Preview: A Fresh and Fun Nutcracker Is Coming to Hyde Park
I have always loved the Hyde Park neighborhood for its vivacity and artistic sensibilities. So I was really pumped about getting to preview the Hyde Park School of Dance (HPSD) […]
On the Road: Broadway Up Close—One of the Best Shows on Broadway Isn’t a Musical
Tim Dolan is an actor—occasionally. But his regular gig is as a Broadway tour guide and entrepreneur. He’s owner of Broadway Up Close, which offers walking tours of the Broadway/Times […]
Review: Two Winners in the Nutcracker Ballet Relay
My interest in classical music was weaned on Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker ballet. So I leapt at the opportunity to do a Nutcracker relay last Saturday: the matinee opening […]
Review: Gender Bends in Midsommer Flight’s Twelfth Night
William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is a mistaken-identity rom-com designed as a frolic to entertain at the end of the holiday season (there is nothing about Christmas in this play itself). […]
Review: The Buttcracker: A Nutcracker Burlesque—Here to Make Christmas Cheer Queer
The Buttcracker (playing at the Greenhouse Theater Center through December 31) is a Nutcracker Burlesque, a Yule pantomime with elements of comedy, magic and circus that blends all the qualities […]
Review: This Year at the Chopin Theatre, It’s A Wonderful Life: Live in Chicago! Is as Enjoyable, Moving as Ever
I had to check the archives to be sure, but I can now say with certainty I’ve seen American Blues Theater’s It’s a Wonderful Life: Live in Chicago! no fewer […]
Review: In Its 45th Christmas Carol, Goodman Theatre Roasts an Old Chestnut with New Seasoning and Traditional Charm
A fair number of children and teens attended opening night of Goodman Theatre’s A Christmas Carol. Director Jessica Thebus and her creative team brought new life to this 45th edition […]
Review: Lookingglass Theatre Returns with The Steadfast Tin Soldier, a Weighty Holiday Fable Filled with Wonder
For all the theater I’ve attended in Chicago—since childhood, really—I’m slightly embarrassed to admit that this weekend marked my first visit to Michigan Avenue’s Lookingglass Theatre, the 35-year-old ensemble company […]
Dialogs: Patti Smith, a Woman of Depth, Artistry, and Love for Humanity, Lights up the Music Box
When I hear the name Patti Smith, so many images are conjured in my mind. The 1970s at Club 950, No Exit, and Neo were teeming with people sporting mohawks […]
Review: King Roger Makes a Spellbinding Premiere at Harris Theater
I was put under a spell on Friday. King Roger by the Chicago Opera Theater (COT) was the spellbinding work that eased my anxiety from sitting in a traffic snarl […]
Review: Le Comte Ory Is a Beautifully Staged and Magnificently Sung Romp by Lyric Opera
Rossini’s Le Comte Ory is my second French-language opera within a week. Verdi’s Don Carlos is also at the Lyric. Le Comte Ory is considerably more lighthearted and is in […]
Review: Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble Gives Freud a Smackdown in This is Not a Pipe
The Surrealism movement started in the 1920s, perhaps in response to WWI but definitely in reaction to art and literature being restrained and stifled into categories. Artists of the time […]