Chicagotheaterbeat

LATEST ARTICLES ( 2140 )

• Review: Beautiful Autistic (Chicago Dramatists)

  

  Lead performance lets down promising premise Awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorder is far more prevalent now than it was in the early 90s, when Beautiful... Read more

  Posted on 12 March 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: From These Fatal Loins (Ruckus Theater)

  

  Romeo and Juliet meet Quentin Tarantino What if Romeo and Juliet had successfully faked their deaths? This is the intriguing question posited by Dan Caffrey i... Read more

  Posted on 12 March 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: The Compass (Steppenwolf For Young Adults)

  

  Direct yourself towards 'The Compass' Set in the near future, The Compass imagines a technology that can predict how humans will behave based on their online... Read more

  Posted on 11 March 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: 2666 (Goodman Theatre)

  

  Patchy, poetic, perverse - new adaptation is nothing if not audacious Any discussion of the epic new 2666 begins-and for many, instantly ends-with its length... Read more

  Posted on 10 March 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: Julius Caesar (Brown Paper Box Co.)

  

  Gender-bending and thought-provoking Shakespeare can be done on a shoestring, and we live in explosive political times. Brown Paper Box Co.'s Julius Caesar... Read more

  Posted on 10 March 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: Nothing of Me (Akvavit Theatre)

  Arne Lygre's work *Nothing of Me* serves as a powerful commentary on the ephemeral nature of life and relationships. Akvavit Theatre's skilled production remain... Read more

  Posted on 09 March 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: Nothing of Me (Akvavit Theatre)

  

  Norwegian playwright Arne Lygre's Nothing of Me receives its US premiere with your friendly neighborhood Nordic company, Akvavit Theatre. At its heart, this dar... Read more

  Posted on 09 March 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: Far From Heaven (Porchlight Music Theatre)

  

  ' producers spoke of seeing the original movie and realizing instantly that it had a musical soul. Turns out they were right, and the musical was an... Read more

  Posted on 08 March 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: The Awake (First Floor Theater)

  

  Ambitious work keeps audience members on their toes There's a distinct strain of Philip K. Dick running through the Chicago premiere of Ken Urban's The Awake ... Read more

  Posted on 08 March 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: Midnight Cowboy (Lifeline Theatre)

  

  New adaptation has grand scope but fizzles trying to create appropriate atmosphere There's a throwaway line in the first act of Chris Hainsworth's new... Read more

  Posted on 07 March 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: In A Little World Of Our Own (Irish Theatre of Chicago)

  

  A tepid mess of a non-starter Nobody sets out to put on a gawdawful show, or so the old adage insists. But sometimes that just seems highly improbable. So it... Read more

  Posted on 07 March 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: Mary Poppins (Nightblue Performing Arts Company)

  

  Practically imperfect As a stage show, Mary Poppins has the same core issue as The Wizard of Oz: the original film version is so iconic that anything (and... Read more

  Posted on 06 March 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: Heathers – The Musical (Kokandy Productions)

  

  It's just not happening In the pantheon of tales from teendom, "Heathers" is in a class of its own. You can have your Breakfast Clubs and your Cluelesses and... Read more

  Posted on 06 March 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: The Old Friends (Raven Theatre)

  

  Antiquated melodrama struggles to find relevance When a play penned by a renowned playwright takes more than 30 years to receive its world premiere production... Read more

  Posted on 05 March 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: Looking Over the President’s Shoulder (American Blues Theater)

  

  Some of the best storytelling of the season For almost a quarter of a century, Alonzo Fields had the ultimate insider's view of the halls of power. From 1931 ... Read more

  Posted on 04 March 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: Twelfth Night (Filter Theatre at Chicago Shakespeare)

  

  About midway through Filter Theatre's wildly raucous take on Twelfth Night , more than half the audience snakes on stage in a conga line. The dance is... Read more

  Posted on 03 March 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: All the World’s a Stage (Quest Theatre Ensemble)

  

  Written by Scott Lamps (music) and Andrew Park (lyrics) at Blue Theatre, 1609 W. Gregory thru March 20 | tix: FREE | more info Indulgent and in need of... Read more

  Posted on 02 March 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: If/Then (Broadway in Chicago)

  

  Working it all in the big city If you like your musicals on the cerebral side, then is the one for you. The musical by the team of and Brian Yorkey, which... Read more

  Posted on 02 March 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: American Buffalo (Mary-Arrchie Theatre)

  

  Were there a dictionary where one could find the definitive description of Chicago-style theater, there would surely be a photo of Mary-Arrchie Theatre by the... Read more

  Posted on 29 February 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Review: The Glass Menagerie (The Hypocrites)

  

  Elevating a classic yet again "Time is the longest distance between two places." Most people can relate to feelings of regret, guilt, and anxiety. This perhap... Read more

  Posted on 28 February 2016 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA