Chicago Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 13

BWW Review: MIDSUMMER (A PLAY WITH SONGS) at Greenhouse Theater Center
by Emily McClanathan - September 09, 2019

On Midsummer's Eve, two 35-year-olds drink alone in an Edinburgh dive bar. Helena, a well-dressed divorce lawyer, sips a £40 bottle of wine while waiting for her married lover to arrive. Bob, a petty criminal, waits for a colleague to transfer the keys of a stolen car. When Helena's date stands her ...

BWW Review: Get Thee to SOMETHING ROTTEN! at Marriott Theatre
by Emily McClanathan - September 07, 2019

Chicagoans, lend me your ears: SOMETHING ROTTEN! has landed in Lincolnshire (the one due north of Chicago, not the one due east of Liverpool), and Marriott Theatre's regional premiere is a must-see for fans of musicals, Shakespeare, and comedy. Nominated for ten Tony Awards when it opened on Broadwa...

BWW Review: THE BAND'S VISIT National Tour Comes to Chicago
by Rachel Weinberg - September 05, 2019

THE BAND'S VISIT feels like an homage to the fleeting nature of live theater itself: a moment in time in which performers and audience are brought together to share a collective experience, all-encompassing yet passing swiftly and never to be created again. So too goes the narrative of the two chara...

BWW Review: Gary Griffin's Enchanting INTO THE WOODS at Writers Theatre
by Emily McClanathan - August 24, 2019

Writers Theatre opens its 2019/20 season with INTO THE WOODS, Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's beloved fairy tale mash-up, directed by Olivier Award-winning Sondheim interpreter Gary Griffin. Staged in the round in the larger of the Glencoe theater's two venues, Griffin makes the most of the inti...

BWW Review: Hell in a Handbag's Timely and Topical THE DRAG SEED
by Misha Davenport - July 31, 2019

David Cerda scores another camp hit with the timely and topical THE DRAG SEED...

BWW Review: Agatha Christie's AND THEN THERE WERE NONE Thrills at Drury Lane Theatre
by Emily McClanathan - July 30, 2019

Agatha Christie, the a?oeQueen of Mystery.a?? The numbers speak for themselves: best-selling novelist of all time (more than two billion sold), most-translated author (more than 100 languages), and author of the world's longest running play (THE MOUSETRAP has played in the West End since the year Qu...

BWW Review: Teatro ZinZanni's LOVE, CHAOS AND DINNER Provides Old-Fashioned Circus and Comedy Entertainment
by Rachel Weinberg - July 25, 2019

The Seattle-based circus, comedy, and cabaret spectacle Teatro ZinZanni has arrived in Chicago with the hybrid show LOVE, CHAOS AND DINNER. And ZinZanni serves up entertainment with a capital a?oeEa?? in this production. The evening alternates between decidedly low-brow slapstick comedy scenes, musi...

BWW Review: Dave Malloy's GHOST QUARTET with Black Button Eyes Productions at Stage 773
by Emily McClanathan - July 22, 2019

Dave Malloy's staged song cycle GHOST QUARTET is a madcap romp through seven centuries of mythology, folk tales, gothic horror stories, murder ballads, and more. Described in the lyrics as a 'circular story,' the nonlinear plot follows four friends through interweaving stories that include two siste...

BWW Review: Marriott Theatre's DARLING GRENADINE a Bittersweet Reflection of Life's Complicated Realities
by Emily McClanathan - July 18, 2019

Daniel Zaitchik's new musical DARLING GRENADINE delicately balances sentimentality and realism in a heartfelt look at one man's struggle with addiction and its effect on those who love him. In its Midwest premiere at Marriott Theatre, Aaron Thielen directs a stellar cast who do equal justice to Zait...

BWW Review: TRUE WEST Proves A Remarkable, Quintessentially Steppenwolf Production
by Rachel Weinberg - July 17, 2019

The newly opened production of TRUE WEST is a quintessentially Steppenwolf show in the best way possible: it's a fresh staging of a gritty American drama with a first-rate cast and production values....

BWW Review: THE RECOMMENDATION at Windy City Playhouse
by Emily McClanathan - July 16, 2019

Upon arrival at Windy City Playhouse's flagship venue in Irving Park, audience members are handed an acceptance letter welcoming them to Brown University's class of 2011. Thus begins an intimate journey through the world of THE RECOMMENDATION, written by Jonathan Caren and directed by Jonathan Wilso...

