Saturday, September 28, 2013
With Goodman Theatre's Pullman Porter Blues, we get an entertaining and engrossing history lesson in the Pullman Company. The lesson not only concerns transportation history but, more import…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 11:51PM[SHARE]Despite light touches, this riveting play is about the profundity of defining home. On a broad level, Playwright Steve Simoncic delves deep into economic clashes rooted in class, race and pr…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 07:41PM[SHARE]Friday, September 27, 2013
With a bit more polish, this production has the potential to engross an audience with powerful action and imagery. As it stands, Pains of Youth carries your attention, but doesn't really car…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 11:35PM[SHARE]4000 Miles is an enjoyable journey, thanks to the Amy Herzog's warm, human characters that director Kimberly Senior and actors Mary Ann Thebus and Josh Salt have brought to life. These are p…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 09:09AM[SHARE]Thursday, September 26, 2013
BET's musical biography presensts us with the undiluted sound of "Chicago soul""and it's never sounded so necessary. These standards don't just resonate"they detonate. Musical director Rober…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 09:12AM[SHARE]Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Despite a stellar performance from Joan Allen (her first appearance since 1991), tight production values and excellent imagery, Tina Landau's rendition of Zinnie Harris' wartime epic is in d…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 09:54PM[SHARE]Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Godspell's s considerable strength lies not in its childlike (and sometimes childish) affectatios, but in the magnificent vocals the cast brings to Schwartz's score. Despite its sugary-sweet…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 09:17AM[SHARE]Monday, September 23, 2013
Obsessive Evita fans will notice that there's been a few scenes cut from the show. In their place is an additional song and dialogue from the 1997 film. Ultimately, however, Evita sounds goo…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 11:41PM[SHARE]Sunday, September 22, 2013
The BenchMark's heart is (street)smart as it shines a light on Chicago's homelessness. Director Tara Branham's busy 9-person ensemble create a very cosmopolitan chorus. And as the bitterswe…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 11:37AM[SHARE]Saturday, September 21, 2013
Overall, Coyote on a Fence is big on ideas and morality, but short on character and motivation. While there is some interesting dialogue around capital punishment and how effective it really…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 10:44PM[SHARE]A tasty time trip makes us "present at the creation" of a food icon and the loving husband who aided and abetted her savory saga. The play's ingredients may not always blend like Julia's Fre…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 11:33AM[SHARE]Monday, September 16, 2013
The best sequels manage to up the ante by not only reprising the favorite elements of the original, but also offering new and even more wondrous ones. The Crownless King fails to do this, bu…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 08:57PM[SHARE]It is in RUR: Rossum's Universal Robots that the word "robot" made its debut, coined by the playwright as a study on social justice. Here, Strangeloop Theatre presents a flawed but engaging …
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 06:33PM[SHARE]Bawdy, rip-roaring comedy, scintillating drama and plot twists that involve vampires, werewolves and men in drag - The Mystery of Irma Vep serves up all this and more in a sidesplitting two-…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 04:08PM[SHARE]More molehill than mountaintop, this wholly preposterous and trivializing depiction of King's last night on earth is earnestly but hopelessly staged at Court Theatre by the excellent Ron OJ …
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 01:59PM[SHARE]Full of visual and sonic beauty, PigPen Theatre's lush production maintains the narrative's pleasant intrigue. The ensemble is almost balletic in its graceful physicality, and its puppet pro…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 12:17PM[SHARE]Saturday, September 14, 2013
Directed by George Keating, the gauche events drag on just like the bad date that it's meant to portray. Sullivan and Civetta never spark the chemistry necessary to make us root for their to…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 04:30PM[SHARE]In Barrie Cole's problematic play, scenes with no real purpose besides establishing character go on and on long past necessary, and this plodding is made worse by poor performances and the l…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 10:22AM[SHARE]Friday, September 13, 2013
Martin Zimmerman's 90-minute one-act world premiere focuses on two mixed-race Arizona brothers trying to find their way in the world. Director Edward Torres does a fine job of making the pla…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 12:38AM[SHARE]Thursday, September 12, 2013
Other People's Money is swift-moving, tightly written and gripping to the bitter end. With a strong cast, along with Andrew Hildner's bifurcated set, this production lives up to its name. (…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 11:32PM[SHARE]Warped isn't always easy to endure, but it's a story that needs to be told. Lhota's fantastic script and the truly talented ensemble make this premiere hard to watch, and impossible to shake…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 12:18AM[SHARE]Wednesday, September 11, 2013
The Balcony overlooks the agony of war through it's characters' sexual roleplay. If you enjoy your existentialism with a side of tawdry humor, this balcony has the perfect seat for you.
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 09:44PM[SHARE]Monday, September 9, 2013
As an ode to the act of creation and commentary on the often overly-esoteric nature of performance art, Sweet Child of Mine is also a lovely valentine to the relationship parents have to the…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 12:44PM[SHARE]Sunday, September 8, 2013
Historical dramas are a tricky beast, but Coriolis Theater's latest production concerning the infamous Rosenberg execution brings out the poignancy of the story and overcomes the flaws in th…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 08:43PM[SHARE]9 Stories is arresting and chilling, a flawlessly executed tale that's horrific in its relevance. It's the most disturbing play I've seen all year, and one of the very best I've seen in a lo…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 07:09PM[SHARE]Encountering gut-busting and anachronistic props and puns, the slap-happy warriors led by John Gurdian's bumptious King Arthur, "Spamalot" will have your LOL with its cheeky, irreverent and …
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 04:56PM[SHARE]Friday, September 6, 2013
As musical bios go, Lost Highway - penned by Mark Harelik and Randal Myler - is one of the best there is, merging a compelling story with close to two dozen old school country tunes. Highly …
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 09:32PM[SHARE]It's hard to imagine anyone doing a better, more handsome production of Double Trouble than Porchlight and the Aguilar brothers, but whether the writing itself is worth the considerable tale…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 12:29AM[SHARE]Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Dark comedy is a favorite genre of mine, and Hat finds some very funny moments of dry humor in its physically and emotionally bleak pulp landscape. Playwright Brett Rossi knows how to mine a…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 09:16AM[SHARE]Monday, September 2, 2013
Sean Graney's new take on Shakespeare's timeless classic Twelfth Night manages to find a good environment for the famous identity crisis comedy " but the language is a different story. (read…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 06:51PM[SHARE]With such a wide variety of genres, the Chicago Fringe Festival offers something to suit anyone's tastes. But to stay true to the spirit of the Fringe Festival, challenge yourself to see som…
SOURCE: Chicago Theater Beat at 03:21PM[SHARE] 
