We turn the spotlight on the hottest plays in Chicago and beyond this spring and summer. “Hamlet“ April 17 to June 9 To be or not to be in the audience for this play? That is not the question — you’ll definitely want to be there when Chicago Shakespeare’s longtime artistic director, Barbara Gaines, takes […]
We turn the spotlight on the hottest plays and musicals in Chicago this spring and summer. “Jesus Christ Superstar“ April 27 to May 20 Lyric Opera of Chicago continues its acclaimed Broadway at Lyric initiative with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s popular 1970 rock opera about the last week of Jesus’ life. This is […]
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 as mythology’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 […]
Going to Marriott’s Theatre’s, “South Pacific,” to enjoy a timeless, classic love story amidst Rodgers and Hammerstein’s fabulous music is perfectly legitimate. But leaving with only the simple thought of shampooing an irksome someone out of one’s life is to do this production a gross injustice. The impeccable casting of Elizabeth Lanza as Ensign Nellie […]
Sometimes, it’s all about punctuation. To many, hinging a professional musical-theatrical production on the abilities of a bunch of children would be a huge question mark. Not to folks in Oakbrook Terrace. At least, not when they have director/choreographer extraordinaire Rachel Rockwell at the helm. Drury Lane’s current production of “Oliver!” doesn’t include an exclamation […]
Music and pajamas always go well together. Such is the case with The Music Theatre Company‘s production of “The Pajama Game.” When I think musical, I tend to think big and boisterous—not something you would you expect in a smaller theater. This isn’t a problem for director Jess McCloud, along with founding artistic director and […]
Musical adaptations of movies don’t have to be “all or nothing” propositions.” But “Big Fish” deserves to be just a little bit … bigger. Chicago-area theater-lovers again have the opportunity to see great entertainment before it hits the stage on Broadway, and this latest world premiere does not disappoint. The book by John August and […]
The “Jekyll & Hyde” musical revival’s pre-Broadway express derailed at Chicago’s Cadillac Palace March 14, replete with theatrical carnage demanding its patrons look away. Put the debacle squarely at the feet of the show’s producers, undaunted by the musical’s original 1,543-performance run from 1997- 2001 that still managed to lose more than $1.5 million and […]
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 […]
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 […]
