No Humbugs: A Review of A Christmas Carol at Goodman Theatre
Equal parts imaginative holiday magic, Dickensian gothic style, and honest-to-goodness humanity.
Courage, Brothers: A Review of “The Island” at Court Theatre
Actors John Kani and Winston Ntshona were inspiration for the two prisoners serving decade-long sentences, arrested for performing radical works to interracial audiences during Apartheid.
Deep Emotion: A Review of “The Steadfast Tin Soldier” at the Lookingglass Theatre
Lookingglass Theatre’s “The Steadfast Tin Soldier,” which first opened to glowing reviews in 2018, has become a Chicago holiday theater tradition, along with “The Christmas Carol” at the Goodman and Joffrey Ballet’s “The Nutcracker.”
Something Good: A Review of Paramount Theatre’s The Sound of Music
Love, family, and hope are the hallmarks of any great holiday season, and “The Sound of Music” has all three qualities in abundance.
Predictable Chaos: A Review of “It Runs in the Family” at Citadel Theatre Company
Ray Cooney’s 1987 British farce, offers unredeemed silliness of the slamming-door and double-take variety. More of a live-action cartoon than a play, it will appeal mainly to those who favor Benny Hill over Monty Python.
Get Sparklejollytwinklejingley: A Review of Elf the Musical at Drury Lane
The show is everything you’d imagine for a staged version of Buddy the Elf’s coming-of-age story. You can practically taste the gooey gumdrop goodness from any seat in the house, even if you’re more Team Grinch than Team Buddy.
The Pride of the Play: A Review of The Lion King at Broadway in Chicago
In the case of Disney’s “The Lion King,” designer/director Julie Taymor’s revolutionary stage production continues to have a life of its own across a twenty-five-year existence.
Shifting Morality: A Review of Among the Dead at Jackalope Theatre
The work explores the shifting morality—most of it horrifyingly immoral—that overcomes nations, young adults and abandoned children in wartime.
Though It May Hurt…: A Review of The Artistic Home’s “Malapert Love”
An original play written in the Elizabethan style…a marriage of Shakespearean tropes with a modern twist, creating something “entirely fresh, and unapologetically non-conforming.”
Rossini in Paris: A Review of Le Comte Ory at Lyric Opera
A clever and whimsical take on the story of a Crusades-era count, who uses the opening of men off to war to woo a countess. The disguises and means to which he will go and the hijinks that ensue make for great comedy.
