Friday, June 13, 2014
When people are singing, One Hit Wonders is great fun, and sung well enough to be recommended for a visit by anyone who loves these songs. It would have been a better show with about 30 more…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 09:11PMThursday, June 12, 2014
At its most basic level Jack Lemmon Returns offers the pleasure of spending 80 minutes in the company of that most likeable, seemingly approachable guy that was Jack Lemmon’s persona. Spen…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 05:58PMWednesday, June 11, 2014
Filled with good humor set at odds to aching portrayals of doomed desire, Juno is a worthy adventure and thoroughly transportive. At long last in Chicago, this production is a delight too lo…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 04:28PMTuesday, June 10, 2014
If you’re truly a fan of “The Lord of the Rings” or Chicago baseball, avoid this show at all costs. Even if you’re just out looking for some easy laughs while hammered, there are doz…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 05:36PMWhether or not you are familiar with Damn Yankees or have a fondness for the golden age of Broadway, you will find this production to be an absolute treat. A fun *baseball* twist on the Faus…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 03:06PMMonday, June 9, 2014
As both a celebration and critique of “nerd” subculture, Haymaker confronts ideas that we form in youth and bring with us into adulthood. A frequently funny veneer laid atop a meditation…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 06:49PMSunday, June 8, 2014
Buttressed by persuasive performances, director Sophie Blumberg moves Lindner’s too-long, free-associating circus fairly fast. She needs to--in order to disguise the T.M.I. that ultimately…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 06:51PMSaturday, June 7, 2014
Ike Holter's world premiere "Exit Strategy" is a tense and darkly funny 100 minutes that maybe will reveal why “Johnny can’t read”. Highly Recommended. (read more...)
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 02:47PMFriday, June 6, 2014
In their season closer, Summer Series, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago is firing on all cylinders, showcasing well-loved pieces and a remarkable world premiere. (read more...)
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 09:00PMThursday, June 5, 2014
Scaled economically to the Merle Reskin stage, the Chicago Opera Theater’s usual reliance on austere decor is well served by creative staging and Sean T. Cawelti’s inventive projection a…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 09:20PMRoslyn Alexander’s performance deserves many superlatives, but at 90 minutes, a one-person show strains the patience when there’s only one character on display, delivering what is essent…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 01:39PMWednesday, June 4, 2014
Sincerely staged by Cody Estle, Vieux Carre is a sardonic celebration of desperation - it’s never wrong to spend 150 minutes in Tenneessee Williams’ complex company. (read more and watch…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 01:15PMMonday, June 2, 2014
If Director Christopher Luscombe had not tried so hard, and instead trusted Shakespeare’s language, Henry V may have been a far more successful production. Instead, it is a well-acted but …
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 09:27PMHappily free of any demeaning camp, the well-meaning, impeccably produced musical proves itself worthy of a visit this summer. Recommended! (read more...)
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 05:52PMWhile Lookingglass' production is beautifully staged and filled with performances rich in empathy and complexity, In the Garden is more didactic debate than compelling drama. (read more and …
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 12:00AMFriday, May 30, 2014
Debuting in 2002, Lifeboat is a touching memoir of two lives brought together in tragedy. This is a winning story for children of all ages—an gripping illustration of friendship and grit t…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 01:30PMWednesday, May 28, 2014
This compelling, dexterous one-act by Jessica Dickey has definitely fallen into the right hands with Keira Fromm’s driven direction, making this a Strawdog success. (read more...)
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 07:43PMLike the best opera, M. Butterfly is in many ways unbelievable, but its absurdity grounded in reality proves a major draw. At times, however, David Henry Hwang’s sharp script is undermined…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 06:10PMWith a delightful cast, layered script, and slick staging from Sarah Gitenstein, this much-hyped production exceeds expectations. Anyone that missed this show the first time around should ta…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 09:55AMSunday, May 25, 2014
A perfect production of an American classic, Lost in Yonkers is a seemingly simple play that skillfully weaves together a number of themes – reliance on family during hard times, the chall…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 08:26PMSaturday, May 24, 2014
Rich and resonant in that ineffable way that makes the enduring myths both fantastical and human, The White Snake is at its best when it meditates on the universal challenges of romance that…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 08:08PMFriday, May 23, 2014
AstonRep's Wit is a poignant, smart exploration of mortality, smartly done by a strong cast. It’s a shame that playwright Margaret Edson forswore writing more after this Purlitzer prize wi…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 03:12PMThe collapse of carefully constructed facades aligning with the collapse of the Berlin Wall could have made for excellent conflict. Unfortunately, The Doll’s House Project has a foundation…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 12:18PMThursday, May 22, 2014
Able to illicit a sense of wonder in the mind—if not the heart,—the Redmoon team deserves praise for its audacity alone. To quote the bard, “If this be magic, let it be art.” Bellboy…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 04:54PMWednesday, May 21, 2014
The Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia performs this show adapted from the books of Eric Carle with gorgeous puppets colored exactly like the books that keep the kids enthralled throughout. Def…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 07:36PMIn Without Trace, Playwright Eric Lockley weaves a masterful hour of mystery and suspense, and Carla Stillwell directs the show with laser timing and a keen control of the emotionally laden …
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 04:04PMTuesday, May 20, 2014
Fault Lines is the searing retelling of the abduction and subsequent murder of Polly Klaas in 1993. When going, be prepared to ask ponder some hard questions about life in a world getting e…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 06:49PMIt’s one thing to write a show with a weak will-she-or-won't-she romance storyline, plagueing most Hollywood rom-coms, but The Next Thing feels content on giving us a story with no stakes,…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 04:49PM How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying Book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, Willie Gilbert Mu…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 02:46PMMonday, May 19, 2014
If you've managed to miss this show in its previous renditions, now's your chance to see a seminal chapter of American civil rights history leap to life with intensity, ruthlessness and gorg…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 03:48PMSaturday, May 17, 2014
Replete with so many textural and expressionistic elements, it’s surprising that this may be the first time that this interpretation has been realized in Chicago. Theatre Y has done the ci…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 06:21PM 
