Who would imagine that a Handel opera could be such fun? Lyric Opera opened a new production of the composer’s “Rinaldo” at the Civic Opera House, and the final opera in its 57th season is an extravaganza of music, drama, and plenty of side-splitting comedy! The story is slight. Crusader Rinaldo, sung gloriously by American […]
If you don’t know what “fml” means, then you probably aren’t a teenager. Teens are both the subject and the intended audience for Sarah Gubbins’ play “fml: how Carson McCullers saved my life” — but adults are also likely to appreciate this timely, heartfelt drama in Steppenwolf Theatre’s series for young audiences. For those of […]
Ready for its second musical release, mixed on a board once owned by Billy Joel, a North Shore blues/rock quintet embraces its growing audience. It’s curious that members of the band High Street have an iota of interest in Billy Joel. Because Joel is 50 years older than this group’s average age of 13.8. But […]
The British colonization of Africa was a protracted, complicated cruelty whose ramifications still affect Africans today. Western ways supplanted centuries-old native traditions, wiping away tribal life. “The Convert” examines the negative impact of European “progress.” In 1890s Rhodesia, Catholic priest Chilford (Leroy McClain) strives to assimilate into encroaching British culture. He acquiesces to housekeeper Mai […]
If you were labeled a “shrew” by your friends and family, how would you act? And would love allow you to show your true self? These questions are central to the spirited adaptation of “Short Shakespeare! The Taming of the Shrew” that just opened at Navy Pier’s Chicago Shakespeare Theater. The play is produced for […]
The American Gay Rights Movement started not with a bang but with several bangs. The Compton Cafeteria and the Black Cat Tavern riots in California foreshadowed a movement about to come to fruition. But neither of those conflicts grabbed the attention of the uprising that would become the linchpin of gay rights: The Stonewall Rebellion. “Hit […]
Oh man, you might be thinking. Avant-garde theater?
Shakespeare explored the dream realm as it pranks the real world in his perennial favorite, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Chicago Shakespeare Director Gary Griffin updates the story’s era to the 1920s and lumps in Sigmund Freud’s dream analysis for good measure. For those who never read it high school, here’s the plot: In the real […]
“Oohrah!” is how U.S. Marines often greet one another. That rallying cry is also the title of a play by Bekah Brunstetter about an American soldier returning home to his family in North Carolina after four tours of duty in the Persian Gulf. He’s an Army guy, not a Marine, but a young man wearing […]
As a blaze during a night chill, the Joffrey Ballet’s “Winter Fire” illuminates the Auditorium Theatre. It revealed a company of dancers rich in the heritage of classical ballet, but pushing the boundaries of their bodies and the art form. This powerful program delivers three ballets, including the U.S. premiere of “Infra” by Wayne McGregor, […]
