Chicago Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 31

BWW Reviews: CHICAGO Still Paints the Town After All These Years
by Misha Davenport - June 09, 2011

Touring production of the hit revival 'Chicago' is still heaven nowadays....

'The Original Grease:' No Longer Just the Danny & Sandy Show
by M. William Panek - May 04, 2011

For anyone who's ever lived in Chicago, has a fond spot in their heart for any incarnation of 'Grease,' or eaten a Whoopercheesie, American Theater Company's 'The Original Grease' is the show to see this summer....

It’ll Charm You If You Want It To: NUNSET BOULEVARD Opens in Munster
by Paul W. Thompson - May 04, 2011

It's not a typo folks! This is not a review of anybody's production of "Sunset Boulevard," despite the vision mistakes of ALL of my friends when they asked me in writing where I was going. Instead, it's the seventh or eighth "Nunsense" musical (depending on whether or not you count one all-male show...

BWW Reviews: An Uneven But Effective THE KING AND I Turns On The Porchlight Audience
by Paul W. Thompson - May 03, 2011

Last weekend was the official opening of a hardworking production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic musical play, "The King and I," at Stage 773 courtesy of Porchlight Music Theatre Chicago. Coming simultaneously with the royal wedding goings-on in London, the show rang fascinatingly resonant w...

Cirque Éloize 'iD' a Chicago? C'est Tres Bon!
by M. William Panek - April 27, 2011

With Robert Massicotte and Alexis Laurence's eye-popping 3D video projection design bringing Massicotte's blank urban landscape design to life, the urban dances and circus acts in 'iD' are resoundingly funky, fresh, and beautifully mesmerizing....

A Sexy "Aida" in Oakbrook: Always Stirring, and Occasionally Stunning
by Paul W. Thompson - March 30, 2011

Two musicals which first firmly planted their roots in Chicago around 15 years ago achieved great acclaim on Broadway and elsewhere, and yet have never been far from our stages or our consciousness in Chicago. Both are about race relations in earlier times, and both continue to resonate with great s...

It’s Chicago’s Musical, the 'Actors’ Musical.' WORKING Really Works!
by Paul W. Thompson - March 05, 2011

The revised version of the 1970s musical "Working," that montage of monologues with the Frankenstein score that is usually called "the blue collar 'A Chorus Line'" (though it isn't), opened on Wednesday night in the town that originally birthed it, full of life and emotion and enough Chicago grit, g...

"Guys And Dolls" Comes Out A Mid-Winter Winner At The Marriott!
by Paul W. Thompson - February 14, 2011

Seriously, "Guys And Dolls" at the Marriott Theatre is great. It's just great. Great, great, great. No, it's not perfect. And it's definitely old school--there's definite dialogue sections, song sections, dance sections, just like the shows from the Golden Age were supposed to have. But what songs! ...

'9 to 5' National Tour: A Well-Earned 7
by M. William Panek - January 21, 2011

'9 to 5' is a campy evening of harmless fun and 15 original toe-tapping ditties supplied by Miss Parton herself. It's nowhere near a perfect show, but for a strong dose of women power, this tour is a sure bet....

'Boobs and Goombas:' Burlesque for the Digital Age
by M. William Panek - January 16, 2011

In all, the detailed attention to all the Mario Bros. incarnations is what makes 'Boobs and Goombas' such a hoot. It isn't a highbrow or heady evening. It's a fun, video game throwback burlesque parody ... and how many of those can you say you've been to?...

"Boojum!" What is it? Exactly. (An American Stage Premiere)
by Paul W. Thompson - December 02, 2010

This show has only been staged one other time in its entire existence, in Australia in 1986, and certainly deserves a wider viewing. It is "Boojum!: Nonsense, Truth and Lewis Carroll," and it is on the boards at the DCA Theater on Randolph Street (now through December 19), a co-production of Chicago...

Travel Article: Chicagoan in NYC for the Weekend
by M. William Panek - December 16, 2010

This Chicagoan goes to New York over a winter's weekend to check out 'The Radio City Christmas Spectacular,' 'American Idiot,' 'The Phantom of the Opera,' and first preview of 'Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.'...

'A Civil War Christmas' Proves A Hard History Lesson At Northlight Theatre
by Paul W. Thompson - November 25, 2010

Playwright Paula Vogel has wrought a researched and resonant snapshot of our nation's capital at a moment of waiting, a fullness not yet fulfilled. And that, unfortunately, describes the play as well. ...

