Ah, the Irish! Full of wit and humor, but somehow, sad at heart. Those qualities infused Northlight Theatre’s funny, poignant two-man show, “Stones in His Pockets.” The stars, David Ivers and Brian Vaughn, portray two Irish fellows in their 30s, Jake and Charlie. Jake is just back from a few fruitless years in New […]
If anyone knows fashion it’s Nena Ivon, longtime director of fashion, special events and publicity for Saks Fifth Avenue in Chicago. “Fifty-three and a half years,” says the ageless Ivon, who has worked with virtually every designer who traversed a runway in the last half-century. “I call them the good, the bad and the […]
A most agreeable stage adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility” opened March 19 at Northlight Theatre. The production is commendable for its fidelity to the text and spirit of this esteemed author’s first novel, which, though I should not be so bold as to mention it, was rebuffed many times before its publication in […]
Handel’s “Hercules” recently opened at the Lyric Opera of Chicago with a question as new as today’s headlines and as ancient as the Acropolis.
The audience at the Bank of America Theatre got a welcome dose of warm country sunshine on Jan. 19, as well as an in-person visit from the country legend herself.
Beautiful voices, evocative sets, unorthodox costumes and flawless orchestral accompaniment. The Lyric Opera of Chicago’s new production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta “The Mikado,” conducted by music director Sir Andrew Davis, has all the ingredients for a terrific night at the theater. It does, however, require staying power, as it is three hours long. G&S […]
Be prepared to be surprised at Writers’ Theatre presentation of Graham Greene’s 1969 novel, “Travels With My Aunt‚” on its little stage at the back of Books on Vernon in Glencoe. The show is bold and imaginative and even has an unexpected, touching denouement. Four men, identical in Magritte-like bowlers, pinstripe suits, vests and matching […]
Girls want to see “Wicked” over and over again because in between flying monkeys, mob scenes and the big Oz machine is a story of friendship between two very different young women. The show, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, is back in at the Cadillac Palace in Chicago, but only through January 23. […]
Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is all mists, moonbeams and mischief, and Benjamin Britten’s opera of the same name, running at Lyric Opera of Chicago through Nov. 23, delivers them with twinkling merriment. From a chorus of singing sprites costumed like the dear little creatures from the “Close Encounters” spaceship to an Oberon who rides […]
Carmen is one of opera’s very bad girls. She seduces and then abandons her lovers about every six months, leaving them in various states of despair. But the weak-willed Don Jose, a Spanish soldier who deserts his regiment for her, will be her undoing. Lyric Opera of Chicago opened its production of Bizet’s “Carmen” […]
