THE PROM delivers heartfelt musical theater comedy for musical theater lovers. With plenty of theater in-jokes, hijinks, big ensemble dance numbers, and a mix of funny and saccharine, composer Matthew Sklar, lyricist Chad Beguelin, and co-book writers Beguelin and Bob Martin understand the formula for an entertaining modern musical. While THE PROM hard-core wears its heart on its sleeve, it’s also so fun. THE PROM isn’t afraid to embrace its identity as a “feel-good” musical, but there’s enough originality and winks at the audience in the story to counteract the moments that veer towards maudlin. It’s the kind of big, jazzy musical theater joy that I’ve so missed, and thus, this tour has landed in Chicago at just the right time. 

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Although the play takes place in 1919, Tyla Abercrumbie’s RELENTLESS probes prescient themes of family secrets, inherited trauma, and the enduring legacy of racism for two affluent Black sisters living in the northern part of the United States. Director Ron OJ Parson remounts TimeLine Theatre Company’s production at the Goodman’s Owen Theatre after a sold-out initial run. 

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IN EVERY GENERATION explores the duality of the cyclical nature of humanity — specifically, in this play, the Jewish experience. As playwright Ali Viterbi’s text reveals, sometimes cycles can be sources of comfort and tradition — as is the case with the Levi-Katz’s family annual Passover Seder and many other Jewish holidays. In this case, the cycle of ritual is a powerful moment of family gathering and remembrance. But in other ways, the cycles that humans perpetuate can be damaging — for grandparents Paola and Davide, the trauma from their experiences as Holocaust survivors lives on many years later as the family gathers for Passover 2019 in the play’s first scene. The play asks if not just the Jewish people, but American society on the whole will uphold the phrase “Never Again” — are we now truly moving towards a world in which hatred — and specifically anti-Semitism — might someday be eliminated? Or are we doomed to repeat this cycle of trauma and xenophobia because human memory is simultaneously long and short? 

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Doug Wright’s GOOD NIGHT, OSCAR, now in its world premiere production at Goodman Theatre, is an engaging play that brings the story of one infamous night in the life of Oscar Levant to the stage. As the drug-addicted and depressed Oscar, Sean Hayes (perhaps best known for his role on WILL AND GRACE) gives a magnetic performance that reflects the man’s immense capacity for humor and his musical genius but also his deep insecurities. While Wright’s script doesn’t necessarily wade into new waters in terms of set up and the unfolding of the play’s events, Hayes’s central performance is a magnificent character study. Hayes is every bit as compelling a stage performer as one might expect, and GOOD NIGHT, OSCAR affords him the opportunity to showcase his formidable talents in some familiar and surprising ways. 

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WHITE is a sharp and genuinely funny critique of the modern art world, the subjectivity of contemporary art, and the question of who should be represented and who has access to the upper echelons of said art world. 

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HADESTOWN takes audiences on a wild and original ride into Hades’s underworld. With music, lyrics, and book by Anaïs Mitchell, HADESTOWN combines the Greek myths of the ill-fated lovers Orpheus and Eurydice, along with that of Hades and Persephone, lord of the underworld and his beloved wife who spends half of each year on earth and half underground — thus causing the seasons. Mitchell’s score and lyrics likewise draw on a variety of musical influences, incorporating New Orleans style jazz, folk, and pop Broadway sounds. The more jazz influenced numbers form the heart of HADESTOWN; they’re the most distinctive, inventive, and lively. 

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Rarely do I see theater that feels truly unique, but Mary Zimmerman’s THE NOTEBOOKS OF LEONARDO DA VINCI at Goodman Theater is indeed unlike any other piece of theater. Zimmerman first mounted this production at the Goodman for the first time 29 years ago and now it returns — along with cast member Christopher Donahue, who appeared in that 1993 staging. 

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TEATRO ZINZANNI has a new show at the Spiegeltent ZaZou in the Loop, and it’s the best edition of this circus cabaret dinner theater yet.

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BLUES IN THE NIGHT is a quintessential Porchlight production that will have audiences feeling the opposite of the blues. 

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Victory Gardens Artistic Director Ken-Matt Martin ushers in a new age for the company with a play that trods familiar territory. travis tate’s QUEEN OF THE NIGHT introduces a father and son duo who find themselves at a crossroads on a camping trip. tate’s script contains several references to incidents in Stephen (André Teamer) and Ty’s (Terry Guest) past, but the conversation often steers around topics rather than right into them. It’s evident that Stephen has struggled with his son’s identity as a Black, queer man in the past, and it’s also evident that Stephen had a falling out with Ty’s older brother, Marshall (who remains unseen). While tate’s dialogue isn’t really grounded in realism, the realism comes through in the sense that the characters talk around their issues and never arrive at the root of their familial tension. 

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