Chicago

A HOLIDAY MYSTERY WITH VICTORIAN MISCHIEF ON ITS MIND Chesterton by way of Conan Doyle, wrapped in Wodehouse-style tomfoolery Arthur Conan Doyle wrote only one Christmas-themed Sherlock Holmes mystery, The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle — coincidentally, the first Holmes story I ever read — which was adapted into a charming play by Michael Menendian…

A THRILLER THAT OUTLASTS ITS TWIST Even when we know what’s coming, the tension holds Let’s talk about the cojones required to mount a production of Gaslight nowadays. Even if we assume — a tall order, that assumption — that most of the audience has not seen, or does not know, the plot of George…

THE OG CHRISTMAS GHOST STORY The Goodman puts the chills back in the chestnuts ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ In some ways, it is remarkable that Goodman Theatre’s annual production of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol has persisted as a theatrical tradition during the holidays. Theatre is expensive as a…

THE GODFATHER AND FELLINI MEET VERISMO Opera’s most famous double bill is back… again Hundreds of one-act operas have been produced, but few have attained the popularity of Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana and Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci. Premiering in 1890 and 1892, respectively, they have been commonly performed as a double bill since 1893. Interestingly, this…

NO GROWN-UPS ALLOWED — SORT OF CCT’s Beatrix Potter party charms kids, critics, and everyone in between ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ “Channel your inner three-year-old, not your adult,” was the advice given to me as I settled into my seat at Chicago Children’s Theatre. To which my immediate unspoken…

TOAD-ALLY DELIGHTFUL Ribbiting from start to finish, this Year goes by in a flash. ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ Arnold Lobel’s Frog and Toad series has delighted generations of young readers for decades, beginning in 1970. In 2000, his daughter Andrea Lobel (a well-regarded theatrical scenic designer in her own…

A COMIC REVIVAL OF FALSTAFFIAN PROPORTION ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ Chicago Opera Theater (COT) has given Antonio Salieri’s unjustly neglected Falstaff, ossia Le tre burle its outstanding Chicago premiere. Similarly, Lyric Opera just gave Cherubini’s Medea its Chicago premiere. These operas were first staged in 1799 and 1797, respectively….

THERE IS NO TAMING THIS PRICKLY AND INVIGORATING SHREW ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ I won’t deny it: I squealed in excitement when I received the invitation to review Court Theatre’s new production of The Taming of the Shrew. Not because it’s one of Shakespeare’s best (it isn’t), or even…

THE OTHER CHRISTMAS CAROL A clever, moving tale of a ghost searching for grace ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ Boy does it suck to be Jacob Marley. You die a lonely death, are doomed to perdition, and come back as a tortured ghost laden with chains to warn your former…

A WIG-PULLING, EYE-SCRATCHING BAUBLE OF HOLIDAY CHEER ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ When The Real Housewives of Orange County premiered on Bravo in 2006, I doubt anyone could have predicted the “reality” television juggernaut it would become. Over the next nineteen years the franchise has launched ten series, and assorted…

COARSE, HAIRY FUN ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ The Christmas pantomime, or “panto”, as it is colloquially called, is a longstanding English holiday theatre entertainment that’s never made much inroads outside the Commonwealth, more’s the pity. Drawing on the commedia dell’arte tradition, they’re usually based on fairy tales and incorporate…

MUCH ADO ABOUT ADO AND EVERY BIT WORTH THE FUSS ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Selina Cadell, is a reminder of what this company does best: Damn good Shakespeare that feels alive, precise, and joyously human. Deborah Hay as Beatrice Let’s…

A FAMILY IN FLUX, A PLAY IN FREEFALL Wild Door’s debut digs deep into love and legacy, even when Haidle’s sprawling story gets in its own way Chicago’s robust theater community got even stronger several days ago when Wild Door Theater made its debut in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. By “embracing bold theatrical storytelling to…

Steppenwolf strips the masterpiece to its beautifully costumed bones with gains, losses, and a lingering ache for Mozart’s full glory Steppenwolf’s in-the-round production of Amadeus, directed by Robert Falls, takes a sparse approach to design, perhaps by necessity, or perhaps to highlight the juxtaposition between the court’s stiff opulence and Mozart’s descent into poverty —…

MURDER, MAYHEM, AND A MANUSCRIPT TO DIE FOR Sometimes uncontrollable forces work in your favor. How fortunate then for MadKap productions that on the opening night of their production of Ira Levin’s Deathtrap, Chicago was plunged with little warning into its first winter storm of the season, with sub-zero temperatures, gale-force winds, and heavy snow….