Displaying items by tag: Chicago area

Chicago theatre is firing on all cylinders right now, and this weekend lines up three productions that each showcase a different facet of the city’s creative muscle. Whether you’re in the mood for a riotous farce built on precision timing, a beloved mega‑musical delivered with full‑company sweep, or a sharp, literary comedy that only City Lit would dare to stage, you truly can’t go wrong. Each one stands on its own as a worthy night out, and any single pick will give you a taste of what Chicago theatre does best: craft, imagination, emotional punch, and a fearless sense of play.

The Play the Goes Wrong at Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, Arlington Heights

Few comedies promise laughter as reliably as The Play That Goes Wrong, and Metropolis throws itself into the chaos with real delight. This production revels in tightly calibrated mayhem—the kind where doors refuse to cooperate, props rebel at the worst possible moment, and actors push forward with a kind of heroic, straight‑faced determination that only makes the disaster funnier. The result is a joyful, precision‑engineered mess that the audience gets to savor from start to finish.

Why it’s a strong pick this weekend

• A perfect pressure‑release valve - high‑energy, no‑thought‑required escapism after a long week.
• The intimacy of Metropolis amplifies the comedy - every pratfall, mishap, and collapsing moment lands up close.
• A crowd‑pleaser for any group - theatre lovers, casual attendees, and pure comedy fans all get something out of it.

Music Theatre Works’ Cats at North Shore Center for the Performing Arts

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats returns to Chicagoland with real sweep, and Music Theater Works gives it the kind of lush, full‑hearted staging that reminds you exactly why this musical became a global phenomenon. The choreography is athletic and fluid, the vocals land with clarity and warmth, and the production embraces the dreamlike, ritualistic world of the Jellicles without hesitation. It’s a show that works best when it leans into its own mythology, and this staging does just that - inviting the audience into a shimmering, nocturnal universe rather than standing outside it.

Why it’s a strong pick this weekend

• A rare large‑scale musical delivered with real sweep in an unexpectedly intimate setting - it’s not often you find this level of production value outside the downtown theatre district, and even rarer to experience it up close in the cozy North Theatre at the North Shore Center.
• “Memory” is delivered with emotional precision and is as memorable as it gets   - the kind of performance that earns its reputation as one of musical theatre’s great ballads.
• The North Shore Center elevates the experience - excellent acoustics and clean sightlines in the North Theatre make the show feel immersive, expansive, and visually rich.

Changing Channels at City Lit Theatre

City Lit’s newest offering is a sharp, genre‑bending piece that toys with narrative, identity, and the stories we cling to. Changing Channels shifts tone with the ease of a remote flipping through late‑night TV - comic one moment, unexpectedly poignant the next, then slipping into something surreal and incisively observed. It’s a play that rewards an attentive audience without ever feeling heavy, and City Lit’s trademark literary touch gives the whole production a crisp, intelligent edge that lingers after the lights come up.

Why it’s a must‑see this weekend

• It’s a fresh, original work in a city that thrives on new voices.
• The script’s structural playfulness makes it a conversation starter.
• City Lit’s intimate staging lets the humor and emotional beats land with precision.

This week’s 32C lineup offers a full spectrum of Chicago theatre:

• The Play That Goes Wrong offers pure, high‑energy escapism—perfect if you want to laugh until your face hurts.

• Cats delivers spectacle, nostalgia, and musical athleticism on a scale rarely seen outside downtown.
• Changing Channels gives you smart, inventive storytelling with City Lit’s signature literary edge.

It’s a weekend built for variety - laugh hard, feel deeply, think a little, and remember why Chicago remains one of the most vibrant theatre cities in the country.

The Chicago Metropolitan area has a soft spot for a beautiful disaster, and The Play That Goes Wrong delivers the kind of exquisitely engineered chaos that feels tailor‑made for this theater‑loving region. What begins as a straightforward 1920s whodunit quickly mutates into a full‑throttle demolition derby of missed cues, mutinous props, collapsing scenery, and actors clinging to their dignity by the frayed edges of their costumes. Still, this play-within-a-play has the Cornley Drama Society charging through their staging of Murder at Haversham Manor with heroic - if spectacularly misguided - determination, clinging to the illusion of control even as the entire production disintegrates with spectacular enthusiasm.

That staunch commitment - part boldness, part sheer delusion - is exactly where the comedy ignites. Each disaster tops the last, creating a giddy, snowballing momentum that captures the thrill of live theater at its most unpredictable: anything can happen, and in this gloriously unhinged production, absolutely everything does.

