Chicago Shakespeare Theater Artistic Director Edward Hall’s RICHARD III is a macabre — and messy — production with a commanding lead performance from Katy Sullivan. 

Continue reading “Review: RICHARD III at Chicago Shakespeare Theater” →

With NOTES FROM THE FIELD, playwright Anna Deavere Smith once again proves she’s a master of her genre of theatrical storytelling. Known for her documentary (or verbatim) plays, Smith presents monologues from 19 different interviews in this exploration of the school-to-prison pipeline in America. By allowing her interview subjects to literally speak for themselves, Smith has mastered the art of showing and not telling. NOTES FROM THE FIELD has a clear agenda; it’s a searing condemnation of the systemic failings of the American judicial, police, educational, and penitentiary institutions — and most notably a condemnation of the ways in which those systems have failed Black and Brown Americans. But Smith conveys her points with a blistering humanity (even if, at two hours and 40 minutes, I think she could have arrived at those points with a shorter run-time).

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Chicago premiere of contemporary dance show based on Sufjan Stevens’s ILLINOIS album runs through February 18, 2024

ILLINOISE is a journey through our great state of Illinois using movement. Directed and choreographed by Justin Peck and featuring music and lyrics from Sufjan Stevens’s ILLINOIS album, the show uses dance as its primary narrative language. Peck collaborated with playwright Jacke Sibblies Drury on a loose storyline for ILLINOISE, but that story is communicated entirely through dance. Stevens’s lyrics underscore the situations in the show and mirror the emotional shades of the choreography. 

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HIGHWAY PATROL is a real-life play for the internet age. Based on the digital archives of actor Dana Delaney with text curation from playwright Jen Silverman, it’s a personal, vulnerable, and also universal exploration of the longing for connection. Though the action takes place primarily in 2012, before the phrase “extremely online” was even coined, HIGHWAY PATROL is a live theater piece about what it means to be “extremely online.” 

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Teatro ZinZanni is back inside the spiegeltent nestled on the fourteenth floor of the Cambria Hotel on Randolph to delight audiences with its latest edition: LOVE, CHAOS, AND DINNER. The creative team has brought back the title from the first iteration of the show in Chicago for this engagement. It’s a reliably delightful combination of cabaret and circus entertainment, and because it’s literally dinner and a show in one, it’s a reasonably good value, too. 

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The world premiere musical runs through December 24, 2023

Betty Boop is making her stage debut…and thanks to Jasmine Amy Rogers in the role, she’s making a real star turn. I truly didn’t know what to expect when BOOP! THE MUSICAL was announced. How would a cartoon character featured primarily in animated shorts from 1930-1939 make her way into a 2023 musical? The answer ends up being a conventionally plotted, enjoyable visual wonder with some classic big musical numbers. This Betty Boop musical brings the bops and good vibes.

Continue reading “Review: BOOP! THE MUSICAL Pre-Broadway Engagement Presented By Broadway In Chicago” →

The pre-Broadway engagement runs through December 10, 2023

It’s a “brand new day” for THE WIZ with new material from Amber Ruffin in this Broadway-bound engagement, but the production is well-trod territory. While I don’t take issue with the 1974 musical’s source material (Broadway is no stranger to riffs on THE WIZARD OF OZ), but the production choices — and the new additions to the book — don’t make this a unique or refreshed interpretation. From the gray tones of Kansas to the technicolor fairy-tale transformation into Oz (set by Hannah Beachler and costumes by Sharen Davis), this WIZ follows a well-worn path. That’s not to say the production isn’t enjoyable, but this Yellow Brick Road isn’t taking audiences on a novel adventure.

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

These days, truth is elusive — and Timeline Theatre’s THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT plays with that idea. It’s the age of endless fact-checking resources on the internet, but also the age of misinformation spread across TikTok, Reddit, and other social media. Wherein lies the truth? And what is accurate? Sometimes, it’s hard to say. THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT meditates on that theme.

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The Chicago premiere of Selina Fillinger’s play runs through December 17, 2023

Selina Fillinger’s POTUS: OR, BEHIND EVERY GREAT DUMBASS ARE SEVEN WOMEN TRYING TO KEEP HIM ALIVE has farce-within-a-farce energy. Fillinger draws on the conventions of classic farce as a day in the White House for seven women working for the President (or otherwise connected to him) try to contain POTUS’s messes. In this way, it’s obvious that Fillinger wants to infuse POTUS with “f*ck the patriarchy” energy and assert that it’s the women behind powerful male political figures who are the ones really making things happen. While it’s a clever and intriguing concept, Fillinger’s play doesn’t go that deep. I don’t think POTUS offers deep political or social commentary, even though the play certainly underscores that competent women in positions of power are usually overlooked. 

Continue reading “Review: POTUS at Steppenwolf Theatre Company” →