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Zac Thriffiley - Page 2

Zac Thriffiley

Zac Thriffiley is currently a Ph.D. candidate in English specializing in multi-ethnic American literature. Over the years, Zac has been heavily involved in arts communities wherever he has lived. He has performed in and directed theatrical productions throughout southeastern Louisiana, including in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. While working on his MA at DePaul University in Chicago, Zac covered the arts and culture scene for his university’s graduate student newspaper. He also served as a judge for Stage Left Theatre’s new playwright residency and dramaturg for Big Noise Theatre in Des Plaines. His personal essays have been published in The Windy City Times and The Coachella Review. Whenever he isn’t seeing a play or singing along to showtunes, Zac explores the city’s various bookstores and restaurants, usually with his two dogs close behind.




LEARN MORE ABOUT Zac Thriffiley

First Show:

Beauty and the Beast

Favorite Show:

The original cast of the Broadway production of Next to Normal

Favorite Stories:

  • Review: BERNADETTE PETERS IN CONCERT Brings Down the House at Dallas Symphony Orchestra - It's always an honor to witness a live performance of a star as charismatic and uniquely talented as Bernadette Peters, but getting to review her concert with one of the finest symphony orchestras in the country was a transcendent experience.
  • Interview: Mariah Lotz of ONCE at AT&T Performing Arts Center - The folk-inspired Tony Award-winner ONCE is always a virtuosic expression of emotion due to the demands placed on its musicians and actors. It is also a show worthy of Mariah Lotz's many talents. Interviewing her just as she began her first national tour gave me the sense that she is a force to be reckoned with. I hope to see her onstage again very soon.


Review: WIPEOUT at Rivendell Theatre
Review: WIPEOUT at Rivendell Theatre
March 12, 2024

Premiering at Rivendell Theatre under the inventive direction of Tara Mallen, WIPEOUT gifts audiences a hilarious exploration of aging, friendship, and womanhood that's as fun as a day at the beach and as bittersweet as a setting sun.

Review: THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE at Music Theater Works
Review: THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE at Music Theater Works
March 10, 2024

The semi-improvised, fourth-wall-breaking musical now receives a delightful production at Music Theater Works that's heavy on humor if occasionally light on heart. It runs through March 31 at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie.

Review: TOPDOG/UNDERDOG at Invictus Theatre Company
Review: TOPDOG/UNDERDOG at Invictus Theatre Company
February 20, 2024

Invictus Theatre Company's production of the Pulitzer Prize-winner TOPDOG/UNDERDOG has moments of comedic entertainment and dramatic import, but it struggles to live up to the play's substantial reputation. It runs through March 31.

Review: THE BAND'S VISIT at Writers Theatre
Review: THE BAND'S VISIT at Writers Theatre
February 18, 2024

Director Zi Alikhan has gifted Chicago audiences with a production of THE BAND'S VISIT whose talent and creative execution equal---and may even exceed---those of the Broadway and touring productions. It runs through March 17 at Writers Theatre in Glencoe.

Review: ALEX EDELMAN'S JUST FOR US at Steppenwolf Theatre
Review: ALEX EDELMAN'S JUST FOR US at Steppenwolf Theatre
February 17, 2024

Alex Edelman's newest solo show JUST FOR US is a riotously hilarious and surprisingly heartfelt meditation on internet culture, Jewish identity, and the limits of radical empathy. It runs through February 25 at Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theater. Critic's recommendation: get your tickets immediately.

Review: BROTHER SISTER CYBORG SPACE at Raven Theatre
Review: BROTHER SISTER CYBORG SPACE at Raven Theatre
February 13, 2024

Paul Michael Thomson's newest dramedy BROTHER SISTER CYBORG SPACE, now receiving its world premiere at Raven Theatre, occasionally loses itself in a flood of introspection. But it's buoyed along by a cast of thoughtful and charismatic performers.

Review: A HOME WHAT HOWLS (OR THE HOUSE WHAT WAS RAVINE) at Steppenwolf Theatre
Review: A HOME WHAT HOWLS (OR THE HOUSE WHAT WAS RAVINE) at Steppenwolf Theatre
February 11, 2024

Receiving its world premiere as part of Steppenwolf for Young Adults programming, Matthew Paul Olmos's A HOME WHAT HOWLS features moving performances and a haunting creative vision that make the most of an often frustrating script. It runs through March 2 at Steppenwolf's in-the-round Ensemble Theater.

Review: RICHARD III at Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Review: RICHARD III at Chicago Shakespeare Theater
February 10, 2024

If new Artistic Director Edward Hall's RICHARD III is any indication of what Chicago audiences can come to expect during his tenure, they would do well to cheer, 'Long live the king.' The darkly comic historical thriller runs through March 3 at CST's Courtyard Theater.