BWW Review: THE MUSIC MAN at Goodman Theatre
by Rachel Weinberg - July 14, 2019

Director Mary Zimmerman lends her whimsy to THE MUSIC MAN at Goodman Theatre in a production that pays homage to the small-town charm and iconic score of Meredith Willson's classic musical. Under Zimmerman's direction, this MUSIC MAN becomes a joyful company piece showcasing, in particular, the tale...

Review: Kokandy's HEAD OVER HEELS Has Got The Beat
by Misha Davenport - July 08, 2019

Elizabethan comedy meets modern constructs of gender fluidity in Kokandy's top-notch production of HEAD OVER HEELS....

Review: Pride Arts' GRINDR: THE OPERA Worth a Hook Up
by Misha Davenport - June 29, 2019

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BWW Review: THE RIVER at BoHo Theatre
by Emily McClanathan - June 27, 2019

In THE RIVER, Tony Award-winning playwright Jez Butterworth spins an atmospheric tale with as many twists and turns as its namesake. Following its 2012 premiere in London and subsequent Broadway run, Jerrell L. Henderson directs the Chicago premiere by BoHo Theatre, now a resident company at the Gre...

BWW Review: Theo Ubique's HEDWIG Ignites
by Misha Davenport - June 21, 2019

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BWW Review: IF I FORGET at Victory Gardens Theater
by Rachel Weinberg - June 16, 2019

In IF I FORGET, Steven Levenson provides a close study of the kitchen sink family drama. At its center, the play addresses fundamental questions about what it means to be Jewish in America at the turn of the 21st century (the first act of the play takes place in July of 2000, while the second jumps ...

BWW Review: EMMA at Lifeline Theatre
by Emily McClanathan - June 09, 2019

'I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like.' So Jane Austen famously prefaced the vivacious Emma Woodhouse, whom she describes as 'handsome, clever, and rich' in the opening words of her 1815 novel. Indeed, Emma, the meddlesome, would-be matchmaker is arguably the most contr...

BWW Review: MS. BLAKK FOR PRESIDENT at Steppenwolf Theatre Company
by Rachel Weinberg - June 05, 2019

While MS. BLAKK FOR PRESIDENT's narrative flounders in certain points, the play's integrity never flounders. Watching the play unfold, there's no denying the relevance of the issues that Blakk faced in 1992 to today's society. But the play brilliantly conveys that resonance while also still maintain...

BWW Review: Cirque du Soleil VOLTA in Chicago
by Rachel Weinberg - June 03, 2019

French Canadian troupe Cirque du Soleil delivers a death-defying and dazzling array of acrobatic acts with VOLTA, now resident in a large tent occupying Soldier Field's South Parking Lot. Each of VOLTA's astounding, seemingly superhuman acts grow increasingly more jaw-dropping as the show progresses...

BWW Review: MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN at Lookingglass Theatre Company
by Emily McClanathan - May 30, 2019

With Lookingglass Theatre Company being the fourth Chicago theater to produce a Frankenstein adaptation over the past year in celebration of the novel's 200th anniversary, audiences may well ask what more can be said about this classic tale. Rest assured: in MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN, writer and d...

BWW Review: FALSETTOS National Tour in Chicago
by Rachel Weinberg - May 30, 2019

The national tour of the 2016 Broadway revival of FALSETTOS, once again helmed by director James Lapine, has landed in Chicago with a first-rate production and cast. The mighty touring ensemble of seven captures all the neuroses and emotional journeys of the musical's composite 'Tight-Knit Family.'...

BWW Review: SIX at Chicago Shakespeare Theater
by Rachel Weinberg - May 25, 2019

Bow down to the queens of SIX. In this new musical from Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss (with direction from Moss and Jamie Armitage), the six wives of King Henry VIII are taking back their mics and sharing their stories-in the form of contemporary pop musical songs. This masterful musical sizzles with el...

BWW Review: NEXT TO NORMAL at Writers Theatre
by Rachel Weinberg - May 17, 2019

Under the direction of David Cromer, Writers Theatre presents a NEXT TO NORMAL that is raw and electric. Tom Kitt's music and Brian Yorkey's book and lyrics have an utter immediacy to them in this production (and each note sounds great thanks to the music direction of Andra Velis Simon and the six-p...

BWW Review: THE WINTER'S TALE at Goodman Theatre
by Rachel Weinberg - May 14, 2019

Goodman Theatre's THE WINTER'S TALE is one of the most inventive and playful productions of Shakespeare I've seen....