Chicago Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 16

BWW Review: Cirque du Soleil VOLTA in Chicago
by Rachel Weinberg - June 03, 2019

French Canadian troupe Cirque du Soleil delivers a death-defying and dazzling array of acrobatic acts with VOLTA, now resident in a large tent occupying Soldier Field's South Parking Lot. Each of VOLTA's astounding, seemingly superhuman acts grow increasingly more jaw-dropping as the show progresses...

BWW Review: MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN at Lookingglass Theatre Company
by Emily McClanathan - May 30, 2019

With Lookingglass Theatre Company being the fourth Chicago theater to produce a Frankenstein adaptation over the past year in celebration of the novel's 200th anniversary, audiences may well ask what more can be said about this classic tale. Rest assured: in MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN, writer and d...

BWW Review: FALSETTOS National Tour in Chicago
by Rachel Weinberg - May 30, 2019

The national tour of the 2016 Broadway revival of FALSETTOS, once again helmed by director James Lapine, has landed in Chicago with a first-rate production and cast. The mighty touring ensemble of seven captures all the neuroses and emotional journeys of the musical's composite 'Tight-Knit Family.'...

BWW Review: SIX at Chicago Shakespeare Theater
by Rachel Weinberg - May 25, 2019

Bow down to the queens of SIX. In this new musical from Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss (with direction from Moss and Jamie Armitage), the six wives of King Henry VIII are taking back their mics and sharing their stories-in the form of contemporary pop musical songs. This masterful musical sizzles with el...

BWW Review: NEXT TO NORMAL at Writers Theatre
by Rachel Weinberg - May 17, 2019

Under the direction of David Cromer, Writers Theatre presents a NEXT TO NORMAL that is raw and electric. Tom Kitt's music and Brian Yorkey's book and lyrics have an utter immediacy to them in this production (and each note sounds great thanks to the music direction of Andra Velis Simon and the six-p...

BWW Review: THE WINTER'S TALE at Goodman Theatre
by Rachel Weinberg - May 14, 2019

Goodman Theatre's THE WINTER'S TALE is one of the most inventive and playful productions of Shakespeare I've seen....

BWW Review: WEST SIDE STORY at Lyric Opera
by Rachel Weinberg - May 06, 2019

Lyric Opera has staged a grand, traditional WEST SIDE STORY that serves as a veritable primer for this iconic musical. With director Francesca Zambello at the helm, who is no stranger to directing classic musicals, Lyric's production celebrates the beauty and complexity of Leonard Bernstein's stunni...

BWW Review: The Adrienne Arsht Center and The House Theatre of Chicago's UNITED FLIGHT 232
by Cristina Pla-Guzman - May 06, 2019

Last night the heaven's opened the flood gates and it rained as if a hurricane was upon us in Miami, Florida. I have never seen so many lightning bolts nor that much flooding on I-95. Although not many people braved the storm, I was proud to be among the few that came to watch the Adrienne Arsht Cen...

BWW Review: ROALD DAHL'S MATILDA THE MUSICAL at Drury Lane Theatre
by Emily McClanathan - May 05, 2019

British novelist Roald Dahl possessed that rare quality in an author of children's books: the ability to captivate the imaginations of his young readers and simultaneously entertain their parents. His distinctive witty prose, dark humor, and eccentric characters are beloved worldwide: a daunting pre...

BWW Review: THE CHILDREN at Steppenwolf Theatre Company
by Rachel Weinberg - May 02, 2019

Lucy Kirkwood's aptly titled THE CHILDREN, now in its Chicago premiere at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, poses thought-provoking questions about the responsibilities that humankind has to future generations. Kirkwood's intentionally crafted play filters these broad themes through the specific narrativ...

BWW Review: FOOTLOOSE at Marriott Theatre
by Emily McClanathan - April 30, 2019

Marriott Theatre's FOOTLOOSE is a fun-filled throwback to the '80s, with a strong ensemble cast that does full justice to the original film's chart-topping hits. Directed by Gary Griffin and choreographed by William Carlos Angulo, this production radiates infectious energy....

BWW Review: HAMLET at Chicago Shakespeare Theater
by Rachel Weinberg - April 27, 2019

Chicago Shakespeare Theater Artistic Director Barbara Gaines has staged a HAMLET that captures both the universality of Shakespeare's language and the equally universal-but also profoundly personal-experience of grief for the title character....