Now this wonderful wreckage has landed in the northwest suburbs, with Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in downtown Arlington Heights offering Chicago‑area audiences a prime view of just how fabulously wrong things can go - and how deliriously right it all becomes.

Adeptly directed by Jahanna McKenzie Miller, the production becomes a finely tuned symphony of disarray - each mishap landing with surgical precision, each failing set piece detonating like a perfectly timed punchline. What unfolds is a relentless cascade of comic disaster, the kind that sends laughter rolling through the audience in unstoppable waves and showcases just how artful a well‑executed trainwreck can be.

Ryan Armstrong (left) as Chris Bean / Inspector Carter and Ryan Michael Hamman as Max Bennett in The Play THat Goes Wrong at Metropolis Performing Arts Centre.

To pull off such a bang-bang comedy, it all starts with the cast - and we’ve got a good one here.

Ryan Armstrong leads the beautifully controlled bedlam with a performance steeped in delicious self‑importance, giving Chris Bean - director, actor, and self‑appointed guardian of “proper theatre” - a pompous grandeur that’s as funny as it is precise, while his turn as Inspector Carter unravels in a perfectly paced crescendo of exasperation. Eric Amundson’s Charles Haversham is a riot of physical comedy, playing a corpse who refuses to stay still (hilarious!), and Casey Ross leans into Thomas Colleymoore’s melodrama with booming gusto, turning every line into a wonderfully overwrought declaration.

David Blakeman’s Perkins is a standout of earnest incompetence, mangling lines and props with lovable sincerity, while Ryan Michael Hamman’s Max Bennett steals scenes with wide‑eyed enthusiasm, overacting and shameless audience‑wooing as Cecil Haversham and Arthur the Gardener.

Even the sound and light operator becomes a crucial player in the unfolding disorder. Richaun Stewart turns Trevor Watson into a wonderfully frayed bundle of barely contained madness, playing the chronically overtaxed tech operator whose deadpan, slow‑burn panic becomes one of the evening’s most dependable laugh generators. Teah Kiang Mirabelli dazzles as Florence Colleymoore, embodying Sandra Wilkinson’s diva bravado with such gleeful abandon that each unhinged beat lands bigger than the last.

Rounding out the cast, Natalie Henry turns Annie Twilloil into the production’s unlikely center of gravity in the second act, charting a sharp, hilarious rise from hesitant stagehand to full‑blown spotlight thief.

Together, this ensemble builds a beautifully calibrated disaster - each actor contributing a distinct flavor of chaos that makes the entire production detonate with joy.

And then there’s the set, an impressive spectacle in its own right. Scenic designer Angela Weber Miller, properties designer Gigi Wendt, and technical director David Moreland push the production well beyond a typical farce, each adding a distinct layer of precision and controlled mishaps. The set functions as a full-fledged character, engineered to collapse, misfire, and betray the actors with such precision that its breakdowns become part of the comedy’s rhythm. Each wobbling wall, treacherous platform, and ill-timed malfunction gives the performers a fresh obstacle to hurl themselves against, turning physical comedy into a kind of athletic endurance test. The design doesn’t just support the charade - it actively conspires in it, creating a living, booby‑trapped environment that amplifies every pratfall and heightens the sense that the entire world of the play is gleefully turning against its inhabitants.

Written by Henry Lewis, Henry Shields and Jonathan Sayer, the Olivier Award-winning The Play That Goes Wrong is the kind of theatrical joyride that reminds audiences why live performance is irresistible: it’s unpredictable, it’s explosive, and it’s crafted with such precision that the turmoil becomes its own kind of art. This production delivers laugh after laugh through fearless physical comedy, razor‑sharp timing, and a cast fully committed to the magnificent meltdown unfolding around them. It’s the rare show that guarantees a good time - whether you’re a seasoned theatre goer or someone who just needs a night of pure, cathartic laughter.

For tickets and/or more show information, visit https://www.metropolisarts.com/event/the-play-that-goes-wrong/. Through March 29^th.

Recommended.

Tickets: Regular $49, Preview $35, Students $25
Pay What You Can: February 25, 7:30 pm
Previews: Evenings, February 25 – February 27. Matinee, February 28.
Opening: February 28, 7:30 pm

This review is proudly shared with our friends at www.TheatreInChicago.com.