CHICAGO THEATER REVIEWS

It's rare that modern theatergoers can catch the Chicago premiere of a ground-breaking play written more than a century ago, but TimeLine Theatre is offering this chance with its searing production of Githa Sowerby's RUTHERFORD AND SON. Set in a factory town in northern England, this tense family dr...

Steppenwolf's world premiere production of LINDIWE, a collaboration between ensemble member Eric Simonson and acclaimed South African music group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, finds the most success in its musical moments. The production, co-directed by Simonson and Jonathan Berry, features new music fro...

There's nothing subtle about Lyric Opera's staging of Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally's contemporary opera DEAD MAN WALKING. Based upon the novel of the same name by Sister Helen Prejean, DEAD MAN WALKING focuses on Sister Helen's relationship with 29-year-old Joseph De Rocher, a prisoner on death ...

Tis' the season that many theaters turn to Dickensian fare, but at Marriott Theatre, young Oliver Twist rather than Tiny Tim takes the stage. Nick Bowling directs Lionel Bart's OLIVER!, the 1960 musical based on Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist. With music direction by Ryan T. Nelson and choreography b...

Finding a way to entertain and educate can be tricky. When an artist turns educator, there is a certain magic that happens when it's done with amazing skill and clear facts. The genius of John Leguizamo is that he finds a way to marry the two while amusing us, tugging at our heartstrings, and openin...

In Broadway in Chicago and Emery Entertainment's AN EVENING WITH C.S. LEWIS, we encounter the famed author of THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA in the cozy setting of his home in a village outside Oxford. David Payne writes, directs, and stars as Lewis, or a?oeJacka?? to his family, in this one-man show. Und...

With direction by Michael Weber, Porchlight Music Theatre's production of Andrew Lloyd Weber's SUNSET BOULEVARD provides one wild ride of a musical evening. The musical's storyline itself vacillates between the predictable and the shockingly dark and twisted. It chronicles the story of former silent...

Olivier Award-winning British playwright Lucy Kirkwood pulls no punches when it comes to examining family dysfunction on stage. Her 2017 play MOSQUITOES, which premiered at the National Theatre of Great Britain, features three generations of family members who are so fundamentally disconnected from ...

THE BROTHERS SIZE is an artful exploration of the obligations put upon its characters. McCraney beautifully reflects on both the societal systems that oppress these three black men, while also deepening the exploration of the personal obligations they feel to one another-and the question of what it ...

A MAN OF GOOD HOPE reflects the resiliency and creativity of the human spirit at every turn, while giving audiences a taste of Isango Ensemble's original methods of theatrical storytelling....

Lyric Opera of Chicago opens its 65th season with Gioachino's Rossini's romantic comedy, THE BARBER OF SEVILLE. Tara Faircloth directs this exuberant revival of Lyric's 2013/14 production, originally directed by Rob Ashford, while Sir Andrew Davis conducts the Lyric Opera Orchestra and Michael Black...

A perfect night of theatre it ain't, but for Meghan Murphy's powerhouse diva and a communal bout of well-earned chuckles, SPAMALOT will leave you choosing wisely....

Terri McMahon's performance and Theresa Rebeck's script demonstrate that Sarah Bernhardt was not one to back down from a challenge, either on the stage or in life....

Chicago Shakespeare Theater's North American premiere of THE KING'S SPEECH is a wholly delightful theatrical affair, rife with British charm....

The first hints of autumn weather have barely touched Chicago, but with its season opener, Lifeline Theatre turns to that coziest of genres: the classic British murder mystery. Jess Hutchinson directs a revival of WHOSE BODY?, adapted by Frances Limoncelli from the 1923 novel by Dorothy Sayers. Thou...

TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS lives in that unique space between the everyday and the extraordinary....

Lucas Hnath's DANA H., now in its world premiere at the Goodman Theatre, recounts a harrowing trauma experienced by the playwright's mother, Dana Higginbotham. In 1997, she was working as a hospice chaplain in Florida when a former patient, a mentally ill ex-convict, kidnapped her for five months. H...

Steppenwolf Theatre Company's season opening production of Lauren Yee's THE GREAT LEAP combines the energy of the final moments of a major sporting event alongside moments of great intimacy and intensity for which the company is largely known....

Paramount Theatre's production of DISNEY'S NEWSIES THE MUSICAL, directed by Jim Corti, offers a spirited, heartfelt take on the popular Tony Award winner. Originally a 1992 Disney movie musical, the cult favorite has attracted a whole new fandom since the stage adaptation opened on Broadway in 2012,...

On Midsummer's Eve, two 35-year-olds drink alone in an Edinburgh dive bar. Helena, a well-dressed divorce lawyer, sips a £40 bottle of wine while waiting for her married lover to arrive. Bob, a petty criminal, waits for a colleague to transfer the keys of a stolen car. When Helena's date stands her...

Chicagoans, lend me your ears: SOMETHING ROTTEN! has landed in Lincolnshire (the one due north of Chicago, not the one due east of Liverpool), and Marriott Theatre's regional premiere is a must-see for fans of musicals, Shakespeare, and comedy. Nominated for ten Tony Awards when it opened on Broadwa...

THE BAND'S VISIT feels like an homage to the fleeting nature of live theater itself: a moment in time in which performers and audience are brought together to share a collective experience, all-encompassing yet passing swiftly and never to be created again. So too goes the narrative of the two chara...

Writers Theatre opens its 2019/20 season with INTO THE WOODS, Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's beloved fairy tale mash-up, directed by Olivier Award-winning Sondheim interpreter Gary Griffin. Staged in the round in the larger of the Glencoe theater's two venues, Griffin makes the most of the inti...

David Cerda scores another camp hit with the timely and topical THE DRAG SEED...

Agatha Christie, the a?oeQueen of Mystery.a?? The numbers speak for themselves: best-selling novelist of all time (more than two billion sold), most-translated author (more than 100 languages), and author of the world's longest running play (THE MOUSETRAP has played in the West End since the year Qu...