ONCE has found its way back on the stage with an electric performance at the Cadillac Palace. With eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical and winner of the 2013 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, ONCE brought wit, attitude, and energy to Chicago. ONCE tells the tale of life…
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Theatre in Review
"Stick Fly" is about the Levays, a wealthy African American family, who go to their beach house for a weekend getaway. What started off as two brothers bringing their significant others to meet their parents ends with revelations of deception, racial issues, and relationship woes. The older brother, played by…
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Theatre in Review
Known for staging eccentric new works, Sideshow Theatre’s production of Walt McGough’s “Chalk” is no exception. McGough serves as the literary manager for Sideshow Theatre and his play is receiving its world premiere in collaboration with Boston’s Fresh Ink Productions. Peculiar is perhaps the best adjective to describe “Chalk.” Clocking…
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Theatre in Review
Hell in a Handbag Productions tests the boundaries of morality once again as only they can, this time kicking off its 2015-16 season with “Miracle!”, the hilarious lampoon of The Miracle Worker. Instead of Helen Keller, we meet Helen Stellar, a deaf and blind 20-year-old drag queen who is thrust…
Published in
Theatre in Review
What a thrill to see a costume piece with moderately contemporary dialog. Charles Hampton's adaptation of Choderlos de Laclos' "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" premiered during the height of theatrical decedance in the 1980s. Razor sharp wit borrowed from Laclos' 18th century epistolary novel about sexual conquest among bored aristocrats make this…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Sunday, 24 May 2015 00:00
What if? "Picasso at the Lapin Agile" at Greenhouse Theatre
Written by Ken Payne
“Picasso at the Lapin Agile” is a charming “what if” story that has twentieth century groundbreakers Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso unexpectedly meeting at a bar in 1904. Set in Paris, France at the Lapin Agile, both men are on the brink of remarkable ideas – Picasso just a few…
Published in
Theatre in Review
About a month ago, CNN began running a series of clips showing self-proclaimed Islamic State militants destroying Middle Eastern artifacts. While their motives remain unclear, it does point to an unsettling idea that significant pieces of history are lost or destroyed in times of civil unrest. Michele Lowe’s 2009 play…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Friday, 15 May 2015 00:00
“Chicago Rhythm Fest”: The Rhythm IS Going To Get You!
Written by Michelle Reidy
“Chicago Rhythm Fest” at the Auditorium Theatere was the culminating performance of the STOMPING GROUND event that included five programs across Chicago neighborhoods, bringing together five amazing percussive dance groups from around the world including The Trinity Irish Dance Company, Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater, Muntu Dance Theatre of Chicago, Mexican…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Sunday, 10 May 2015 00:00
“Bad Jews” by Joshua Harmon is Full of Great Jews
Written by Kimberly Katz
If you are Jewish, you will especially appreciate and love this play which is full of biting humor and keen observations about how modern day Jews define themselves philosophically and how that vision of themselves plays out in their family relationships. “Bad Jews” is set in a beautiful New York…
Published in
Theatre in Review
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Thursday, 14 May 2015 00:00
Oh, What A Night! "Jersey Boys" at Cadillac Palace
Written by Sara Hassan
“Jersey Boys”, currently playing at Cadillac Palace, is the story of the Four Seasons and their journey from Newark, New Jersey to becoming a multi-million record selling group. I went to the opening night expecting an entertaining performance, but really, unsure of what lied ahead. I imagined the audience to be…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tuesday, 12 May 2015 00:00
Don't Let Theatre at the Center's "Big Fish" Be the One that Got Away!
Written by Ken Payne
Fantastic stories filled with mermaids, giants, tornadoes and witches are told and Edward Bloom always comes out as the hero. These are the enchanted tales Edward has been telling his son, Will, since he was a child. Each story is more larger than life than the other and each act…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Wednesday, 13 May 2015 00:00
The Con is On in Neo-Futurist's "Trust Us/Screw You"
Written by Ken Payne
If you come with a dollar you may just leave with two. However, if you are not careful, you could also lose the shirt off your back. In the Neo-Futurist’s latest endeavor “Trust Us/Screw You” we cautiously enter the world of the confidence man, as we meet the mark, the…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Sunday, 10 May 2015 00:00
That Ballet was the Bee's Knees!: Eifman's 1920's "Up & Down" roars through Chicago
Written by Kendall Royzen
I know about as much Russian as a non-native speaker needs. I know how to say hello and goodbye (Preevyet and Da sveedaneeya). I know how to say thank you (Spaseeba), I even know how to say my little monkey (moya malen'kaya obez'yana) though that doesn’t come in handy too…
Published in
Theatre in Review
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'Blue' Holds Mirror to Race in America
Written by Betsy SchmittWhen Francesca Zambello, director of The Glimmerglass Festival, commissioned an opera about race in America, the country was reeling from a spate of police shootings of young African-American men in Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. By the time the… -
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Disney's The Little Mermaid at Drury Lane: An Inspiring and Delightful Production Celebrating Girls' Unique Voices
Written by Kimberly KatzI thoroughly enjoyed Drury Lane's enchanting stage production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid from start to finish. While few are overly familiar with Hans Christian Andersen’s original, darker tale of ill-fated romance, the Disney animated film and this stage adaptation,…
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