Review: Verdi’s Don Carlos Goes the Distance at Lyric Opera
The Lyric Opera in Chicago is at the forefront of opera productions on the world stage. It’s right up there with La Scala in Milan or the Met in New […]
Review: Deeply Rooted Dance Theater Brings a Divine Mix of the Spiritual and Sensual in Movement and a Hot Tribute to Quincy Jones
Deeply Rooted Dance Theater gave a powerful performance that elated the audience and took me on an emotional trip down memory lane. The performers were Deeply Rooted members and company […]
Review: Puppetry and Movement in Above the Water Bring Strong Emotions to the Surface at the Den Theatre
Above the Water is a devised physical show (with puppets in it) about grief. At various points in my life, puppets had helped me get over several fears–including a childhood […]
Review: A New Generation Tries to Capture the Bittersweet Pain and Transcendent Triumph of Rent in Porchlight’s Season Opener
Attending opening night of Porchlight Music Theatre’s season opener, Rent, was a peculiar proposition for me from the moment I RSVPed, but one I was willing to entertain for the […]
Review: The Quest for Home by Desperate Immigrants Is the Theme of Routes at Remy Bumppo
Home is where the heart is, the proverb says—and home is the heart of the story in Routes, a British play now being staged by Remy Bumppo Theatre Company. The […]
Dialogs: How Chicagoans and Russians Write—CHF’s Chat with Author George Saunders
Oak Forest native to the “political left of Gandhi,” essayist and award-winning author George Saunders returned to Chicagoland to talk about writing with Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me host Peter Sagal. “The Art of the Short […]
Review: Chicago Shakes’ Measure for Measure, a Dark Comedy, Becomes an Adventure in Havana
Director Henry Godinez sets up his Havana-set Measure for Measure with a colorful nightclub scene, including singers and chorus girls, and closes it with a nod to the Cuban revolution […]
Review: Stage Left’s Man of the People Needs a Dose of Vigor and Chemistry
I was looking forward to Man of the People by Stage Left Theatre. Patent medicine and unbelievable ads in the back of my comic books were a particular fascination of […]
Review: Gift Theatre’s The Locusts Is a Haunting and Surreal Thriller Reflecting a Dark Reality
It is ironic how the stripping of women’s rights, banned books, and other atrocities live larger than life in Florida. The Sunshine State was the shiny tarpon leaping out of […]
Review: AstonRep Mounts an Appropriately Bleak Production of Sam Shepard’s Buried Child
There’s nothing more satisfying than a sharply directed and well-acted production of a Sam Shepard play. Shepard’s America is middle America at its seamy, seedy worst with family secrets, lies […]
Review: An Honest and Funny Take on Life, Death, and Change in Man and Moon
I was not expecting to laugh as much as I did while experiencing Man and Moon , produced by Dragonfly Theatre Company in conjunction with 16th Street Theater NFP. The […]
Review: Swing State at Goodman Theatre Focuses on Environmental Disaster and the Lives of Our Wisconsin Neighbors
Swing State is playwright Rebecca Gilman’s latest effort in asking us to understand the lives of 20 percent of the US population—those who do not live in major metropolitan areas. […]