Review “Death Becomes Her” (Broadway in Chicago): Killer Cast is Da Bomb!

Broadway in Chicago presents the Pre-Broadway, World Premiere of DEATH BECOMES HER. DEATH becomes… all of hers and him. This killer cast is da bomb! Tony Award nominees Megan Hilty (Madeline), Jennifer Simard (Helen), and Christopher Sieber (Ernest) plus Grammy Award-winning and Destiny’s Child alum Michelle Williams (Viola) put on quite the show. This wickedly funny ...

Review “Turret” (A Red Orchid Theatre): Puzzling!

A Red Orchid Theatre presents the World Premiere of TURRET. Playwright and Director Levi Holloway debuts a new sci-fi mystery. In an isolated bunker, two survivors coexist on a regime of routine and whiskey. Holloway drops the audience in a day-in-the-life of Green (played by a commanding Michael Shannon) and Rabbit (played by a versatile Travis ...

Review “Judgement Day” (Chicago Shakespeare Theater): Plays Like A Sitcom

Chicago Shakespeare Theater presents the World Premiere of JUDGEMENT DAY. Tony and Emmy Award-Winning Actor Jason Alexander brings his iconic George- Costanza-style-humor to Chicago. Alexander (Sammy) is starring in a new show about a morally bankrupt man grappling with the great beyond. After a near-death experience, Sammy learns that God and heaven exist. This realization makes ...

Review “Women Beware Women” (Blue in the Right Way): It’s a lot to take in!

Blue in the Right Way presents its inaugural production WOMEN BEWARE WOMEN. Blue in the Right Way, Chicago’s newest theatre company, makes a lasting impression in its ambitious debut. Co-founders Kevin V. Smith and Daiva Bhandari dust off Thomas Middleton’s classic. Their queer, feminist adaptation is a unique take on Middleton’s 1621 psychosexual revenge tragedy. Smith ...

Review “Long Song” (Remy Bumppo): Entertaining Yet Not Timeless

Wednesday, March 27, 2024 Permalink 0

Remy Bumppo Theatre Company presents LOVE SONG. Witty dialogue. Slick condo. Superb acting. What’s not to love? Playwright John Kolvenbach explores love on multiple levels: man and woman, wife and husband, sister and brother, and self. His romcom is sharp. The banter is rapid-fire as interns are annihilated and calling-in-sick becomes a skillful art. The vibe is ...

Review “What the Weird Sisters Saw” (Idle Muse Theatre): Inventive Twist

Idle Muse Theatre returns to its origin story with the re-crafted and remounted WHAT THE WEIRD SISTERS SAW. Fifteen years ago Artistic Director Evan Jackson and Tristan Brandon adapted Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Jackson and Brandon’s tale tells the legendary tragedy from the perspective of the three witches. They create the backstory of the prophecy that sets Macbeth ...

Review “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” (Music Theater Works): F-U-N!

Saturday, March 9, 2024 Permalink 0

Music Theater Works presents THE 25th ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE. Smart kids compete against each other in a spelling bee. The creative team of Rachel Sheinkin (book) and William Finn (music and lyrics) take an ordinary school function add in obsessed students blend it all up with an upbeat score. The result is pure e-n-t-e-r-t-a-i-n-m-e-n-t.  ...

Review “Notes from the Field” (TimeLine Theatre): Powerhouse Trio Share Powerful History Lesson

Tuesday, February 13, 2024 Permalink 0

TimeLine Theatre presents the Chicago Premiere of NOTES FROM THE FIELD. The school-to-prison pipeline describes the phenomena that educational inequities lead to unjust incarceration.Whether it’s a woman watching her boyfriend kill a man trying to rape her or a student filming a classmate being thrown across the room by a police officer, if the individual is ...

Review “Illinoise” (Chicago Shakespeare Theater): Imaginative Storytelling is The Core of This New Kind of Musical

Chicago Shakespeare Theater presents ILLINOISE a new kind of musical. In 2005, singer, songwriter and composer Sufjan Stevens debuted his album “Illinois.” Stevens’ songs told the simplistic and complex eccentricities of Midwestern life. His composition had surprising depth as he weaved stories of aliens, zombies, serial killers, comic books, mental health and first loves into music. ...

Review “Highway Patrol” (Goodman Theatre): Unique and Insightful Storytelling

Wednesday, January 31, 2024 Permalink 0

Goodman Theatre presents the World-Premiere production of HIGHWAY PATROL. IRL!? What IS happening ‘in real life’? Is this a staged thriller or a cautionary Ted Talk for celebs? HIGHWAY PATROL blurs ALL the lines between reality and fantasy. The story is the actual experience of Emmy Award-winning actor Dana Delany. In 2012, Delany befriended a terminally ill ...