CHICAGO THEATER REVIEWS

The town of Gander, Newfoundland, is called the Rock. The current production at Paramount Theatre is the emotional but uplifting true story Come From Away by Irene Sankoff and David Hein....

While this iteration leans heavily into Finn's chaotic sense of fun, it occasionally rushes through the emotional beats and connections that make the show such a powerful study of illness, hope, and community....

This hilarious show should entertain nerds and newcomers alike, though its rules may occasionally test the patience of less familiar viewers....

What did our critic think of SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM at Oil Lamp Theater? I’m Still Here. In a career spanning 69 years and countless songs, it is safe to say that 4 years after the passing of one of the greatest songwriters of the 20th Century, Sondheim is still here. The current production at O...

The new production at Music Theater Works at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie is Fiddler on the Roof. ...

Led by two powerful performers and a stunning directorial vision, PARADE marches us into the past to better understand our present....

With AMÉLIE, Kokandy Productions has turned an obscure musical into a charming and intimate production sure to give the warm fuzzies. ...

Part of the dialogue from the current production in the BOLD series at Paramount’s Copley Theatre. The late, great Sam Shepard’s 1980 play True West is running through August 31. There is a reason this series is called BOLD. This is an intense, dark and, at times, funny play. There are moments o...

TWIHARD! A TWILIGHT MUSICAL PARODY should be veritable millennial theater nerd catnip. I admire creator Tiffany Keane Schaefer’s vision, but ultimately TWIHARD needed to try harder at bringing a legitimately humorous parody to the stage....

In Chilina Kennedy, director Marc Bruni and Lauren M. Gunderson have found a tenacious and hard-hitting actor to play the eponymous tennis legend in BILLIE JEAN. The role of Billie Jean King, who tirelessly fought for women to have equal pay in professional tennis, necessarily centers the play. Kenn...

Blank Theatre Company shines a light on this underappreciated work in a pleasant production with stirring performances that are only occasionally blunted by the limitations of a claustrophobic venue....

The anarchic world premiere of Tyler Anthony Smith’s QUEEN FOR A DAY is as delightfully wild as it is deeply heartfelt....

The new national tour of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is gorgeous and full of Disney stage magic. Disney Theatrical Group has pulled out all the stops for the first tour of this musical in 25 years. ...

Though THE COLOR PURPLE has a fair share of tragedy, the ending is heartwarming, celebratory, and puts a pin in Celie’s story — and with Brittney Mack at the lead, this musical makes that range of emotions land. ...

This is the premise of the current production at the Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre. Chicago native Sandy Ruskin’s Always Something There…, a Peggy Got Sue Got Married/Back to the Future, etc. styled tribute to the 1980’s, is having its world premiere at the Marriott. It is about being able to ...

The current production at Drury Lane Theatre is Always…Patsy Cline. This is based on a true story, was originally conceived by Ted Swindley and licensed by the Estate of Patsy Cline. It contains 27 of Patsy’s songs and is a two-woman show....

Noah Diaz’s YOU WILL GET SICK is an affecting and unusual play. With direction from Steppenwolf Co-Artistic Director Audrey Francis, it closes out the season in a moving and intriguing manner. ...

In a show that was part memoir, part love letter, and part stand-up comedy special, Liz Callaway paid tribute to the genius of the late Stephen Sondheim in an intimate performance that truly felt like a homecoming celebration for this Chicago native....

This 1972 musical written by Roger O. Hirson with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz – yes of Godspell and Wicked fame – and directed by Bob Fosse, is the current production at BrightSide Theatre. It originally stared John Rubenstein as Pippin and Ben Vereen as Leading Player....

The Second City e.t.c.’s CHAOS THEORY OF EVERYTHING is a potpourri of comedy....

IRAQ, BUT FUNNY serves not only as a masterful satire of British and American colonialism in the Middle East but also as a moving, multigenerational family drama....

KIMBERLY AKIMBO is as oddball of a musical as its name. ...

“What makes a man try to fly in a lawn chair?” is 42 BALLOONS most repeated lyric. It’s on the nose — and it’s repeated across six interludes in Jack Godfrey’s new musical. Based on the real-life story of Larry Walters, who in 1982 reached a height of 16,000 feet flying a lawn chair acco...

The final production of the Joffrey Ballet season is Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. This is a busy ballet created by Tony Award-winning choreographer Christopher Wheeldon. The music by Joby Talbot is rich and aligns precisely with the choreography. Bob Crowley’s costumes also help tell the st...

DIANA THE MUSICAL, the ill-fated Broadway musical about the former Princess of Wales (a filmed version of which was one of the top “hate-watching”programs on Netflix last year) is enjoying its Midwest debut at Theo Ubique....