Saturday, 30 August 2025 12:53
Review: 44 The Musical at Studebaker Theater
Written by Maddie Burroughs
As someone who has worked on dozens of productions, both producing and technical directing, before committing to a project, I ask myself: “Why this show? Why now?” With 44 The Musical, written, directed, and co-produced by Eli Bauman, I struggled to answer those questions. The show, based on Bauman’s “experience”…
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Theatre in Review
Wednesday, 27 August 2025 10:53
Review: PrideArts' A New Brain at Center on Halsted’s Hoover-Leppen Theatre
Sarz Maxwell
There are several new things about PrideArts’ production of A NEW BRAIN, the most obvious being its new venue at the Hoover-Leppen Theatre in Center on Halsted. PrideArts made the most of its former location at 4139 N. Broadway, but this new venue is a boon in many ways. Its…
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Theatre in Review
Tuesday, 19 August 2025 13:26
Great Performances Shine in ‘Hershey Felder’s Rachmaninoff and the Tsar’ at Writers Theatre
Written by Bill Esler
Hershey Felder has made a significant part of his life’s work playing the roles of piano prodigies, and at Writers Theatre he takes on the role of Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943), considered the last of the romantic Russian composers, and a virtuosic pianist. Felder, a very good actor (he received a…
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Theatre in Review
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Sunday, 17 August 2025 22:27
MadKap's Forever Plaid at Skokie Theatre: Back in Plaid -The Afterlife Ain’t Half Bad
Written by Kimberly Katz
Back by popular demand and bursting with harmony, MadKap Productions resurrected the beloved musical revue Forever Plaid for three jubilant encore performances at Skokie Theatre on August 16th and 17th. After its earlier-season success, this revival felt less like a return and more like a victory lap—richly earned and warmly…
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Theatre in Review
Monday, 18 August 2025 16:57
Review: How to Transcend a Happy Marriage @ Redtwist Theatre
Written by John Accrocco
Is there a harder emotion to define than love? Its forms are various and seemingly subjective, something you can only know when you feel it. Sarah Ruhl takes on the topic in her 2017 play How to Transcend a Happy Marriage now playing at Redtwist Theatre. Directed by Elizabeth Swanson,…
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Theatre in Review
Sunday, 10 August 2025 13:26
Review: Music Theatre Works' Fiddler on the Roof at North Shore Center for the Performing Arts
Written by Maddie Burroughs
“How do we keep our balance?” Posed in the very first moments of Fiddler on the Roof, this question receives an emphatic answer – Tradition! – by way of a high-energy opening number that immediately transports the audience into the heart of the 1900s Jewish-Russian village of Anatevka. Yet, as…
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Theatre in Review
Thursday, 07 August 2025 12:03
Broadway in Chicago’s Parade Astounds with Emotional Beauty
Written by Lauren Katz
Walking into the CIBC Theatre, the first thing any audience member will notice is Scenic Designer Dane Lafrey’s stage. We are unmistakably in a courthouse – with a platform at the center and various forms of seating surrounding it. For those familiar with the story, you might make the connection…
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Theatre in Review
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Tuesday, 05 August 2025 12:40
‘Jesus Hopped the A Train’ In Killer Good Production at City Lit
Written by Bill Esler
Notable New York playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis’s 2000 breakthrough play, “Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train,” is receiving a dynamic revival at City Lit Theater, with a fantastic cast delivering excellent performances and inventive staging, all under the direction of Esteban Andres Cruz. Guirgis went on to win a a Pulitzer…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Monday, 04 August 2025 11:37
Review: Kokandy Productions' 'Amélie' at Chopin Theatre
Written by John Accrocco
Earlier this summer, The New York Times asked its readers to submit their lists of the top 100 films of the 21st century. Scrolling through social media, it was clear the 2001 French film ‘Amélie’ was a millennial fan favorite. A whimsical rollick through Montmartre seems like ripe fodder for…
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Theatre in Review
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Monday, 04 August 2025 00:21
Uptown Music Theater Highland Park’s ‘Hairspray’ Shimmies, Shines, and Steals Hearts
Written by Kimberly Katz
Uptown Music Theater Highland Park hits all the right notes with their electrifying staging of Hairspray - a radiant production bursting with kinetic energy and a message that feels as relevant today as it did in the 1960s. Under Tor Campbell’s dynamic direction and deft choreography, the show dazzles with…
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Theatre in Review
Saturday, 26 July 2025 12:13
Chicago Shakespeare Theater's Billie Jean a Thrilling Journey Down the Road to Legend
Written by Mitchell Oldham
Sometimes we can’t fully appreciate the giants who walk among us until we have the chance to view them and their achievements through hindsight. In the case of tennis great Billie Jean King, that process is being bolstered through the arts. Now playing at Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST), a powerful…
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Theatre in Review
Thursday, 24 July 2025 08:17
Farce or Fun: 44- The Musical Sneak Preview at Studebaker Theatre
Written by Kendall Royzen
When an opportunity arose to see a sneak preview of a new musical about President Barack Obama, there was a clash amongst younger generations to see who would get the chance to see it. Though it has been nearly two decades since Barack Hussein Obama was inaugurated into his first…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Sunday, 20 July 2025 17:38
Twenty Roles, One Truth: Identity Explored in Tin Drum’s Incognito
Sarz Maxwell
Fans of highly intellectual and nonlinear storytelling will love INCOGNITO. Playwright Nick Payne is known for plays with inventive narrative structures and deep philosophical inquiry—qualities that are clearly in evidence in INCOGNITO. This production is the Chicago debut of INCOGNITO; across the Pond the work has been praised for the…
Published in
Theatre in Review
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