Thursday, August 28, 2014
By Hugh Iglarsh Before the black gold of petroleum became the driving force of business and empire, it was whale blubber that lit the lamps and lubricated both the machinery and the ambition…
SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 04:00PMRECOMMENDED Given that “West Side Story” is often considered the greatest musical ever written, odd that its predecessor “On the Town,” the first show to unite choreographer Jerome R…
SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 11:00AMTuesday, August 26, 2014
RECOMMENDED In case you were wondering, yes, you read the title of this show correctly. It’s called “Methtacular!”And I must say that the title is a very apt one, as Steven Strafford�…
SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 01:00PMRECOMMENDED In a way Chekhov is a lot like Nirvana, in that it’s really easy to forget how great he was when you’ve been inundated with a century of increasingly pale imitations. If Chek…
SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 12:00PMMonday, August 25, 2014
Chosen as the inaugural production of Cole Theatre, Mike Leigh’s “Ecstasy” begins with a naked Jean (Maura Kidwell) and Roy (Joel Reitsma), in her run-down London flat. Whatever they�…
SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 12:30PMFriday, August 22, 2014
The creation and delivery of a historical play presents very specific challenges. The story of the life of any individual, no matter how private and quiet it might seem to others, is a fulso…
SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 02:00PMThursday, August 21, 2014
RECOMMENDED I arrived at City Lit Theater’s space to see Black Button Eyes Productions’ “Coraline” a complete Neil Gaiman virgin. I’d heard that the novelist’s 2002 horror/fantas…
SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 12:00PMWednesday, August 20, 2014
Preachers normally ask for a call and response of “Amen” or “Hallelujah.” But in the church of the future, where people give themselves to the great “architect,” people happily c…
SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 08:00AMTuesday, August 12, 2014
RECOMMENDED Friday night with thirty minutes to go before the doors to the Neo-Futurarium open, a line already snakes down Ashland and around the corner onto Foster. With patrons ranging fro…
SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 01:00PMRECOMMENDED The character of Medea haunted Greek culture like a nightmare, embodying patriarchal anxiety and guilt. It’s a fitting subject for Dream Theatre Company’s resident playwright…
SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 10:00AMTuesday, August 5, 2014
RECOMMENDED It’s Audrey (played by the willowy Cora Vander Broek), Hank Williams’ put-upon first wife, who best sums up her husband’s fatal contradictions: “You wear a $500 custo…
SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 08:00AMMonday, August 4, 2014
RECOMMENDED As the saying goes, truth is often stranger than fiction. When it comes to the world of religion, the line between the two (truth and fiction) becomes blurrier and blurrier. And …
SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 09:00AMThis Hitchcock-themed improv show features not one but two drinking games happening simultaneously. The first is the more familiar audience drinking game. In this case you’re asked to drin…
SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 08:00AMFriday, July 25, 2014
RECOMMENDED You learn a lot about the level of commitment of a company of actors—to say nothing of the commitment of the audience enjoying them—when both are willing to engage in the rai…
SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 10:00AMRECOMMENDED When Mary Wilson of the Supremes came through town late last fall, she recalled that the Supremes had no less than seven flops before catching on while another Detroit all-female…
SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 08:00AMThursday, July 24, 2014
RECOMMENDED Usually when you hear someone use the phrase “the universality of the human experience” it’s a load of hooey. People use it to justify why their production of “Timon of A…
SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 11:00AMWednesday, July 23, 2014
RECOMMENDED As I sat watching “Intimate Apparel” presented by Eclipse Theatre Company, the words of renowned Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie echoed in my mind: “Because I am f…
SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 01:00PMRECOMMENDED Some of the nicer things in life really are free, such as Shakespeare served al fresco on a summer evening by the talented and community-minded Midsommer Flight theater collectiv…
SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 09:00AMTuesday, July 22, 2014
“Stoop Time,” a new play staged by You&Me Productions, opens up with friends Jo (Angela Bullard) and Nora (Joni Arredia) having drinks, sharing laughs and recounting stories on Jo’…
SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 07:05PMMonday, July 21, 2014
RECOMMENDED This summer Chicago audiences are given another chance to see “Principal Principle,” a timely tale examining the potential polarizing effects of assigning corporate data-gath…
SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 12:00PMThursday, July 17, 2014
RECOMMENDED “O these men, these men!” sighs Desdemona (played by Brittany Burch), who is soon to be murdered by her jealous husband, Othello. She is confiding her bafflement to her frien…
SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 08:00AMTuesday, July 15, 2014
RECOMMENDED Everyone has an opinion about guns. And everyone has a “gun story.” Whether it’s tragic, a tale of survival or just something from the news, everyone has a story that deals…
SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 08:00AMMonday, July 14, 2014
RECOMMENDED With the way that the phrase polyamory has been tossed around over the last few years you would think that modern social psychologists invented the concept. And according to a fl…
SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 05:00PMSaturday, July 12, 2014
Often when filling out applications and surveys, we are given the option of checking only one box as it pertains to our identity. Rarely do we see the selection “mark all that apply,” an…
SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 04:00PMTuesday, July 8, 2014
Waiting for LiveWire Chicago’s production of “Partners” to begin, my date and I talked about how much we would like an apartment that resembled Mike Mroch’s elegantly shambling set. …
SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 11:00AMThursday, July 3, 2014
By Aaron Hunt “I’d really fallen in love with Cole Porter, and his music, and just became obsessed with hearing all these obscure recordings. I saw a musical revue which was called ‘T…
SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 07:00AMWednesday, July 2, 2014
RECOMMENDED Children of all ages braved a rainstorm Monday night to hear songs about jelly, see a video game where a taco takes on a squash and visit a world where a person lives in a sewer …
SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 01:30PMMonday, June 30, 2014
RECOMMENDED There’s a certain magic to academic competitions. Debate teams and Academic Decathlon members understand the focus and determination it takes to stand in front of judges and fa…
SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 12:00PMThursday, June 26, 2014
RECOMMENDED In the heart of Times Square there is a building called the TKTS Discount Booth; same-day tickets to Broadway shows can be purchased there at discounted prices. The queue of audi…
SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 10:00AMMonday, June 23, 2014
RECOMMENDED “That’s cool as hell!” declares an enthralled pre-recorded voice, breaking away from his own faux deep thoughts about the universe, as the six-person cast of “Apes of Wra…
SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 09:22PMThursday, June 19, 2014
Co-artistic director of The New Colony Andrew Hobgood, who directed “Orville and Wilbur Did It!” comments on the type of creative progression that affords this work its charm at the same…
SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 11:00AM 
