CHICAGO THEATER REVIEWS

Emerald City's holiday production of A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS is a treat for young and old alike. As television holiday classics go, you can't get much better thant 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' and Eric Schaeffer's stage adaptation offers up a sweet, live action version that that is itself an ins...

What does it mean to have agency over our lives and those around us? And what happens when we're unable to fully grasp that which intrinsically controls us? With direction by Ethan McSweeny, the world premiere play FULFILLMENT, in a co-production with The Flea Theater of New York City, boldly examin...

Alban Berg's opera Wozzeck is not the first to swirl with immortal themes like power play, lust, betrayal, and death (far, far from it), but thanks to the circumstances of its composition - further emphasized by Sir David McVicar's new production at the Lyric Opera - it is prominent in its search to...

Timeline Theatre Company's Chicago premiere of Leigh Fondakowski's documentary-style SPILL aims to show audiences the untold side of the story surrounding the April 2010 blowout and subsequent explosion of the Deepwater Horizon, a BP oil rig, in the Gulf of Mexico. The resulting oil spill was the wo...

Steppenwolf for Young Adults' production of 1984 opens on Collette Pollard's stark, barren set. No objects are present onstage, except for plain wooden sets of drawers on the perimeter and two prison cell-like spaces up above. The stage itself sets the tone for the narrative of what has been describ...

In Lookingglass Theatre Company's TREASURE ISLAND, young protagonist Jim Hawkins sails across the stage on Todd Rosenthal's cleverly crafted and all-encompassing Hispaniola. But instead of being propelled by a body of water below him, Jim stands centerstage as the show's ensemble of actors use manu...

Equal parts Gilbert and Sullivan and Edward Gorey, the Tony award winning musical A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE & MURDER finally hits Chicago for a limited engagement through Oct. 11 and it was worth the wait....

David Cerda, the crown prince of Chicago Camp, is back and in top form with his latest queer take on horror anthologies, SCREAM, QUEEN, SCREAM! Cerda, the artistic director of Hell in a Handbag Productions, wrote the show and also stars in one of the trilogy of stories. It runs through Oct. 31 at Ma...

One of Chicago's best storefronts (and quite possibly one of the country's) Theo Ubique production of BLOOD BROTHERS gets to the heart (and relevance) of the show like nobody else can. The end results are heartfelt and engaging....

Circle Theatre knocks it out of the Parq with TRIASSIC PARQ...

The opening number of the newly revised SIDE SHOW invites audiences to 'Come Look at the Freaks.' In doing so, however, the musical really prepares spectators to look upon the circus attractions in the show with empathy rather than alienation and astonishment. With this intimate production from Porc...

At a time in theatre where shows are all-too-often injected with extreme concepts or 'themes' outside of the originally written text (sometimes successful, sometimes not), it's a remarkable breath of fresh air to see a production where the script is trusted to stand on its own without a director's o...

The Hypocrites score with a raw and energetic punk rock version of AMERICAN IDIOT...

Refuge Theatre Project's production of contemporary musical GLORY DAYS may be the only show I ever see that features four male actors drinking Natty Ice onstage. And yet in a musical about four best high school friends who reunite for the first time after their freshman year away at college, this se...

Based on the 1999 Universal film, this new musical flies, and will surely fly again soon....

Mercury Theater Chicago's RING OF FIRE: THE MUSIC OF JOHNNY CASH celebrates Cash's life and music, and as performed by the production's cast of immensely talented actor/musicians, it is a celebration, indeed....

...

Caitlin Jackson gives a Jeff-worthy performance as Bette Midler in BETTE LIVE AT THE CONTINENTAL BATHS...

In Grand Concourse, playwright Heidi Schreck has skillfully crafted a narrative about what it means to give back- not only in the sense of performing acts of charity but also in the sense of forgiveness. Now in its Chicago premiere at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, an accomplished cast of four actors ...

The national tour of KINKY BOOTS returns to Chicago with all the energy, heart and soul of the original pre-Broadway tryout in tact....

Underscore Theatre's Musical Theatre Festival is back with a bumper crop of new and original musicals. What's chaff and what's wheat? Read on!...

Laughs abound in the Goodman's production of the 2013 Tony award-winning play by Christopher Durang...

In an artful blend of musical theater glamour and Latin grooves, the world-premiere musical 'On Your Feet! The Story of Emilio & Gloria Estefan' brings that duo to the stage in a colorful and immensely entertaining production. This catchy jukebox musical manages to accomplish that rare feat of incor...

While 'Ithamar Has Nothing to Say' is a silent solo sketch show - and the only show of this kind I have seen - I nevertheless must use the written word to describe the happenings therein. Directed by Frank Caeti, Mainstage alum Ithamar Enriquez takes the stage in a one-man show that harkens back to ...

Hits keep coming at Theo Ubique's latest revue honoring the late composer Marvin Hamlisch...