The musical adaptation of the beloved New Line Cinema Christmas film runs through December 14, 2025

Thanks to Buddy the Elf, ELF THE MUSICAL has plenty of holiday cheer. Jack Ducat has large shoes to fill as the beloved film character Buddy, a now adult man raised on the North Pole by Santa (Andrew Hendrick) and his elves— who must then venture into the wilds of New York City to meet his human father. Will Ferrell’s performance in the original 2003 film is embedded in the holiday movie zeitgeist — so it’s a big ask. Luckily, Ducat is magnificent in the role. He captures Buddy’s sprightliness and endless optimism and cheer. Ducat also eschews making his Buddy into Will Ferrell 2.0 — his acting choices make the character immediately recognizable, without feeling like a copycat.

Continue reading “Review: ELF THE MUSICAL National Tour Presented by Broadway In Chicago” →

AMADEUS at Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a lively and sprawling production of Peter Shaffer’s play. Director Robert Falls, the recently retired former Goodman Theatre Artistic Director, makes his Steppenwolf directorial debut with one of the best uses of Steppenwolf’s Ensemble Theater I’ve seen. The open play space can pose a challenge because it doesn’t allow for a traditional proscenium staging, but it’s a great fit for AMADEUS. In Falls’s production, ensemble members flit in and out of the theater’s many entrances and exits, mirroring the cacophony of Habsburg high society. Todd Rosenthal’s sparse set design, replete with glimmering chandeliers that recall PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, allows Amanda Gladu’s opulent and colorful costumes to take center stage.

Continue reading “Review: AMADEUS at Steppenwolf Theatre Company — A Lively Production of Peter Shaffer’s Play About Imagined Rivalry Between Mozart and Salieri” →

HELL’S KITCHEN, the Alicia Keys jukebox musical now making its Chicago premiere as part of the first national tour, has a messy storyline wrapped in slick packaging. While the show is loosely based on Keys’s childhood in Manhattan, the storytelling is generic, and the songs are often awkwardly incorporated into the book. Admittedly, Kristoffer Diaz’s book is weak. It’s a flimsy vehicle for Keys’s song catalog. Huge Alicia Keys fans might enjoy hearing her biggest hits performed by musical theater actors, but the plot around them doesn’t hang together.

Continue reading “HELL’S KITCHEN National Tour Review: Alicia Keys’s Songs Wrapped in Lackluster Story” →

Kokandy Productions’ expertly sung JEKYLL & HYDE arrives just in time for spooky season — or cold winter nights. This is exactly how I like my Halloween-adjacent fare: Leslie Bricusse and Frank Wildhorn’s eerie and contemplative musical has a sense of creepiness, but there’s no blood or gore. Even the body horror here is imagined — yes, David Moreland transforms from the kind Dr. Henry Jekyll to his evil inner counterpart Mr. Edward Hyde, but his physical appearance remains unchanged. That’s precisely the question the musical explores though: If you suppress your true self and inner darkness for too long, what untold horrors unfold when it finally comes out? 

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This new PARANORMAL ACTIVITY stage play (based on Paramount Pictures’ PARANORMAL ACTIVITY horror films) has terrific stage effects and absolutely creeped me out. While I’m decidedly not a horror fan (in fact, I actively avoid the genre), this production captures that “edge of your seat, what terrifying thing will emerge from the dark next” energy. Levi Holloway’s script itself is extremely light on plot and character development. Based on the merits of the script alone, there’s not much to recommend in the material. But it leaves plenty of room for creepy effects and terrifying stage surprises — and the inventive and frightful production is definitely the selling point! 

Continue reading “Review: PARANORMAL ACTIVITY Stage Play at Chicago Shakespeare Theater” →

Sandra Delgado’s new play HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF STARS hits the stage at an eerily relevant time. Set in 2015, it follows Clara, a Green Card holder who’s been in the United States since she was two. Now facing the possibility of deportation on two counts of cannabis possession, Clara may have to leave behind the only home she’s ever known — and her 12-year-old daughter Stella, her ex-husband David, and her father. Delgado’s story is an important one, especially right now with the forcible ICE presence on the streets of Chicago. That said, Delgado’s storytelling methods are straightforward and overtly didactic.

Continue reading “Review: HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF STARS at TimeLine Theatre Company (Hosted by Lookingglass)” →

The world premiere musical runs through November 22, 2025 in the Owen Theatre

The world premiere musical REVOLUTION(S) at Goodman Theatre is provocative and timely. With direction by Steve H. Broadnax III, book by Zayd Ayers Dohrn and music and lyrics by Tom Morello (with a host of lyrics by other artists) — of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave fame — this is a show that draws on rock musical traditions. As a musical theater fan for whom RENT was a critical introduction to the art form, I see a lot of that same youthful, rebellious energy in REVOLUTION(S) — but this material is more radical and violent. Fans of shows like RENT and AMERICAN IDIOT will find much that’s intriguing here. Likewise, I think the musical is highly interesting, engaging, and genuinely provocative  — even if it doesn’t always cohere. 

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All the spectacle and creativity of director Julie Taylor’s original vision for THE LION KING remains gloriously intact in this new national tour. THE LION KING was one of the first touring musicals I ever saw many years ago in Chicago. And for sure I was hit with a wave of nostalgia listening to Elton John and Tim Rice’s classic Disney score (with additional music and lyrics for the stage musical by Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, Julie Taylor, and Hans Zimmer). It’s impossible to resist the allure of tunes like “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” and “Hakuna Matata.” 

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This “ad-rap-tation” of JULIUS CAESAR runs through October 19, 2025

ROME SWEET ROME, the latest production from the Q Brothers Collective at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, has a cool concept: JULIUS CAESAR, but make it hip hop. Like the group’s previous endeavors, the show takes a classic Shakespeare play and updates it with modern sensibilities. The resulting show, though, is really on the nose, both in terms of parallels to the current political climate (here, Caesar is an authoritarian leader who loves the sound of his own voice) and in the writing itself.

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Steppenwolf opens its 50th anniversary season with Rajiv Joseph’s dark play about a kidnapped 15-year-old girl returned to her parents

MR. WOLF simultaneously fascinated and repulsed me. This play from Rajiv Joseph, now in its Chicago premiere to kick off Steppenwolf’s 50th anniversary season, is gripping and terrifying. It centers on 15-year-old Theresa, who was kidnapped at the age of 3 by the titular Mr. Wolf. Now, by a miracle, Theresa has been safely returned home to her parents. And while Theresa is in good physical health, the play slowly unfolds a number of twists and turns that reveal just how much trauma the teenager has endured.

Continue reading “Review: MR. WOLF at Steppenwolf Theatre Company” →