CHICAGO THEATER REVIEWS

The world premiere of Karen Zacarias's NATIVE GARDENS at Victory Gardens Theater provides ample humor and wit-even if the playwright's neighborly metaphor sometimes feels too on the nose....

Just as Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens's 1999 musical RAGTIME traverses numerous locales on the East Coast and spans the years from 1906-1914, so too does director Scott Weinstein's dynamic staging make full use of The Den Theatre's Heath Mainstage. In Griffin Theatre Company's production, Weinste...

PARADE is now in a blistering and beautifully minimalist production from director Gary Griffin. Though it is based off the real-life 1913 trial of Jewish pencil factory worker Leo Frank and was written by Jason Robert Brown and Alfred Uhry in 1998, this musical feels entirely of this moment. Set in ...

Audra McDonald, the reigning Queen of Broadway, is a woman who needs no introduction in the theatre community. This is probably why the seats at the Steppenwolf Theatre were packed Monday evening with audience members who clung silently to her every word, laughed heartily at every joke, and exploded...

BWW Review: Young Stars Brighten LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE...

An appealing cast. Bluegrass. A campfire. Nothing could possibly go wrong in this new musical thriller....

True blue fans of Stephen Sondheim (this reviewer included) will be drooling over Porchlight's latest offering MARRY ME A LITTLE. This two-hander revue showcases a number of Sondheim's finest trunk songs-early renditions of numbers that were cut from such musicals as FOLLIES, INTO THE WOODS and MERR...

It was a night filled with wonder, talent and hilarity as Inhabit Theater performed A VAUDEVILLE FIASCO at The Other Side in Crystal Lake...

In putting together American Theater Company's current production of William Inge's classic play PICNIC, Artistic Director Will Davis said he wanted his cast "to reflect the playwright and the powerful forces in his own psyche that kept him from happiness and fulfillment." Indeed, the actors Davis h...

Come one, come all to CIRCUS 1903-THE GOLDEN AGE OF CIRCUS that has landed in Chicago with plenty of razzle dazzle circus acts and exhilarating feats to make this show a treat for the whole family. Directed by Neil Dorward, and featuring two magnificently rendered elephant puppets from Significant O...

Under the direction of Lili-Anne Brown, Kokandy Productions' staging of THE WIZ radiates joy, and at the performance I saw Saturday night, the audience was soaking up every single joyful moment. From my vantage point, I can say that the audience reaction comes from the satisfaction of watching a sol...

In Kurtis Boetcher's set design for Marcus Gardley's world premiere A WONDER IN MY SOUL, the backdrop for the South Side beauty shop where the play is set prominently displays the photographs of black female icons ranging from Diana Ross to Beyonce-and all of course have fabulous hair in the photo...

As you walk into the theatre for Steppenwolf's production of Jean Lee's Straight White Men, you are offered ear plugs. Why? There is extremely loud music playing and it contains lyrics that could certainly be considered offensive to some. Starting off this way has likely, as we are told by two gende...

The stars aligned on Saturday, February 4th for the Chicago Voices Concert at the Lyric Opera's Civic Opera House in Chicago. The concert is a one-night-only, mixed genre event that celebrates the city's diverse vocal music heritage in a spirit of unity and collaboration....

THE BODYGUARD, based on the eponymous film starring Whitney Houston as pop star Rachel Marron and Kevin Costner as her bodyguard Frank Farmer, has plenty of glitz and glamour to go around in its current engagement at Broadway In Chicago's Oriental Theatre. Throughout the night, lead Deborah Cox shin...

It seems rather poetic that newly appointed Artistic Director Will Davis's first production at American Theater Company, MEN ON BOATS, focuses rather literally on charting new frontiers. Jaclyn Backhaus's witty, entertaining play (which Davis previously helmed with a different ensemble off-Broadway)...

As one of the most successful shows of all time, The Phantom of the Opera continues to draw in audiences who are already familiar with the music of the night. Despite being an age-old tale, Cameron Mackintosh's astounding new production boasts revamped staging and a fresh set design that sweeps both...

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Erika Sheffer's witty and laugh-out-loud funny new play THE FUNDAMENTALS paints a bleak portrait of corporate culture within the New York location of a fictitious major hotel chain. Sheffer sets the tongue-in-cheek tone from the initial moments of the play, which opens with an overly polished film e...

This holiday season, the intimate Drury Lane Theatre receives a dash of Broadway magic. George and Ira Gershwin's classical music comes to life in a dazzling revue. Big dance numbers, familiar tunes and slapstick comedy make for a wondrous, two-hour escape from reality....

FUN HOME is a great title for a musical. It conjures lightness, joy, whimsy … fun. There is some of that in the Tony Award-winning show, now enjoying its first national tour that includes a two-week stint at Chicago's Oriental Theatre. But for the most part, FUN HOME is dark....

In Caitlin Parrish's new play THE BURIALS, Steppenwolf for Young Adults has found an informative and moving new play that tackles the realities of gun violence in schools with intensity and heart under the direction of Erica Weiss. Loosely based on the Greek tragedy ANTIGONE, THE BURIALS smartly add...

Richard Wagner's 'Ring' cycle is an intriguing opportunity to immerse oneself in an epic experience -- something akin to reading the 'Harry Potter' or 'Lord of the Rings' series, savoring each singular story, then eagerly anticipating the next installment....

Lookingglass Theatre's season opener, the ironically life-affirming LIFE SUCKS, might as well have been titled 'Love Sucks,' because every character's issues stem from that all-encompassing drive to connect with the person with whom they think completes them....

Plays that deal with a terminal illness are tough. The storytelling can be tricky as each audience member comes to it with varying degrees of personal impact. In Visiting Edna, currently making its world premiere at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, cancer is an actual character who gives voice to its ow...