The charming Chicago premiere of this musical based on the cult classic 2001 film runs through September 28, 2025

With AMÉLIE, Kokandy Productions has turned an obscure musical into a charming and intimate production sure to give the warm fuzzies. Based on the 2001 film of the same name (notably starring Audrey Tatou in the title role), Kokandy Artistic Director Derek Van Barham’s staging captures all the charm and whimsy of its source material (and, to my mind, improves upon it even more with the musical treatment). With book by Craig Lucas, music by Daniel Messé, and lyrics by Nathan Tysen and Messé, the show sweeps audiences up into the tale of the quirky Amélie and her desire to become a “do-gooder” and improve the lives of those around her.

Continue reading “Review: AMÉLIE at Kokandy Productions” →

Otherworld Theatre Company’s limited engagement runs through August 31, 2025

TWIHARD! A TWILIGHT MUSICAL PARODY should be veritable millennial theater nerd catnip. I read the first of Stephenie Meyer’s books about mere mortal Bella Swan and her glittery vampire love Edward Cullen in eighth grade, and I continued to devour the rest of the series throughout high school (plus the films notoriously starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson). In retrospect, the cringeworthy elements of Meyer’s book series practically parody themselves — which makes them ripe for a parody stage adaptation from director/book writer and lyricist Tiffany Keane Schaefer and composer Brian Rasmussen. 

Continue reading “Review: TWIHARD! A TWILIGHT MUSICAL PARODY at Apollo Theater” →

The world premiere play about the tennis legend from playwright Lauren Gunderson runs through August 10 in the Yard

In Chilina Kennedy, director Marc Bruni and Lauren M. Gunderson have found a tenacious and hard-hitting actor to play the eponymous tennis legend in BILLIE JEAN. The role of Billie Jean King, who tirelessly fought for women to have equal pay in professional tennis, necessarily centers the play. Kennedy’s boundless energy and appealing spunk really give it life. 

Continue reading “Review: BILLIE JEAN at Chicago Shakespeare Theater” →

Enjoy the dazzling stage tour of this “tale as old as time” through August 2, 2025

The new national tour of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is gorgeous and full of Disney stage magic. Disney Theatrical Group has pulled out all the stops for the first tour of this musical in 25 years. I wore out my VHS tape of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST as a child; Alan Menken and Howard Ashman’s classic music and lyrics have a special place in my heart. But this was actually my first time seeing any stage version of this show—and it was absolutely the one to see.

Continue reading “Review: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST National Tour Kicks Off in Chicago” →

The Goodman concludes its 99th season with the musical revival featuring a 29-member company of many Chicago musical theater all-stars

THE COLOR PURPLE THE MUSICAL is a portrait of Celie, a young Black woman living in a small Georgia town, as she goes on a journey of pain, resilience, and self-discovery. With direction by Lili-Anne Brown, music direction by Jermaine HIll, and choreography by Breon Arzell, Goodman Theatre’s revival of the 2004 musical based on Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize winning-novel takes audiences along for Celie’s emotional story. 

Continue reading “Review: THE COLOR PURPLE at Goodman Theatre” →

The Chicago premiere of Noah Diaz’s affecting and unusual play runs through July 20, 2025

Noah Diaz’s YOU WILL GET SICK is an affecting and unusual play. With direction from Steppenwolf Co-Artistic Director Audrey Francis, it closes out the season in a moving and intriguing manner. The “will” in the play’s title is pivotal to the proceedings — the central character, identified only in the script as “#1,” has an unnamed degenerative disease. Although #1’s experience with his body’s failings is paramount, Diaz doesn’t explore sickness through the lens of blood or body horror. 

Continue reading “Review: YOU WILL GET SICK at Steppenwolf Theatre Company” →

The 49th revue plays an open run at The Second City e.t.c.

The Second City e.t.c.’s CHAOS THEORY OF EVERYTHING is a potpourri of comedy. While some past e.t.c. revues have loosely unified around a theme, CHAOS describes this one well. It’s a little bit of everything. As with past Second City revues, that means some of the jokes really land…and some don’t. With direction from Anthony LeBlanc, returning company members Meghan Babbe, Jenelle Cheyne, Javid Iqbal, and Tim Metzler are joined by newcomers Spencer Hodges and Max Thomas. This ensemble mixes it up with some topical/political sketches and some evergreen ones.

Continue reading “Review: CHAOS THEORY OF EVERYTHING at The Second City e.t.c.” →

The Chicago engagement of the 2023 Tony Award winning musical runs through June 22, 2025

KIMBERLY AKIMBO is as oddball of a musical as its name. But ironically the protagonist Kimberly Levaco, who has an extremely rare, unnamed condition (perhaps similar to progeria) that causes premature aging at 4-5x the normal rate, is the least weird of the people around her. The national tour of director Jessica Stone’s 2023 Tony Award winning production has arrived in Chicago; it’s often strange, sometimes heartfelt (particularly when accomplished Broadway veteran Carolee Carmello takes the stage as Kimberly.)

Continue reading “Review: KIMBERLY AKIMBO Presented by Broadway In Chicago” →

U.S. premiere production of Jack Godfrey’s new musical about “Lawn Chair Larry” plays through June 29 

“What makes a man try to fly in a lawn chair?” is 42 BALLOONS most repeated lyric. It’s on the nose — and it’s repeated across six interludes in Jack Godfrey’s new musical. Based on the real-life story of Larry Walters, who in 1982 reached a height of 16,000 feet flying a lawn chair accompanied by 42 leather balloons, the musical is squarely focused on that answer. It’s ambitious and charming to make a musical about one plotline (there’s no “B” storyline). The musical endears audiences to Larry (played as a true charming nerd by Charlie McCullagh). 

Continue reading “Review: 42 BALLOONS at Chicago Shakespeare Theater” →

DIANA, the titular musical about the beloved late princess now in its Chicago premiere at Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, has three songs dedicated to her wardrobe. This seems only fitting for the style icon. I was most eager to hear a particular lyric from her 11 o’clock number “The Dress,” in which Diana takes dressing for revenge to new heights. The lyric may have been mocked on Broadway, but let me tell you, Diana’s assistant and royal advisor Burrell (here played by Jon Parker Jackson) milks the lyric about her “f*ckity f*ckity f*ck you dress” for all its worth. (I think it helps that surely Jackson was aware of the lore around this lyric by the time this production was staged). It’s not subtle, but it works.

Continue reading “Review: DIANA at Theo” →