Jacob Davis Produced by Pegasus Theatre Chicago Playing at Chicago Dramatists It’s a new year, and Pegasus Theatre starts it off as usual by nurturing a new generation of playwrights. The Young Playwrights Festival is a year-long citywide event to which high schoolers submit their one-act play scripts. Among 500 entries, a few are selected for development … Read more
Book by Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin Music by Matthew Sklar Lyrics by Nell Benjamin Additional Music by Marvin Hamlisch Directed and Choreographed by Jerry Mitchell Produced by Broadway in Chicago You’re Never Too Old for a Feel-Good Show People excited for Gotta Dance, the new pre-Broadway try-out playing at the Bank of America Theater, … Read more
Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser Book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows Based on the Story and Characters of Damon Runyon Directed by Rudy Hogenmiller Choreographed by Clayton Cross Conducted by Shawn Stengel Produced by Light Opera Works, Evanston New Talent Keeps an Old Favorite Vital I’ve seen Light Opera Works do such a … Read more
By Jackie Taylor Directed by Rueben D. Echoles Musical Direction by Robert Reddick Produced by Black Ensemble Theater, Chicago The Divas Walk among Us 2016 will mark the Black Ensemble Theater’s fortieth anniversary, and their upcoming season looks set to be a fantastic retrospective. The Uptown/Ravenswood-based company, which is still led by its founder, Jackie … Read more
Written and Directed by Bruce Norris Produced by Steppenwolf Theatre Company Norris Returns to His Old Stomping Grounds People familiar with the works of Bruce Norris, and people who regularly attend Steppenwolf undoubtedly are, may remember his 2000 play The Infidel. Inspired by the downfall of New York Chief Justice Sol Wachtler, The Infidel centered … Read more
By Okko Leo Translated by Kristian London Directed by Brad Akin Produced by Akvavit Theatre Playing at Rivendell Theatre Finnish Satire is Tough Humor is difficult to do successfully across cultures. That’s particularly true of humor that is based on irony, detachment, or, in the case of young Finnish playwright Okko Leo’s Orkesteri, now in … Read more
Translated and Adapted from Federico García Lorca Directed and Adapted by Robert Shoemaker Produced by Poetry Is Playing at Red Twist Theatre, Chicago A Southern Gothic Treatment of Spain No matter how bravely theatre artists praise limited resources and for spurring creativity, it’s still always a relief to see productions that are heavily shaped by … Read more
By David Ives Adapted from Jean-François Regnard Directed by John Rando Produced by Chicago Shakespeare Theater Louis XIV Dances on His Throne It can be hard to know sometimes, when looking at an old, long-forgotten script, whether to admire it as a forgotten treasure, or to accept the judgment of history, and leave it on … Read more
Music and Lyrics by Elton John and Tim Rice Additional Music and Lyrics by Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, Julie Taymor, and Hans Zimmer Book by Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi Adapted from the screenplay by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton Directed by Julie Taymor Choreography by Garth Fagan Music Supervision by … Read more
By GQ, JQ, Jackson Doran, and Postell Pringle Developed with Rick Boynton Music by JQ Directed by GQ and JQ Choreography by Anacron Produced by Chicago Shakespeare Theater “Our final destination is all the same station.” Among the newer Chicago theatre Christmas traditions is the Q Brothers’ hip-hop adaptation of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. … Read more