The Chicago Children’s Theatre is kicking off their 8th season with a charming new production of “A Year with Frog & Toad.” The Tony-nominated musical is based on Arnold Lobel’s beloved books that feature two lovable friends and their year-round adventures. Directed by Henry Godinez (currently a residence artist at the Goodman Theatre) the play […]
1999 was a big year for the muse. So 14 years later, it’s high time to update the pop culture images of Sharon Stone and Salma Hayek asmythology’s daughters of Zeus. Enter Dani De Waal. (And for effect, Ms. De Waal, please make your entrance from the audience, under spotlight.) Truth is, Stone and Hayek […]
“Madama Butterfly” opened at the Lyric Opera of Chicago Tuesday, Oct. 15, and it is a production the likes of which I have never seen. And like most opera fans, I rarely miss a chance to see Giacomo Puccini’s magnificent telling of this tragic tale. The curtain rises on the stage of the Civic Opera […]
The Lyric Opera of Chicago production of Giuseppe Verdi’s “Otello” boasts a superior cast, even when one of the three main characters, Iago, was replaced by his understudy. South African tenor Johan Botha has the title role, Puerto Rican-born Ana Maria Martinez portrays Desdemona, and because bass-baritone Falk Struckmann could only complete the first act […]
From the moment it begins, it’s clear that “The North China Lover” will be a play about more than the romance mentioned in the title. It’s about memory—a story told through the distance of time. First, we hear the sound of a typewriter. When the lights come up at Lookingglass Theatre, an older woman (Deanna […]
“Cyrano de Bergerac” is one of those plays you’ve surely heard of and can probably outline at least the basic plot. Man with overly large nose falls in love with a beautiful woman and woos her through a handsome surrogate. Seeing the play reveals so much more. This production, at Chicago Shakespeare Theater (although not written […]
So the goy yutz writing under this byline takes his frequent theater companion, his shiksa daughter named Christina (oy vey!), to the Chicago premiere of “Old Jews Telling Jokes.” Overall, they like it fine. But as the schmegeggy walks out, he’s not really feeling part of the whole mishpocha (go figure). It dawns on him […]
In a perfect world, any actress portraying Dolly Gallagher Levi has her audience at “Hello.” But live professional musical theater isn’t a perfect world. Thankfully for Drury Lane Theatre and Tony winnerKaren Ziemba, in Chicagoland at least, this world is a neighborhood—a community of respect for the houses, creative teams and entertainers consistently delivering Broadway […]
Who says you need to be an actor to hit the stage? Of course, it’s Chicago’s world-class theatrical talent that makes our city a cultural destination. But our storied history in improv has led to a bunch of entertaining shows and interactive comedies that thrive on audience participation. You can find all types of sketch […]
Halloween’s on the horizon, but there isn’t anything scary about the variety of plays planned on local stages in October. If anything, the dominant theme is romance, not horror. Once October 9 to 27 The low-budget 2006 film “Once” charmed audiences with its tale of music and romance on the streets of Dublin. It seemed […]
