Chicago Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 21

BWW Review: AN AMERICAN IN PARIS National Tour at the Oriental Theatre
by Rachel Weinberg - July 29, 2017

Christopher Wheeldon's visually stunning production of AN AMERICAN IN PARIS has come dancing into Broadway In Chicago's Oriental Theatre. Wheeldon's complex and extensive choreography is the most striking and entertaining element of this new musical, based upon the classic Gene Kelly film and with a...

BWW Review: HOW TO BE A ROCK CRITIC Rocks Steppenwolf
by Rachel Weinberg - July 11, 2017

"This music is magical. My writing is stilted." So proclaims Erik Jensen as famed rock critic Lester Bangs in HOW TO BE A ROCK CRITIC, now playing as part of Steppenwolf's Lookout Series. This thought has likely crossed the mind of all art critics out there (certainly it has crossed mine), and it em...

BWW Review: HIR at Steppenwolf Theatre Company
by Rachel Weinberg - July 10, 2017

Taylor Mac's HIR, now in its Chicago premiere at Steppenwolf under the direction of Hallie Gordon, proves itself to be a complete whirlwind from the beginning. Collette Pollard's strikingly realistic living room/kitchen set is in a tornado-like state when the curtain comes up at the top of the play,...

BWW Review: MCC'S Moon Over Buffalo Brings Out the Laughs and Comedy to McHenry
by Kevin Pollack - June 22, 2017

In the McHenry County area, there's always such great theatre going on, and that's what I got when I went to see McHenry County College's hilarious production of Ken Ludwig's Moon Over Buffalo directed by the wonderful Regina Belt-Daniels....

BWW Review: MOBY DICK at Lookingglass Theatre Company
by Rachel Weinberg - June 22, 2017

Following a successful 2015 run, that great white whale MOBY DICK has returned to Lookingglass in a highly physical, inventive, and visually compelling production that's fully in keeping with the company's aesthetic. David Catlin's adaptation of Herman Meville's sprawling novel surrounds audiences i...

BWW Review: THE KING AND I at Broadway In Chicago
by Rachel Weinberg - June 18, 2017

Bartlett Sher's 2015 Tony Award winning revival of THE KING AND I has sailed into Broadway In Chicago's Oriental Theatre in a triumphant touring production....

BWW Review: RUMORS at Woodstock Opera House
by Kate Curtin - June 17, 2017

Picture it, an anniversary party with your dear friends, all dressed up with your spouse, and everything is not quite right. Town Square Players of Woodstock offers us a chance to escape our realities and join Neil Simon on the wildly hilarious ride known as 'Rumors'...

BWW Review: PASS OVER at Steppenwolf
by Rachel Weinberg - June 14, 2017

Both beautiful and necessarily brutal, Antoinette Nwandu's PASS OVER is a play that's entirely essential to this moment....

BWW Review: NATIVE GARDENS at Victory Gardens Theater
by Rachel Weinberg - June 12, 2017

The world premiere of Karen Zacarias's NATIVE GARDENS at Victory Gardens Theater provides ample humor and wit-even if the playwright's neighborly metaphor sometimes feels too on the nose....

BWW Review: RAGTIME at Griffin Theatre Company
by Rachel Weinberg - June 06, 2017

Just as Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens's 1999 musical RAGTIME traverses numerous locales on the East Coast and spans the years from 1906-1914, so too does director Scott Weinstein's dynamic staging make full use of The Den Theatre's Heath Mainstage. In Griffin Theatre Company's production, Weinste...

BWW Review: PARADE at Writers Theatre
by Rachel Weinberg - June 03, 2017

PARADE is now in a blistering and beautifully minimalist production from director Gary Griffin. Though it is based off the real-life 1913 trial of Jewish pencil factory worker Leo Frank and was written by Jason Robert Brown and Alfred Uhry in 1998, this musical feels entirely of this moment. Set in ...

BWW Review: The Queen of Broadway, Audra McDonald Returns to Chicago at Steppenwolf Theatre
by Katherine Damisch - May 23, 2017

Audra McDonald, the reigning Queen of Broadway, is a woman who needs no introduction in the theatre community. This is probably why the seats at the Steppenwolf Theatre were packed Monday evening with audience members who clung silently to her every word, laughed heartily at every joke, and exploded...

BWW Review: Young Stars Brighten LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
by Misha Davenport - May 17, 2017

BWW Review: Young Stars Brighten LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE...

BWW Review: By Any Name, ANNIE KING is a Sweet New Musical Thriller
by Patrick O'Brien - May 02, 2017

An appealing cast. Bluegrass. A campfire. Nothing could possibly go wrong in this new musical thriller....

