All stories by Zach Freeman on BroadwayStars

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Review: A Christmas Carol/Drury Lane Theatre for Young Adults by Zach Freeman

RECOMMENDED The tale of an old miser who has no interest in the holiday spirit until his past, present and future come haunting him one Christmas Eve is fairly well known. Though the story i…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 08:00PM

Review: Iphigenia in Aulis/Court Theatre by Zach Freeman

RECOMMENDED Watching a Greek drama is odd, because your moral compass gets completely rewritten. There’s a moment in Nicholas Rudell’s new translation of Euripides’ “Iphigenia in Aul…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 01:00PM
Friday, November 21, 2014

Review: Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical/MSG Entertainment by Zach Freeman

RECOMMENDED As a first time Broadway-esque experience, this year’s iteration of “Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical” performs its duties with enough pleasing flai…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 02:00PM
Thursday, November 20, 2014

Review: The Rape of Lucretia/Chicago Fringe Opera by Zach Freeman

RECOMMENDED If you are a newcomer to Benjamin Britten’s masterpiece “The Rape of Lucretia,” and aren’t familiar with the semi-legend told by Roman writers and remembered in paintings…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 02:00PM
Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Review: The Humans/American Theater Company by Zach Freeman

RECOMMENDED The specter of loss hangs like a literal specter, a ghost, over Stephan Karam’s new play “The Humans,” currently receiving its world premiere at American Theater Company. T…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 12:00PM
Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Review: It’s A Wonderful Santaland Miracle Nut-Cracking Christmas Story… Jews Welcome/Stage 773 by Zach Freeman

“It’s A Wonderful Santaland Miracle Nut-Cracking Christmas Story… Jews Welcome” is a Christmas cabaret from Stage 773 artistic director Brian Posen that seeks to hearken back to the …

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 02:00PM

Review: Porgy and Bess/Lyric Opera of Chicago by Zach Freeman

RECOMMENDED From the orchestral bubbles at the top of the show—piccolos piping and xylophones pounding—there can be no doubt that you’re in for an evening of Gershwin. The brothers Geo…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 01:00PM

Review: The Mousetrap/Northlight Theatre by Zach Freeman

I wouldn’t be the first critic to note that the real mystery of Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap” is not who killed the hateful houseguest (who seriously had it coming) at Monkswell …

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 11:00AM

Review: The Nutcracker/The House Theatre of Chicago by Zach Freeman

RECOMMENDED Just once, I would like to invite someone along to see The House Theatre’s production of “The Nutcracker” without telling them what they were getting into. For …

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 10:00AM
Sunday, November 16, 2014

Review: Our Holiday Stories/16th Street Theater by Zach Freeman

RECOMMENDED Novelist and playwright Elizabeth Berg (“Over the Hill and Through the Woods,” “The Pull of the Moon”), 16th Street Artistic Associate and Chicago Dramatists Resident Pla…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 12:00PM
Saturday, November 15, 2014

Review: Holiday Spectacular/Kiss Kiss Cabaret by Zach Freeman

RECOMMENDED Let’s begin by admitting that burlesque-type entertainment is not to everyone’s taste. Then let’s revisit the sage advice about trying everything twice to see if you like i…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 03:00PM
Thursday, November 13, 2014

Review: The Guide to Being Single/Underscore Theatre Company by Zach Freeman

RECOMMENDED Wouldn’t it be great if there were a book that provided all the dos and don’ts to loving the single life? Wouldn’t it be nice to have a book about dating that everyone coul…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 03:00PM

Ten Intimate Years: Redtwist Theatre Looks to Season Eleven by Zach Freeman

By Aaron Hunt With thirty-six Joseph Jefferson nominations and nine wins since Redtwist Theatre’s first show in the Edgewater neighborhood opened in September 2003, it might seem that the …

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 11:14AM
Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Review: Holmes and Watson/City Lit Theater by Zach Freeman

RECOMMENDED At the heart of City Lit’s “Holmes and Watson” is the co-dependent relationship between the two titular characters. Holmes, to put it bluntly, can be a bit pedantic and his…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 03:00PM
Monday, November 10, 2014

Review: Women At War/Rivendell Theatre Ensemble by Zach Freeman

In a set of extremely brief vignettes, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble relates the experiences of American women in the armed forces through Megan Carney’s new play “Women At War.”  Based …

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 08:00AM
Saturday, November 8, 2014

