2,003 stories by "Scotty Zacher"
Theatre at the Center's *Little Shop of Horrors* is a fine show, with a couple of skeevy cultural choices mixed in. Side note: the theater's Audrey II is from the original Broadway productio…
First Folio gives an excellent production, and rather than playing down the vicious attacks on Shylock's Jewish faith and ethnicity, the company illuminates the ignorance and forced supremac…
Salt of the Earth works well as a slice-of-life documentary on Yorkshire culture a generation or two ago. As an actual narrative, it leaves much to be desired. Slightly Recommended.
It's a gala jubilee, worthy of an empress, let alone a queen, with multitudes of perfectly orchestrated slices of Renaissance life in this gorgeous blast from the past. Recommended.
Director Matthew Reeder fell in love with the underappreciated British playwright James Saunders' 1965 three-act A Scent of Flowers, and it's requited: You feel his devotion returned in almo…
Under Jonathan Berry's direction, Deirdre Kinahan's pitch-perfect natural dialogue is done justice through exquisite timing and delivery. Steep Theatre production is a moment you should not…
Drury Lane's *The 39 Steps* is certainly loaded with award-winning actors, but unfortunatley strong performances do not overcome this production's shallow plot, schlocky script and overdone …
Beautifully touching and full of realistic denouement, Rasaka Theatre's production highlights a childhood bond that melds into a deep adult friendship forged through personal tragedy. Recom…
I've seen over a dozen *Three Sisters*, but never has the final scene of the sisters' solidarity after all the suffering registered so hard, a cumulative effect of 150 minutes of searing tru…
Chay Yew is the best thing that's happened to Chicago theater in years. His first complete year as Artistic Director of Victory Gardens has been nothing short of electrifying, with *Oedipus …
Playwright Keith Huff masterfully penned an intricately woven tale of Chicago police corruption. Not everything in life is absolute. But we do know for certainty that you should absolutely …
Karie Miller directs *Common Hatred* with precision and a light touch. The actors are in sync, hitting the tempo perfectly, creating an emotional ride of recognition and remembrance. Highly …
Goodman Theatre's *Crowns* wears many hats in this poignant yet joyous journey to self-discovery. Highly Recommended.
*As You Like It* is far from a perfect production, but hopefully Spectralia Theatre is open to feedback on taking their productions to a more polished level. Because free access to a comedy …
Rachel Rockwell's flawless staging of this family favorite is a wonderful way for families to beat the Chicago heat this summer. From the first bonjour to the final bow, Chicago Shakespeare …
Grafting ancient Greek tragedy on country rock, director Sonja Moser's sassy, two-hour, song-laden revival of Euripides' tale of a brother and sister's revenge on the mother who murdered the…
Writer and performer Julie Ganey lifts everyday experiences to the level of art, bringing the audience along into the common yet lyrical occurences of her family's experiences in Rogers Park.
NPT's new space provides the perfect spot for the 15 beautiful (naked) bodies involved in *Living Canvas: Eureka!*, an integral part of the annual Naked July Festival.
In Jose Rivera's work, lines between dream and reality are blurred and intertwined like a Dali painting. Director Keely Haddad-Null keeps the surreal subtle enough to where we aren't always …
This classic is a rarity - penned after Stonewall but before the AIDS epidemic, Cal Yeomans' play chronicles the gay sexual revolution of the 70's like no other.
In this funnier-than-expected production, Roundhouse reboots their original production, taking the movie's plot and grafting it with some now infamous Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker comedy (the crea…
In Harold Pinter's *The Lover*, we are invited into the intimate workings of a marriage now on the rocks. Or is it?
Dralion Written by Gilles Ste-Croix Directed by Guy Caron at United Center, 1901 W. Madison (map) thru July 1 …
Like so many movies and even theatre of late, *Hero* is a cautionary parable with a traditional (read: conservative) solution for men left awash in the state between teenagerdom and adulthoo…
The humor in Second City e.t.c's 36th review, as always, is based on the shock of recognition: We see our own inappropriate moments magnified into satire. And only 2nd City can do it with su…
