LGBT Archives - Chicago On Stage

May 13, 2023May 17, 2023Chicago Reviews

Wil Wilhelm queers the Bard’s life and works and bites their thumb at conservatives in Gender Play, or what you Will

Photo by Michael Brosilow About 2/3 of the way through About Face Theatre’s production of Gender Play, or what you Will, the […]

October 28, 2022October 30, 2022Chicago Reviews

For its final show, 16th Street Theatre produces the beautiful and emotional Man and Moon

(photo by Glenn Felix Willoughby) It’s always a joy to discover a new play that is lovely, entertaining, and thoughtful, and when […]

June 16, 2022June 17, 2022Chicago Reviews

Tommy On Top: farce shouldn’t have to try this hard to be funny

It isn’t often that I can’t find anything good to say about a show. I enjoy theatre in general—I wouldn’t do this […]

May 21, 2022May 21, 2022Chicago Reviews

Magnolia Ballet mixes many genres to tell its story of inescapable family legacies

Entering the Bookspan Theatre space at Den Theatre to see the world premiere of Magnolia Ballet, you are thrust into another world. […]

March 27, 2022March 27, 2022Chicago Reviews

The queer-themed Laced explores how humans work to overcome hatred

Walking into the Den Theatre to see a performance of Laced at first feels like walking into the friendliest neighborhood LGBT joint […]

February 22, 2022February 22, 2022Chicago Reviews

PrideArts premieres a beautiful but flawed play about RBG

The title of Sally Deering’s new play at PrideArts, When There Are Nine, refers to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s response when asked […]

August 24, 2021August 27, 2021Chicago Reviews

Great performances can’t overcome a flawed structure in PrideArts’ Things I Could Never Tell Stephen

By Karen Topham; photo by Marisa KM You’d think a show about a young just-married man who is seeing his secret gay […]

February 7, 2020February 7, 2020Chicago Reviews

Immersive “The Boys in the Band” invites you to come to the party

Review by Karen Topham, ChicagoOnstage, member American Theatre Critics Association. Photo by Michael Brosilow. Windy City Playhouse has rapidly become synonymous with […]

October 25, 2019October 31, 2019Chicago Reviews

First Floor Theater’s tender but painful melodrama “Sugar In Our Wounds” is a reminder of how far we have yet to go

Review by Karen Topham, ChicagoOnstage, member American Theatre Critics Association. Photo by Gracie Meier. Partly a story about the experience of slaves […]

August 27, 2019August 27, 2019Chicago Reviews

Provocative Casa Valentina looks back at the little-known world of early 60s crossdressers

Review by Karen Topham, American Theatre Critics Association member; photo by Cody Jolly Photography. Harvey Fierstein’s playwrighting career was launched with his […]