Poet. Teacher. Mentor. All are words synonymous with Gwendolyn Brooks. Born in Topeka, Kan., in 1917, Brooks made her name as a poet in Chicago. A Bronzeville resident, she grew up writing "…
"Your wedding," observes the central character in the Broadway comedy "Significant Other," "is my funeral." You may know the feeling: Your best friend ties the knot with someone she or he kn…
Think you've seen "42nd Street" before? Not with jazz-funk orchestrations and a rock drum set and a truly diverse cast, you haven't. Not with an ABBA-like synthesizer underpinning "We're in …
Joel Kim Booster doesn't want to get political. As a person who gladly and openly identifies as "dumb," the Plainfield-raised comedian feels like in these starkly divided times we're all try…
Lin-Manuel Miranda spent Saturday in Chicago, unannounced and mostly in the company of Jimmy Buffett. Each man has a show currently in Chicago: Miranda's "Hamilton" is in the midst of a long…
Whither contemporary dance in the golden age of the podcast? Can it fuse? Those provocative questions present themselves at the beginning of "Rooming House," the interesting and experimental…
"Once, not long ago," says a character in a weird new Broadway musical, "a group of musicians came to Israel from Egypt. You probably didn't hear about it. It was not important." But the pre…
If, as reportedly is its intent, Netflix finds a way to expunge Kevin Spacey and his character of Frank Underwood from the final season of "House of Cards," how will that make America feel? …
Friday | "Fade": Tanya Saracho's latest goes behind the scenes of a hit TV series. Through Dec. 23 at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave.; 773-871-3000 and www.victorygardens.org "…
People who've been around Lin-Manuel Miranda and "Hamilton" for many years tend to share something interesting: total confidence in the power of the arts to effect meaningful and substantial…
Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator and original star of "Hamilton," will return to the title role when the Broadway smash plays a three-week run in Puerto Rico in early 2019. Miranda, who is Pu…
Halloween night of 1967 was a special day in Chicago, the highly anticipated grand reopening of the Auditorium Theatre after a 26-year absence from public programming. The theater closed at …
It may have been chilly in Chicago on Monday night, but inside Thalia Hall, Pilsen's hipster-centric performance space that has been picking up more and more big-name comedy shows over the p…
What did Chicago's theater stars wear to the 2017 Equity Jeff Awards?
Paramount Theatre's "Sweeney Todd" won top honors at the 49th annual Equity Jeff Awards, a close shave of a competition between this season's union-affiliated theater productions in the Chic…
Dewey Finn, the interloping pedagogical hero of "School of Rock" and a character first created by Jack Black, is a tricky, shifty dude to play when live on stage. This Mary Poppins of substi…
Cody Estle has been named Raven Theatre's artistic director, effective immediately, the company's board of directors announced Monday. Estle has served as Raven's associate artistic director…
Court Theatre said Monday that its executive director, Stephen J. Albert, would be leaving his job in the fall of next year. Albert, 66, has been with Court, a storied non-profit theater wit…
Porchlight Music Theatre's production of "Billy Elliot" is extending through Dec. 31, it was announced Monday. The production, based on the 2000 film about a boy who makes his way from the b…
The board of directors of Writers Theatre said Sunday that they have engaged "an experienced human resources consultant" to investigate a claim of sexual harassment made against the Glencoe …
More than 90 Chicago artists will receive grants Monday at the 10th annual 3Arts Awards, a yearly celebration held by the Chicago-based nonprofit organization that advocates for artists of c…
"1980 (Or Why I'm Voting for John Anderson)" âœâœâœ "1980 (Or Why I'm Voting for John Anderson)" is a highly enjoyable and unpredictable world premiere by Patricia Cotter, now…
A Red Orchid Theatre has announced the cast of "Traitor," a world premiere adaptation by Brett Neveu to be directed by Michael Shannon. The production will feature Dado, Kirsten Fitzgerald, …
I first interviewed Milwaukee Ballet artistic director Michael Pink in 2014, and he said, "If we can get you through the doors, we can a have lasting impact." Pink has kept that promise so f…
Finding Jimmy Buffett on a hot Saturday night in July means a trip deep into the beer belly of Wrigley Field. Past Huey Lewis and the News, supportively rasping about the power of love. Thro…