It wouldn’t be the holiday season without Scrooge, George Bailey and the Sugar Plum Fairies appearing on local stages. But November and December also bring other theatrical gifts, including some promising comedies and dramas that have nothing to do with Santa Claus. “You Can’t Take It With You“ Nov. 6 – Dec. 13 A huge […]
For theatergoers, season ticket subscriptions offer savings on ticket costs, the ability to change seats or performance dates, and the chance to put some outings on the calendar months ahead of time. And, subscriptions are a way of putting your money behind a group you like. Here’s a look at several superb Chicago-area theater subscription […]
The fall season gets into full swing with some promising premieres. “East of Eden” Sept. 17 – Nov. 15 Back in 1988, “The Grapes of Wrath” became one of Steppenwolf’s most successful shows ever. Frank Galati, who wrote the script for that groundbreaking Tony Award winner, is now adapting another classic book by John Steinbeck, […]
It’s 1922 in Ottawa, Ill., when Catherine Donohue begins working at the Radium Dial Company at the age of 19 to help support her family. She learns how to paint numbers on the faces of wristwatches and pocket watches and soon forms a strong friendship with three other women, Charlotte, Pearl and Frances. The four […]
Anthony and Rosemary don’t know what life could be like outside Mullingar—the rural Irish town where they grew up side by side. Approaching their forties and struggling with personal problems, including a land dispute between their parents, they choose to remain in the home they have always known, and love has a great deal to […]
It’s no surprise that a play called “White Guy on the Bus” is about racism. The white guy in the title—a rich suburban financial wheeler-dealer named Ray—is the only white person on that bus. He sits down next to an African American woman named Shatique, who’s on her way to visit her brother in jail. […]
Grab your magnifying glass and put on your deerstalker because a classic whodunit has come to the North Shore. Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap,” the world’s longest-running play, begins on a snowy evening (an appropriate setting) as a couple celebrating their one-year wedding anniversary opens their guest house, Monkswell Manor. They soon realize that all of their […]
The artistic director of a theater company is like the captain of a ship. A captain can’t do everything but must be sure everything gets done. Tasks include overseeing the budget, choosing the repertoire, hiring actors, set designers, costumers and directors. The men at the helm of two important North Shore theaters—BJ Jones, now in […]
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 […]
That Oscar is no slouch. It can’t be easy to be the understudy in a play where the two lead actors that grace the playbill are so well-known and well-liked. I mean, really, who’s going to want to see you instead of, oh, George Wendt? Wendt’s sudden departure from Northlight’s “The Odd Couple” is sad, for […]