BWW Review: HANNAH AND MARTIN at Shattered Globe Theatre
by Emily McClanathan - April 21, 2019

A thought-provoking blend of philosophy, politics, and personal ethics, Kate Fodor's HANNAH AND MARTIN explores the fall-out of one German intellectual's entanglement with the Nazi party. Now playing at Shattered Globe Theatre under the direction of Louis Contey, Fodor's historical drama recreates t...

BWW Review: A CHORUS LINE at Porchlight Music Theatre
by Rachel Weinberg - April 19, 2019

Under the direction of Brenda Didier and with show-stopping choreography from Christopher Chase Carter, Porchlight's A CHORUS LINE captures the emotional heart at the center of this classic musical and has plenty of pizzazz. Whether you're a long-time fan of A CHORUS LINE or experiencing this musica...

BWW Review: A Country's Soul Beats in CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND
by Misha Davenport - April 16, 2019

BWW Review: A Country's Soul Beats in CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND...

BWW Review: LOTTERY DAY at Goodman Theatre
by Rachel Weinberg - April 10, 2019

It seems only fitting that Ike Holter would conclude his seven-play "Rightlynd Saga," set in the fictional 51st Ward of Chicago, by literally sending it off with a party. And this is no ordinary celebration. A cast of characters from previous installments in the "Rightlynd Saga" gathers in Mallory's...

BWW Review: CRUEL INTENTIONS: THE '90S MUSICAL
by Rachel Weinberg - April 05, 2019

If you're feeling nostalgic for the catchy pop hits of the '90s, CRUEL INTENTIONS: THE '90S MUSICAL is just the ticket....

BWW Review: ADMISSIONS at Theater Wit
by Rachel Weinberg - April 02, 2019

Now in its Chicago debut at Theater Wit under the direction of Artistic Director Jeremy Wechsler, Joshua Harmon's ADMISSIONS is entirely prescient. The play takes a critical look at both prep school and college admissions, and the lengths to which people will go to have their children admitted. The ...

BWW Review: A NUMBER at Writers Theatre
by Emily McClanathan - April 02, 2019

In true science fiction fashion, British playwright Caryl Churchill's gripping two-hander, A NUMBER, raises more questions than it answers. Set in the near future and structured as a series of tense encounters between a father and his grown son(s), the play premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in 20...

Set Sail for Hell in a Handbag's Stellar POSEIDON!
by Misha Davenport - March 27, 2019

Hell in a Handbag's parody of the classic 1972 disaster film, is in top ship-shape and worthy of you booking a passage. It's a laugh riot of epic proportions....

BWW Review: BRIGHT STAR at BoHo Theatre
by Rachel Weinberg - March 24, 2019

Launching BoHo Theatre's fifteenth season, Steve Martin and Edie Brickell's BRIGHT STAR is an earnest and charming show that wears its heart proudly on its musical sleeve....

BWW Review: SWEAT at Goodman Theatre
by Rachel Weinberg - March 20, 2019

Lynn Nottage's 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winning SWEAT, now in its Chicago premiere at Goodman Theatre under the direction of Ron OJ Parson, focuses on a group of blue-collar factory workers in Reading, Pennsylvania. Bound together by the toils of working-class life in the town's steel-tubing factory, the...

BWW Review: HANDS ON A HARDBODY at Refuge Theatre Project
by Rachel Weinberg - March 18, 2019

In HANDS ON A HARDBODY, now making its Chicago premiere with Refuge Theatre Project, the mobility offered by that titular hardbody truck is not just of the wheeled variety. Instead, the contest among 10 working class Texans to be the last to have their hands on that Nissan truck also becomes a rathe...

BWW Review: A BRONX TALE on Tour in Chicago
by Rachel Weinberg - March 15, 2019

It's in the moments of high energy and pure entertainment that A BRONX TALE succeeds the most, and the company finds all the joy in Alan Menken's reliably tuneful score....

BWW Review: Steppenwolf for Young Adults Presents WE ARE PROUD TO PRESENT A PRESENTATION…
by Rachel Weinberg - March 03, 2019

Jackie Sibblies Drury's WE ARE PROUD TO PRESENT A PRESENTATION…, currently onstage as the second production in Steppenwolf for Young Adults' season, opens up challenging questions about history, who has the right to tell what story, and how best we can represent critical moments from the past withou...