BWW Review: Porchlight's MARRY ME A LITTLE is a Rhapsodic Love Letter to Sondheim's Song Catalog
by Rachel Weinberg - April 26, 2017

True blue fans of Stephen Sondheim (this reviewer included) will be drooling over Porchlight's latest offering MARRY ME A LITTLE. This two-hander revue showcases a number of Sondheim's finest trunk songs-early renditions of numbers that were cut from such musicals as FOLLIES, INTO THE WOODS and MERR...

BWW Review: A VAUDEVILLE FIASCO at The Other Side
by William Geheren - March 30, 2017

It was a night filled with wonder, talent and hilarity as Inhabit Theater performed A VAUDEVILLE FIASCO at The Other Side in Crystal Lake...

BWW Review: Will Davis Casts An Imaginative, Modern Lens on William Inge's PICNIC
by Rachel Weinberg - March 27, 2017

In putting together American Theater Company's current production of William Inge's classic play PICNIC, Artistic Director Will Davis said he wanted his cast "to reflect the playwright and the powerful forces in his own psyche that kept him from happiness and fulfillment." Indeed, the actors Davis h...

BWW Review: CIRCUS 1903 Has A Plethora of Family-Friendly Acts Up Its Sleeve
by Rachel Weinberg - March 22, 2017

Come one, come all to CIRCUS 1903-THE GOLDEN AGE OF CIRCUS that has landed in Chicago with plenty of razzle dazzle circus acts and exhilarating feats to make this show a treat for the whole family. Directed by Neil Dorward, and featuring two magnificently rendered elephant puppets from Significant O...

BWW Review: Ease On Down to Kokandy's Joyous THE WIZ
by Rachel Weinberg - March 13, 2017

Under the direction of Lili-Anne Brown, Kokandy Productions' staging of THE WIZ radiates joy, and at the performance I saw Saturday night, the audience was soaking up every single joyful moment. From my vantage point, I can say that the audience reaction comes from the satisfaction of watching a sol...

BWW Review: Victory Gardens' World Premiere A WONDER IN MY SOUL Pays Loving Homage to Chicago's South Side and Female Friendship
by Rachel Weinberg - February 22, 2017

In Kurtis Boetcher's set design for Marcus Gardley's world premiere A WONDER IN MY SOUL, the backdrop for the South Side beauty shop where the play is set prominently displays the photographs of black female icons ranging from Diana Ross to Beyonce-and all of course have fabulous hair in the photo...

BWW Review: Steppenwolf's STRAIGHT WHITE MEN Examine Their Role in Society
by Patrick Rybarczyk - February 15, 2017

As you walk into the theatre for Steppenwolf's production of Jean Lee's Straight White Men, you are offered ear plugs. Why? There is extremely loud music playing and it contains lyrics that could certainly be considered offensive to some. Starting off this way has likely, as we are told by two gende...

BWW Review: Chicago Voices Concert Brings Out the All-Stars
by Kevin Pollack - February 13, 2017

The stars aligned on Saturday, February 4th for the Chicago Voices Concert at the Lyric Opera's Civic Opera House in Chicago. The concert is a one-night-only, mixed genre event that celebrates the city's diverse vocal music heritage in a spirit of unity and collaboration....

BWW Review: THE BODYGUARD Provides A Glitzy and Lively Evening of Whitney Houston Classics
by Rachel Weinberg - February 03, 2017

THE BODYGUARD, based on the eponymous film starring Whitney Houston as pop star Rachel Marron and Kevin Costner as her bodyguard Frank Farmer, has plenty of glitz and glamour to go around in its current engagement at Broadway In Chicago's Oriental Theatre. Throughout the night, lead Deborah Cox shin...

BWW Review: Enjoyable, Wry MEN ON BOATS Marks American Theater Company Artistic Director Will Davis's Directorial Debut
by Rachel Weinberg - January 11, 2017

It seems rather poetic that newly appointed Artistic Director Will Davis's first production at American Theater Company, MEN ON BOATS, focuses rather literally on charting new frontiers. Jaclyn Backhaus's witty, entertaining play (which Davis previously helmed with a different ensemble off-Broadway)...

BWW Review: THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA's New Production Breathes the Music of the Night Back to Life
by Kailey Hansen - December 19, 2016

As one of the most successful shows of all time, The Phantom of the Opera continues to draw in audiences who are already familiar with the music of the night. Despite being an age-old tale, Cameron Mackintosh's astounding new production boasts revamped staging and a fresh set design that sweeps both...