The Verismo Opera Club Wades Into The Waters Of Chicago’s Off-Loop Opera Scene
by Paul W. Thompson - November 22, 2010

Chicago is home to any number of small, hard-working, barely-funded opera and operetta companies, some professional, some all-volunteer, and these for the most part fly entirely under the radar of traditional media and even of the internet itself. Some of these companies have been around in one form...

Marriott's 'Music Man' Brings A Singing, Dancing Town To Vivid Theatrical Life
by Paul W. Thompson - November 17, 2010

Now through January 9, 2011, a most miraculous thing is happening onstage at the Marriott Theatre in far north suburban Lincolnshire, Illinois. An entire town is coming to life. Its citizens sing, they dance, they hum, they can't tell where talking starts and singing begins.... It's 'The Music Man.'...

'Departure Lounge' Ready For Takeoff In Its U.S. Debut
by Paul W. Thompson - November 10, 2010

Last Sunday night, Bailiwick Chicago celebrated the first anniversary of its reincarnation by presenting the American debut of the musical "Departure Lounge," a very English rumination from the pen of author, lyricist and composer Dougal Irvine on what it means to bridge the gap between youth and ad...

Lookingglass 'Peter' Is An Exciting, Troubling Trip
by Paul W. Thompson - November 04, 2010

There seem to be numerous works of fiction, particularly series of books or stories geared to the child in all of us, which emerged from late 19th and early 20th century England. These works permeated the American psyche then, have yielded many stage and film adaptations in the intervening years, f...

Entire Cast Keeps '...VIRGINIA WOOLF?' Feeling Brand New
by M. William Panek - December 18, 2010

Amy Morton is neither bawdy or large in Edward Albee's 'WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?,' but I'll go out on a limb in saying she delivers the most reinvented interpretation of a classic character Chicago has ever seen....

'Seven Brides' At Drury Lane Triumphantly Turns Back The Clock
by Paul W. Thompson - October 23, 2010

The lovely and nostalgic production of a new stage version of "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" that opened this week at the Drury Lane Theatre in west suburban Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, very nearly returns the audience to the Broadway of the 1940s and early '50s. ...

Voices, Feet And The Beat Reign Supreme In Oakbrook's 'Hot Mikado'
by Paul W. Thompson - August 22, 2010

In the spring of 1939, two musical adaptations of Gilbert and Sullivan's 1885 music theater masterpiece "The Mikado" opened on Broadway. One, which had originated in Chicago, was called "The Swing Mikado." The other, which producer Mike Todd created when he was prevented from producing "The Swing Mi...

Piven Produces The Thought-Provoking Sarah Ruhl Play "Late: A Cowboy Song"
by Paul W. Thompson - July 28, 2010

The increasingly popular and important playwright Sarah Ruhl, a Chicago native and finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for "In The Next Room: or the Vibrator Play," traces her theatrical origins, in part at least, to the Piven Theatre Workshop in Evanston, or, more exactly, to its Young People's Co...

Writers' Stages a Stunning 'STREETCAR'
by William Panek - July 24, 2010

Cromer's production of Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize winning 'A Streetcar Named Desire' -now in its third and final extension at Writers' Theatre- is nothing short of spectacular. Catch this train while you still can....

Is A New Company's 'Aida' Better Than Broadway's? You Be The Judge.
by Paul W. Thompson - July 19, 2010

Now and for just two more weeks, an extraordinary, stylish and heartfelt production of Elton John's and Tim Rice's "Aida" is running at the very, very warm American Theater Company space in Chicago's North Center neighborhood. Courtesy of the reconstituted Bailiwick Chicago,......

Uniquely Original 'PARALLELOGRAM' at Steppenwolf
by William Panek - July 14, 2010

Steppenwolf's 'A Parallelogram' is a wonderfully-acted, well-designed, and smartly-written escape from the reality show marathons we've TiVo'd....

BWW Reviews: DiPietro's FUCKING MEN Makes Its Mark In Midwest Debut
by Paul W. Thompson - June 30, 2010

Just in time for the end of Pride Month, Tony-winning playwright Joe DiPietro ('Memphis') has worked with Bailiwick Chicago to produce the Midwest premiere (and only third production ever) of his 2008 play 'Fucking Men,' an adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's 19th century play 'La Ronde' that is now s...