The Chicago Children’s Theatre’s production of “Harold and the Purple Crayon” is chock full of delight, wonder and charm. Inspired by the Crockett Johnson’s classic of the same name, the play tells the story of Harold, a creative and curious toddler who creates his own adventure with the help of his trusty crayon. It’s a […]
National Theatre of Scotland’s “Black Watch,” which opened the evening of October 10, is a tough show. Presented by Chicago Shakespeare Theater after a successful run last year at the Broadway Armory, it is billed as a musical, though it’s not clear why. Recordings of bagpipes do drone on and plenty of marches, patriotic anthems […]
Check out Center for Independent Futures (CIF) Story Pirates event as an easy and fun way to enjoy live theatre and support a great cause! When: Sunday, Oct. 21, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Where: SPACE, 1245 Chicago Ave., Evanston, IL 60202 Cost: Purchase tickets online, $20 for adults and $10 for children under 12. […]
“Elektra” seems a strange choice to open the season at Lyric Opera of Chicago. No arias, no beautiful costumes, no comic relief, just the intense suffering of this title character from the ancient Greek tragedy by Sophocles. Yet the company’s new production of Richard Strauss’s powerful 90-minute theater piece proves a stunning success. Opening night […]
One out of every 236 people living in 1980 still alive today yearns for a theatrical homage to the song and fashion stylings of that time, according to a study by the Department of Sociology at Nevada’s Cadwallader University. That doesn’t necessarily bode well for Drury Lane Theatre’s staging of “Xanadu.” Because this musical is […]
The main characters in Tennessee Williams’ “Sweet Bird of Youth” call themselves — and each other — monsters. “When monster meets monster, one monster has to give way, and it will never be me!” proclaims the aging, drug- and sex-addled film actress Alexandra Del Lago. Her young lover, gigolo and traveling companion of the moment, […]
What’s it like to be in hell? So colossally boring that you’ll even seduce the Devil to get the hell out. That’s what happens in the National Theatre of Scotland’s merry and quite mad production of “The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart.” It is now running in the charming little cabaret-style theater on the sixth […]
Remember corporate raiders? The financial guys in the 1980s who bought companies to close them? Citadel Theatre Company in Lake Forest has Larry the Liquidator right on stage — the shark who swallows vulnerable companies whole by selling off their assets to maximize shareholder value. Larry Garfinkle is part of the five-person cast of “Other […]
Water has a mysterious power in Mary Zimmerman’s “Metamorphoses.” The actors spend much of their time wading, floating, swimming, bathing and splashing in a swimming pool — not always for any logical reason that has anything to do with the action in the stories. The very presence of the water seems to heighten the yearning […]
At the risk of sounding like a ‘60s flower child, I admit there are some music artists who speak to me—in more than a musical way—but spiritually, too. I won’t preach or witness here, but spiritual is the only way to describe the visceral feeling I experience when listening to certain music. These artists draw […]
