4,886 stories by "Chris Jones"
At one point in "Fun Home," the extraordinarily resonant Broadway musical about a family unable either to tell or live the full truth, the narrator and central character sings a beautiful so…
Chicago became a crucial artistic city by focusing on the power of an ensemble, not a star name. It placed its bets on fearless young artists overcoming adversity and never knowing when to s…
The Chicago production of "Hamilton" did not have its usual curtain call Thursday night. Instead, the mostly New York-based cast of the hit Lin-Manuel Miranda musical led the sold-out …
In life, there is head-spinning change: The Chicago Cubs win the World Series! In life, there are immutable constants: The Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire produces "Singin' in the Rain!" Bo…
It's time for the post-World Series, pre-Thanksgiving theatrical push! Each fall in Chicago theater, there's a raft of openings in late September and early October, followed by a brief lull,…
These are challenged times for analog table magic. The venerable art of the false shuffle, the waving of the aces, the Biddle trick and all the other stocks in ancient trade of the cardsharp…
More than 65 horses will walk, trot, canter and gallop on the south parking lots of Soldier Field next spring, as the international equine extravaganza called "Odysseo" makes its Midwest pre…
Within the space of less than a month, Chicago theaters have produced two new plays about the long-term impact of school shootings " focused, interestingly enough, on the siblings of the sho…
"Les Liaisons Dangereuses" can be a riveting drama of power, sexual conquest and desperate vulnerability. Or it can read as smug, high-end, hyperliterate erotica with an empty heart and an u…
NEW YORK " Of all the love songs in all the Broadway musicals, few compare to the one in William Finn and James Lapine's "Falsettos" sung by a nerdy man named Marvin to a handsome man named …
The late August Wilson cultivated an informal repertory company of actors " a group that included Eugene Lee, a performer who has spent a good deal of his career on Broadway and beyond inter…
Every time the Chicago Cubs do well " and, as of this writing, the season has been OK so far " somebody brings up "Bleacher Bums." People want to write about it. Or revive it. Or ask some of…
Which Broadway musical from 2015 profoundly altered the form and style of the American musical, diversified the genre, took huge risks when it came to content, and propelled its audience alo…
When the producers of the 1985 Steven Spielberg movie "The Color Purple" were looking to cast the role of Sofia, they contacted Jane Alderman, a Chicago casting director who was hugely influ…
NEW YORK " He had the advantage of the John the Baptist that is Robert Morse and, in his wily partner John Slattery, the oldest, driest and most cynically unlikely Hildy Johnson that ever sn…
In a few days, the train belonging to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus will disgorge its unique cargo " human, physical, animal " near the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, and then, …
If you are alone with a pair of headphones and your own neuroses, can you really be at a show? Sure you can. Especially if you believe " like me " that one of the primary duties of the theat…
On a night when the Chicago Cubs shook off their doubts and oppressors and hit their way back into contention, the most profound theatrical experience in a generation " a vibrant celebration…
"Hamilton" opens Wednesday night at the PrivateBank Theatre in Chicago in relatively low-key fashion " the key creative team that has worked on the show will be present, including the creato…
I know nothing of these mythical workplaces where socks are not required, hot-tub parties are common, eccentric creative types like myself are nurtured like needy babies and corporate pot-an…
An especially magical production of William Shakespeare's "The Tempest" and a brooding, emotional take on the classic musical "West Side Story" took top honors at the Joseph Jefferson Awa…
Broadway in Chicago said Monday that touring productions of "An American in Paris" and "Les Miserables" will play Chicago as part of its upcoming 2017 subscription season. "An American in Pa…
How did Donald Trump pull this off? How did Fred Trump's aggressive, narcissistic son " whose business failures are well-documented, whose unhinged nocturnal Twitter explosions imply a cockt…
In a continued period of unprecedented volatility at the famed comedy theater, more senior staffers have made their exits from The Second City. The high-profile departures, confirmed Friday …
"Hamilton" opens officially in Chicago on Wednesday. Before you decry yet more hype, first let us hold certain truths to be self-evident. Anyone seeking to engage a young person in the idea …
