Theatre with a side of life
Goodman Theatre presents August Wilson’s MA RAINEY’s BLACK BOTTOM. Legendary blues singer, ‘Ma’ Rainey, is scheduled to record at a Chicago studio. She’s late. Her delayed arrival agitates the producers. Irvin placates an annoyed Sturdyvant while instructing the band in the song list. Although the band is ready to play, they insist Ma always decides the ...
Idle Muse Theatre presents THE THREE MUSKETEERS. D’Artagnan arrives in Paris primed to become a Musketeer. He has dreamed of this vocation and believes this his honor and abilities warrant service to the King. Before his admission is complete, D’Artagnan is robbed, falls in love, learns of a treasonous act and is challenged to duel each ...
Goodman Theatre presents THEATER OF THE MIND, the one-of-a-kind immersive experience created by Academy, Grammy and Tony Award-winning artist David Byrne. “You can change the story anytime!” Bryne, Talking Heads frontman, introduces Chicago to perspective. His new theatrical offering is a scientific experiment couched in a funhouse with therapy-like results. Confusing? Yes. Delightful? Uh-huh! Totally original? 100%. THEATER OF ...
The Grelley Duvall Show returns with the World Premiere of BEST ACTRESS. The show starts with a film montage. An eclectic hodgepodge of iconic and obscure clips feature actresses across decades in movie roles or award shows. The mash-up snippets lead into a longer cinematic scene where the Mother Superior is giving instructions to a young ...
The Second City presents the 2026 Black Excellence Revue in BLACK AND HIGHLY FLAVORED. For the fourth year, the annual Black Excellence Revue is back onstage at The Second City in celebration of Black History Month. The mash-up of sketch, improv, and audience interaction is a joyful tribute to black artistry and community spirit. Under the ...
Goodman Theatre presents HOLIDAY. Boy meets girl. They fall in love. They get engaged. Then, he finds out her deep, dark secret…. she is filthy rich. Julia is from the Manhattan upper class. Johnny arrives at the family’s Fifth Avenue mansion ready to assimilate. He must win over the relentless mogul father, the drunken drifter brother ...
Chicago Shakespeare Theater presents the US premiere of HAMNET by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Agnes is a free spirit. William is a Latin tutor. They fall in love, get married and have a family. Author Maggie O’Farrell imagines the woman left behind in Stratford as the playwright pursued an extraordinary fate in London. Who was Mrs. ...
Steppenwolf Theatre presents THE DANCE OF DEATH. Edgar is an artillery captain. Alice is a stage actress. When they met, sparks flew. Fast forward twenty-five years later, the sparks are still present, they’ve turned incendiary. Imprisoned together on a remote island, the couple exist on meager provisions and a steady diet of barbs and hate. When ...
Porchlight Music Theatre presents Frank McCourt’s THE IRISH…AND HOW THEY GOT THAT WAY. Pulitzer Prize-winning Author Frank McCourt penned a poignant memoir of growing up poor and hungry in Limerick, Ireland. His “Angela’s Ashes” was a marring tribute to his resilient mother in the 1930s. Published in 1996, the story lingers in my mind for its ...
Redtwist Theatre presents CONFEDERATES. Sandra is a professor at a prestigious university. Someone has placed a disturbing photo on her door. Sara is a slave during the Civil War. Her brother has run away to fight for the Union Army. In different centuries, each woman grapples to find her voice, power and justice within hostile environments. ...