Sunday, 16 August 2026 12:41
Bernstein’s Score Burns Bright in Music Theater Works’ West Side Story
Written by Kimberly Katz
Some musicals carry such cultural weight that every new production feels like a referendum on how well a company can honor the original while making it feel alive again. West Side Story is one of those titles - a towering achievement in American musical theatre, a work whose emotional force…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tagged under
- West Side Story
- Music Theater Works
- Leonard Bernstein
- Stephen Sondheim
- North Shore Center for the Performing Arts
- Skokie
- Romeo and Juliet
- Shakespeare
- Jerome Robbins
- Isabella Ruano
- Pauleth Jauregui
- Luke Nowakowski
- Emmanuel Ramirez
- Kameron Rojas Schueneman
- Connor Ripperger
- Eric Desnoyers
- Officer Krupke
- Maria
- America
- live theatre
- on stage
- Musical theatre
- chicago theatre
- Chicago events
- Skokie Theatre
- classic
- timeless
Monday, 17 August 2026 01:20
Otherworld Theatre Boldly Goes Again with Starship Edsel Season 4
Written by Ken Payne
Otherworld Theatre blasts back into the cosmos with Season 4 of Starship Edsel: An Improvised Star Trek Parody, the latest chapter in its long-running improvised Star Trek satire. Now in its fourth outing, the misfit crew of the USS Edsel once again shows why the production remains a reliably funny…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tagged under
- Otherworld Theatre
- Starship Edsel An Improvised Star Trek Parody
- Star Trek
- Starship Edsel
- second city
- Wanjiku Kairu Oliver
- Edward Neequaye
- Matt Kawa
- Carlos Rivera
- Mike Mazzella
- Anthony LeBlanc
- Brandon Brylawski
- Parody
- Satire
- Camp
- Improv
- live theatre
- on stage
- Chicago events
- chicago theatre
- De Maat Theatre
- Trekkie
Theatre 31 Productions’ Gus and Alice has returned to the Greenhouse Theater Center this month. Written by Chicago playwright Mike Rago, the light‑hearted slice‑of‑life comedy follows an elderly married couple whose days revolve around avoiding gluten and surviving a game of Trivial Pursuit. As they enter their next chapter, Alice wonders…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Friday, 14 August 2026 12:58
From Subway Cars to Chicago Stages: Marcus Monroe at The Comedy Bar
Written by Ken Payne
Sometimes the best way to find a comedian who’s new to you is by stumbling onto a clip that stops your scroll cold. That’s exactly how I first encountered Marcus Monroe: a burst of chaotic silliness on Instagram that made me immediately wonder what his full stand-up looked like beyond…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tuesday, 04 August 2026 01:08
ETA’s for colored girls Honors the Enduring Power of Ntozake Shange
Written by Wesley David
Nearly fifty years after its groundbreaking premiere, Ntozake Shange's for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf remains one of the most important works ever written for the American stage. Neither conventional play nor musical, Shange called her work a "choreopoem," a seamless fusion of…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tagged under
- ETA
- ETA Creative Arts Foundation
- NTOZAKE SHANGE
- For Colored Girls
- for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf
- Black theatre
- Donn Carl Harper
- Nina Simone
- Madison Savannah
- Tina Marie
- Margo Harper
- Deborah Ross
- Tracey Renee
- LA Holts
- Kennedi Coleman
- live theatre
- chicago theatre
- Chicago events
- on stage
- Chicago plays
- powerful plays
Thursday, 06 August 2026 11:40
Love and Time On Our Side: The Notebook: The Musical at Broadway in Chicago
Written by Kendall Royzen
In times of stress, we often turn to familiar and comforting things: a favorite song, a dog-eared book, a movie we’ve seen twenty-seven times. We’re drawn back to the things we know because they have a certain salve to the severity and uncertainty around us. There’s a comfort in knowing…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Monday, 03 August 2026 15:18
yo ho. Delivers Queer Pirate Chaos, Big Laughs, and Fierce Swordplay
Written by Maddie Burroughs
