Saturday, 29 November 2025 13:12
Pose and Prose: DORIAN now playing at Open Space Arts
Written by Kendall Royzen
Chicago is well-known for its hidden gems: speakeasies hidden behind working laundromats, restaurants located down darkened alleyways, and even theatres located in basements and converted houses. One such innocuous playhouse resides in a small, transitioned home studio, just west of the Uptown neighbourhood. Like any hidden gem in Chicago, looks…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Monday, 24 November 2025 22:29
Holiday magic has arrived! Goodman Theatre's 'A Christmas Carol' is a triumph!
Written by Kimberly Katz
Goodman Theatre’s 2025 production of A Christmas Carol delivers a reimagined yet reverently faithful vision of Charles Dickens’ enduring holiday masterpiece. Directed by BOLD Artistic Producer Malkia Stampley, the staging infuses fresh energy into the familiar tale, striking a delicate balance between honoring tradition and embracing innovation. Charles Dickens’ A…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Sunday, 23 November 2025 13:52
Review: It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play at Oil Lamp Theatre
Written by John Accrocco
Next to death and taxes, Chicagoans can count on their favorite theater companies doing holiday shows in the last few weeks of the year. For their part, Glenview’s Oil Lamp Theater presents Joe Landry’s radio play adaptation of It’s a Wonderful Life. With their charming downtown Glenview location, Oil Lamp’s…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Sunday, 23 November 2025 13:29
Court Theatre’s Erotic Taming of the Shrew brings the simmer to a boil
Written by Wesley David
We often forget that The Taming of the Shrew is, at its core, a play within a play - a bit of theatrical mischief in which characters watch other characters pretend. Marti Lyons’s ambitious new adaptation for Court Theatre not only remembers this but revels in it. She reframes Shakespeare’s…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Safe to say Steppenwolf’s revival of Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus is “fetes and fireworks”. Robert Falls makes his directorial debut at Steppenwolf after recently retiring from his role as Goodman Theatre artistic director. To say his new production of Amadeus makes a splash would be an understatement. Falls brings his signature…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Saturday, 15 November 2025 22:51
Experimental Theater Grottesco and Fay|Glassman Duo Bring New Approach to Stage Narrative in 'Action at a Distance'
Written by Bill Esler
Santa Fe-based Theater Grottesco's new show, produced with Fay|Glassman Duo of Urbana, IL, is having its Chicago premiere at the Facility Theater on California near Division, brings a new approach to the performance and script design. The one-hour “Action at a Distance. . .in 2025” consists of six different plays, all performed simultaneously…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Thursday, 13 November 2025 14:50
Rock Royalty Rings in the Season: A Quartet Christmas Revival at Marriott Theatre
Written by Kimberly Katz
Million Dollar Quartet Christmas brings the legends back together - Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins - for a high-energy holiday jam at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee. Packed with rock 'n' roll hits and festive favorites, this jukebox musical delivers a nostalgic blast of seasonal…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Thursday, 13 November 2025 13:45
Hell’s Kitchen Brings Alicia Keys’ Fire to Chicago
Written by Wesley David
New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen has birthed countless New Yorkers, none more recognized than 15-time Grammy Award winner Alicia Keys. Her life and artistry is now on display in Hell’s Kitchen, the 2024 Tony award winning musical that arrived at Chicago’s Nederlander Theatre with a pulse as electric as the…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Friday, 07 November 2025 19:50
Spectacular and Mesmerizing, Trap Door’s ‘A Devil Comes To Town’ Is Must-See Theater
Written by Bill Esler
With the mesmerizing hold of a Moth Hour radio story and the visual creativity of the (late, lamented) Redmoon Theatre show, Trap Door Theatre’s production of “A Devil Comes To Town,” is so incredibly good that I urge you to stop reading this review and just get a ticket. Here’s…
Published in
Theatre in Review
More...
Friday, 07 November 2025 13:03
Review: Superior Donuts at The Artistic Home at The Den Theatre
Written by John Accrocco
“You can’t raise kids without hope.” says terminally pessimistic Arthur Pryszbyszewski in Tracy Letts’ 2008 play “Superior Donuts” now running at The Artistic Home at The Den Theatre. Directed by Artistic Home ensemble member John Mossman, “Superior Donuts” tells an authentic Chicago story in the cozy kind of theater our…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Wednesday, 05 November 2025 13:02
Haunting Beauty and Harsh Truths in The House That Will Not Stand
Written by Wesley David
America’s greatest sin is its obsession with race and skin color. From the first toll of the Liberty Bell, the nation has measured who is free and who is owned by the color of their skin. In Marcus Gardley’s The House That Will Not Stand, now given a rich and…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Wednesday, 05 November 2025 21:45
Nikki Puts James Baldwin on a Pedestal in 'Giovanni | Baldwin Experience'
Written by Bill Esler
In 1971, Nicki Giovanni was a young Black poet already risen to prominence when she and the celebrated Black author James Baldwin met for a two hour conversation broadcast from London on PBS. Baldwin, 47, an éminence grise, answered the poet’s questions at length and Giovanni, 28, offered her own…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Sunday, 02 November 2025 11:36
Un Colpo fa Miracoli: Cavalleria rusticana & Pagliacci offers easy entree into the operatic world
Written by Kendall Royzen
In a world where our attention span seems to be shrinking, it’s comforting to know there are still one-shots available for our entertainment like a limited mini-series, a short story, a collection of poetry, or in the case of operatic masterpieces, double-feature shows. One of the drawbacks to newcomers with…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Register
Login
Latest Articles
-
Premiere of OUT HERE at Court Theatre a Charming Deconstruction of Marriage and Musical
Written by Kerstin BroockmannEveryone encounters many crossroads in their lives, where they make a choice that determines the future…and many people live to regret it. That is where Dawn, the protagonist of Out Here, the new musical receiving its premiere at Court Theatre… -
safronia soars at Lyric Opera
Written by Wesley Davidsafronia at Lyric Opera of Chicago emerges as a deeply personal story of the Great Migration - one that resists grandiosity in favor of something more intimate, more lived-in, and ultimately more affecting. Drawn from the family history of Chicago’s… -
At Steppenwolf, Windfall Doesn’t Cash In on Its Promise
Written by Wesley DavidSteppenwolf Theatre Company’s, Windfall arrives with all the promise its pedigree suggests. Written by Academy Award–winning ensemble member Tarell Alvin McCraney and directed by Awoye Timpo, the production aspires to be a pulsing, lyrical meditation on grief, justice, and the…
-
THE GREAT GATSBY is Now Playing at Cadillac Palace
Written by Buzz Center StageBroadway In Chicago is excited to announce that the smash hit Broadway musical and global sensation, THE GREAT GATSBY, based on the beloved novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald , is now playing at Broadway In Chicago’s Cadillac Palace Theatre (151 W. Randolph St.). The party…
Does your theatre company want to connect with Buzz Center Stage or would you like to reach out and say "hello"? Message us through facebook or shoot us an email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
*This disclaimer informs readers that the views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to Buzz Center Stage. Buzz Center Stage is a non-profit, volunteer-based platform that enables, and encourages, staff members to post their own honest thoughts on a particular production.