CHICAGO THEATER REVIEWS

Chicago production of Tony-award winning show 'The Book of Mormon comes into its own, rightfully deserving all the buzz and praise....

There's something so utterly intoxicating about a skilled tap dancer decked out in a spiffy tuxedo - top hat, tails, and all - commanding the audience's attention for a brilliantly exhausting routine. There's something even more so invigorating when a cast-full of local performers nail their respect...

"The Christmas Schooner" has been performed in the Chicago area every year, except for one, since 1995. And yet, I know for a fact that new theatergoers are discovering it all the time. Hence, it's a good thing that the Mercury Theater on Southport Avenue has mounted this story--based on a real slic...

One of the nation's most prominent of the many productions of "A Christmas Carol" that crop up like greenery this time of year is the one at Chicago's Goodman Theatre. Now in its 35th annual outing, it's a warm, thought-provoking and timeless tale of redemption and good will, humanity and universali...

For consistency and boldness of artistic vision, or (more accurately) for auteur singularity of mind in application of a specific lens to the artistic work of another, one need look no further than to Oak Park, Illinois, and the Circle Theatre production of "Pippin," playing now through December 23,...

The musical "Forever Plaid," created in 1990 by writer/director Stuart Ross and the late musical director/arranger James Raitt (cousin to John and Bonnie), was and is a perennially popular staple of regional theaters looking for a small-cast, upbeat and moving musical to satisfy audiences of a certa...

Following its highly publicized summer Lichtenstein retrospective, the Art Institute of Chicago appears to be putting emphasis on video art and film installations during the fall season with two innovative new exhibitions - FOCUS: HITO STEYERL and STEVE MCQUEEN....

Broadway World Chicago reviews the pre-Broadway tryout of 'Kinky Boots'...

'Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson' envisions the seventh U.S. president as Emo rockstar....

Relatively new to the Chicago theater scene, suburban-based Nightblue scores with their original take on the Tony-award winning 'Avenue Q.'...

Gary Griffin's production of the classic Sondheim musical is a fitting work of art and this season's first must-see....

This month, a modest production of this powerful but modest show is running on the weekends at Stage 773 in Lakeview, brought to us by a new production company, Another Production Company. The company was founded by Raymond K. Cleveland and Toma Tavares Langston, two men who cut their theatrical tee...

It's quite an achievement for any theater company to mount a credible "Dreamgirls," frankly, with its casting challenges, costume budget and high energy performance level. But Robin's Marriott "Dreamgirls" succeeds on many levels. It never stops moving, and it frequently moves the audience as well.....

The towel clad lads server up a late-night musical treat at 'Steamwerkz: The Musical'...

Opening this past Wednesday, the latest new work at the Marriott Theatre is "Hero," conceived and written by Aaron Thielen (the theater's Lead Artistic Director) and based somewhat on his childhood in Milwaukee and the neighborhood he grew up in. The show has music and lyrics by Michael Mahler, an a...

Chicago's non-Equity Bohemian Theatre Ensemble has undertaken Adam Guettel and Tina Landau's 1996 off-Broadway masterpiece (or close to it) and put it on at Theater Wit on West Belmont Avenue for the next month (through July 25, 2012). If you have imagination enough to meet the company halfway, some...

I'm talking about StarKid Productions, aka Team StarKid, and their "Apocalyptour," which opened last night at Chicago's House of Blues (a second show is tonight). The troupe behind "A Very Potter Musical," the Billboard phenomenon "Me and My Dick," the BroadwayWorld Chicago Award-winning "Starship" ...

David Cromer's production of 'Rent' should face early eviction due to poor staging choices....

Forget "Rock Of Ages." That 21st century musical about the 1980s has nothing on the real thing. "Cats," the show that set much of the look and tone of musical theater for the next decade or so when it opened in London in 1981 and in New York in 1982 (and began continuous touring in 1984, a record un...

In our time and place, the great Marriott Theatre to the north of Chicago, in Lincolnshire, in the collar county of Lake, has mounted a production of "The Pirates of Penzance" which officially opened this past weekend, and will run through June 10, 2012. It's directed by Dominic Missimi, a visionary...

The 1972 Bob Fosse dance spectacle and play-within-a-play "Pippin" (which produced a legendary Motown Records cast album, no less) opened in Lakeview this past October, courtesy of the Bohemian Theatre Ensemble. And now we have a "Pippin" for the north lakeshore, as The Music Theatre Company of High...

Theo Ubique's 'The Light in the Piazza' is of the best and most glorious shows of this season....

Prepare to get the Broadway spirit in the cheerleading musical 'Bring It On.'...

Gradually emerging as a work for the theater from casual beginnings in Houston in 1988, expanded for productions in Atlanta and Nashville (starring Mandy Barnett) in the mid-1990s, then to off-Broadway, to Chicago and beyond, "Always…Patsy Cline" was created to frame the immortal songs and voice o...

Non-Equity tour of South Pacific' hits its share of 'Bali-lows' but young leads show promise...