Month: March 2026
THEATER OF THE MIND is an engaging, interactive, and fun tour through the senses. Co-created by David Byrne and Mala Gaonkar with direction from Andrew Scoville, this is a fully immersive and genuinely unique show. It’s also challenging to review because I don’t want to spoil any of the surprises or the show’s intricate illusions. The less you know going in, the better.
Continue reading “Theater of the Mind Presented by Goodman Theatre”
This really won’t be a review so much as my love letter to HAMILTON. I first saw Lin-Manuel Miranda’s genius musical in 2016 when it first came to Chicago; ten years later — and on my sixth viewing — I love it as much as I did the first time. Miranda created a singular work in HAMILTON, but also paved the way for other contemporary musicals. With HAMILTON, he hit the sweet spot: He wrote a musical that has legitimate artistic merit and originality but also has become immensely profitable. That’s an extremely rare feat in the theater landscape.
Continue reading “Review: HAMILTON National Tour Presented by Broadway In Chicago”
THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO is a lopsided stage adaptation of Junot Díaz’s 2007 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. While the first act is tight and focuses squarely on the budding relationship between ultra-nerd Oscar Wao and his freshman year college roommate Yunior, the second act incorporates almost all the other key plot points from Díaz’s text. As a result, the first half is a charming and sweet “bromance,” but the second half of this English language premiere (the production was originally produced in Spanish at Repertorio NYC) is sprawling, overlong, and not that engaging. There’s simply no reason this adaptation needed to be almost three hours.