Friday, February 7, 2014
Rebecca Gilman's engaging world premiere play is the kind of production that Goodman loves to produce, addressing a major social problem, pitting conservative and liberal ideals against each…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 05:39PMThursday, February 6, 2014
Seth Bockley’s precise-yet-invigorating staging, along with a tremendously talented cast, help offset any frustration from the play's repetition. The choreographed actions of tossing in be…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 06:38PMDespite the BDSM-inspired title, Fifty Shades is gentle and often grin-inducing, with a few surprising moments of tenderness. The (re)discoverians have a charming tongue-in-cheek(y) chemistr…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 04:33PMMonday, February 3, 2014
Laura Jacqmin's Do-Gooder is a small gem of a play: tightly scripted, truly thought-provoking and oh, so very, very funny. Directed by Ann Filmer, the world premiere’s four-person story t…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 09:39PMAlthough Rachel Sypniewski’s vibrant costume design combines with a talented cast to make the production's roles distinct and interesting, the entire production plays it very safe. It’s…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 08:05PMSunday, February 2, 2014
There are some minor conflicts in Quark, and the characters are all good, reasonable people with their conflict based on perfectly understandable differences of needs and opinions. However t…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 08:21PMSaturday, February 1, 2014
Playwright Schimmelpfenning has penned a quirky tale with some fascinating folks. It’s a rapidly-paced 65 minutes. Set in a restaurant, I definitely know what they are eating onstage. I…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 06:23PMAs a classic and cautionary fairy tale about the quest for happiness and the ultimate price of power, Rose and Rime is a dark, foreboding story. But thanks to the company’s signature visu…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 02:15PMWednesday, January 29, 2014
For their newest production, Steep Theatre pulls you into their dark woods and forces you to confront your own prejudices. What kind of scrutiny should childhood killers face as adults? Al…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 11:00PMThe story is silly fun, and the music is the major draw for the fantastic Mr. Chickee’s Funny Money, with Lamont and Paris Doziers delivering a memorable score that has this reviewer cross…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 07:14PMMonday, January 27, 2014
If you’re in the mood for some intense theater, Gidion’s Knot is definitely a guarantee. On the night I went the audience, by the end of the play, were on the edge of their seats, holdin…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 10:19PMFans of Tennessee Williams will note many commonalities between these three one-acts and his more popular fare, while also noticing how these go deeper into his infamous heart of darkness. U…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 08:57PMWith a 27-person cast of triple threat singer/dancer/actors backed by a richly talented orchestra, 42nd Street is bursting with taptacular wonders. The production would stand out in any seas…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 07:31PMSaturday, January 25, 2014
Poignantly, Director Mary Ellen O'Hara has moved the setting of F.X. Kroetz work from Germany to Chicago 1975. Meg Elliott portrays a devistatingly impeccable woman entrenched in bland, lon…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 10:04PMPlaywright Mark Saltzman has uncovered a fascinating, untold Hollywood story, that of George Bernard Shaw's trip to Hollywood. Though engagin in its delightful style of storytelling, the pl…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 07:52PMThere’s a very honest and intense quality to this historical piece, no doubt because of the intensely personal material. I wish, however, that I could have felt more of a connection. While…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 05:20PMFriday, January 24, 2014
Sensitive to every subtlety in a script whose plot is not, Director Damon Kiely’s grand cast fully inhabit each character, persuasively presenting the behavioral differences between the Ei…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 09:30PMWish dynamite direction and ensemble work, Rasheeda Speaking is a powerful promotion for a zero tolerance policy in the workplace. It picks apart prejudice indiscriminately. (read more...)
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 07:05PMMore literary than dramatic (especially in the first act), Seven Guitars is still a thought-provoking piece, and - as it's less produced than others in the August Wilson cycle - a definite m…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 05:38PMThursday, January 23, 2014
eta Creative Art's Out Loud is what the vision and potential of Chicago theater looks like when fulfilled. Highly Recommended.
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 08:01PMWednesday, January 22, 2014
Director Kimberly Senior masterfully paces the show with a deliberate cadence for dark intrigue and comedy. It may sound cliche, but you haven’t seen Hedda Gabler until you see *this* Hedd…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 09:24PMDusty Wilson’s premiere Ephebophilia (definition - a sexual attraction to minors), is a well-cast work of social commentary that not only invites us to sympathize with certain untouchables…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 09:03AMTuesday, January 21, 2014
The Snow Queen is a fun, heartfelt show for the whole family. Winter this year has been pretty brutal, what with the constant snow and negative temperatures, but Filament’s Snow Queen is a…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 06:20PMLifeline does an excellent job of bringing children’s stories to the stage. and I highly recommend this show for kids and adults as well. You’ll have a squealing good time! (read more...)
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 02:25PMSimple and devastating, this thought-provoking production may drag in a few places, but is well worth the trip to Theater Wit. This darkly humorous story takes the audience to the depths of …
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 02:07PMMonday, January 20, 2014
If you need to find an alternative to embracing Valentines and celebrating it ironically just to show you care that you don’t care, then the Public House’s goofily endearing tribute to l…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 06:11PMThe major pyrotechnics of this Phantom are powerhouse performances by the Phantom’s Cooper Grodin along with Julia Udine as his happily harassed protégée. Chicago native Ben Jacoby as Ra…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 01:58PMSunday, January 19, 2014
Solstice is a perfect example of the blur of globalization - similar to a Middle Eastern family’s modern day struggles, but placed smack dab in Small Town, USA. Solstice is a disturbing pe…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 11:22AMSaturday, January 18, 2014
This adaptation of The Mandrake is filled with many such fun moments, and the smart production design and original music add to the festivities. Not all of the moments work so well, though,…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 09:33PMTimberlake Wertenbaker's richly textured drama works on many levels. Blessed with wizard casting, Director Roger Smart’s intelligent revival for Shattered Globe Theatre keeps the plates s…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 03:15PMThursday, January 16, 2014
Kokandy Productions’ Sweet Smell of Success is a terrific musical noir, a throwback to a time when the printed word was king and one amoral writer held all the cards. As with their previou…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 09:11AM 
