Lauren Whalen reviews: Going above and beyond the challenges that would make a lesser company squirm, Hubbard Street's passion, coupled with King and Cerrudo's radiant choreography, results …
This witty and pithy script explores the fragmented relationship between three men who have been friends for 15 years, and Parlor Room Players' production does justice to the clever script, …
Mekhaye, in Yiddish, means something that gives zest to life, a very great pleasure, and Paramount Theatre's production of Fiddler on the Roof qualifies on all counts.
At many dance performances, the audience is restrained. Not so with Alvin Ailey: it's a party. Spectators hoot and holler, unable to contain their exuberance. They know they're in the same r…
With strong performances and an intricately detailed stage setting, it is easy to accept the rather fantastical world that the play inhabits, making it an entertaining show overall, albeit w…
Since it's troubled beginnings, *Aspects of Love* has suffered from melodramatic overkill. But as witnessed, if there's any theater that can make silk from a sow's ear, it's Theo Ubique Cab…
This is not a play about religious doctrine, but instead about the way our beliefs inform our behavior - and Quest has pulled out the puppetry stops to entertain and educate us through story…
Coriolanus is full-throttle, action-driven theatre. It's like the video game "Call of Duty" but written by Shakespeare. (read more...)
Don't stay at home, wallowing in the past. Take a cue from the play's theme and venture out to Jefferson Park for this wonderful theatrical experience. (read more...)
Overall, though, Analog is a breathtakingly unusual, wonderfully and cleverly written, solidly entertaining piece that will get in your head and stay there. (read more...)
If The Bear Suit of Happiness shed a few furry layers, it would definitely bear more happiness. (read more...)
When they're not screaming, the cast of nine women and one guy tear into this tissue of fiction as if it really matters. It doesn't. By the end, Matryoshka is an exercise in futility as much…
See What I Wanna See " a brilliantly colloquial title for this sharp thinking person's musical " is as smart and entertaining as it is artistic and serious. (read more...)
Patricia Finn-Morris is simply marvelous in the title role of Steel Beam Theatre's newest production. The 2008 comedy by Steven Dietz follows the inner yearnings of middle-aged Becky that, a…
Gjenganger deserves praise for the ambitiousness of its undertaking, particularly for a relatively young theatre company. It delves into an array of human conditions in an honest, thought-pr…
This is more of a songfest, and the songs, by acclaimed songwriter Carole King, with lyrics by children's author Maurice Sendak, are fabulous, as well as loads of fun. (read more...)
Director Kris Kontour gets the pacing right in the fun French farce. Judging from the success of their first professional endeavor, Leftend Productions is a welcome addition to Chicago's the…
If you need a clear storyline that provides answers, this may not be for you. But if you enjoy the intellectual tease of a conundrum, that tantalizing itch of uncertainty, you may enjoy it c…
Tango serves as a window through which we can peer into the world where the limits of theatrical form and devices can be melded together to create something entirely new " a completely uniqu…
Kill Shakespeare is an innovative collusion of Com Con meets the Stratford Festival. This show Shakes it up, indeed! (read more...)
The Next Theatre cast and crew have done an excellent job of presenting the play. The acting is exceptional. The play itself, however, is too flawed to be satisfying. (read more...)
Perhaps Bill Jepsen's next play will be better than Never the Bridesmaid, a sorry sophomore showing. Please, Mr. Jepsen, for the sake of all women, do not attempt romantic comedy. Ever again…
Jim Lynch's play makes its world premiere complete with a solid storyline, characters, and dialogue that ring true. Less intuitively, Lynch's script also offers a balanced portrayal of the p…
Familiar and fun - despite the (at times) clumsy and stiff by-play - this therapeutic show deserves the benefit of your doubts. If there's such a thing as geezer glory, it's eager to please …
This adaptation might be a good first draft - as it is, the first half is entertaining enough that you won't want to leave at intermission, but the second act is so laborious you'll soon eno…