Dialogs: Jill Lepore’s Book We the People Tells Us Why Our Constitution Needs an Overhaul
I like to think of Jill Lepore sitting down at her desk to plan her new book on the US Constitution. We don’t need just another history, she thinks. There […]
Review: Tin Drum Theatre’s The Unseen Dazzles and Disturbs
It seems there’s a goldrush for plays people sense might be prescient or “timely.” Which in 2025 means shows that predict devastation and authoritarian nightmares. Tin Drum Theatre Company’s The […]
Review: Echoes of Excellence Carries the Legacy of Black Artists in Opera
Some of the finest singers in opera today performed last Saturday on the newly christened Robert and Penelope Steiner Parquet at the Civic Opera House. The concert was a product […]
Review: Ego Death Theatre’s Days of Rage Is Ferocious, Funny, and Heart-Wrenchingly Human
Ego Death Theatre Collective successfully hits the mark with Days of Rage by Steven Levenson. A compelling script, following a group of young radicals who are willing to do anything […]
Review: Chicago Repertory Ballet Brings the Drama Before the Balcony with The Capulets
The Capulets is a new ballet created and directed by Wade Schaaf, artistic director of Chicago Repertory Ballet. This world premiere is a multimedia collaboration with fantastic projection design by […]
Review: Friends with Guns by A Short Leap Theatre Finds Sparks in a Tricky Conversation
Friends with Guns, written by Stephanie Allison Walker and directed by Nathan Dale Short, is a provocative play that explores both sides of one of the most controversial debates happening […]
Review: Superior Donuts by Artistic Home Is Warm-Hearted and Entertaining But Needs an Update
Tracy Letts’ 2008 play Superior Donuts is a story about friendship between two unlikely souls—with a good dose of violence added. The story is set in an Uptown donut shop […]
Review: The Joffrey Ballet Delivers Classical and Soul/Funk Ballet in Matters of the Heart
One of the things I love most about humanity is that there are so many paths in tune with spiritual matters. I am not talking about religion. I am thinking […]
Review: Teatro ZinZanni Boasts Outrageous Talent and Zany Jokes—But Lackluster Dining
Teatro ZinZanni is a great way to spend a fall evening in downtown Chicago. Would I rely on it for dinner? Probably not. Would I do drinks beforehand? Probably. But […]
Review: Lyric Opera Stages a Double Bill of Love, Passion, and Rage With Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci
The Lyric Opera of Chicago gives us a fall doubleheader with two classic Italian operas rooted in the verismo tradition. Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana (1890) and Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci (1892) […]
The Witty City: Laura Hugg Says “I Don’t Want to Hug a Toilet Any More. I Want to Be On Stage”
This is the first in a series of articles spotlighting some of Chicago’s finest and funniest comedians worth watching. Though Laura Hugg has always loved comedy, it took many years […]
Preview: “It’s All Inside Your Head, But Is Any of It Real?” Theater of the Mind, Co-Created by David Byrne, to Open Next March
Chicago will have a new entertainment space that will enable you to “step into a new world of totally different experiences” from those you usually find in a theater or […]