Theo Ubique's 'Songbook' turns up the heat on Hamlisch's melodies by Chris Jones

You don't generally think of the music of Marvin Hamlisch - compositions by the great mensch of the American musical theater of the last half of the 20th century - as the kind of songs that …

For 2015 Tony Awards, ups, downs and 2 very different musicals by Chris Jones

At first glance, it's hard to imagine two more different musicals than "Fun Home" and "An American in Paris," the shows that have the best chance of winning the coveted Tony Award for best n…

Why 'Chiraq' has Chicago so tied up in knots by Chris Jones

Last week, Spike Lee was around town filming his movie about violence in Chicago, provisionally titled "Chiraq," or maybe "Chi-raq." And Chicago's politicians, opinion leaders and many citiz…

'Stick Fly': A family with secrets, aired on Martha's Vineyard by Chris Jones

In 2006 on Chicago's Near West Side, the director Chuck Smith staged the premiere of a play called "Stick Fly" by a very promising Chicago playwright named Lydia R. Diamond. It was the work …

Playwright Ayad Akhtar is not letting up by Chris Jones

In 2012, Chicago's American Theater Company programmed a play called "Disgraced," penned by a first-generation Pakistani-American writer named Ayad Akhtar. Akhtar, who grew up in suburban Mi…

Sideshow's 'Chalk' seems a bit alien by Chris Jones

If you are convinced your once-lovely teenager has been taken over by an alien invader, then you may find yourself sympathizing with Maggie, the beleaguered mom in Walt McGough's new play, "…

Four-star 'Once' still bringing people together by Chris Jones

The burly and otherwise taciturn gent in the seat next to me at the Cadillac Palace Theatre on Wednesday night was wiping away tears half the night at the musical "Once," which has returned …

Digital disruption in 'Stop. Reset.' by Chris Jones

Be they book publishers, journalists or academics, communication professionals of a certain age have much to fear from the ongoing digital revolution. It is not a fear expressed openly in of…

Digital disruption in 'Stop. Reset.' by Chris Jones

Be they book publishers, journalists or academics, communication professionals of a certain age have much to fear from the ongoing digital revolution. It is not a fear expressed openly in of…

A somber trip through 'Secret Garden' at Court Theatre by Chris Jones

When director Charles Newell and his musical director Doug Peck create Court Theatre versions of Broadway musicals — such as of Lucy Simon and Marsha Norman's "The Secret Garden" — they …

A somber trip through 'Secret Garden' at Court Theatre by Chris Jones

When director Charles Newell and his musical director Doug Peck create Court Theatre versions of Broadway musicals - such as of Lucy Simon and Marsha Norman's "The Secret Garden" - they tend…

American Theater Company hires interim artistic director by Chris Jones

American Theater Company is to announce Monday that is has hired Bonnie Metzgar, the artistic director of About Face Theatre from 2008-2013, as its interim artistic director.  

American Theater Company hires interim artistic director by Chris Jones

American Theater Company is to announce Monday that is has hired Bonnie Metzgar, the artistic director of About Face Theatre from 2008-2013, as its interim artistic director.  Metzgar repla…

Here in Chicago, would you believe a show about con artists? by Chris Jones

You will be shocked — shocked — to know that the great city of Chicago and has a long and distinctive history of grifters, tricksters, bamboozlers, fakers and specialists of the great an…

Here in Chicago, would you believe a show about con artists? by Chris Jones

You will be shocked - shocked - to know that the great city of Chicago and has a long and distinctive history of grifters, tricksters, bamboozlers, fakers and specialists of the great and al…

'Crime Scene: Next Chapter' a new play about Chicago's gun violence by Chris Jones

The first time Collaboraction staged "Crime Scene," its original, ensemble-driven, heartfelt response to the scourge of gun violence in Chicago, it came at the height of a 2013 epidemic of m…

What PJ Paparelli knew, and why he mattered by Chris Jones

Doreen Ambrose-Van Lee was born in 1969 in the Cabrini-Green housing project. She became a poet and, sometime later, found publishers and an audience. Her story is central to "The Project(s)…

'Big Fish' has the songs to lure you to Indiana by Chris Jones

What's worth a rush-hour drive to Indiana? I'll nominate Colette Todd singing Andrew Lippa's "I Don't Need a Roof," the gorgeous Act 2 ballad that is the highlight of "Big Fish" and a song a…

Patti LuPone hits the target as Annie Oakley at Ravinia by Chris Jones

Patti LuPone hits the target as Annie Oakley at Ravinia by Chris Jones

Steppenwolf has a hit down under by Chris Jones

HOT NEW FACES: Our annual picks of 10 actors to watch for on Chicago-area stages by Chris Jones

Fearless works from female directors Stacey Flaster and Rachel Rockwell by Chris Jones

You love the Chicago theater, now get the newsletter ... by Chris Jones

We're introducing the new Theater Loop newsletter this week. We hope you'll be interested in signing up.

Sean Cercone's Chicago Muse rises from the ashes of the sale of Theatre Building Chicago by Chris Jones

2010 Equity Jeff Awards: Drury Lane leads nominations with 'Ragtime,' 'Cabaret,' 'Millie' by Chris Jones

American Theater Company has new executive director by Chris Jones

Bye bye, Noble Fool! by Chris Jones

'Jailbait' at Profiles Theatre: A tense back-and-forth between adolescence and adulthood by Chris Jones

Inside the new Broadway Playhouse: Goodbye, chandeliers, hello off-Broadway in Chicago cool by Chris Jones

Joffrey Ballet's win-win with Groupon is a lesson for Chicago's cultural institutions by Chris Jones