A quick history lesson: Anne Bonny and Mary Read are two of history’s most famous female pirates. Both women disguised themselves as men and sailed under the command of Captain Calico Jack Rackham, where they became part of the same crew. There has long been speculation that they may have…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tuesday, 28 July 2026 15:41
Mike Bartlett’s ‘An Intervention’ Zings in Chicago Premiere
Written by Bill Esler
A new company, Heart of Gold Theatre, is presenting the Chicago premiere of Mike Barlett’s An Intervention. Bartlett is a noted British playwright, whose future-conjectural work Charles III received five Tony nominations in 2016, including Best New Play. Bartlett’s Cock (2009) and its companion work Bull (2013) played to accolades…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Sunday, 26 July 2026 14:11
Metropolis’ Wizard of Oz Rekindles Pure Childhood Wonder
Written by Kimberly Katz
Metropolis Performing Arts Centre’s new staging of The Wizard of Oz sends audiences down the yellow brick road with a production that balances classic nostalgia with a warm, community centered spirit. Before the story unfolds, it’s worth remembering the legacy behind it: L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel first introduced readers…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tagged under
- Metropolis Performing Arts Centre
- The Wizard of Oz
- L Frank Baum
- Tor Campbell
- Nora Wragg
- Jake Elkins
- Genevieve Thiers
- Judy Garland
- Gabriel Fries
- David Omari
- Corey Barlow
- Nolan F Robinson II
- Caliban Marie Spence
- Danielle Spence
- live theatre
- classic
- on stage
- Arlington Heights
- Chicago events
- Chicago stage
- Musical theatre
- family theatre
More...
Thursday, 23 July 2026 11:53
& Juliet Turns Shakespeare Upside Down in a Burst of Pop Brilliance
Written by Kimberly Katz
Broadway in Chicago’s latest offering at the Auditorium Theatre, & Juliet, bursts onto the stage with the kind of vibrant confidence that makes it clear this isn’t your high school Shakespeare. The production arrives as a full-throttle pop spectacle, gleefully mashing up Elizabethan trappings with late ’90s and early 2000s…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tagged under
- Juliet
- Broadway in Chicago
- Auditorium Theatre
- JOEY FATONE
- Max Martin
- Brittany Spears
- NYSNC
- Katy Oerry
- Romeo and Juliet
- Shakespeare
- Musical theatre
- chicago theatre
- Chicago events
- Chicago stage
- on stage
- live theatre
- Fabiola Caraballo Quijada
- CJ Eldred
- Crystal Kellogg
- Nico Ochoa
- Kathryn Allison
- oseph Torres
- Noah Marlowe
- Backstreet Boys
- David West Read
- Jennifer Weber
- Luke Sheppard
- 90s pop music
Kokandy Productions’ HAIR revival lets the sunshine in this summer at the Chopin Theatre. Directed and choreographed by Brennan Urbi, this remount is a fresh, funky and poignant riff on the classic 1960s tribal love-rock musical by Galt MacDermot. The large cast of new and returning Kokandy faces bring this…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tagged under
- Kokandy Productions
- HAIR
- Chopin Theatre
- 1960s musical
- hippies
- Brennan Urbi
- Galt MacDermot
- The 5th Dimension
- Aquarius
- Let The Sunshine In
- Gerome Rangi
- James Rado
- Zac Richey
- Catherine Rodriguez OConnor
- Rachel Sypniewski
- G Max Maxin IV
- Musical theatre
- anti-war
- live theatre
- chicago theatre
- Chicago events
- Chicago stage
- on stage
- Wicker Park
Saturday, 18 July 2026 15:51
Pure Vocal Magic: Goodman’s Octet Redefines Musical Innovation
Written by Mark Hermann
Dave Malloy’s Octet is a musical with daring aspirations, currently gracing the stage in a powerhouse co-production between the Raven Theatre and the Goodman Theatre. This staging, directed by Keira Fromm, first debuted at the intimate Raven Theatre, where it enjoyed a highly successful run before its move to the…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tagged under
The timeless magic of Arnold Lobel’s beloved children’s book series comes to life in the Marriott Theatre’s delightful production of A Year with Frog and Toad. With book and lyrics by Willie Reale and a score by Robert Reale, this whimsical musical adaptation perfectly captures the endearing spirit that resonates…
Published in
Theatre in Review
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