4,000 stories from Newcity Stage
Often when filling out applications and surveys, we are given the option of checking only one box as it pertains to our identity. Rarely do we see the selection "mark all that apply," and if…
RECOMMENDED A few days ago, a friend and I were joking about the plot of Lerner and Loewe’s “Brigadoon” when he quipped, “What a silly story,” then, quickly rea…
Waiting for LiveWire Chicago's production of "Partners" to begin, my date and I talked about how much we would like an apartment that resembled Mike Mroch's elegantly shambling set. After th…
By Aaron Hunt "I'd really fallen in love with Cole Porter, and his music, and just became obsessed with hearing all these obscure recordings. I saw a musical revue which was called 'The D…
RECOMMENDED Children of all ages braved a rainstorm Monday night to hear songs about jelly, see a video game where a taco takes on a squash and visit a world where a person lives in a sewer …
RECOMMENDED There's a certain magic to academic competitions. Debate teams and Academic Decathlon members understand the focus and determination it takes to stand in front of judges and face…
RECOMMENDED Amidst concrete and apartment complexes, skyscrapers and trains, our interconnectedness with nature may not be immediately apparent. Wendy Clinard's “Watershed” is fu…
RECOMMENDED In the heart of Times Square there is a building called the TKTS Discount Booth; same-day tickets to Broadway shows can be purchased there at discounted prices. The queue of audi…
A not terribly interesting play about terribly important issues, “Death And The Maiden”"as seen in the current production at Victory Gardens"is most notable for a star turn court…
RECOMMENDED "That's cool as hell!" declares an enthralled pre-recorded voice, breaking away from his own faux deep thoughts about the universe, as the six-person cast of "Apes of Wrath""the …
By Dennis Polkow Director and choreographer Rachel Rockwell seems to be the lady with the golden touch, the one with an uncanny talent for taking old classic shows that you thought you knew …
RECOMMENDED The living space created for Steppenwolf's intimate upstairs staging of this Kenneth Lonergan play is so cozy and lived-in that while heading toward my seat I was tempted to inst…
Co-artistic director of The New Colony Andrew Hobgood, who directed "Orville and Wilbur Did It!" comments on the type of creative progression that affords this work its charm at the same tim…
I'll take the plunge and just say it: everyone's got a sinking feeling in this play about military wives of submariners. There's an encounter group full of them who meet at a submarine histo…
By Sharon Hoyer Choreographer Ron De Jesus returns to his roots in a collaboration with Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater, the company that introduced him to a career he never planne…
RECOMMENDED When it comes to courting crossover audiences, one most often sees dance companies trying to convince mass audiences that the art form isn't just for the champagne-sipping opera-…
RECOMMENDED Those of an age to recall the 1971 version of the John-Michael Tebelak/Stephen Schwartz musical "Godspell" are in for some surprises while enjoying the 2012 revised version on st…
RECOMMENDED In a recent commencement speech given to Dartmouth College's graduating class, award-winning writer, director and producer Shonda Rhimes addressed the question she is most often …
RECOMMENDED Few things incite feelings of patriotism in the average American like USO shows and the performing of staple military ballads like "Anchors Aweigh" and "Marines' Hymn." Arguably,…
RECOMMENDED You might think being a rock troll, a vampire, a werewolf, or a hunch-backed "Igor" would disqualify hopeful enlistees from military service. But in the fictional land of Borogra…
Just entering the tiny side project theater feels like an intrusion on somebody's private space. The lack of separation between the single row of seats and the bedroom stage creates a sense …
By Dennis Polkow "As a songwriter," Sting admits, "I had experienced a long drought." Rarely inactive, Sting, now sixty-two, had been involved with a number of projects since his last solo a…
You're invited to silently witness a drug tourist spiritual quest. The drug: Ayahuasca. The travelers: local comedy duo Ray BradGary. The duo, comprised of Brad Einstein and Gary Pascal, hal…
Comedy has come a long way. In the old days, many male comedians believed with all of their hearts that women just weren't funny. The comedy world was once filled with barriers for female co…
Mention to any fan of the American musical theater the musicalization of Stephen King's novel "Carrie" and I guarantee you will enjoy a visceral response; anything from the lift of an eyebro…
