Liz Lauren

Marriott Theatre is continuing its 2024 season with MEREDITH WILLSON’S THE MUSIC MAN, the six-time Tony Award-winning musical comedy, directed and choreographed by Katie Spelman with Music Direction by Jeff Award Winner Ryan T. Nelson. See photos from the production!

Chicago Shakespeare Theater will present Judgment Day, a hilariously irreverent world premiere comedy starring Tony and Emmy Award winner Jason Alexander (Seinfeld) in his Chicago stage debut. Check out rehearsal photos here!

Mercury Theater has revealed additional dates for the first built-in Chicago Production of Jersey Boys. Learn how to purchase tickets.

Mercury Theater Chicago has staged a “homegrown” production of JERSEY BOYS full of Chicago heart. The bio jukebox musical has graced Chicago tour stages over the years (in fact, I had a chuckle looking back at the review of the first national tour I wrote for my high school newspaper), but this is the first staging to showcase Chicago talent — and it definitely accomplishes that goal.

Goodman Theatre Artistic Director Susan V. Booth puts her own spin on Margaret Atwood’s decidedly feminist tale THE PENELOPIAD. As with her famous novel THE HANDMAID’S TALE, Atwood uses THE PENELOPIAD as a device to convey the horrors and abuse committed against women. Atwood’s points are valid and mirror the gender inequalities and abuse women still experience now (the original novella was penned in 2005). But THE PENELOPIAD’s feminist argument isn’t revelatory. Instead of providing truly new insight or perspective, the play rather reinforces existing (though rightfully undeniable) points. 

Director Mary Zimmerman returns to the Goodman with the whimsical and inventive THE MATCHBOX MAGIC FLUTE. Zimmerman’s adaptation of Mozart’s iconic opera is lively and accessible; this would be a great introduction for those new to the opera.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater is presenting a perfect introduction to Shakespeare’s work for young audiences with a 75-minute abridgement of Romeo and Juliet, adapted and directed by Mikael Burke. See production photos here!

Get a first look at photos and video of The Matchbox Magic Flute at Goodman Theatre.

Paramount Theatre is ringing in 2024 with a new production of the coming-of-age tale Billy Elliot: The Musical, set to the music of Elton John, book and lyrics by Lee Hall, directed by Trent Stork. Performances run through March 24, 2024. Check out production photos here!

If new Artistic Director Edward Hall's RICHARD III is any indication of what Chicago audiences can come to expect during his tenure, they would do well to cheer, 'Long live the king.' The darkly comic historical thriller runs through March 3 at CST's Courtyard Theater.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater presents William Shakespeare’s Richard III, staged by Artistic Director Edward Hall in the Courtyard Theater, February 2–March 3. Power, greed, ambition. A world where to win is everything. And to win at all costs. This marks the first major US production of Richard III to feature a woman with a disability in the title role.

ILLINOISE is a journey through our great state of Illinois using movement. Directed and choreographed by Justin Peck and featuring music and lyrics from Sufjan Stevens’s ILLINOIS album, the show uses dance as its primary narrative language. Peck collaborated with playwright Jacke Sibblies Drury on a loose storyline for ILLINOISE, but that story is communicated entirely through dance. Stevens’s lyrics underscore the situations in the show and mirror the emotional shades of the choreography.

HIGHWAY PATROL has refreshing bravery and honesty; it’s an intriguing exploration of online identity and the connections that might be found, or that we seek to find, on our social media profiles and in our DMs.

It’s delightful, it’s delicious, it’s de-lovely...it’s ANYTHING GOES at Porchlight Music Theatre. Artistic Director Michael Weber’s production captures all the joy and laughs in Cole Porter’s 1934 classic musical comedy. Thanks to the new 2022 book by Timothy Crouse and John Weidman, it’s also a tight ship running two hours and fifteen minutes (original book by P.G. Wodehouse, Guy Bolton, Howard LIndsay, and Russel Crouse.)

See first look photos of Porchlight Music Theatre’s 90th Anniversary production of Cole Porter’s crown jewel musical comedy, Anything Goes.

What did our critic think of A CHIRSTMAS CAROL at The Goodman Theatre?

Few dramatic adaptations of A Christmas Carol manage to convey the magic, the emotional power, and—yes—the terror of Dickens’s original as effectively and impactfully as Manual Cinema’s version, now playing at Writers Theatre in Glencoe through December 24th.

Step behind the gates and discover the magic that awaits when Aurora’s Paramount Theatre presents the Professional Regional Premiere of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, currently running through January 14, 2024. Check out production photos here!

These days, truth is elusive — and Timeline Theatre’s THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT plays with that idea. It’s the age of endless fact-checking resources on the internet, but also the age of misinformation spread across TikTok, Reddit, and other social media. Wherein lies the truth? And what is accurate? Sometimes, it’s hard to say. THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT meditates on that theme.

Lookingglass Alice is adapted and directed by founding member of Lookingglass Theatre Company, David Catlin. Lindsey Noel Whiting, a Lookingglass Alice cast member herself, hosts the PBS program, and the cast includes Molly Hernandez as Alice, along with Kareem Bandealy, Samuel Taylor, Michel Rodriguez Cintra and Daniel Johnson.