"A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder" did not come easily to the 2014 Tony Award for best musical " an award without which I doubt you would be reading this review of the opening night perf…
The 2014 Tony Award-winning musical "A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder" opened its national tour in Chicago this week. So in honor of its arrival, and with a nod to the gender-parity impe…
I first saw Willy Russell's "Blood Brothers" in London's West End in 1983. I was already a rabid young fan of Russell's work. Plays such as "Educating Rita," "Our Day Out" and "Stags and Hen…
Although there is a long and venerable tradition of splatter theater in Chicago's off-Loop theaters, the adjective "horror" has rarely been applied to shows at the Goodman Theatre. Well, not…
Although there is a long and venerable tradition of splatter theater in Chicago's off-Loop theaters, the adjective "horror" has rarely been applied to shows at the Goodman Theatre. Well, not…
Dexter Bullard, the director of the Chicago premiere of "Sucker Punch" at the Victory Gardens Theater, made his bones working at the intimate, and now defunct, Next Theatre in Evanston, spec…
Brett Batterson, the executive director of the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago since 2004, has taken a new job in Memphis.  Batterson, the Auditorium has announced, has accepted the…
Brett Batterson, the executive director of the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago since 2004, has taken a new job in Memphis.  Batterson, the Auditorium has announced, has accepted the …
"Two stories have haunted us and followed us from our beginning," wrote John Steinbeck in his 1952 novel "East of Eden," a tempestuous biblical allegory and familial saga set in the Central …
"Two stories have haunted us and followed us from our beginning," wrote John Steinbeck in his 1952 novel "East of Eden," a tempestuous biblical allegory and familial saga set in the Central …
First to the burning question: Would Houston have been satisfied? Yes, there was ignition at Redmoon's Great Chicago Fire Festival of 2015, newly situated on Northerly Island. The spark was …
Redmoon's Great Chicago Fire Festival of 2015. To answer the burning question of the night: Yes, the fires actually lit this year on Northerly Island. First to the burning question: Would H…
Even before Spike Lee came along with "Chi-raq," the presence of the term "Chi-Town" on a billboard (usually preceded by "Hey") meant one thing: An out-of-towner wrote the copy. Who has not…
Even before Spike Lee came along with "Chi-raq," the presence of the term "Chi-Town" on a billboard (usually preceded by "Hey") meant one thing: An out-of-towner wrote the copy. Who has not …
If you're interested in the history of Chicago theater, you'll likely know the formidable collection of documents, programs and other memorabilia at the Harold Washington Library Center, the…
Playwright Aline Lathrop gives us much to think about when it comes to youth and transgender identity in 'Merchild' at 16th Street Theater. "Nothing ever happens in Wilmette," says one of t…
Playwright Aline Lathrop gives us much to think about when it comes to youth and transgender identity in 'Merchild' at 16th Street Theater. "Nothing ever happens in Wilmette," says one of th…
George Wendt " the much-loved comic actor, former improviser and "Cheers" star, the man saddled for life with an open-for-business sign on the Norm Petting Zoo " goes to some very dark place…
Barbara Buncle, the bespectacled heroine of D.E. Stevenson's 1934 novel "Miss Buncle's Book," lives a gray life as a spinster in a provincial English town. But she can write. And Miss Buncle…
Ayad Akhtar's "Disgraced" - a play that began at the American Theater Company in Chicago, moved to Broadway, snagged a Pulitzer Prize and now has shown up at the Goodman Theatre - is the mos…
Ayad Akhtar's "Disgraced" " a play that began at the American Theater Company in Chicago, moved to Broadway, snagged a Pulitzer Prize and now has shown up at the Goodman Theatre " is the mos…
At the top of director Jim Corti's gorgeously staged and emotionally sophisticated revival of "Oklahoma" at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora - with an 18-piece orchestra in the pit - the curt…
At the top of director Jim Corti's gorgeously staged and emotionally sophisticated revival of "Oklahoma" at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora " with an 18-piece orchestra in the pit " the curt…
For my theater-goring generation in Chicago, the plays of August Wilson were experienced mostly in the order that the master wrote 'em. ("Jitney" was an exception). We grew and changed with …
For my theater-going generation in Chicago, the plays of August Wilson were experienced mostly in the order that the master wrote 'em. ("Jitney" was an exception). We grew and changed with t…