Stephen Best

COMPLEX AND POWERFUL, RELENTLESS LIVES UP TO ITS TITLE After Timeline Theatre Company’s near sold-out run during the winter, The Goodman Theatre is restaging playwright Tyla Abercrumbie‘s ferocious, fierce, determined and monolithic three-hour play, Relentless. Prolific director Ron OJ Parson helms this bold new work focused on confronting the societal pandemic of racism plaguing this…

FAMILY DYSFUNCTION, PAST AND FUTURE Philosopher George Santayana once famously wrote “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” This quote kept bouncing around my head while watching Victory Gardens Theater’s latest world premiere play, In Every Generation. The first show on the mainstage since the pandemic shutdown, this challenging Jewish family…

DISASTER LIVES UP TO ITS TITLE Its not everyday a well-known chef headlines a new play, so it was with great interest I attended the new immersive comedy,  A Recipe For Disaster!  This Windy City Playhouse production has taken over an entire floor of the recently reopened Petterino’s restaurant, dubbing the performance space “The Playhouse at Petterino’s”….

A ROYAL PRODUCTION There is something to be said for a classic musical lovingly restaged for a new generation of audiences. The Drury Lane Theatre should be very proud with their latest, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The King and I. There is enough here to satisfy any traditionalist and to charm even the sternest of curmudgeons….

DAWN BLESS A BLESSING IN SCALED-DOWN CHURCH After an almost two year pandemic break, the Black Ensemble Theater BET) is back in business and doing a necessary check in on everyone’s mental health. The first show in “The season of healing and joy” celebrates faith, joy, self-esteem and self-worth. It’s Just Like Coming to Church…

COMEDY SET TO A BEAT Tina Arfaee, Cat McDonnell, Uri, Teagan Earley, Breanna Ghostone, Preston Parker Often referred to as the crown jewel of sketch comedy,  The Second City  is unveiling its latest,  The Best Friggin’ Songs of The Second City: Sing Out!  on their UP Comedy Club stage. Over the last six decades, The Second City  has cultivated a…

WINNING ASSIST Back in business after a near two year hiatus, Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s winning new dramady, King James, is a must see for more than just rabid sports fans. Truth be told, I had many a friend snicker when I told them I was going to see a new sports themed play debuting in…

SERIOUS STOMPIN’ IN CHICAGO One of the many things I enjoy about Porchlight Music Theatre here in Chicago is no one dusts off a little-known musical for a revamping better than this talented team. Case in point, their latest restaging of the Tony-nominated musical revue, Blues in the Night. Set in a South Side Chicago…

NOT QUITE A ROYAL REIGN FOR QUEEN OF THE NIGHT After over 750 plus days dark, Victory Gardens Theater is mounting its first new production of their mainstage season and of the year.  Queen of the Night, written by travis tate, is a two-character play proving no one can get under your skin quite like family….

REDEMPTION ON REPEAT, BUT IT’S TOUGH TO GET THROUGH THIS SCORE ONCE When it comes to timing, the Paramount Theater has absolutely nailed the opening date of its latest large-scale musical. Groundhog Day: The Musical has officially opened the same week as the celebrated holiday. February 2 routinely marks Groundhog Day, a popular North American…

SISTERS DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES I cannot think of a better way to celebrate the beginning of Black History Month than with the musical musings and distinguished divas now honored at the Mercury Theater Chicago. Director Daryl D. Brooks has remounted his hit 2018 musical revue, Women of Soul, championing a half-century of the celebrated…

SIMPLY SUBLIME What a wonderful way to kick off Black History Month in the Windy City. The Goodman Theatre is revisiting a thoroughly engaging production of August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean. For a three-hour-plus play, there wasn’t a wasted second. Originally staged back in 2003, what a wonderful twentieth year celebration offering this is….

RELENTLESS: A BOLD DEBUT As the snow falls, a fire is currently smoldering centerstage at Theater Wit. This slow-burning ember is better known as the World Premiere, Relentless. Playwright Tyla Abercrumbie’s ferocious, fierce, determined and monolithic three-hour play is definitely a conversation starter. This parable confronts the societal pandemic of racism that has plagued this…

FIREFLIES FAILS TO TAKE FLIGHT The old adage, behind every great man is an even greater woman, has never been truer than in the new play, Fireflies, now being staged at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie. A thinly veiled, fly on the wall look at a day in the life…