143 stories by "Bob [cta]"
A tense and twisted family Christmas in Thomas Bradshaw’s “Mary,” playing at the Goodman At the end of Thomas Bradshaw’s Mary, you’re not quite sure if you shou…
I took my mother to see Burn the Floor yesterday afternoon. We had a lot of fun watching 20 mega-talented dancers swing their hips to some classic numbers. Nothing revolutionary, just glitte…
I used to play golf as a teen. In fact, I was pretty good: I came in first in some local junior league tournament. And then, the day after that, I quit. I’d simply had enough with what…
I’ve heard of Susan Moniz for years. While she’s a known-quantity in the Chicago musical theatre scene, it wasn’t until very recently that I’ve seen her work. (Howeve…
Local theatre professionals Andrea Pikscher and her husband Jason had an idea: why not create a social networking site specifically for the Chicago theatre community? “Jason was workin…
Yesterday, Broadway diva Patti LuPone was honored by The Drama League for, basically, being Patti LuPone. Fancy Broadway types, socialites (and the lovely SarahB, who volunteered at th…
Susan Moniz and Brad Armacost make a connection in Provision Theater Company’s “Shadowlands” “Pain is God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” That famous …
Lawrence Clayton (Jean Valjean) “Brings Him Home” in the new national tour of “Les Misérables.” “Les Misérables without the turntable? How is that possible?&#…
What does this have to do with Chicago theatre, you ask? Well, I’d argue this is theatre unto itself: Oh, you just know I submitted this to whenparentstext.com. Love you, mom! Drive sa…
Carmilla (Michaela Petro) gets ‘er done. Carmilla doesn’t f*ck around. When she knows what she wants, she gets it — and pity to anyone who stands in her way. Twenty-five ye…
Did everyone make it through this storm safe and sound? I hope so! Tuesday evening, I was scheduled to review Burn the Floor, the sexy dance spectacle currently playing at the Bank of Americ…
A shot from my office’s window (3:30 pm): Stay safe out there, kittens!
An intriguing press photo provided by Red Tape, but hardly a scene from the show. At all. Religion is a wacky thing. We all are inherently good. But we’re all sinners. Some of us conne…
Sally Murphy and Stephen Louis Grush: two intimate strangers In watching Sex with Strangers, Laura Eason’s provocative new play exploring how the online world has impacted the way we i…
A scene from “Being Harold Pinter” Belarus Free Theatre’s Being Harold Pinter is political theatre to the core. These artists, who fled their country late last year to perf…
I bet you do! Thankfully, we have Dancing Kim to show us how! Amazing, right? (Thanks suchabooknerd for directing my attention to this!)
Margie Korshak Inc., who represents press for Broadway in Chicago, informed me yesterday, via a rather abrupt email, that I most likely would not receive press tickets for the national to…
A boy (Joey Steakley) makes a special, dusty friend. Odradek is one creepy, sad play. A pensive boy (Joey Steakly) is slowly falling into an emotional and physical downward spiral. His recen…
A book-nerdy friend of mine suggested I check out a silly little show called American Lit at the Annoyance Theatre. The premise: A collection of memorable pieces of American literature, reto…
The introverted Iris (Karen Aldridge) gets a makeover by her street-wise cousin (Christiana Clark) in Regina Taylor’s “The Trinity River Plays.” In three interlocking piece…
The knights of Drury Lane’s “Spamalot” take a dance break. “Always look on the bright side of life.” In Spamalot, the 2005 Tony-winning musical “lovingly …
Check out the new section on Chicago Theatre Addict, accessible via the tab above the header, which captures interviews and features I’ve written over the past year. I felt it was nece…
About a month ago, I was cryptically asked to participate in something called a “cooking combat” at the Kenmore Live Studio, located at the corner of Wells and Erie. Apparentl…
Matt Schwader sweeps Kate Fry off her feet in Chicago Shakespeare Theatre’s “As You Like It.” “Can one desire too much of a good thing?,” aks the love-happy Ros…
The first paragraph in Chris Jones’ review of Shattered Globe’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane made my eyes roll this morning: After some 14 years in existence, including on and off…
