Theater
Reviews of Chicago’s stage shows and news from the actors and actresses putting on the performances.
The musical comes complete with a fabulous 21st century sensibility roasted into its “farm-to-fable” tale.
“Jaja’s African Hair Braiding” opens at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, “Too Hot To Handel: The Jazz-Gospel Messiah” at the Auditorium Theatre, and Remy Bumppo Theatre’s “Readings on Ravenswood” — are just some of the week’s entertainment highlights.
On Monday afternoon, fans of the show as well as former employees held a silent protest outside the theater where the show held court in Chicago for decades.
Esteras, who portrays the dishwasher Manny on the hit TV series, is among the cast for the Anton Chekhov classic being presented inside the Servi-Sure factory on Chicago’s North Side.
The Harlem Globetrotters at the Allstate Arena, the 38th annual Young Playwrights Festival at Pegasus Theatre, First Night Evanston and the opening of “Shucked” and the official NHL Winter Classic fan festival are among the cool things to see and do in Chicago as one year draws to a close and another begins.
Members of the ensemble unanimously decide to stop participating in programming until the board chair is removed
At theaters, Renaissance fairs and the classroom, David Woolley teaches the graceful, highly physical art of stage combat with weapons that are “swashbuckling and fun.”
A Jennifer Hudson Christmas concert, a Pan-Africa art exhibition and thee return of “Les Miserables” are among the entertainment highlights of the week ahead.
Should we embrace the truth or just enjoy the myth?
Magician and illusionist Jamie Harrison created the whimsical and heart stopping moments in stage production, which is currently playing in Chicago.
The Chicago-area native and Second City alum is staging a series of sold-out shows at Steppenwolf with Kate Flannery of “The Office.”
The stage musical arrives with white-hot vibe reminiscent of “Six” circa 2019, or, if you’re of a certain age, “Rent,” circa 1996. For pop music aficionados — and “Romeo and Juliet” fans — it’s unmissable.
“It’s a Wonderful Life” and “White Christmas” sing-alongs at the Music Box Theatre, the One of a Kind holiday show at the Merchandise Mart, and a “Home Alone” screening followed by an interview/Q&A with the film’s star Macaulay Culkin are among the week’s highlights.
“It’s a real sort of mishmash of Irishness. It’s just great fun,” says the show’s creator Ged Graham.
The play was first produced in 1931, seven years before Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Our Town” hit the stage.
As Scrooge, Christopher Donahue is remarkable, moving from malevolent to benevolent in an epic arc that spans the emotional spectrum.
Our list isn’t about mounting the classics or family-friendly revamps that feel like familiar gifts wrapped in new packages. Our list is naughty.
The show, which will shut down Jan. 5, made its home exclusively at the Near North Side theater for the duration of its residency in the city.
Richard Marsh, a UK-based actor and poet, has transformed the film into a one-person stage show presented almost entirely in rhyming verse.
Côté Danse, a nine-member, freelance dance company, will present the production’s three-performance American premiere Saturday and Sunday at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Millennium Park.