Book & Lyrics by Tom Jones Music by Harvey Schmidt Stage Director & Choreographer by Rudy Hogenmiller Conductor Roger L. Bingaman Produced by Light Opera Works At Cahn Auditorium, Evanston Full orchestra and new tune and large staging fuel Jones & Schmidt’s The Fantasticks Rudy Hogenmiller and Jim Harms have a long association with … Read more
Conceived by Courtney Crouse and Aaron Benham, Directed by Courtney Crouse Musical arrangements by Aaron Benham Choreography by Christopher Logan Produced by Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre At No Exit Cafe, Chicago They’re playing his songs – darn well, too! This original revue is slick, smart and engaging You … Read more
By Stephen Belber Directed by Cody Estle Produced by Haven Theatre, Chicago Race and Real Estate Collide Again, But This Time, It’s Father-Son Spite As do many American family dramas, Don’t Go Gentle focuses not so much on a father who rages against the dying of the light as against his own children, so as … Read more
A World Premiere Musical Book & Lyrics by L.C. Bernadine Music & Additional Lyrics by Erik Olsen Directed by Alex Higgin-Houser Music Direction by TJ Anderson Choreographed by Jon Martinez Produced by Underscore Theatre Company At Jackalope Frontier Stage, Chicago Refreshingly original new musical captures the foibles of the shadowy alternative country musicals and songwriters … Read more
Written and Directed by Regina Taylor Produced by Goodman Theatre, Chicago The Goodman Meets Future Shock Many times my friends and I have enjoyed mocking our theatre elders’ consternation over all these gosh-darned social media and newfangled devices. If you ever want to see a rambling stream of panicked umbrage, try reading some articles on … Read more
Music and Lyrics by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová Book by Enda Walsh Directed by John Tiffany Produced by Broadway in Chicago Beloved Musical Once Back for Too Short a Time Since Once is about a fleeting moment of love amid a series of departures, it is appropriate that the 2012 musical which swept the … Read more
By Lydia R. Diamond Directed by Chuck Smith At the Windy City Playhouse, Chicago Smart, riveting family drama of an old money New England Black Family Director Chuck Smith (one of the finest craftsman directing in Chicago) has revised Lydia R. Diamond’s 2006 drama Stick Fly. This revival is a well acted and tightly directed … Read more
By George Bernard Shaw Directed by Dan Foss and Kerstin Broockmann Produced by Rogue Theater, Chicago “If you don’t like my preaching, you must lump it. I really cannot help it.”—Shaw A Most Shavian Dialectic Brings Nietzsche to the Stage If you enjoy George Bernard Shaw’s philosophical musings in audio form, Don Juan in Hell … Read more
Book and Lyrics by Marsha Norman Music by Lucy Simon Based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett Directed by Charles Newell Music Director Doug Peck Choreographer Katie Spelman At Court Theatre, Chicago Stunningly staged and sung, Newell and Peck’s production of The Secret Garden a major triumph! When director Charles Newell and music director … Read more
By Walt McGough Directed by Megan A. Smith Produced by Sideshow Theatre Company At Victory Gardens Richard Christiansen Theater End of the world sci-fi fable features two determined woman struggling to reconnect Playwright Walt McGough’s Chalk arrives in Chicago after a two -city (Boston) rolling world premiere. Set in a barn at the end of … Read more