Chicago Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 30

BWW Reviews: Team StarKid’s APOCALYPTOUR: The End of Musical Theater As We Know It, And We Feel Fine
by Paul W. Thompson - May 10, 2012

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" ...

BWW Reviews: RENT Comes Due at ATC
by Misha Davenport - May 09, 2012

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

BWW Reviews: There's Something About CATS at the Cadillac Palace Theatre
by Paul W. Thompson - May 02, 2012

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...

The Lincolnshire Marriott’s “Pirates”: Theatrically Good to Great, But Musically Frustrating
by Paul W. Thompson - April 16, 2012

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...

BWW Reviews: Highland Park “Pippin” Is Very Well Danced and Sung, Pretty Well Acted
by Paul W. Thompson - April 02, 2012

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...

BWW Reviews: The Light Shines Bright on Theo Ubique's THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA
by Misha Davenport - March 14, 2012

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

BWW Reviews: BRING IT ON The Musical - Gimme an 'H', Gimme an 'I' and Gimme a 'T'!
by Misha Davenport - March 14, 2012

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

BWW Reviews: Whether Michelle Duffy or Heather Beck, It’s ALWAYS…PATSY CLINE in Munster
by Paul W. Thompson - February 29, 2012

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 of ...

BWW Reviews: A Somewhat Enchanted Evening - SOUTH PACIFIC on Tour
by Misha Davenport - February 20, 2012

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

BWW Reviews: Green Day's Punk Music Rolls into Town with Energy Anger Intact in AMERICAN IDIOT Tour
by Misha Davenport - February 08, 2012

'American Idiot' tour aims for the non-Broadway musical crowd and mostly succeeds....

BWW Reviews: Court Rules in favor of Marriott Theatre's LEGALLY BLONDE
by Misha Davenport - February 03, 2012

Chelsea Packard (as Elle Woods) and the rest of the cast deliver a fast-paced, fresh and funny 'Legally Blonde' at Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire....

BWW Reviews: Snaps to a Newly Revised ADDAMS FAMILY
by Misha Davenport - December 28, 2011

The newly-revised musical 'The Addams Family' finds new life and laughs on tour....

BWW Reviews: LA CAGE On Tour - One Bird Soars, Another Sours
by Misha Davenport - December 28, 2011

Christopher Sieber shines in the ground breaking classic 'La Cage aux Folles'...

BWW Reviews: Cue the Leg Lamp Kickline - A Christmas Story, The Musical! Hits Chicago
by Misha Davenport - December 21, 2011

Misha Davenport sits down with the creative team behind this holiday's biggest hit, 'A Christmas Story, The Musical!'...

The Latest “Fiddler” Tour: Dance: 10, Looks: 8, Script: 10, Sounds: Far From the Show I Love
by Paul W. Thompson - November 26, 2011

The latest non-Equity tour of one of the crown jewels of the American musical theater, "Fiddler On The Roof," pulled its bus and truck into the equally landmark Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University this week for a one-week Chicago stay, giving its mostly young and talented cast a chance to do...

BWW Reviews: MEMPHIS Loses Some Passion
by Misha Davenport - November 23, 2011

The national tour of Tony award-winning 'Memphis' loses some heat, but still thrills vocally....

BWW Reviews: A Tale Of Two Jackies - BET's THE JACKIE WILSON STORY Opens Remarkable Facility
by Paul W. Thompson - November 22, 2011

The celebration of the opening of the new facility for Chicago's 34-year-old Black Ensemble Theater, coming on a lonesome stretch of commercial street in western Uptown during a dismal economy, was a remarkable thing last weekend. The $19 million Black Ensemble Theater Cultural Center, lovely... ...

BWW Reviews: Practically Perfect POPPINS Delights
by Misha Davenport - October 19, 2011

No spoonful of sugar needed: 'Mary Poppins' delights in every way....

BWW Reviews: Boho's PIPPIN Does The Magic At Theater Wit
by Paul W. Thompson - October 18, 2011

For the next four weekends (until November 13, 2011), this year's unofficial Chicagoland Stephen Schwartz festival continues at the Theater Wit multiplex facility on Belmont Avenue. That's where the Bohemian Theatre Ensemble, aka Boho Theatre, has mounted a thoroughly relevant and highly riveting pr...

BWW Reviews: Here's to the Ladies Upstairs! FOLLIES is First Rate at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre
by Misha Davenport - October 14, 2011

Chicago Shakespeare's production of 'Follies' is second to none...

BWW Reviews: Hollywood Memories, Drugs and Droids - Carrie Fisher Dishes in WISHFUL DRINKING
by Misha Davenport - October 10, 2011

We'll drink to that: Carrie Fisher looks back on her life in Hollywood in 'Wishful Drinking.'...

BWW Reviews: The World Premiere of FOR THE BOYS Is Good. Could It Be Better?
by Paul W. Thompson - August 30, 2011

The Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, Illinois, north of Chicago, has an enormous subscription base, deep pockets, a talented and experienced in-house design team and a film property to adapt that touches on a number of important, stage-worthy themes (military patriotism, family, nostalgia, a timely...

BWW Reviews: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST at the Oriental - A Step Above Community Children's Theater, But Not By Much
by Misha Davenport - July 01, 2011

Broadway World Chicago reviews 'Disney's Beauty and the Beast.'...

BWW Reviews: Love In The "Dating Game" Era - SHOUT Is Reconceived By Lincolnshire’s Marriott Theatre
by Paul W. Thompson - June 27, 2011

The Marriott Theatre in far north suburban Lincolnshire has long been a testing ground-- for newly-written musicals, or for musicals never before produced in the round. (When you have that many subscribers, you can take a few highly visible risks.) Now, through August 14, 2011, the theatre is trying...

BWW Reviews: THE LAST ACT OF LILKA KADISON
by Misha Davenport - June 16, 2011

Long-buried memories have the power to move and motivate in Lookingglass Theatre Company's 'The Last Act of Lilka Kadison'...