2,260 stories from Chicago Theater Beat
First Look 2014 Written by Tanya Saracho, Martyna Majok, and Joshua Conkel Directed by Yase…
Having four playwrights who attend school in rural Ohio gives these often absurdist pieces an aura of authenticity. A Chicago audience can get on board with these larger-than-life character…
The talented zanies of Second City debut their tongue-in-cheek Summer Blockbuster with all the panache and expert timing we've come to expect of one of the best name brands for comedy in the…
As always with Light Opera Works, this production delivers on the music, with a spectacular 29-person cast and 23-piece orchestra under the musical direction of Roger L. Bingaman. Add to th…
In the past year, I've been lucky to experience two productions of Romeo and Juliet that not only grasped the beauty and terror of the story, but also revered it. The first was Joffrey Balle…
I wanted to love Urinetown. When done right, the show is so much fun and more than a little twisted: just my cup of tea. Unfortunately, this Urinetown was largely wrong. A talented ensemble …
Working with musical director Alex Kliner, Director Jan Ellison has sculpted a fast-paced production that delivers the humor you'd expect from a Second City show around an existential commen…
Despite some naturalistic dialogue, Playwright Christine Whitley delves into the well of heavy symbolism a bit too frequently. It comes off juvenile and disjointed despite the evocative sta…
There's sharp power in Joan Didion's memoir that takes the reader down a vortex of willed illusion, of mental illness as magical thinking and a means of coping with grief. That power is mute…
Described in the press release as "Bridesmaids" meets "Breaking Bad," Take the Cake has good intentions and a potentially humorous concept. However, Stacie Barra's writing is nothing short o…
Daniel Talbott's dialogue rings true, and under Adam Webster's insightful direction, a sleepless night between two friends grappling with the banal crises of life becomes a hidden world into…
A Midsummer Night's Dream has everything it needs going for it, and more than you might expect from free theatre. There's even a concert to open the show courtesy of bands local to the nearb…
As talented as young playwright Christopher Shinn has shown to be, this effort is a strange, muddled milieu with an oddly soap operatic quality unbecoming of his skill. The Blind Owl, back f…
With The Marvelous Marvelettes, Black Ensemble Theater's Jackie Taylor and playwright Reginald Williams put their story front and center, weaving in plenty of musical interludes throughout. …
An intricate story of romance, oppression and empowerment, Lynn Nottage's richly told story is packed with historical import and contemporary relevance. (read Catey Sullivan's entire review.…
The Beverly Hillbillies, the Musical is harmless enough, but the trip down to Munster to see it isn't a must. And let's hope it doesn't start a trend of setting old sitcoms to music. Otherwi…
This is heavy stuff, to be sure, though the story does end with a measure of hope. This episode of inhumanity is one we as Americans ought to own up to. That it happened in our own city, not…
While JPAC's Big Fish is not as polished a production as you'll usually find among professional companies in the area, Director Dante Orfei brings imagination to his staging. Come to Big Fis…
If you are someone who can accept an obvious set-up in the service of some crude jokes, you may enjoy this show. If, however, you are looking for realistic relationships and a story that's …
A satisfying world premiere from Redtwist Theatre, company member Tommy Lee Johnston's two-act heartwarmer Geezers belies its dismissive title. Rising above insult, Jan Ellen Graves' charmin…
American Buffalo swirls through David Mamet's elliptically, at times oddly formal language as Teach, Donny and Bobby provide a window on survival in gutter lane. Director Keith Albers mighti…
There's always a risk in staging a playwright's lesser-known works. Hellish Half-Light has all the right ingredients: talented performers, solid production values, and the work of an absurdl…
In the most intimately-staged Steep Theatre production I've witnessed, A Small Fire puts life in perspective as we witness a believable portrayal of a family riddled with loss. This producti…
Chicago Shakes has once again delivered a thoroughly enjoyable Broadway musical designed for a young audience, but with all the showmanship of a first-rate Equity level production. Parents, …
The Gift ensemble proves yet again that well-crafted theatre does not necessarily need spectacle, gimmicks, or musical numbers in order to captivate a modern audience. This simple staging of…
