Chicagotheaterbeat

LATEST ARTICLES ( 2140 )

• Review: Avenue Q (Mercury Theater, 2018)

  

  Strong performances mostly overcome problematic scenes Review by Lauren Emily Whalen Avenue Q has not aged well. At all. The puppet-based musical,... Read more

  Posted on 12 August 2018 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: Holding the Man (Pride Films and Plays)

  

  Straight from the heart true story Review by Lauren Emily Whalen By today's standards, Holding the Man seems almost quaint. Two boys fall in love at their... Read more

  Posted on 09 August 2018 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: Hurricane Damage (Pride Films and Plays)

  

  Ingredients are here for poignant story, but rewrites needed Review by Lauren Emily Whalen If nothing else, Hurricane Damage is an alternative to the Dead... Read more

  Posted on 05 August 2018 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: Defacing Michael Jackson (Flying Elephant Productions)

  

  Compelling, multifaceted story stalls with too much telling, not enough showing Review by Lauren Whalen I remember dancing around the living room to Michael... Read more

  Posted on 29 July 2018 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: Everybody (Brown Paper Box Co.)

  

  Screwing with your audience only goes so far Review by Lauren Whalen Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is a polarizing playwright. I don't know him personally, but I'm... Read more

  Posted on 27 July 2018 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: Sickle (Red Theater Chicago)

  

  Red Theater takes on unspeakable historic tragedy with intimate determination The setting for Red Theater's Sickle is somewhere in the Ukraine, a country mad... Read more

  Posted on 11 July 2018 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: Support Group for Men (Goodman Theatre)

  

  Pass the talking stick, bro Review by Johanna Dalton Support Group for Men drops the audience into a moment that might have just happened, as if you had bee... Read more

  Posted on 07 July 2018 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: The Golden Girls–The Lost Episodes, Vol. 2 (Hell in a Handbag...

  

  Hell in a Handbag takes on The Golden Girls: campy, nostalgic hilarity ensues Review by Lauren Whalen Last summer, Hell in a Handbag's The Golden Girls: The... Read more

  Posted on 03 July 2018 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: Tilikum (Sideshow Theatre)

  

  Risky, powerful and promising world-premiere Review by Lauren Whalen Tilikum is full of earned rage and righteousness, an allegory of slavery with the best... Read more

  Posted on 03 July 2018 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: The View Upstairs (Circle Theatre)

  

  Beautifully tragic Chicago premiere Review by Lauren Whalen Stonewall. Matthew Shepard. Pulse. These moments in queer history have received copious news... Read more

  Posted on 29 June 2018 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: Women Laughing Alone With Salad (Theater Wit)

  

  Talented cast and director, inspired sound design can't save shoddy script Review by Lauren Whalen It's difficult to make a play based solely on a popular... Read more

  Posted on 25 March 2018 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: Southern Gothic (Windy City Playhouse)

  

  Fun immersive experience creates unforgettable night of theater Review by Lauren Whalen Charity begins at home, and so does conflict. Even in the best of... Read more

  Posted on 02 March 2018 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: Merrily We Roll Along (Porchlight Music Theatre)

  

  Fierce performances make the most of this Sondheim classic occupies a special place among musical theater fans - it is possibly the best loved and most... Read more

  Posted on 22 February 2018 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: Fear and Misery in the Third Reich (Haven Theatre)

  

  Uncomfortable but important Review by Lauren Whalen While Bertolt Brecht's plays have unique language and structure that require some getting used to, much o... Read more

  Posted on 16 February 2018 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: Nice Girl (Raven Theatre)

  

  Sweet, quietly compelling Chicago premiere Review by Lauren Whalen Stories are everywhere, and in these heated political times, when everything presented to... Read more

  Posted on 04 February 2018 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: The Humans (Broadway in Chicago)

  

  Review by Lauren Whalen Playwright Stephen Karam, also known for Speech and Debate, has been adapting Chekhov of late. His take on The Cherry Orchard went up o... Read more

  Posted on 03 February 2018 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: We’re Gonna Be Okay (American Theater Co.)

  

  Non-traditional casting, innovative production values make for entertaining production Review by Lauren Whalen People (often white, straight, cisgender men)... Read more

  Posted on 01 February 2018 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: All My Sons (Court Theatre)

  

  Exploring the aftereffects of war at the familial level Review by Lauren Whalen All My Sons has all the ingredients of classic Arthur Miller: familial... Read more

  Posted on 26 January 2018 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: Boy (TimeLine Theatre)

  

  Review by Lauren Whalen Playwright Anna Ziegler began Boy as a direct homage to David Reimer, a young man with a sad beginning and a tragic end. In 1967,... Read more

  Posted on 24 January 2018 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: For the Loyal (Interrobang Theatre Project)

  

  It's time to stop burying our heads in the sand Review by Lauren Whalen What does loyalty mean? How far does it go? And what if your loyalty affects your... Read more

  Posted on 23 January 2018 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA