Saturday, 19 September 2026 01:34
The Attic at Goodman Theatre Redefines Memoir Through Breathtaking Physical Storytelling
Written by Maddie Burroughs
At intermission, I sent Ken, Buzz Center Stage’s managing editor, a text: “So thankful I made it!! It’s intermission, and if there’s one show anyone sees it should be this.” By the time the lights came up at the end of The Attic, I couldn’t have agreed with intermission-me more.…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Monday, 21 September 2026 12:18
Definition's How We Got On: A Mixtape for the Stage
Written by Wesley David
What happens when three young people discover hip-hop and realize they might have something to say? Idris Goodwin’s How We Got On, directed by Definition Theatre Artistic Director Tyrone Phillips, answers that question with rhythm, humor, attitude and plenty of heart. Think of it as a mixtape for the stage…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Sunday, 20 September 2026 15:07
Northlight Delivers a Headline-Making, Hilarious Front Page
Written by Angelo Campos
Northlight Theatre opened its new venue with Jeffrey Hatcher’s smart, rejuvenated adaptation of The Front Page. Commissioned by Artistic Director BJ Jones, this world-premiere production is the first play to be performed in their new Evanston home and proves to be the ideal piece to launch the company’s exciting new…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Saturday, 19 September 2026 16:10
Overshadowed's Flame of Fire Finds Humanity, Strength, and Forgiveness in a Tragic Chapter of Missionary History
Written by Ken Payne
Overshadowed Productions’ Flame of Fire revisits one of the most polarizing true stories in mid‑century missionary history, and the result is a tense, deeply human portrait of faith, conviction, and consequence. Written by Artistic Director Reba Hervas, the play draws not only from the well‑known documentary Beyond the Gates of…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tagged under
- Overshadowed Theatrical Productions
- Flame of Fire
- Jim Elliott
- Elisabeth Elliott
- Nate Saint
- missionaries
- Operation Acua
- Reba Hervas
- Through Gates of Splendor
- Wheaton College
- Justin McHugh
- Leah Johansen
- Jacob Starr
- Emily Starr
- Andrew Dille
- Madelyn Jones
- Alex Kretschmer
- Olivia Orsag
- Benjamin Nelson
- Betsy Richman
- Medinah
- live theatre
- on stage
- Chicago events
- Jubilee Bible Church
- moving drama
- true life events
- Pete Fleming
- Ed McCully
- Roger Youderian
Saturday, 19 September 2026 00:30
Class is back in session with Victory Gardens’ World Premiere of The Humanities
Written by John Accrocco
Coincidentally (or not), Victory Gardens’ new play about a controversial campus speaker opens just days after the one-year anniversary of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Returning from a lengthy hiatus, Victory Gardens once again lights up the Biograph Theater with the world premiere of Zayd Ayers Dohrn’s new play “The Humanities”. This…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Thursday, 17 September 2026 01:25
Kokandy Productions’ Jekyll & Hyde: A Fearless Reworking Elevated
Written by Ken Payne
Kokandy Productions’ Jekyll & Hyde, now presented by Broadway In Chicago at the Broadway Playhouse, arrives with the momentum of a bona fide Chicago phenomenon. After its run at Chopin Theatre was extended again and again - an almost unheard of feat for an intimate, homegrown musical - the show…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tagged under
- Jekyll Hyde
- Kokandy Productions
- Broadway Playhouse
- Robert Louis Stevenson
- Dr Jekyll Mr Hyde
- Derek Van Barham
- Nick Sula
- Brenda Didier
- David Moreland
- Ava Lane Stovall
- Emily McCormick
- Quinn Kech
- Nathan Calaranan
- Kevin Webb
- Musical theatre
- live theatre
- on stage
- Chicago events
- Broadway in Chicago
- classic
Monday, 14 September 2026 16:24
BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA - Do we listen to each other as much as birdsongs?
