Review: BROOKLYN LAUNDRY at Northlight Theatre
by Zac Thriffiley - April 22, 2024
Under the direction of BJ Jones, John Patrick Shanley's newest play boasts a talented cast gifted with good humor and heartfelt emotion, but the uneven script feels as though it shrank in a dryer fed by clichés rather than coins....
Review: GUYS AND DOLLS at Drury Lane Theatre, Oakbrook Terrace
by Tina St. Angelo Wetzel - April 19, 2024
The number of sinners at the mission impresses General Cartwright (Heidi Kettenring in another comedic gem), especially Big Jule (KC McNeil in his Drury debut). As Adelaide and Nathan are trying to leave to get married, the mission band arrives with its new leader Sky Masterson. He and Sarah were m...
Review: THE MUSIC MAN at Marriott Theatre, Lincolnshire IL
by Tina St. Angelo Wetzel - April 22, 2024
The newest production at Marriott Lincolnshire is Meredith Willson’s classic and beloved The Music Man. Director/choreographer Katie Spelman has stayed true to the script and has made the fictional town of River City – based on Willson’s hometown of Mason City, Iowa – come to life....
Review: ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD at Court Theatre
by Zac Thriffiley - April 09, 2024
Charles Newell's final project as Court Theatre's artistic director offers audiences a hilarious exploration of what makes us human as well as a stunning reminder of his keen dramaturgical instincts. The production has already been extended through April 28 due to critical acclaim and popular demand...
Review: THE CHOIR OF MAN at Apollo Theater
by Rachel Weinberg - April 04, 2024
Raise a glass to THE CHOIR OF MAN, a rollicking good time of a show. The show’s a UK transfer and it transports audiences to the fictitious pub The Jungle, modeled after classic Irish and British pubs. Therein, the eponymous nine man choir serves up pop and rock hits on tap. THE CHOIR OF MAN is all ...
Review: PETER PAN National Tour Presented by Broadway In Chicago
by Zac Thriffiley - March 29, 2024
This newest adaptation of PETER PAN unquestionably corrects injustices that never should have been committed in the first place. But by flying Peter so enthusiastically into 2024, the creative team has stripped him and his story of some of their magic, making the boy who wouldn't grow up more out of...
Review: JERSEY BOYS at Mercury Theater Chicago
by Rachel Weinberg - March 29, 2024
Mercury Theater Chicago has staged a “homegrown” production of JERSEY BOYS full of Chicago heart. The bio jukebox musical has graced Chicago tour stages over the years (in fact, I had a chuckle looking back at the review of the first national tour I wrote for my high school newspaper), but this is t...
Review: PURPOSE at Steppenwolf Theatre Company
by Rachel Weinberg - March 25, 2024
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins has set the table for one hell of a family dinner in PURPOSE. Directed by Phylicia Rashad in a world premiere for Steppenwolf, this family drama keenly focuses on the privileged Jasper family, whose patriarch is a Civil Rights icon. The first act moves at a brilliant clip with...
Review: CIRQUE DU SOLEIL CRYSTAL at NOW Arena Hoffman Estates
by Tina St. Angelo Wetzel - March 23, 2024
Crystal, the latest Cirque du Soleil production and playing through Sunday, March 24 at the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, is the story about a young woman escaping the realities of her life by living in her imagination....