Review: Camelot/Drury Lane Theatre by Zach Freeman

If you are a fan of the golden-age of musicals, if you haven’t been able to give up your LP of the original cast recording of “Camelot,” with Julie Andrews’s soaring soprano seeming …

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 04:00PM
Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Review: The Submission/Pride Films and Plays by Zach Freeman

RECOMMENDED The question posited by Jeff Talbott’s “The Submission” is one of ownership. Who owns a story? And, whose tale is it to tell? Danny (played by Nicholas Bailey) has written …

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 08:00AM
Monday, November 3, 2014

Review: Out of Disorder/Greenhouse Theater by Zach Freeman

RECOMMENDED More than anything, I think I appreciated “Out of Disorder’s” sequencing. The show is actually a pairing of two solo shows: “Hunger Pains” by Christopher L. Moore and �…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 11:00AM
Saturday, November 1, 2014

Review: Titanic/Griffin Theatre Company by Zach Freeman

RECOMMENDED Someone at the money-making end of the performance rights for the Maury Yeston/Peter Stone musical “Titanic” has come up with more room in their pockets than seemed appropria…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 09:00PM
Thursday, October 30, 2014

Review: The King & I/Marriott Theatre by Zach Freeman

RECOMMENDED There are those who may grouse at the remounting of the Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals that paved the way for J.R. Brown, Guettel and Sondhiem. But “South Pacific” won’…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 06:00PM

Review: Strandline/A Red Orchid Theatre by Zach Freeman

The (figurative) curtain opens upon a tempest, as a boat off the Irish coast founders and sinks amid hysteria and confusion onshore. Sadly, that also describes Abby Spallen’s 2009 play, wh…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 03:00PM
Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Review: Il Trovatore/Lyric Opera of Chicago by Zach Freeman

RECOMMENDED Not all opera roles are created equal, and neither are all opera singers. But singers will be offered roles for which they might type physically, and may accept them for greater …

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 08:30AM
Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Review: Happy Days/Theatre Y by Zach Freeman

RECOMMENDED Director András Visky, in collaboration with designer Péter Szabó, roots this Samuel Beckett adaptation in our time and space through the visceral force of sound, design and T…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 09:00AM
Sunday, October 26, 2014

Review: Parade/BoHo Theatre by Zach Freeman

RECOMMENDED Director Linda Fortunato and the cast of BoHo Theatre’s production of “Parade” know that the game is to tell a story. The trial of Leo Frank, an inveterate miscarriage of j…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 06:00PM
Friday, October 24, 2014

Review: Sweeney Todd/Porchlight Music Theatre by Zach Freeman

Stephen Sondheim’s long, lauded, and continuing career in the lyric theater has given opportunity for discovery as to his compositional demons, and the fire he uses to bully them into deli…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 03:00PM
Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Review: Romulus/Oracle Theatre by Zach Freeman

RECOMMENDED The setting starts out so lovely. You walk into Oracle’s cozy little cabin of a space off of Broadway and you’re greeted with what looks like a charming Tuscan villa. It’s …

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 11:30AM
Monday, October 20, 2014

Review: Audience Annihilated 2: Gold Star Sticker/Dream Theatre Company by Zach Freeman

RECOMMENDED Some of the most unsettling characters in horror films aren’t the demonic phantasms or unkillable slashers, but the just-real-enough weirdos who inhabit the margins of the narr…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 07:30PM

Review: The Velveteen Rabbit/Lifeline Theatre by Zach Freeman

RECOMMENDED “When you’re real, you don’t mind being hurt.” This central theme permeates an affable and vibrant staging of Margery Williams’ timeless book “The Velveteen Rabbi…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 12:00PM

Review: Animal Farm/Steppenwolf For Young Adults by Zach Freeman

RECOMMENDED There is something significant about the prolific writer George Orwell using stories as his vehicle for political action. Orwell, who fought in the Spanish Civil War and suffered…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 10:00AM
Thursday, October 16, 2014

Review: Ionesco Suite/Theatre de la Ville at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre by Zach Freeman

RECOMMENDED It was a happy coincidence that I happened to catch Theatre de la Ville’s “Ionesco Suite” within a day of seeing Strawdog Theatre’s production of “Fail/Safe.” Both sh…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 08:00AM
Monday, October 13, 2014

Beyond the Limits of Language: Happy Days at Theatre Y by Zach Freeman

By Hugh Iglarsh If any one play embodies Theater of the Absurd, it’s Samuel Beckett’s “Happy Days,” in which protagonist Winnie chatters away through Act I while buried above her wai…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 11:17AM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Nov 17, 2024: Elf - Marquis Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre