All stories by Chris Jones on BroadwayStars

Friday, April 25, 2014

Teatro Vista's 'Bridge' makes connections by Chris Jones

THEATER REVIEW: "A View From the Bridge" by Teatro Vista ★★★ THEATER REVIEW: "A View From the Bridge" by Teatro Vista ★★★ ... Arthur Miller's "A View Fro…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 05:42PM
Thursday, April 24, 2014

Once again in hands of Alan Cumming's Emcee in 'Cabaret' by Chris Jones

BROADWAY REVIEW: "Cabaret" by the Roundabout Theatre BROADWAY REVIEW: Cabaret by the Roundabout Theatre ... Figuring little good was to come from keeping a proven production alone on the sh…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 05:32PM
Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Goodman Theatre announces final show in 2014-15 season by Chris Jones

The Goodman Theatre has announced the final show in its 2014-15 mainstage season: it is to be a new production of the classic Amerian potboiler "The Little Foxes," written by Lillian Hellman…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 02:36PM

Chicago Children's Theatre announces musicals by Chris Jones

Chicago Children's Theatre said Wednesday that it will premiere a new musical based on Leo Lionni's book "Frederick," the story of a poetically inclined fieldmouse with a penchant for storyt…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 12:22PM
Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Neil Patrick Harris makes Hedwig a glorious rock star by Chris Jones

BROADWAY REVIEW: "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" BROADWAY REVIEW: "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" ... Born of the rubble of the Berlin Wall, Hedwig Schmidt surely would never have imagined her tir…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 02:46PM
Monday, April 21, 2014

The nominees for the 2014 Non-Equity Jeff Awards are ... by Chris Jones

BoHo Theatre, still a relative newcomer to Chicago's non-Equity theater scene, scored the most nominations for the 2014 Non-Equity Jeff Awards, announced by the all-volunteer committee on Mo…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 11:05PM

Steep dives again into world of family strife by Chris Jones

Over at Steep Theatre, they might consider installing a new sign above their Berwyn Avenue storefront. "Warning," it could say, "Brits in Pain Within."

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 04:03PM
Sunday, April 20, 2014

'Violet' exits the bus, then loses its way by Chris Jones

BROADWAY REVIEW: "Violet" at the American Airlines Theatre ... You can't help worrying about "Violet." Not just the smart girl with the scar who is at the heart of the tender and haunting li…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 06:26PM

Daniel Radcliffe brings strength to role of 'Crippled Billy' by Chris Jones

BROADWAY REVIEW: "The Cripple of Inishmaan" at the Cort Theatre BROADWAY REVIEW: "The Cripple of Inishmaan" at the Cort Theatre ... Daniel Radcliffe's global celebrity wholly disappears ins…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 06:17PM
Friday, April 18, 2014

Along with Colbert, the Chicago school of comedy on rise by Chris Jones

For some in Chicago, the anointing of Stephen Colbert as the successor to David Letterman this month was a watershed, greatly-to-be-savored moment of total establishment dominance by the Chi…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 03:32PM
Thursday, April 17, 2014

'Act One' isn't the show Hart would have written by Chris Jones

BROADWAY REVIEW: "Act One" in the Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center BROADWAY REVIEW: "Act One" in the Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center ... "Inevitably," wrote Moss Hart in …

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 02:39PM
Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Ray Shepardson, 1944 - 2014: 'Formerly of almost every theater in America' by Chris Jones

When Ray Shepardson called, and he called those in a position to influence the fate of old theaters frequently, he would announce himself with a tagline: "It's Ray Shepardson, formerly of al…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 06:48PM

'Of Mice and Men,' and of Chris O'Dowd's Lennie by Chris Jones

BROADWAY REVIEW: 'Of Mice and Men' at the Longacre Theatre ... Many in the audience for "Of Mice and Men" are coming to see James Franco. But given director Anna D. Shapiro's long history wi…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 06:37PM

On Chicago stages, where are the comedies? by Chris Jones

Chuckling merrily at Natalie West's sardonic turn as a washed-up flight attendant in Marisa Wegrzyn's hilarious "Mud Blue Sky" at A Red Orchid Theatre on Monday night, I found myself wonderi…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 06:35PM

American Theater Company announces new partnership with The Araca Group, New York producers by Chris Jones

Chicago's American Theater Company said Wednesday that it has inked a new partnership designed to create an enhanced Chicago-to-New York pipeline of new American works with commercial poten…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 02:21PM
Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Cicadas buzz amid a Southern gothic ghost story by Chris Jones

THEATER REVIEW: "Cicada" by the Route 66 Theatre Company ★★½ THEATER REVIEW: "Cicada" by the Route 66 Theatre Company ★★½ ... We know cicadas in Chicagoland, where…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 04:35PM

'Soul Train' is headed to Broadway by Chris Jones

"Soul Train" is on track for Broadway, it was announced Wednesday.

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 02:59PM

In this dance-club 'Dorian,' it's hard to feel the consequences by Chris Jones

THEATER REVIEW: 'Dorian' by House Theatre of Chicago ★★ THEATER REVIEW: 'Dorian' by House Theatre of Chicago ★★ ... Tommy Rapley's "Dorian," a striking, laudably amb…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 02:00PM

Bruce Norris to become newest Steppenwolf ensemble member by Chris Jones

The Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Bruce Norris is to join the ensemble of Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company.

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 10:44AM
Monday, April 14, 2014

Scenes from an unglamorous, hilarious layover by Chris Jones

THEATER REVIEW: "Mud Blue Sky" at A Red Orchid Theatre ★★★½ THEATER REVIEW: "Mud Blue Sky" at A Red Orchid Theatre ★★★½ ... Marisa Wegrzyn's modestly s…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 05:50PM

'The Flick' wins Pulitzer Prize in drama by Chris Jones

Annie Baker's "The Flick," a play about ushers in a movie theatre has won the Pulitzer Prize in drama, announced Monday in New York.

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 03:06PM
Sunday, April 13, 2014

'Way West' needs a dramatic compass by Chris Jones

THEATER REVIEW: "The Way West" at Steppenwolf Theatre ★★ THEATER REVIEW: "The Way West" at Steppenwolf Theatre ★★ ... In the best scene of Mona Monsour's otherwise r…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 05:27PM
Thursday, April 10, 2014

'Bullets over Broadway': Musical of mobsters and old standards by Chris Jones

BROADWAY REVIEW: "Bullets Over Broadway" at the St. James Theatre NEW YORK — In the hands — and most certainly the wheelhouse — of the director-choreographer Susan Stroman…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 06:43PM

Seeing Mickey Rooney in Chicago, through Christiansen's eyes by Chris Jones

Critics have their obsessions, especially in Chicago. Claudia Cassidy had Tennessee Williams. Gene Siskel had "Saturday Night Fever." Richard Christiansen had Mickey Rooney.

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 02:17PM

With 'Our Class,' Remy Bumppo embraces the Chicago way by Chris Jones

Chicago's weirdly named Remy Bumppo Theatre Company has been a reliable place to see a stylish show since its founding 17 years ago. An Anglophile Equity company with a formidably experience…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 01:00PM

Unhappily ever after in unsparing 'Dance of Death' by Chris Jones

THEATER REVIEW: "The Dance of Death" by Writers Theatre at Books on Vernon ★★★½ THEATER REVIEW: "The Dance of Death" by Writers Theatre at Books on Vernon ★★&…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 01:08AM
Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Your first time or your 14th, gather around the barricades at Drury Lane by Chris Jones

THEATER REVIEW: "Les Miserables" at the Drury Lane Theatre ★★★ THEATER REVIEW: "Les Miserables" at the Drury Lane Theatre ★★★ ... Once inseparable from i…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 06:13PM

Play about intimacy has its moments of distance by Chris Jones

THEATER REVIEW: "The Great God Pan" at Next Theatre ★★½ THEATER REVIEW: "The Great God Pan" at Next Theatre ★★½ ... In the Amy Herzog play that opened Monday night…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 05:29PM
Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Too troubling a work, even for Albany Park Theatre Project by Chris Jones

THEATER REVIEW: "God's Work" by Albany Park Theatre Project at the Goodman Theatre THEATER REVIEW: "God's Work" by Albany Park Theatre Project at the Goodman Theatre ... The Albany Park The…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 08:00PM

Michael Cera in 'This is Our Youth' at Steppenwolf Theatre by Chris Jones

"This Is Our Youth," the 1996 play by Kenneth Lonergan about affluent but disaffected college-age Manhattanites, will get a new, Chicago-to-Broadway production this summer at Steppenwolf The…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 06:59PM
Monday, April 7, 2014

Powerful, Chicago-style story told of Jewish massacre by Chris Jones

THEATER REVIEW: "Our Class" by Remy Bumppo Theatre Company at the Greenhouse Theater ★★★★ THEATER REVIEW: "Our Class" by Remy Bumppo Theatre Company at the Greenhous…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 05:49PM

All that Chat