All stories by Dan Jakes on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Tru shows promise, but misses the mark by Dan Jakes

The songs are strong, but the story needs work in this new musical about depression. In David Gosz and Leo Fotos's clinically subtitled new show, Tru: A Musical …

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 01:00PM
Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Live! From Chicago! It’s your favorite podcast by Dan Jakes

Part hangout, part celebration, part theater of the mind, live podcast recordings are a performance medium all their own. Sometime next month, Action Boyz podca…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 04:15PM
Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Hell Followed With Her is less gory than advertised by Dan Jakes

A ghost-town saloon sets the stage for this zombie-spaghetti western hybrid. Open up any horror auteur's toolbox, and you'll likely see some recurring devices: t…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM
Wednesday, October 9, 2019

The Facts of Life—Satan's School for Girls provides a Halloween showcase by Dan Jakes

Hell in a Handbag's spoof of Mrs. Garrett and 21 Jump Street is far from a drag. As luck would have it, the most expedient way to describe vanguard camp comic an…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM
Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Equivocation is a revisionist Shakespearean tale that goes on too long by Dan Jakes

Mixing the Bard up with the Gunpowder Plot doesn't help Bill Cain's play ignite dramatically. The setup to Bill Cain's revisionist Shakespearean fairy tale is th…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM
Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Murder mystery meets buddy comedy in Whose Body? by Dan Jakes

Lifeline's revival of this 2002 Dorothy Sayers adaptation could use more breathing room to fully come alive. Lifeline Theatre's stage has been something of a hom…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM
Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Pop Magic connects Medusa with MeToo by Dan Jakes

The snake-haired Gorgon gets a narrative makeover in this touring devised piece. Despite sporting the most recognizable hairdo in all of literature, general know…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM
Wednesday, August 7, 2019

The One: The Matrix Musical Parody is a show behind the times by Dan Jakes

The sight gags score, but the music falls short in this spoof/homage of the Wachowskis’ sci-fi classic. Ready to feel old? The Matrix—a movie that, upon its …

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM
Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Speaking ill of the dead in Roast by Dan Jakes

A comedian requests a roast in lieu of a wake in Harry Wood’s debut play. In lieu of a traditional funeral service, a young comedian asks for a livestreamed, n…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM
Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Ms. Blakk for President celebrates a great queer pioneer by Dan Jakes

When Joan Jett Blakk told us to lick Bush in '92 Neon shades of violet—not rainbows—radiate from Tarell Alvin McCraney and Tina Landau's world-premiere docu-…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 05:00PM
Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Organic Theater takes a bold stab at The Memo, Václav Havel's absurdist satire by Dan Jakes

Bureaucracy, sweet bureaucracy! Despite having one of the most radical and inspiring biographies of any theater artist, playwright-turned- prisoner-turned-Czech …

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 12:00PM
Wednesday, May 22, 2019

The Crowd You're in With is trapped in 2007, both dramatically and politically by Dan Jakes

Why do people always turn into sneering jackasses during dinner parties in plays? A group of politically engaged Chicago north siders gets together for a casual …

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM
Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Set on a Metra train, Amicable picks up steam as it chugs along by Dan Jakes

Thankfully, the plot and performances become more compelling halfway through. Ross Compton’s world premiere one-act dramedy ends as a wholly different play tha…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM
Thursday, April 25, 2019

Djembe! The Show works much better as theater for kids than inspiration for adults by Dan Jakes

The drumming is fun, but the corporate-speak is not. Everything about Djembe! The Show starts to make more sense when you imagine it out of its current context�…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM
Thursday, April 11, 2019

Small World imagines a disaster on Disney’s most annoying ride by Dan Jakes

New Colony's production dances around juicy subjects without fully committing to any of them. Three Disney World cast members find themselves trapped in the smol…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM
Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Despite the legally mandated nudity, there’s no happily-ever-after in Afterglow by Dan Jakes

"No one ever wrote a fairy tale about polyamory!" Inclusion of full and frequent nudity is so vital to the gay throuple drama Afterglow that, according to playwr…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM
Thursday, March 28, 2019

For 30 years, puppeteer Blair Thomas has been creating visual spectacle on and off Chicago’s stages by Dan Jakes

“If you’re doing something associated with puppetry in Chicago, you have to think about Blair.” If anybody knows puppets—like really knows puppets—it'…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM
Wednesday, March 27, 2019

This Melancholy Play is also twee as hell by Dan Jakes

Sarah Ruhl’s contemporary farce crosses the line from self-awareness to self-parody. Playwright Sarah Ruhl is on the record as not loving the words "quirky" or…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM
Thursday, March 14, 2019

Remember the Alamo has more quirks than purpose by Dan Jakes

Where true confessions meet Texas history and Phil Collins trivia It's a dubious honorific, but the press release for Nick Hart's metatheatrical, deadpan, quirkt…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards