Dances by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa have been performed in Chicago before"repertory for Luna Negra back in 2009 and this past year when Scottish Ballet visited with “A Streetcar Named Desi…
RECOMMENDED Exploring classic works by revisiting them in new forms can be exceptionally enlightening, and this is especially true with The House Theatre's newest offering, "The Revel." By a…
By Logan West On the hottest day of the Chicago summer, Julie Proudfoot appeared perfectly cool and relaxed as I approached her outside an Argo Tea in Lakeview. The founding and executive ar…
"We are bibliophiles, we know every book known to man." So begins "Dan & Kate's Book Club," a Friday-night foray into literature for the ludicrous. If you are truly a bibliophile, and th…
RECOMMENDED When you hear "Porn Minus Porn," that is, porn without the sex and all of the naked people, you might think, "Why?" After all, the most deplorable part about porn, okay, other th…
"Soap Box Derby King," the titular theme song, is still circling through my head the morning after seeing the show, though I wish it wasn't. I also wish I knew more of the lyrics than just, …
Storefront theaters vary wildly in professionalism from place to place, and when a curtain call concludes with the director getting onstage and introducing his mother, grandparents and music…
"Jamaica, Farewell" had quite the buzz going on a packed opening night. Clearly, the audience is there for a thoughtful, engaging theatrical treatment of life on the island, in all its charm…
RECOMMENDED The premise of "The Producers" is based on a truth of theater production that is stretched to absurdity. It's very easy to lose money when producing plays. Many investors in Broa…
RECOMMENDED More than ever before, we are capable of surrounding ourselves with people who validate our belief systems. Sometimes it seems that the only way we will listen to those who don't…
Prelude Note: I use "Fringe" to signify the Chicago Fringe Festival and "fringe" to signify the broad idea of fringe theater. A fascinating and magical aspect of a theater festival is the po…
In the world of Chicago theater, it is customary to do a few previews before opening to the public, the critics and the JEFF Committee. Doing so allows a play to get on its feet and to be a …
"Peter and the Starcatcher," now playing at Drury Lane Theatre, attempts to tell the story of how Peter Pan"the boy and the myth"became ageless. Directed by William Osetek, this production b…
Regardless of what comes next, I want to say this: Under The Gun's "Camp Tree Top" is Chicago's premier onstage exhibition of short shorts. Bar none. Critics talk about "courage" onstage, bu…
There are a substantial number of reasons why I should enjoy "Patchwork Drifter," Jennifer L. Mickelson's new work that opens Babes With Blades' eighteenth season: it’s an all-female c…
As subject matter goes, national tragedies are a slippery slope. Seldom do you get to see the proverbial forest and the trees. Take for example "Katrina: Mother-in-Law of 'em All," the lates…
RECOMMENDED Green Day's "American Idiot" sounds like someone took a real work of art, hammered and sanded it into an orb of commodified meaninglessness, cooked it up under the flame of unque…
Prelude The Chicago Fringe Festival is about as "off Loop" as theater gets around these parts. Fringe's anti-establishment streak goes even deeper than its DIY spaces. It goes straight down …
RECOMMENDED More scary than conventional horror is the play that preys upon its audience with an almost plausible storyline, framed by the believable extremism that lurks in the margins …
Since it was first produced more than sixty years ago, N. Richard Nash's "The Rainmaker" has aged into a kind of blanket statement on the condition of being an American. In the twenty-first …
You know what they say: Every time a mime speaks a Dickensian orphan gets sucked into a jet turbine and blasted out the other side as just a scream. However, it is that cozy time of year whe…
The invitation to contribute to this year’s “Artist Takeover” of the Fall Arts Preview got me thinking about what stimulates me to go see what I see. After a good twenty-fi…
You know what they say: Every time a mime speaks a Dickensian orphan gets sucked into a jet turbine and blasted out the other side as just a scream. However, it is that cozy time of year whe…
Chicagoans love their booze. "The History of Alcohol in Chicago: A Drinker's Guide" explores the days where gangsters ruled, prohibition was law, and the ways people still found to get thems…
In music, an interval is the space between two notes. For various reasons certain intervals inspire pleasant emotions, positive reactions. Other intervals are more apt to be heard as conflic…