Chicago

CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER JUST GETS BETTERER AND BETTERER After two Covid-19 delays, Lookingglass Alice  is once again high-flying and adored at the Lookingglass Theatre, whose glorious and highly imaginative production has quickly become the hallmark of its artistic brand. Stunning, entertaining, empowering and compelling, this gem of a show is a feast for the eyes and…

HARRIED HAPPENINGS AT NAVY PIER A rarely produced dark comedy from the annals of William Shakespeare’s folio is ushering in springtime at Navy Pier. All’s Well That Ends Well  might not have the popularity or recognizability of titles like  Romeo and Juliet  or  Othello, but the dark comedy is certainly high energy silliness. Director Shana Cooper keeps the pace…

UNDERSTATED PATHOS As timely now as it was when the original play was written over 150 years ago, Spring  Awakening is now rocking the stage at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts. This edgy musical might seem a bit aggressive for the normal fare at this venue (known during the day as a Windy City…

HIGH FLYING ADORED Equal parts sassy and sexy, the latest version of the  Teatro  ZinZanni, aptly titled  Wishes & Dreams, is bringing much needed fun back downtown to The Loop. Set in an opulent Belgian mirror tent, carefully erected on the 14th  floor of the Cambria Hotel, one will marvel at the setting. Lavish and luxurious, sumptuous dark mahogany…

FAMILY FUN WITH A LATIN FLAIR Just in time for spring, the Chicago Children’s Theatre is back in bloom. Returning to live, in-person productions,  Carmela Full of Wishes  is a charming tale about the importance of imagination. Adapted for the stage by Alvaro Saar Rios from the children’s book by Matt de la Pena with illustrations by…

HAYES’S HARRIED HIT “It’d be nice to please everyone but I thought it would be more interesting to have a point of view.” The incomparable Oscar Levant is the subject of the latest premiere production at the Goodman Theatre. If you are not that familiar with Levant, don’t fret, by the end of the show,…

A WINNING WINNIE Just in time to join in Â the Â celebration of Â the Â 95th anniversary of Â the Â beloved children’s character, Â the Â Mercury Â Theater is making a bold and commemorative move on its mainstage. Never before have Â they put a children’s show in Â their regular rotation. After wonderfully received post-pandemic, yet more traditional productions, including Â Sister Act Â and Â Women of Soul, is Â their gamble worth it? Of course! Disney’s Â Winnie Â the Â Pooh — The Â New…

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….

WHILE NOT A DISASTER, SOME INGREDIENTS NEED FIXIN’ In 2012 and 2014 the famous Chicago chef Rick Bayless and the Lookingglass Theatre Company joined to present a food-and-show production called Cascabel, which combined music and circus acts with a full meal served to the audience in their seats. Now Bayless is working with the Windy…

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…