Our main raison d’etre: reviewing plays.
“When you think of your life as a movie,” the main character of Hell in a Handbag Productions’ latest show at Stage 773, “Bewildered,” asks, “do you see yourself as the lead?” Sadly, she then reveals that she does not: “I’m more like an extra; I’ve seen the leading lady, and she’s not me.” For […]
If it crossed your mind to think of it, one of the last places you’d expect to find a drag show would be Panama City, FL. It’s a small place with a deserved “redneck” reputation, and RuPaul doesn’t fit in with NASCAR and football and beer. But Northlight Theatre in Skokie puts a dive bar […]
Early in Act Two of The Civility of Albert Cashier, the title character asks, “Is it better to live safe and sound but never live in peace?” By this point in the play, the audience already knows the answer to that question, which is a testimony to the quality of both the writing and the […]
good ensemble, but pacing and script issues get in the way Most of the time, when you have a group of actors who create a blend of wild, over-the-top characterizations and a few more realistic ones, almost all of which work well and complement each other, you’d figure you have a truly great show […]
There is a first time for everything, and this was my first time seeing a show at Windy City Playhouse. I must say I am thoroughly impressed. Entering this theatre is like walking into a hotel: to one side is an elaborate bar (which serves drinks in actual glassware!) and to the other a comfortable […]
There is probably no theatre fan alive who has not by now heard of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award-winning musical Hamilton, currently in an open run at what is now called the CIBC Theatre (formerly the Private Bank Theatre). The only question anyone might be asking at this point, as they listen to their teenagers incessantly […]
“The Drowsy Chaperone” has always been a contradiction: a rousing satire of a musical comedy within the frame of a monologue by a theatre fan whose loneliness is such that he can only be truly alive while dreaming about his musicals. Skokie Theatre’s MadKap Productions hits both levels of this Tony Award-winning show superbly, and […]
From the Brooklyn Bridge, the view includes the workers on the dock unloading the ships at the piers: to most of us, anonymous men going about their anonymous daily lives. The Goodman Theatre’s current production of Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge, though, shows that Miller saw something much more when he looked off […]
The Victory Garden’s brilliant, somewhat minimalist production of Alison Bechdel’s Tony Award-winning “Fun Home” leaves just about no emotional leaves unturned as it twists its way through its ninety-minute runtime, grabbing the viewer’s heart and never letting go. There is nothing really “fun” about the home portrayed in the musical version of Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel […]