Chicago

NOISES OFF AND ON AND OFF AND ON Presented in partnership with L.A.’s Geffen Playhouse (where Steppenwolf Ensemble Member Tarell Alvin McCraney is the new Artistic Director), Steppenwolf’s production throws some of Chicago’s top talent on Todd Rosenthal‘s spectacular set to perform an outdated farce. Many regular theatregoers have probably come across Noises Off at…

SCIENCE VS. RELIGION; THE GOODMAN HAS THE PLAY OF THE MOMENT Dubbed “The Trial of the Century,” the inspiration for Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee’s Inherit the Wind was a milestone in the American legal system: It’s the first time science vs. religion found its way to the public courthouse. The Scopes trial pitted…

LET IDLE MUSE’S INDULGENCE SET YOU FREE Idle Muse Theatre Company’s production of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest immerses its audience in a dark and stormy night full of magic and mischief. This quirky cast delivers comedy and a complex tapestry of character connections. Joel Thompson, Michael Dalberg and Jennifer Mohr The moment you step into…

A NEW MUSICAL THAT JUST MIGHT RIP YOUR HEART OUT Preston Max Allen’s new musical Never Better at Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre is an emotionally raw folk-punk musical. It sometimes struggles with forward motion but makes up for that shortcoming with overflowing heart. Ismael Garcia, Travis Shanahan, Emma Samuelson First, I want to celebrate Theo…

ENJOYABLE, BUT WHO IS THE AUDIENCE FOR THE AUDIENCE? The Audience at Drury Lane Theatre is a slightly stuffy drama best suited for audience members who are very interested in British politics. I fear that might be a rather niche group. The Audience imagines the life of Queen Elizabeth II through the window of her…

TOO MUCH HEART; NOT ENOUGH BLOOD Directed by Braxton Crewell, the Factory Theater’s production of Cody Lindley and Nate Hall‘s new rock musical Stabbed in the Heart has some hilarious moments and memorable music, but doesn’t quite hit the mark as a slasher-movie parody, if indeed that is the mark. Trish (Madeline Ackerlund) drags her…

A SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE AT THE THEATER First Floor Theater’s Chicago premiere of In His Hands by Benjamin Benn, which opened last night,  is breathtaking from start to finish. Benn’s writing is a poem of the mundane turned miraculous, and the deeply intimate, visually striking production does Benn’s words justice. Alex Benito Rodriguez and Matt Klingler This…

ALICE BY HEART: FULL-HEARTED PRODUCTION; HALF-HEARTED SCRIPT Alice by Heart follows a young girl, Alice (Caitlyn Cerza), during the London Blitz of World War II as she takes refuge in her beloved copy of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alice and her friend Alfred (Joe Giovannetti), who is deathly ill with tuberculosis, seek shelter in an…

BORED OF THE RINGS In J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, Bilbo Baggins famously states to his nephew and adoptive heir, “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door.  You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” It’s also a…

THIS PIGEON ADAPTATION IS NOT FOR THE BIRDS My kids love Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, the popular children’s book by Mo Willems. It’s a simple, comic story about a pigeon that wants to be a bus driver, but whose dreams are thwarted by reality. An incredibly expressive and somewhat sympathetic character, the…

MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND BAD — GET HIGH FROM A TALL GLASS OF LADY CHABLIS; TAKE A BOTTLE OF BOURBON TO ENDURE THE OTHERS The Goodman Theatre’s premiere production of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil brought the beloved non-fiction book by John Berendt to life in a way that…