Review: SELLING KABUL at Northlight Theatre
Review: SELLING KABUL at Northlight Theatre
February 4, 2024

Northlight Theatre's production movingly captures the pessimistic practicality and undying hope that still plagues those most affected by a conflict that never really ended. The play runs through February 25.

Review: DIAL M FOR MURDER at Northlight Theatre
Review: DIAL M FOR MURDER at Northlight Theatre
December 10, 2023

Northlight Theatre's DIAL M FOR MURDER is a breathtaking, pulse-pounding, and even mordantly witty production that has already been extended through January 7 due to popular demand.

Review: THE GOLDEN GIRLS SAVE XMAS at Hell In A Handbag Productions
Review: THE GOLDEN GIRLS SAVE XMAS at Hell In A Handbag Productions
December 4, 2023

As sweet as a slice of cheesecake and as spicy as a raunchy joke shared between friends, THE GOLDEN GIRLS SAVE XMAS is a delightfully queer comedy that celebrates friends and family with holiday cheer.

Review: MANUAL CINEMA'S CHRISTMAS CAROL at Writers Theatre
Review: MANUAL CINEMA'S CHRISTMAS CAROL at Writers Theatre
November 26, 2023

Few dramatic adaptations of A Christmas Carol manage to convey the magic, the emotional power, and—yes—the terror of Dickens’s original as effectively and impactfully as Manual Cinema’s version, now playing at Writers Theatre in Glencoe through December 24th.

BWW Review: THE PEARL FISHERS Proves to Be a Real Catch at The Dallas Opera
BWW Review: THE PEARL FISHERS Proves to Be a Real Catch at The Dallas Opera
April 6, 2022

The Dallas Opera's production of Bizet's THE PEARL FISHERS acts as a satisfying palate cleanser, providing the talent audiences have come to expect from the company as well as a dream of a show.

BWW Review: EUGENE ONEGIN Thrillingly Enchants at Dallas Symphony Orchestra
BWW Review: EUGENE ONEGIN Thrillingly Enchants at Dallas Symphony Orchestra
April 3, 2022

The near-perfect production runs April 1, 3, and 5, a strictly limited engagement that will be talked about for years to come.

BWW Review: DO NO HARM Heals with Hurt at Soul Rep Theatre Company
BWW Review: DO NO HARM Heals with Hurt at Soul Rep Theatre Company
March 24, 2022

The powerful full theatrical premiere of a pandemic favorite runs March 10-19 at the Wyly Theatre at the AT&T Performing Arts Center.

BWW Review: FLIGHT Soars through an Exciting and Enlightening Journey at The Dallas Opera
BWW Review: FLIGHT Soars through an Exciting and Enlightening Journey at The Dallas Opera
March 7, 2022

The Dallas Opera’s premiere production of Jonathan Dove’s Flight beautifully captures these happenstance experiences in all their simplicity, magic, humor, and heartbreak, reminding us that we are at our most human when we find ourselves at our most vulnerable.

BWW Review: The Dallas Opera's MADAME BUTTERFLY Stirs Hearts and Minds at Winspear Opera House
BWW Review: The Dallas Opera's MADAME BUTTERFLY Stirs Hearts and Minds at Winspear Opera House
February 19, 2022

TDO’s newest production marks the long-awaited and triumphant return of an art form that cannot help but remind us of our shared humanity.

BWW Previews: A VERY SORDID WEDDING at Uptown Players
BWW Previews: A VERY SORDID WEDDING at Uptown Players
September 2, 2021

Uptown Players is proud to present the world premiere of A Very Sordid Wedding, based on Del Shores’ 2017 hit film of the same name. A Very Sordid Wedding will be the final installment of the postponed Uptown Players 2020 season, and performances will run September 24th through October 3rd at the Kalita Humphreys Theater. 

BWW Interview: Summer Stern of FUN HOME at Uptown Players
BWW Interview: Summer Stern of FUN HOME at Uptown Players
August 12, 2021

On Friday, August 20, Summer Stern will take to the stage as Little Alison in Uptown Players’s production of the musical Fun Home, roughly a full year since the show’s original opening was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The production runs August 20-29 at the Kalita Humphreys Theatre.

BWW Review: THE SPONGEBOB MUSICAL Dives Into the Best Kind of Nautical Nonsense at Bass Performance Hall
BWW Review: THE SPONGEBOB MUSICAL Dives Into the Best Kind of Nautical Nonsense at Bass Performance Hall
February 21, 2020

Everyone's favorite invertebrate has surfed into the metroplex in the form of THE SPONGEBOB MUSICAL, bringing a tidal wave of imagination and talent in its wake. The Broadway hit runs through February 23 at Fort Worth's Bass Performance Hall.



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