Friday, 10 April 2026 01:45
Where Rock Meets Ruin: Bat Out of Hell Ignites the Auditorium
Written by Ken Payne
Depending on the source, Bat Out of Hell ranks among the top‑selling albums of all time, so its eventual leap to the stage in 2017 felt almost inevitable. Written by Jim Steinman and performed by Meat Loaf, the album’s grandiose ‘70s sound hardly suggests a post‑apocalyptic narrative, yet that’s the…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tuesday, 07 April 2026 22:22
Goodman’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Delivers a Powerful Revival
Written by Wesley David
Goodman Theatre’s production of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom arrives with the weight of expectation - and under the dual direction of Chuck Smith and Harry Lennix, it does not merely meet that weight, it reshapes it. This is not a revival of August Wilson’s searing text; it is a precise,…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tagged under
- Ma Rainey
- Goodman Theatre
- CHUCK SMITH
- Harry Lennix
- august wilson
- E Faye Butler
- Al’Jaleel McGhee
- David Alan Anderson
- Matt Decaro
- Linda Buchanan
- Jared Gooding
- American blues
- Mother of the Blues
- live theatre
- on stage
- Theatre Chicago
- plays Chicago
- Events Chicago
- Chi Theatre
- blues
- Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Sunday, 05 April 2026 12:51
Eos Turns Ancient Anguish Electric in a Blazing Trojan Women
Sarz Maxwell
I’m going to start with a bit of backstory. In high school we all read (more or less voluntarily) The Iliad, Homer’s poetic exploration of a war that occurred during the Bronze Age yet continues to resonate with twenty-first century significance. Homer focuses (naturally!) on the guys: heroic Greek Achilles…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tagged under
- The Trojan Women
- Eos Theatre Company
- Bramble Arts Loft
- Greek drama
- Ashway Lawver
- Morgan Lavenstein
- Rachel Sledd
- Brian Weddington
- Ben Page
- Jazmine Mazique
- Liliana Mastroianni
- Morgan Burkey
- Marcus Castillo
- Michael Lesko
- Shayna Patel
- Theatre Chicago
- theatre
- Chicago
- Events Chicago
- plays Chicago
- on stage
- live theatre
Sunday, 05 April 2026 16:38
Intriguing ‘The Sugar Wife’ Is Well Produced, But Its Restraint Is Limiting
Written by Bill Esler
The Artistic Home’s U.S. premiere of this 2024 revival by Dublin’s Abbey Theatre, “The Sugar Wife” is intellectually engaging but rather unemotional given its subject lines: marital infidelity, slavery, sexploitation, hypocrisy. Perhaps that goes with its Quaker storyline, a denomination known for an ascetic simplicity and rigorous moral discernment before engaging…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Nearly a decade after it first upended the American musical, Hamilton returns to Chicago’s CIBC Theatre as part of Broadway In Chicago’s 2026 season, and its cultural voltage hasn’t dimmed one bit. Inspired by Ron Chernow’s book, Alexander Hamilton, Lin‑Manuel Miranda’s genre‑shifting epic — part biography, part political thriller, part…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tagged under
- Hamilton
- Broadway in Chicago
- CIBC Theatre
- live theatre
- Alexander Hamilton
- George Washington
- Aaron Burr
- Thomas Jefferson
- Eliza Hamilton
- Founding Fathers
- Constitution
- on stage
- Events Chicago
- theatre
- Chicago
- hip hop
- Musical
- Lin Manuel Miranda
- Thomas Kail
- AD Weaver
- Jimmie “JJ” Jeter
- Lauren Mariasoosay
- Lily Soto
- Eddie Ortega
Saturday, 04 April 2026 13:25
Hear Us Roar: The Trojan Women Will Leave You Speechless
Written by Kendall Royzen
Last night, while waiting in the tranquil lounge of the Bramble Arts Loft, a familiar question floated around the theatergoers: Does art imitate life or does life imitate art? It’s a philosophical question that has been around for ages. It probably passed through the minds of those who first saw…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tuesday, 31 March 2026 13:53
The Three Musketeers Deliver a Swashbuckling Smash at The Edge
Sarz Maxwell
ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL! Or is it one for all and all for one? No matter: either way it’s a rallying cry during a time of severe political unrest in France, where persistent insurrections incited erratic leadership, oscillating between Royalists and Republicans. The Republicans were the liberals,…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tagged under
Tuesday, 31 March 2026 00:16
MadKap’s Streetcar Reveals a Woman’s Life Burning with Death and Desire
Written by Kimberly Katz
MadKap Production’s A Streetcar Named Desire at Skokie Theatre offers a raw, riveting interpretation of Tennessee Williams’ masterpiece, immersing the audience in a world where beauty and brutality constantly collide. The production captures the oppressive heat and emotional volatility of New Orleans as Blanche DuBois arrives at her sister Stella’s…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Wednesday, 01 April 2026 15:06
Delayed by Pandemic, ‘The Ally’ Even More Timely in Rock Solid Chicago Premier
Written by Bill Esler
Since its original 2020 Off-Broadway debut was postponed until 2024 by the Covid-19 Pandemic, Itamar Moses’ “The Ally” has likely ripened in its effectiveness. Not because the play has changed, but because the world has. A 2025 Pulitzer finalist, now in its Midwest premier at Theater Wit, it revolves around…
Published in
Theatre in Review
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Sunday, 29 March 2026 23:15
An Explosive, Heart‑Pounding Million Dollar Quartet at Paramount’s Stolp Island Theatre
Written by Kimberly Katz
Some nights in the theatre create a hum with the kind of energy you can feel in your chest - nights when the performers aren’t merely revisiting history but reliving it, reigniting it, and passing that fire straight into the audience’s hands. That’s the voltage running through Stolp Island Theatre’s…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tagged under
- Stolp Island Theatre
- Paramount Theatre
- Million Dollar Quartet
- Jerry Lee Lewis
- Elvis Presley
- Carl Perkins
- Johnny cash
- Jim Corti
- Garrett Forrestal
- Corey McKinney
- Brian Grey
- Matt McClure
- Sam Phillips
- Sun Records
- Madison Palmer
- Jake Saleh
- Robert Brandon
- Connor Green
- Rock N Roll
- Memphis
- theatre
- theatre Aurora
- on stage
- live theatre
- Now playing
Sunday, 29 March 2026 10:59
Raiders Reborn: Indy, Williams, and the Chicago Philharmonic Bring the Adventure Alive
Written by Ken Payne
Auditorium Philms’ presentation of Steven Spielberg’s 1981 classic Raiders of the Lost Ark with the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra transforms a beloved blockbuster into a full‑body cinematic jolt. Indiana Jones’ adventures play out across the towering Auditorium Theatre screen, but it’s the live orchestra that makes the familiar feel astonishingly new.…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Saturday, 28 March 2026 13:28
About Face’s Modern Gentleman Adds a Valuable Piece to a Fascinating Puzzle
Written by Mitchell Oldham
There are thousands of stories you’d love to see brought to the stage. Stories that slip into the lives of people who walk through the world either unseen or are barely considered by those possessing more standard existences. People who, because of the way they look or talk or are…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Sunday, 22 March 2026 15:50
In El último sueño de Frida y Diego, Frida’s Beloved Genius Shines Through Her Pain
Written by Kimberly Katz
El último sueño de Frida y Diego is a love story that outlives the body, outlasts the grave, and keeps burning long after death has done its part. Frida Kahlo famously said, ‘I’ve had two accidents that changed my life: one when I was hit by a trolley, and the…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tagged under
- El último sueño de Frida y Diego
- Lyric Opera of Chicago
- Lyric Opera
- Frida Kahlo
- Frida and Diego
- Opera
- Theatre Chicago
- events in Chicago
- on stage
- live theatre
- Opera Chicago
- Gabriela Lena Frank
- Nilo Cruz
- Daniela Mack
- Lorena Maza
- Roberto Kalb
- Alfredo Daza
- Key’mon W Murrah
- Ana Maria Martinez
- Mictlán
- Frida y Diego
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