1,044 stories by "Kerry Reid"
The towering genius and caprices of Mark Rothko provided onetime Chicagoan John Logan with a large canvas that ultimately proved profitable.
"Paint the picture." With those three words, the two isolated souls at the heart of Shepsu Aakhu's "Softly Blue" attempt to transcend their own limitations " real and imagined.
One doesn't need to be an NBC news anchor to struggle with memories. If you're from a family, you already know how fungible they can be, with siblings offering contrasting views of past even…
Before "The Writers' Room" became the name of a Sundance Television program examining the ins and outs and ups and downs of crafting popular television shows, Neil Simon created his own trib…
Oracle Theatre's latest intriguing meditation on the perils and promises of populism takes its inspiration from several sources, most notably Charles Mee's "Full Circle," which Tina Landau d…
Brett Neveu's "Red Bud" stakes its claim in the oft-plowed landscape of midlife males at a reunion " think Jason Miller's "That Championship Season" with a decidedly rougher patina. Brant Ru…
Though Aaron Holland's new play claims inspiration from Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace," it really is a straight-up (well, sort of) bildungsroman about a young gay black man finding his true n…
Three years ago, Shattered Globe produced "Orpheus Descending," Tennessee Williams' gothic tragedy about an unhappily married Italian woman on the Gulf Coast and the drifter who temporarily …
Much as Bailiwick Repertory was reborn as Bailiwick Chicago a few years ago, Pegasus Players has rebranded itself as Pegasus Theatre Chicago. While the company's flight from its longtime hom…
Much as Bailiwick Repertory was reborn as Bailiwick Chicago a few years ago, Pegasus Players has rebranded itself as Pegasus Theatre Chicago. While the company's flight from its longtime hom…
Puppets have been around for centuries. But Blair Thomas, the artistic director of the brand-new Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, points out the term "puppeteer" only came into…
In addition to the "On the Fringe" column I share with Nina Metz, I review many other individual shows for the Tribune over the year. Below are my picks for the 2014 productions that shone m…
Amid the Christmas shows (Ebenezer, meet George Bailey) and anti-Christmas shows (you know who you are, Crumpet!) flooding theaters this time of year, Redmoon's annual "Winter Pageant" stand…
When Desi Arnaz performed "Babalu" on "I Love Lucy," it was an exercise in sheer head-tossing, tie-loosening, id-releasing exuberance. That same number in "I Love Lucy Live On Stage," despit…
Caroline needs change. More to the point, she needs a new liver. Holed up in her bedroom, the critically ill teen mostly communicates through social media. So she's not particularly amenable…
For those who still find mordant mirth in the scene in "Gremlins" where Phoebe Cates' character recalls the horrible way she learned the truth about Santa, Sheila Callaghan has got your holi…
Imagine a creepier version of Lake Wobegon " perhaps one designed by Harold Pinter. That gives you some idea of the claustrophobic but ultimately uninvolving world of Mary Hamilton's "We Thr…
Seldom has a coffee table so earned its moniker as in Scott T. Barsotti's "Jet Black Chevrolet" at the Side Project. The table in question " the banged-up centerpiece of the seen-better-days…
Before the polar vortex takes all the fun out of winter, there are plenty of ways to get out and celebrate the stories and sounds of the season. Below is just a partial list of some of the b…
There is an intriguing concept underpinning the Waltzing Mechanics' latest outing, "Line One," which originated with John Kaufmann at Seattle's Annex Theatre 10 years ago. But at least on th…
I thought I might make it through this holiday season without a sighting of a panto dame. Then I went to Factory Theater's "Hotel Aphrodite."
Many years ago I was visiting a friend in Wicker Park whose musician boyfriend was heading out to rehearsal. "What are you girls doing tonight?" he asked. "Just hanging out," we replied. He …
The 25th annual Chicago Humanities Festival, built around the theme of "Journeys," wrapped up in a most appropriate manner on Friday night with Anjelica Huston, who spoke candidly and someti…
The 25th annual Chicago Humanities Festival, built around the theme of "Journeys," wrapped up in a most appropriate manner on Friday night with Anjelica Huston, who spoke candidly and someti…
Teacher-as-rehabilitator-of-troubled-youth is well-worn dramatic territory. Toss in a horse barn as the classroom, as William Mastrosimone does in "Tamer of Horses," and you might think you'…
