While many theater groups take a pause for summer vacation, others keep busy in June and July. Highlights include the launch of a new season by the North Shore company Light Opera Works and a new version of a familiar story about a whale. “The Fantasticks“ June 6–14 It’s famous as the longest-running play in […]
One of the most striking and unusual things about the Goodman Theatre’s new production of “The Little Foxes,” a classic 1939 play by Lillian Hellman, is the music. An orchestral score, written for this staging by Richard Woodbury, swells for a minute or two at the beginning and end of each act—highly dramatic crescendos that […]
You don’t have to be a rabid Jane Austen fan—though I confess I am one—to love the world premiere musical “Sense and Sensibility” at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, directed by CST Artistic Director Barbara Gaines. CST commissioned the work by Tony Award-nominated composer Paul Gordon, who also provided book and lyrics as well as music. Gordon […]
The Joffrey Ballet paid homage to the grace of the human form in its program titled “New Works,” which opened April 22 at Cadillac Palace Theatre and runs through May 3. Mainly unadorned, the shapes and sinews of the dozen dancers move with such complexity and in such configurations as to leave us breathless. There […]
From the first notes of “The Carousel Waltz” it is clear that this Rodgers & Hammerstein musical drama will not end happily. Harmonies like shards of glass scrape and slice through the lovely melody as the Lyric Opera of Chicago‘s production of “Carousel” comes to life on stage at the Civic Opera House. A wordless […]
Putting together a new musical is a big deal. It isn’t easy finding the right combination of words, melodies, characters and spectacle that will win over audiences. But three new musicals are hitting local stages in May, and hopes are high that they’ll leave us humming as we walk out the doors. “Sense and Sensibility“ […]
It’s been 24 years since The Marriott Theatre staged “Anything Goes,” the biggest musical comedy of the 1930s, and the revived production is a feat of fabulous choreography, beloved Cole Porter songs, and eccentric, entertaining characters. “Anything Goes” represented common “escapist entertainment” of the time, or entertainment that allowed the public to escape from the harsh […]
Like so many other plays before it, “The Herd” is about a family gathering that turns into a moment of crisis and confrontation. It’s a familiar formula, but British actor-playwright Rory Kinnear’s drama is an exceptionally well-written take on this scenario. Now making its U.S. premiere at Steppenwolf Theatre with a wonderful cast skillfully guided […]
Goodman Theatre’s world premiere of “The Upstairs Concierge” is a play about The Hotelman Arms, a luxury boutique hotel in Chicago that serves every waking need (no matter how ridiculous) of each celebrity guest, and its upstairs concierge, Ella Elizondo, who tries desperately to put her degree in “Comprehension of Contemporary Conciergery” to the best […]
Adults can do Lolla—oh yes they can! I go every year and I’m 54. It’s a great 4-day music fest—you can buy passes for 1, 2, 3 or 4 days—in Grant Park, the heart of our beautiful city. Unlike other fests, it’s not in the middle of nowhere. It’s somewhere good—with lake breezes, Buckingham Fountain, […]
