A three-act, three-hour play set in Antarctica? At this point in this particular Chicago winter, it is hard to imagine an onstage prospect with less commercial potential. Even this critic " …
Steven Dietz's play "Yankee Tavern" is a cleverly self-protected piece of writing, a deconstruction of 9/11 conspiracy theories that also airs a good number of them, ranging from the spike i…
The National Theatre of Scotland " unusual in that it is a national theater without any physical theater of its own " has been in existence for only nine years. It has already been to simpat…
The National Theatre of Scotland " unusual in that it is a national theater without any physical theater of its own " has been in existence for only nine years. It has already been to simpat…
Is graffiti a legitimate artistic expression accessible to the otherwise excluded, or criminal vandalism that is the scourge of a great city?
Is graffiti a legitimate artistic expression accessible to the otherwise excluded, or criminal vandalism that is the scourge of a great city?
A few days ago, it was announced that former Chicago improviser Tina Fey's new TV show, "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," would not air on NBC like her colossal hit "30 Rock," but would be availa…
With the opening of John Henry Roberts' "The Sweeter Option," Strawdog Theatre Company has produced 100 shows over 27 years, mostly in its second-floor walk-up near the corner of Broadway an…
Someone hitting it out of the park " theatrically speaking " is always a joy to watch. But I've long been an admirer of the all-important (and much rarer) successful follow-up. What's better…
Imagine a cross between Neil Patrick Harris and Seth Meyers " combined with the spawn of Barry Manilow " and you have a sense of David Larsen, the shrewdly guileless new Elder Price atop "Th…
Must you feel anything when watching a play by the iconic absurdist Samuel Beckett? That question, precipitated by feeling next to nothing Tuesday night while watching The Hypocrites' produc…
Must you feel anything when watching a play by the iconic French absurdist Samuel Beckett? That question, precipitated by feeling next to nothing Tuesday night while watching The Hypocrites'…
In 1910, Jack Johnson, a boxer who had long dominated the World Colored Heavyweight Championship, finally coaxed the formerly undefeated James J. Jeffries out of retirement. The former world…
If you are familiar with Lisa Genova's "Still Alice" " a play and now a movie starring the Oscar-nominated Julianne Moore, as well as a book " then you'll have encountered a woman who has to…
Before dawn on a frigid Thursday morning, as President Barack Obama came to Chicago to declare the site of the Pullman Palace Car Co. a national monument, I caught the train they call the Ci…
Back in 2010, Chicago's Signal Ensemble Theatre staged "Aftermath," a fabulous little show about the Rolling Stones penned by Ronan Marra. "Aftermath" was all about the demise of the influen…
Back in 2010, Chicago's Signal Ensemble Theatre staged "Aftermath," a fabulous little show about the Rolling Stones penned by Ronan Marra. "Aftermath" was all about the demise of the influen…
For anyone with a modicum of self-awareness " and that only describes a subset of parents applying to private or highly selective public schools " the act of filling out a school application…
The theater is a funny place. It's not hard to believe a mother is having quite a profound conversation with the fetus inside her womb " writ large and standing before her. But an over-actin…
Although its setting is 18th century Versailles and its central character is the wife of Louis XVI and the erstwhile queen of France, you could chop the noggin off the Steppenwolf Theatre's …
Ascending the stage at the Grammy Awards last weekend, the British crooner Sam Smith observed that before he made his winning hit, "Stay With Me," he'd been doing everything possible to try …
Early in "First Date," the savvily titled but thoroughly predictable Broadway musical from 2013, one of the primo datees, the cute-but-snarky Casey, she of the red dress and the wrist tattoo…
NEW YORK " Some three years after its genesis in Chicago and with its huge, original cast intact, director Robert Falls' five-hour epic production of "The Iceman Cometh" is improbably reborn…
"Husbands come and go," observes Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, dryly, sitting in the dark. "But girlfriends are forever."
"Husbands come and go," observes Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, dryly, sitting in the dark. "But girlfriends are forever."