Written by Mary Beth Euker
Birds of North America, written by Anna Ouyang Moench, is a story of a father daughter relationship spanning a decade and weathering personal and worldwide conflicts while sharing their love of birdwatching. Admittedly family relationships can be tricky at best. Especially as children age into adulthood and make their own…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Sunday, 13 September 2026 13:38
Gwydion Theatre Delivers More than a Satire in Lynn Nottage’s Por’ Knockers
Written by Bill Esler
Lynn Nottage is a skilled playwright, and prolific especially considering the high quality of her works: Pulitzer winners Ruined and Sweat. Or the remarkable By the Way, Meet Vera Stark, a kind of All About Eve with the starlet’s Black maid in the Eve role. And then Intimate Apparel, which…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Saturday, 12 September 2026 15:03
The Dancing Delivers What the Dialogue Doesn’t in Dirty Dancing: The Musical
Written by Maddie Burroughs
In a world of theatrical adaptations, there really are two kinds: some reinvent their source material, becoming their own “new” art, while others understand that the real pleasure they provide is in the audience seeing some beloved thing from the past brought back to life. Dirty Dancing: The Musical falls…
Published in
Theatre in Review
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Monday, 07 September 2026 16:22
Paramount’s Mean Girls Delivers a Fierce, Fetch Night Out
Written by Kimberly Katz
This new staging of Mean Girls the Musical, now playing at Paramount Theatre in Aurora’s downtown theatre district, brings Tina Fey’s sharp, culturally defining high-school satire to the stage with a pop-infused score and a contemporary theatrical energy that reframes the familiar story for a new generation - and they…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tagged under
- Paramount Theatre
- Mean Girls
- Mean Girls the Musical
- Aurora
- Tina Fey
- Elizabeth Stenholt
- Lucy Godinez
- Dariana Mullen
- Angel Alzeidan
- Steven Klenk
- Julia Hope Budd
- Veronica Garza
- Pink
- high school
- cult classic
- The Plastics
- Musical theatre
- live theatre
- on stage
- Chicago events
- Aurora theatre
- Cady Heron
- Devon Hayakawa
- Kasey Alfonso
- Fetch
Sunday, 06 September 2026 20:50
Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Dark Children’s Tale Translates to Stellar Show in ’The Man Who Fell with the Rain’
Written by Bill Esler
An exceptionally good show is now on stage at Chicago’s Trap Door Theatre. This wonder—The Man Who Fell with the Rain— has been translated through three languages on its way to the footlights in its U.S. premiere, right here on the tiny stage on Cortland Ave. Originating in Spanish as…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Thursday, 03 September 2026 16:04
The Best of Us: Marriott Theatre’s Come From Away
Written by Kimberly Katz
Come From Away begins from a place of deep uncertainty, yet what emerges is a story grounded in the steady, everyday kindness people offer when they have nothing else to give. Rather than revisiting the events of September 11 themselves, the musical focuses on the human responses that rose in…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tagged under
- Marriott theatre
- Come From Away
- Irene Sankoff
- David Hein
- Gander Newfoundland
- September 11
- Lexie Dorsett Sharp
- Alex Goodrich
- Sharriese Hamilton
- Justin Albinder
- Matt Crowle
- Devin DeSantis
- Sarah Bockel
- Madison Kauffman
- Heidi Kettenring
- Michael Earvin Martin
- Jonathan Shaboo
- Jessica Fisch
- Katie Spelman
- Musical theatre
- feel good theatre
- Chicago events
- on stage
- live theatre
- Lincolnshire
Tuesday, 01 September 2026 10:54
Vape! The Grease Parody Is High-Energy Fluff
Written by Angelo Campos
Vape! The Grease Parody, currently running at Chicago’s Apollo Theater through January, takes a satirical swing at the iconic 1978 film. The production leans heavily into campy, low‑brow humor, poking fun at the original and the characters who appeared in it - Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsson, made famous by…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tagged under
- Vape The Grease Parody
- Grease
- John Travolta
- Olivia Newton-John
- Apollo Theater Chicago
- chicago theatre
- parody theatre
- theatre camp
- Danny Zuko
- Sketchworks Comedy
- Pink Ladies
- TBirds
- musical comedy
- Musical theatre
- on stage
- Chicago events
- 1950s
- Jack Plotnick
- Catie Hogan
- Rydell High
- Ashley Marinelli
- Will Leonard
- Jenna Smith
- Suzanne Sole
- Sophia Brazada
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