704 stories by "Zach Freeman"
Within a minute of taking the stage at the Chicago Theatre Thursday night in jeans and a buttoned-up dress shirt, comedian Bill Burr is already working the perplexed and frustrated angle he'…
RECOMMENDED George Bernard Shaw once said that there were only two ways a theatrical production could be successful. On one hand, the show could be timeless, dealing with themes that will al…
RECOMMENDED In "Tribulation: The Musical," playing now in iO's Mission Theater, mankind's worst fears are confirmed"the world is burning and murderous Horsemen of the Apocalypse ride the str…
RECOMMENDED The Chicago Children's Theatre's production of "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane" is one of the rare family friendly offerings actually capable of entertaining the whole f…
RECOMMENDED Not knowing what to expect while standing outside in the drizzle, waiting to be allowed into the Dream Laboratory, it is difficult not to stuff down the tittering giggle that hau…
RECOMMENDED I remember being furious as a child when my mother threatened to find an etiquette class for me to attend. She seemed charmed by the idea of having a well-mannered little girl an…
Audience members without their sea legs might be cautioned that Mary Zimmerman's new adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island" could leave them feeling queasy. For when young …
My favorite part of Sherlock Holmes' stories is always when, after Holmes relays a long list of facts about an individual's life, he breaks down how he gleaned each and every fact from the t…
RECOMMENDED Among the many wonders presented by magicians David Parr and Joe Diamond, the most impressive trick the night I attended was pretty much filling up the house on Wednesday evening…
The last time that actress Katherine Keberlein and director Max Truax collaborated together, the result was Oracle's Jeff-Award winning production of Bertolt Brecht's "The Mother," with Kebe…
RECOMMENDED Loneliness, at its worst, clamps down, feeling like a black box from which there is no escape. The claustrophobia of loneliness can sometimes feel so inescapable that dying of it…
RECOMMENDED To be a teenager is to be a creature of extremity. Not only your body but your emotions and ideas and opinions are expanding with the rush and fury of a newborn universe"your own…
"Well, it's a relief to finally see something cheerful," Gwen said, as they exited out to the street. "Yeah," said Eleanor. "Though it ended weirdly with the traditional gender roles." "What…
Last Sunday's afternoon matinee of Gioachino Rossini's "Cinderella" ("La Cenerentola") at the Lyric Opera set me musing. Why would Lyric director Anthony Freud schedule a romantic feminist d…
RECOMMENDED Twenty-five years after it first premiered at the Goodman, Scott McPherson's "Marvin's Room" is still relevant because people are still dying"slowly, painfully, dragging their fa…
RECOMMENDED The strings that tie mothers to daughters are knotted, twisted and forever looping. Severing those strings is an impossible feat, though many spend their lives trying. Untangling…
Lewis Black is not be bringing his brand of angry stand-up to the Chicago Theatre stage until the end of the week, but Margaret Cho's 80-minute set Saturday night, part of her international …
Sensuous excess comes to life in Christina Rossetti's 1862 poem "Goblin Market," with proliferation of rhymes, synonyms, luscious lists of fruits and "figs to fill your mouth." It's easy to …
Lewis Black is not bringing his brand of angry stand-up to the Chicago Theatre stage until the end of the week, but Margaret Cho's 80-minute set Saturday night, part of her international "Th…
"I can Google it for you while we're talking …" I've been on the phone with Sandor Weisz for less than 30 seconds, and he's already proven that he is indeed a Web developer. As a fellow de…
RECOMMENDED Horror is a mighty genre, stealing you away from the present like no other genre can, activating the primal instincts that follow fear and focusing your attentions like a laser o…
By Loy Webb Children have some of the most imaginative and exciting minds. Give them a cardboard box, they'll create castles fit for any king and queen. Give them a blanket, and as it's wrap…
RECOMMENDED John Steinbeck is the most Wagnerian of American novelists. He loves to dilate on cosmic themes. He permits himself loose speculation on big ideas – Guilt, Free Will, Forgi…
RECOMMENDED Paramount Theatre opens their Broadway Musical Series with a rousing "Oklahoma!" as impressive as last season's production of "Les Misérables." It's not just that Paramount Thea…
RECOMMENDED Every time I see the name Neil Simon, I crack a smile because I know there are very few pieces of this comedic writing legend's work I can get through without serious amounts of …
