Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest is one of the greatest farces ever written. His wordplay caricatured high society, and clever pay-offs are hilarious when executed properly. The play was first performed on February 14, 1895 (Valentine's Day). The premiere took place at the historic St James's Theatre in…
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Theatre in Review
Sunday, 12 July 2026 12:09
A Legendary Transformation: John Mulaney’s Historic Night at Wrigley Field
Written by Ken Payne
John Mulaney didn’t just perform at Wrigley Field. He made history there. In a venue synonymous with baseball legends, rock icons, and century-old Chicago lore, Mulaney became the first comedian ever to headline a full stand-up show at Wrigley Field, and, depending on which version of the truth you prefer,…
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Theatre in Review
Sunday, 12 July 2026 16:10
A Thoughtful Evolution of Her Own Making: Overshadowed Theatrical Productions’ My Fair Lady
Written by Kimberly Katz
Overshadowed Theatre Productions brings fresh energy to one of musical theatre’s most enduring classics, offering a spirited and thoughtful take on My Fair Lady. This production leans into the story’s sharp contrasts - class and aspiration, control and independence - and invites audiences to see Eliza Doolittle’s transformation with new…
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Theatre in Review
Saturday, 11 July 2026 13:01
Powerhouse Performances on Display in Gwydion's Dry Powder
Written by Angelo Campos
In the sharp-tongued world of Sarah Burgess’s Dry Powder, presented by Gwydion Theatre Company at the Greenhouse Theater Center, the pursuit of money is a blood sport. The play centers on a high-stakes private equity firm caught in a massive public relations nightmare after laying off thousands of grocery store…
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Theatre in Review
Thursday, 09 July 2026 13:35
Production of THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST Does Not Fully Recognize Its Importance at Oak Park Festival
Kerstin Broockmann
It is possible that Oak Park Festival Theatre’s production of Oscar Wilde’s 1895 “trivial comedy for serious people,” The Importance of Being Earnest, was suffering from some opening night jitters and that the actors will settle in and trust the verbal comedy in the script, but on this beautiful evening…
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Theatre in Review
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- Oak Park Festival
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- August Forman
- Chad Bay
- Kathryn Walsh
- Oscar Wilde
- Sonia Goldberg
- Aurora Pennepacker
- Jodi Gage
- Gabriel Armstrong
- Austin Gardens
- Oak Park
- Drew Bos
- summer theatre
- outdoor theatre
- live theatre
- Chicago events
- on stage
- comedy theatre
Friday, 10 July 2026 00:09
The Beautiful Overthinking of Gary Gulman’s 7th Hour
Written by Ken Payne
Gary Gulman brings his new tour, 7th Hour: An All New Standup Show, to The Den Theatre, offering Chicago audiences a chance to see a comic who has spent decades refining the long-form, slow-burn style that has become unmistakably his. His five sold-out shows over the weekend are being recorded…
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Theatre in Review
Suffs is a musical about history, yes, but more importantly, it is a musical about momentum: who creates it, who resists it (and why), who gets left behind by it, and what it costs to keep pushing it forward. Set during the height of the women’s suffrage movement in the…
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Theatre in Review
Tagged under
- Suffs
- CIBC Theatre
- Broadway in Chicago
- Musical theatre
- Suffrage
- Suffragette
- National Womans Party
- Alice Paul Ida B Wells
- Leigh Silverman
- Carrie Chapman Catt
- Marya Grandy
- Maya Keleher
- Woodrow Wilson
- Merrill Peiffer
- Danyel Fulton
- Trisha Jeffrey
- Victoria Pekel
- live theatre
- on stage
- chicago theatre
- Chicago events
- Chicago plays
Wednesday, 01 July 2026 18:55
Absurdist Satire ‘Do You Feel Anger?’ Captures Toxicity in Workplace Today
Written by Bill Esler
Set in a debt collection call center, Do You Feel Anger? captures how a toxic workplace manifests itself in today’s theoretically more “enlightened” world. Much of that toxicity, at least in this 2019 script by Mara Nelson-Greenberg, is propelled by male bonding and power. But it’s not an oppressive tale.…
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Theatre in Review
Tuesday, 30 June 2026 17:11
Goodman’s Iceboy! Is a Full‑Tilt Blast of Comic Mayhem
Written by Ken Payne
Goodman Theatre’s Iceboy! arrives as a gleefully off the rails musical that blends Broadway glamour, Neanderthal chaos, and theatrical myth making into one of the most delightfully strange premises to hit Chicago in years. It’s a satire, a love letter to showbiz, and a playful reimagining of how Eugene O’Neill…
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Theatre in Review
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Tuesday, 30 June 2026 09:35
All The World's a Stage and Chicago Merely The Best Player: 'As You Like It' in Chicago Parks this summer
Written by Kendall Royzen
Is there anything more alluring than a summer night in Chicago? The lakefront beaches, the meandering pathways, the festivals and street foods, the hidden gardens where free art productions are staged, whatever you like, you can find it in the city during summer evenings. There is no shortage of parks…
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Theatre in Review
Tagged under
- As You Like It
- Shes the Man
- William Shakespeare
- Shakespeare
- Shakespeare in Chicago
- comedy
- Comedy Chicago
- weekend shows
- things to do in chicago
- Midsommer Flight
- MidsommerFlight
- Thomas Russell
- Stephanie Mattos
- Ebby Offord
- Beth Wolf
- Chicago
- theatre
- Chicago Park Districts Night Out
- Night Out in the Parks
- Chicago Park Districts Night Out in the Parks
Sunday, 28 June 2026 14:20
Opera Festival of Chicago Delivers an Assured, Full‑Hearted La Bohème
Written by Kimberly Katz
Opera Festival of Chicago continues its season with two mainstage productions - La Bohème and Adriana Lecouvreur - each featuring the Opera Festival of Chicago Orchestra and Chorus and performed at the George Van Dusen Theatre at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie. I had the…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tagged under
- La Boheme
- Adriana Lecouvreur
- Opera Festival of Chicago Orchestra and Chorus
- North Shore Center for the Performing Arts
- Giacomo Puccini
- Sasha Gerritson
- Sir Emanuele Adrizzi
- Alexandra Razskazoff
- Nathan Granner
- Catherine Antonia Samartin
- Kenneth Stavert
- Jonathan Wilson
- William Powers
- David Greene
- Shifra Werc
- Chicago opera
- Opera
- chicago theatre
- Chicago events
- on stage
- live theatre
- Opera Festival of Chicago
Friday, 26 June 2026 12:04
A Quietly Ravishing Night: Marriott’s A Little Night Music
Written by Kimberly Katz
Marriott Theatre’s in‑the‑round intimacy turns A Little Night Music - which premiered on Broadway in 1973 and later became a 1977 film - into a quietly seductive swirl of glances, secrets, and second chances, the kind of production where the waltz feels like its own character. Under the soft glow of…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Thursday, 25 June 2026 11:23
The Art of Awe: Water for Elephants Balances Spectacle and Soul
Written by Maddie Burroughs
The musical Water for Elephants, presented by Broadway In Chicago and based on Sara Gruen’s 2006 novel, is the rare touring Broadway production that feels like two forms of live entertainment fused perfectly. It is a sweeping musical, yes, but it is also a full-blown circus spectacle – and, more impressively,…
Published in
Theatre in Review
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