6,591 stories from Stage and Cinema
A HOLIDAY CHESTNUTCRACKER The Joffrey Ballet is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its holiday production of The Nutcracker, which means audiences have enjoyed an evening of grace, beauty, …
RECIPE FOR A CHRISTMAS STEW I sent this recipe to a friend, who will let us know how this Christmas Stew turned out: This is a family favorite, cooked up every holiday season. There are a lo…
WHEN THE DECONSTRUCTION OF COMEDY BUILDS LAUGHTER Jeff Garlin, comedian and star performer in HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, appears in his one-man show Closer Than I Appear at the Steppenwolf …
FINDING NEW WAYS TO TURN A BODY The big news from Hubbard Street Dance Chicago as the intrepid troupe launches their four-day "winter series" at the Harris Theatre in Millennium Park? It's t…
CAT CHOKES UP FUR BALLS ONE TOO MANY TIMES You should live so long to meet the Hannukatz, a big 6 foot fur ball of a cat who drops by the Moskowitz family home in Skokie to educate the kids …
A DOCTORED WHO How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical is only 90 minutes long"not much more time than it would take to watch the beloved animation and read the book by the late Dr. Seus…
ROLL OUT THE CAROL For two generations, a yearly outing to see A Christmas Carol has been a feel-good tradition for San Francisco families. American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) has staged …
BIG RIVER MAKES A CLASSIC BOOK FLOW BEAUTIFULLY ONTO THE STAGE In Big River, adapted from the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the "mighty Mississippi" gracefully becomes a mighty m…
A JOLLY OSMOND HOLIDAY To fans and detractors alike, Donny and Marie represent a cultural and show business ethos so strong, and so specific, that their actual talents sometimes get lost in …
IT'S A WONDERFUL SHOW After a long and trying day, I entered Victory Gardens a bit of Scrooge on Saturday night. So when Christmas-y sweater-wearing performers, their smiles stretching from …
FRISK ME AGAIN The hubbub in the lobby of the Public Theater late last Friday night suggested we were in for a dynamic show. Frisk Me: The Songs of Max Vernon packed Joe's Pub with one of th…
I THINK I HEARD BELLINI TURNING IN HIS GRAVE Imagine yourself sitting tied to a chair in a stuffy, dark room with a very dull senile old man who talks on and on and on and on and on and on a…
FIFTY SHADES PUREED The erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey has made millions, maybe billions, of dollars and counting, having set the record as the fastest-selling paperback of all time, surp…
A TASTY POTPOURRI PASTICHE IS MORE PASTRY THAN PORRIDGE Billed as "a holiday bender" (as in gender), About Face Theatre's 90-minute confection includes a 45-minute "cocktail hour" pre-show w…
SECOND CITY OFFERS A LUMP OF COAL Scene 1"INTERIOR OF SPOOGE AND FARLEY'S CRITIC HOUSE (EVERWHEEZER SPOOGE, an irascible, irritated editor-in-chief and theater critic, is hunched over his la…
PALE-Y BY COMPARISON On paper, it must have seemed like such a great idea: create a new holiday show as an alternative to the onslaught of Christmas Carols and Nutcrackers, have Pulitzer-win…
HALF & HALF Australian Made Entertainment's new production of Andrew Bovell's well-crafted relationship thriller Speaking in Tongues really gets going in the second act. The play, direct…
LAMC SHINES IN A HISTORICALLY INFORMED PERFORMANCE OF MONTEVERDI'S VESPERS OF 1610 After Los Angeles Master Chorale's (LAMC) astoundingly successful performance of Claudio Monteverdi's Vespe…
D'ARCANGELO DONS A NEW LOOK After presenting a successful string of tragic operas this season, Lyric Opera flexes its comedic muscles with a charming production of Gaetano Donizetti's opera …
IT’S STILL WONDERFUL In just a few seasons, It's a Wonderful Life: The Radio Play has ascended to the top of the Christmas tree of essential local holiday entertainments. A show that c…
EXHAUSTING BUT ENJOYABLE LUST You’ll have to suspend disbelief, endure belaboring, and excuse doltish behavior to enjoy the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Don Giovanni, but o…
WASTED TIME In Marisa Wegrzyn's Hickorydickory, all humans are born with a mortal clock encoded with the date and time of their death. This mortal clock takes the form of an actual pocke…
IT'S OK TO BELIEVE THAT THE SUN WILL COME OUT TOMORROW Director Rachel Rockwell once again astounds us with an incredibly entertaining rendition of Annie at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora, …
REIGNING SUPREME! Monay, Monay, Monay, Monay, MONAY! If the seemingly heartless Irish tycoon Michael R. Regan (a fantastic Dave Hanson) had a theme song in the beginning of Edward Sheldon's …
A SKIRMISH OF WIT THAT CAN ONLY BE SHAW In 1896, George Bernard Shaw planned to beat Oscar Wilde at his own playful plotting and acerbic wit, so he wrote his answer to the recently successfu…
