Friday, 21 June 2019 12:18
Wicked Little Town: 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch' at Theo Ubique
Written by CJ Burroughs
I’ve probably said this before — the sheer volume of shows we here in Chicago have on offer makes me count my lucky stars whenever I enter a theater, be it for an opulent touring production or for a more intimate local performance. But it’s always the latter for which…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Monday, 17 June 2019 12:04
Review: 'If I Forget' at Victory Gardens Theater
Written by John Accrocco
Does not supporting Israel make you an anti-semite? This is the central theme of playwright Steven Levenson’s work ‘If I Forget’ now running at Victory Gardens under the direction of Devon De Mayo. Levenson is best known for providing the book to Broadway’s smash hit ‘Dear Evan Hansen’. “If I…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Friday, 14 June 2019 16:58
We Forecast Box Office Boffo for The Ballad of Lefty & Crabbe
Written by Bill Esler
The Ballad of Lefty & Crabbe is a new musical comedy that is so good I found myself lamenting half-way through Act 1 that its run at Underscore Theatre ends July 14 – or ever! It is hard to imagine anyone not being smitten by it; it is just the…
Published in
Theatre in Review
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Friday, 07 June 2019 22:27
In Service To America: If Only We Could Have Had Ms. Blakk for President
Written by Bill Esler
When Chicago drag performer Joan Jett Blakk ran for President in 1992 – the year Bill Clinton was nominated – it was certainly the most outré act of political insurrection Americans had seen – for those who noticed, anyway. It’s unlikely the Tribune and Sun-Times gave her candidacy much coverage.…
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Theatre in Review
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Wednesday, 05 June 2019 18:09
Chicago's Physical Theater Festival Brings Exciting World Performance Artists to Your Doorstep
Written by Bill Esler
The Physical Theater Festival, running through June 9 at Stage 773, is an exciting opportunity to really enjoy theater from around the world. It overcomes the biggest barrier to shows from abroad – language – by reducing or eliminating the spoken script, subordinating it to broad movement, pantomime, facial expressions…
Published in
Theatre in Review
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The Den Theatre returns to original programming for the first time in nearly five years. Director Lia Mortensen directs their revival of the Joel Drake Johnson play ‘Four Places’. In the intimate space at the Den, ‘Four Places’ gets its first Chicago production since its premiere in 2008 at Victory…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Friday, 31 May 2019 08:37
Didn't Get The Memo? Then Don't Miss This Orwellian Farce by Václav Havel.
Written by Bill Esler
Organic Theater has done such a wonderful job in The Memo, it is hard to imagine a more perfect presentation of this play by Czech writer and statesmen, Václav Havel. The Memo is at turns funny and unsettling. While the original The Memorandum is rooted in the totalitarian Eastern Europe,…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Cirque du Soleil is back in Chicago with its latest touring production, Volta. Volta’s inspiration comes from the culture of street sports and just about any acrobatics that could have originated in an urban jungle. Written and directed by Bastien Alexandre, the theme of Volta is finding freedom from the…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Monday, 20 May 2019 15:47
Long drive and it's outta here! 'Miracle' is a homerun!
Written by Ken Payne
With the Cubs finally winning the World Series in 2016 after a 108-year drought, it was probably inevitable a theatrical production would be created at some point to recreate the special magic Chicagoans felt over that incredible year. And so ‘Miracle’, the new musical by William Marovitz and Julian Frazin,…
Published in
Theatre in Review
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Really? Another ‘Frankenstein’? The 2018/19 season was the year of ‘Frankenstein’. To celebrate the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s classic gothic thriller, four theatre companies produced wildly different adaptations of the novel. If you find yourself wondering whether these companies knew of each other’s productions, they surely did. The beauty…
Published in
Theatre in Review
You know if a musical wins the Pulitzer, it’s going to be a sad one. Creative team Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey took home the 2010 Pulitzer for ‘Next to Normal’, an award rarely given to musical theatre. David Cromer returns to Writers Theatre to direct this highly anticipated revival.…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Sunday, 19 May 2019 02:47
Shakespeare With Spectacle: Expect the Unexpected in Goodman’s Delightful Winter’s Tale
Written by Bill Esler
Goodman Theatre’s staging of The Winter’s Tale, loaded with spectacle, would have seemed ridiculous and even unanchored 20 years ago. But with the surging popularity of those magical realms in the movies of the Marvel Universe – Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame - where characters die, then return, and…
Published in
Theatre in Review
When having non-stop conversations in his head and agonizing over the most mundane decisions becomes daily reality of living with OCD, finding a cure turns into obsession. Of course it does. The Mushroom Cure is a comedian Adam Strauss’ true tale of his ongoing battle with OCD. Though he sees…
Published in
Theatre in Review
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One Fine Show: Beautiful The Carole King Musical dazzles Paramount Theatre
Written by Kendall RoyzenGrowing up our radio dial was tuned to one channel, K-Earth 101. In Southern California that station was the oldies, the classics, belting out hits from the 1950s and 60s; Sam Cooke, Buddy Hall, Mel Carter, Peggy Lee, The Ronettes,… -
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