MRS. MURPHY AND SONS IRISH BISTRO

by Rachel Weinberg - April 07, 2026

MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM is a well-acted, slow-burn character study. August Wilson’s 1982 play centers on a fictitious 1927 Chicago album recording, as the musicians gather and wait for the notorious Ma Rainey (or Madam Rainey, as she demands they call her) to record her latest album. Ma Rainey ...

by Emily Werner - April 06, 2026

Lookingglass Theatre Company begins its 2025/26 season with the world premiere of White Rooster in the Joan and Paul Theatre at the Water Tower Water Works. ...

by Emily Werner - April 01, 2026

Theater Wit opens the Midwest premiere of The Ally on March 30, 2026. Originally premiering in February 2024 at New York City’s Public Theater, Itamar Moses’ play was a finalist for the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Blending dark comedy with urgent social questions, The Ally challenges its audi...

by Rachel Weinberg - March 29, 2026

THEATER OF THE MIND is an engaging, interactive, and fun tour through the senses....

by Rachel Weinberg - March 03, 2026

THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO is a lopsided stage adaptation of Junot Díaz’s 2007 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. While the first act is tight and focuses squarely on the budding relationship between ultra-nerd Oscar Wao and his freshman year college roommate Yunior, the second act incorpora...

by Tina St. Angelo - February 23, 2026

The Joffrey Ballet is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. The current offering is called Icons. What a gift to the audience. I don’t know if Robert Joffrey had any idea what his company has become. Icons recreate 4 different ballets from different decades over the 20th Century....

by Rachel Weinberg - February 19, 2026

When I think of Steppenwolf, I often think of family members crying, screaming at one another, or some combination of the two. So the sparring between spouses Alice and Captain Edgar in August Strindberg’s 1900 play THE DANCE OF DEATH feels right at home. In a surprisingly funny and sharp version ...

by Tina St. Angelo - February 17, 2026

What did our critic think of DEAR EVAN HANSEN at Paramount Theatre Aurora IL?...

by Rachel Weinberg - February 14, 2026

Royal Shakespeare Company’s HAMNET is a dramatic and languid stage adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 buzzy novel of the same name....

by Rachel Weinberg - February 13, 2026

THE OUTSIDERS presents an original and vibrant stage adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s classic 1967 novel about the conflict between Tulsa teen gangs the Greasers and the Socs (short for socialites). The musical — and particularly director Danya Taymor’s inventive and visually dynamic staging — pu...