Friday, January 15, 2021
Brian Loevner thinks arts organizations should consider new ways to survive—and close.
This is the first of two columns that will examine the ideas of "cultura…
Linked From www.chicagoreader.com at 01:15PMThursday, January 14, 2021
Links Hall and Chicago Shakespeare host two virtual interactive shows on isolation and connection.
Even before the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last w…
Linked From www.chicagoreader.com at 02:50PMTuesday, January 5, 2021
Three plays by teen writers offer historical twists, absurdity, and some on-the-nose social commentary.
Nothing about this past year has been normal. (You're wel…
Linked From www.chicagoreader.com at 06:20PMWednesday, December 23, 2020
Christmas Eve goes to 11 in Isaac Gómez's workplace comedy; About Face celebrates Black queer lives, past and present.
If you're not working retail this Christm…
Linked From www.chicagoreader.com at 12:30PMFriday, December 18, 2020
Charles Dickens and Ike Holter are unlikely twin spirit guides in two online shows.
"Ring out the old year, ring in the new, ring-a-ding-ding," says Shirley MacL…
Linked From www.chicagoreader.com at 04:10PMGetting back to normal isn't going to happen. And in many ways, it shouldn't.
On Monday, March 16, I walked into a theater for the last time in 2020. It was at T…
Linked From www.chicagoreader.com at 02:30PMTuesday, December 15, 2020
The Goodman joins the national #Enough: Plays to End Gun Violence initiative; plus a new documentary on the August Wilson Monologue Competition and an award for a dance documentarian
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Linked From www.chicagoreader.com at 02:40PMThursday, December 10, 2020
A Dickens chestnut and a spoof of 1970s celebrity specials join the online holiday theater lineup.
For a lot of performing arts organizations, the holiday seaso…
Linked From www.chicagoreader.com at 02:40PMFriday, December 4, 2020
A departure at PrideArts, an arrival at Second City, and the closing of the Frontier and Understudy; Kristiana Rae Colón wins a new prize.
In late June, Pride F…
Linked From www.chicagoreader.com at 03:15PMWednesday, November 25, 2020
Allegations of mismanagement and harassment rock the fantasy/sci-fi theater.
Since its founding in 2012, Otherworld Theatre has been a haven for theater fans wh…
Linked From www.chicagoreader.com at 01:30PMThursday, November 19, 2020
Stages are dark, but Chicago theater and dance companies still keep a light on.
This unholy year is winding down (or so we're told), and as we veer between image…
Linked From www.chicagoreader.com at 03:45PMWednesday, November 11, 2020
The good, the bad, and the ugly of our politics are on display in two streaming shows.
The long national nightmare of the past four years may not be over, but as…
Linked From www.chicagoreader.com at 04:40PMFriday, November 6, 2020
Matthew-Lee Erlbach wants to cut the creative sector in on a new deal; the Equity Jeff Awards go virtual.
When he was a kid in Rogers Park, Matthew-Lee Erlbach s…
Linked From www.chicagoreader.com at 03:15PMMonday, November 2, 2020
Invictus's streaming production brings new angles to Marsha Norman's real-time drama.
Embarrassing Theater Critic Admission: I've never seen Marsha Norman's 1983…
Linked From www.chicagoreader.com at 02:30PMThursday, October 22, 2020
Black women deal with loss in new digital plays by Perceptions Theatre and Black Lives Black Words.
Starting a theater company any time is tough. Starting one ri…
Linked From www.chicagoreader.com at 06:10PMFriday, October 16, 2020
The Neo-Futurists and Theatre in the Dark offer shows for the spookiest of election seasons.
After the uproar around Bill Burr's recent SNL monologue taking whit…
Linked From www.chicagoreader.com at 04:15PMFriday, October 9, 2020
Thinking about The Boys in the Band, Broadway, and Chicago
Last weekend, I watched Ryan Murphy’s Netflix production of The Boys in the Band, adapted from Mart …
Linked From www.chicagoreader.com at 04:15PMThursday, October 8, 2020
Rastus and Hattie and Run the Beast Down bring nightmarish scenarios to virtual life.
How do you write dramas about dystopia and alienation in the middle of a pa…
Linked From www.chicagoreader.com at 12:55PMVisual arts and architecture highlights break us out of our screen life.
Last week, we offered a (very partial) guide to some theater and dance events (as well …
Linked From www.chicagoreader.com at 11:15AMFriday, October 2, 2020
An overview of theater, dance, music, pop-up performances, and other artists and activists that you should know about—this season and year-round
The 2020 fall…
Linked From www.chicagoreader.com at 02:30PMFriday, September 25, 2020
Chicago-based dancer Paige Fraser advocates for those with scoliosis; plus Fly Honey brings the dance party online.
Paige Fraser started dancing when she was fou…
Linked From www.chicagoreader.com at 12:30PMWednesday, September 16, 2020
The Pursuit of Happiness and Pride and Prejudice confront the limitations of Zoom culture with exhilarating results.
The age of Zoom has created a split-screen m…
Linked From www.chicagoreader.com at 11:15AMFriday, September 11, 2020
Yanira Castro and Meshell Ndegeocello create performance pieces for the at-home audience; Pride comes out of the closet with a new name.
The Museum of Contempora…
Linked From www.chicagoreader.com at 01:30PMThursday, August 27, 2020
Free Street, Collaboraction, and TimeLine put young theater artists in the frame.
The long hot summer is winding down, according to the calendar, but youth theat…
Linked From www.chicagoreader.com at 03:45PMWednesday, August 19, 2020
PFP's story contains lessons about board oversight and artist empowerment.
There are no shows to speak of happening on Chicago stages, but the offstage drama ha…
Linked From www.chicagoreader.com at 04:45PMThursday, August 13, 2020
A partnership with Little Red Schoolhouse brings art and nature together; plus a new home for Joel Hall Dancers and Collaboraction's virtual season
Frank Maugeri…
Linked From www.chicagoreader.com at 12:55PMTuesday, August 4, 2020
Trap Door reimagines its aesthetic for film; Otherworld films a onetime live performance (sans audience).
As sacrifices go, staying home when possible and wearin…
Linked From www.chicagoreader.com at 03:50PMFriday, July 31, 2020
But the company remains true to its focus on new work and egalitarian principles.
Prop Thtr will probably never produce Stephen Sondheim's Follies. Yet somehow, …
Linked From www.chicagoreader.com at 02:15PMThursday, July 30, 2020
A show reopens and closes under fire; plus new leadership and a new funding initiative for Black theater makers
Last weekend, Judy and Liza—Once in a Lifetime:…
Linked From www.chicagoreader.com at 02:00PMWednesday, July 22, 2020
A very incomplete guide on what to read (or listen to) now from Chicago's theater scene.
So you can't go to the theater because (gestures weakly toward everythin…
Linked From www.chicagoreader.com at 01:30PMThursday, July 16, 2020
We See You W.A.T. and Honk for Justice focus on anti-racism; Greenhouse and Random Acts of Theater dip into live performance again.
Back in June, a coalition of …
Linked From www.chicagoreader.com at 12:40PM 
