“Rent” isn’t edgy or groundbreaking anymore, but it remains powerful and true to the original in all the right ways.
SOURCE: chicago.suntimes.com at 04:41PMAt times, it seems director John Doyle is aiming for magical realism. But even magical realism needs to be grounded in a compelling narrative.
SOURCE: chicago.suntimes.com at 05:46PMDrury Lane Theatre's staging, directed with a keen eye for the monstrous (and the monstrously funny) by Mitch Sebastian, lives up to Dahl’s book.
SOURCE: chicago.suntimes.com at 10:56AMSet in 1961, the TimeLine Theatre production looks at the economics of revolution and the steep price it exacts from those who could least afford it.
SOURCE: chicago.suntimes.com at 08:30PMBarbara Gaines' production of the Shakespeare classic succeeds as a thriller, a tragedy and a doomed coming-of-age story.
SOURCE: chicago.suntimes.com at 04:42PMThe show's book writer Chris D’Arienzo clearly understands that as Journey is to Mozart sonatas, so is “ROA” dialogue to Shakespearean sonnets.
SOURCE: chicago.suntimes.com at 03:21PMThe major selling point for “Footloose” is leading lady (and Northwestern University grad) Lucy Godinez as Ariel, the preacher’s daughter.
SOURCE: chicago.suntimes.com at 09:30AMMoney, mystery and music are all vehicles Holter uses to get to the heart of “Lottery Day.” That heart is a damning commentary on gentrification.
SOURCE: chicago.suntimes.com at 02:10PMDirector Wardell Julius Clark has assembled a cast who delivers first-rate performances emblematic of the smart, uncompromising production.
SOURCE: chicago.suntimes.com at 02:39PMThis show based on earlier incarnations of "Cruel Intentions" should, to quote the poets of pop whose music it fails to do justice, go “Bye Bye Bye.”
SOURCE: chicago.suntimes.com at 08:00PMIf the days wherein you could stage a play about race without a single person of color on stage aren’t entirely over, they should be.
SOURCE: chicago.suntimes.com at 03:33PMCaryl Churchill’s play is science fiction, but every day, the “fiction” part of that seems to be fading just a little bit more.
SOURCE: chicago.suntimes.com at 12:36PMThe show has as much to do with the Romanovs as Caesar salad has to do with Julius Caesar. That's precisely what you'd expect in family-friendly fare.
SOURCE: chicago.suntimes.com at 02:26PMSet in Pennsylvania, and alternating between 2000 and 2008, Ron OJ Parson’s staging of “Sweat” is as familiar as a decade’s worth of headlines.
SOURCE: chicago.suntimes.com at 02:05PMRunning March 14 – 16, Femme Fest spotlights the creations of five female choreographers of Black/African or Diaspora/African descent.
SOURCE: chicago.suntimes.com at 08:15AMThe onstage chemistry of the cast adds palpable depth to a first-rate production at Theo Ubique.
SOURCE: chicago.suntimes.com at 06:16PMIn the music of “Mahalia,” we get a glimmer of the joy she brought to countless others, but the script offers little sense of the woman herself.
SOURCE: chicago.suntimes.com at 04:25PMIn director Jason Gerace’s staging, Tennessee Williams’ story of brutal oppression and irrecoverable loss is a fascinating psychological thriller.
SOURCE: chicago.suntimes.com at 04:02PM“Last Stop on Market Street” is what children’s theater should be. It is burgeoning with wonder.
SOURCE: chicago.suntimes.com at 02:26PMIf it’s music you’re after, you could do far worse than the bittersweet “Once.” The script has troubles. The score is extraordinary.
SOURCE: chicago.suntimes.com at 06:31PM“When we were their age, we couldn’t conceive of world where school shootings happened. They can’t conceive of a world where they don’t.
SOURCE: chicago.suntimes.com at 09:30AMThis “Superstar” has a lush, glorious sound the likes of which you've never heard before.
SOURCE: chicago.suntimes.com at 06:21PMA lively exploration of "race music" of the 1950s and how these records by African-American artists sparked the rock and roll revolution.
SOURCE: chicago.suntimes.com at 03:51PMThe harmonies are exquisite, the lyrics raw and real. The ensemble could probably make a decent living gigging around Chicago.
SOURCE: chicago.suntimes.com at 12:46PMMusically, “Oklahoma!” still works. But the Marriott Lincolnshire’s revival sits uneasily in a contemporary context.
SOURCE: chicago.suntimes.com at 04:59PM“Lettie” paints an exhausting picture of just how difficult it is to stay on the straight and narrow.
SOURCE: chicago.suntimes.com at 02:24PMRunning in repertory with “Letters Home,” “Ghosts of War” continues Griffin Theatre’s commitment to telling the story of veterans, in their own words.
SOURCE: chicago.suntimes.com at 04:17PMUnder director Victor Malana Maog’s new staging at Drury Lane Theatre, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s lush score has never sounded more beautiful.
SOURCE: chicago.suntimes.com at 02:43PMPerforming “The Rosenkranz Mysteries,” the titular magician is a mix of Khalil Gibran, Will Rogers and the Victorian-era fascination with spiritualism
SOURCE: chicago.suntimes.com at 04:57PMLike an exhilarating party, touring show plays the hits with verve and shake-your-body percussive power.
SOURCE: chicago.suntimes.com at 02:05PMWith only modest revisions, contemporary issues become part of stage adaptation of the 1967 film about an interracial couple
SOURCE: chicago.suntimes.com at 06:10PM