre, an acrobatic dance theater company that is in its 4th year of touring the U.S. with several shows, is bringing a new work to Chicago. They will […]
Eclipse Theatre’s Megastasis Takes a Tense Dive Into Lives of Young Black Men
Two black men on a street corner, drinking beer. One is a college student, the other a dad talking about how he loves to buy books for his daughter. Two […]
See Hamlet in the Park With All the Famous Lines–Only 100 Minutes
The Prince of Denmark is going to the park this summer. You’ll be able to see a 100-minute version of Hamlet at four city parks in July and August. Venues […]
Neo-Futurists Close Out Another Hilarious Season of It Came from the Neo-Futurarium
Last Saturday I had the rare treat of seeing a staged reading of the 1975 made-for-TV film “Someone I Touched” at the Neo-Futurarium in Andersonville. The original film (I say […]
Steppenwolf’s Startling Production of Hir Is About Gender Identity and Much More
On the surface and in all its promotional materials, Steppenwolf Theatre’s startling new production of Taylor Mac’s Hir (pronounced “here”) is about transgender people, and the state of being nonbinary. […]
Lela & Co. at Steep Theatre: Searing Story of a Woman in a War Zone
Lela & Co. sounds like a chic boutique, a business story. And it is. It’s a horrifying story of a woman alone in a conflict zone. The business theme is […]
Broken Nose Theatre’s At the Table Asks Who Gets a Seat at That Table
Six friends sit around a table, in a weekend home outside Chicago. The table is covered with the detritus of dinner. Wine glasses are filled and emptied. Several conversations are […]
Oeuf Oeuvre Scrambled in Something Rotten! at the Oriental Theatre
To get to the bottom of the boisterous mélange that is the multi-Tony-nominated Something Rotten!, audiences need an appreciation–and perhaps a thick lexicon–of all things musical (and probably also Elizabethan), […]
Learn How to Be a Rock Critic at Steppenwolf, But Skip the Romilar
Two 3CR writers—Nancy and [Karin]—went to see Erik Jensen’s one-man performance of the life and times of rock critic Lester Bangs. Nancy wrote the review and Karin added comments. This […]
O’Neill’s Only Comedy, Ah, Wilderness!, Recreates 4th of July Family Story at Goodman Theatre
Ah, Wilderness!, Eugene O’Neill’s only comedy, is a charming, light-hearted play with an element foreign to most O’Neill scripts: a happy ending. The hero, teenaged Richard Miller (truthfully played by […]
Hitler on the Roof Is Akvavit Theatre’s Manic Meditation on Propaganda
Hitler on the Roof, I was happy to learn, is not a parody of Fiddler with Hitler playing Tevye. No, it’s a tragicomedy subtitled “A Play for Two Clowns.” The […]