2,444 stories from chicagoreader.com
The SpongeBob Musical had its pre-Broadway run here in 2016. I missed that, but I can't imagine it was any more delightful than what Kokandy Productions has concocted in the basement at the …
For Midsommer Flight's tenth annual production of free Shakespeare in Chicago's parks, the company has chosen as shaggy a dog story as the Bard had in his quiver. In ancient Britain, Princes…
"It's our time, breathe it in: / Worlds to change and worlds to win. / Our turn coming through, / Me and you, pal, / Me and you!" So proclaims "Our Time," the soaring choral finale of Stephe…
Alan Janes's musical Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story is a clever piece of work, mixing the best elements of a biographical play, a jukebox musical, and a cover band concert into a bubbly, tight…
At the crux of writer/director Kareem Fahmy's promising but incomplete drama is a father and a daughter, whose relationship is cruelly subject to the seemingly random structures of immigrati…
Taken alone, political thrillers and farce can be tricky beasts to pull off. Put them together and you really have to have everything honed to the sharpest point possible for the laughs to l…
During the years that I've seen Kate Arrington onstage at Steppenwolf, "chameleonic" is the adjective that most often comes to mind. From show to show, she never seems to play the same type,…
Pete Townshend wasn't able to make it to Chicago for Monday night's opening of The Who's Tommy at the Goodman. But there was plenty of star power onstage already, particularly in Ali Louis B…
Hair is such an icon"profanity and naked people on Broadway, oh my!"that it can be hard to remember it's an actual play with a plot (Gerome Ragni and James Rado wrote the book and lyrics for…
This world premiere from the Plagiarists, written by Chicago-based playwright Alexander Utz and directed by Jonathan Shaboo, has a unique premise and immersive staging (watch out for sand) b…
The Practical Theatre Company has earned its place in Chicago comedy history. In the 80s, this plucky troupe of young, energetic, gifted comic actors lit up stages around Chicago"including C…
The venerable Studebaker Theater in the Fine Arts building opened its newly renovated auditorium last summer with the underwhelming musical Skates. This summer, it's rolling the dice on Pers…
Fifteen years after its Broadway debut, Passing Strange, Stew's bildungsroman set to rock and pop songs (Heidi Rodewald cowrote the music) still has the power to captivate. Tim Rhoze's produ…
Many decades ago, the late (and much missed) humor magazine Spy ran a feature entitled "Why Johnny Can't Act," outlining the bizarre techniques of acting teachers in New York. More recently,…
Remote work, for those fortunate enough to enjoy it, has killed off many aspects of professional life that were long overdue to be put down: Agonizing commutes. $18 cafeteria salads. Ramblin…
Otherworld Theatre's latest production offers a unique experience for Harry Potter enthusiasts and theater lovers alike, delving into the captivating journey of seven years at a particular s…
The less political Second City tries to be, the more effective they are. At least, that's the conclusion I've come to after seeing last year's stellar mainstage revue, Do the Right Thing, No…
Obama campaign operatives stationed in East Cleveland at the height of the 2008 presidential run felt like they were at the center of the political world. An idealistic"and existentially los…
Impostors Theatre Company closes out its season with an anthology of five short plays by local writers, all derived from the prompt of "trolley." It's a mixed bag, opening with the delightfu…
When you hear "Charlie Chan," do you think of a Honolulu police detective with a penchant for fortune cookie proverbs in pidgin English, who was made into an American icon in six novels by O…
John Pielmeier's 1979 drama Agnes of God"whose title is a reference to "Agnus Dei," Latin for "Lamb of God""is an intriguing if somewhat murky mystery that asks both "whodunit" and "whydunit…
What is it that draws great writers to boxing as a subject? Is it an identification with the sport's pure brutal (yet calculated) physicality removed from the need for verbal acuity? A way t…
Pippin was a forerunner in the big swing of musical theater away from the happy-ever-after era that defined the genre's "golden age." The 1972 show by Stephen Schwartz (music) and Roger O. H…
In most productions of West Side Story (and I've seen half a dozen or more), Tony is the weakest link: the character just isn't as cool as Riff or as sexy as Bernardo. He's kind of a dork, i…
For better or (probably for) worse, The Real Housewives of (enter location here) reality TV show franchise is an American institution that has infiltrated mainstream society. The show docume…
