The Phantom of the Opera is a tale that not only captivates with its haunting storyline but also leaves an impression through its distinct and dramatic fashion. The iconic costumes worn by t…
Chicago Shakespeare Theater's North American premiere of Paranormal Activity is guaranteed to deliver the horror movie-style scares you're looking for this Halloween season, but if you're lo…
Pedal to the Monument: Yunchan Lim Reimagines the Goldberg Variations Last night, October 16, the audience fell quiet before Yunchan Lim, making his at Disney Hall debut, walked onstage, but…
OSBORNE TO DO LITTLE SHOP In 1960, a peculiar minor film (featuring a minor appearance by an up-and-coming Jack Nicholson) was released to no particular fanfare with good reason: It was pret…
THE DREAM REBORN: RAGTIME AWAKENS THE AMERICAN SOUL A momentous musical about American history, a momentous production in Lincoln Center Theater history, Ragtime, which opened last night, is…
DON'T KILL THE FATTED CALF JUST YET " THE PRODIGAL SON RETURNS EMPTY-HANDED "I was fifteen. Do you remember fifteen? For me, it was a special, beautiful room in Hell." That brilliant line op…
A MILD CASE OF THE CREEPS Ah, Halloween " All Hallows' Day, Allhallowtide, Jack-o'-lanterns, the madcap lads of West Hollywood, the troops of pint-sized witches, Iron Men and Disney princess…
A BEAUTIFUL NIGHTMARE IN A HOUSE THAT BLEEDS ART As a fan of the horror genre in every medium, how could I resist the chance to review something as delightfully titled as House of the Exquis…
AN OAK WHOSE ROOTS WON'T LET GO A flashlight illuminating a face from below: what else could follow that image but a ghost story. And what better time for a ghost story than the month that c…
When Time Becomes Music: Heather Christian's Oratorio for Living Things Transcends the Human Scale When the live performance of an artistic work is greater in vision and scope than anything …
OH HAPPY DAY! BRINGS A HAPPY DAY Playwright and actor Jordan E. Cooper's heart-breaking but joyously gospel-inflected New York premiere of Oh Happy Day! is an earned emotional treat. The sho…
A GHOST STORY THAT EXPLAINS ITSELF TO DEATH It's 2012 in Sherman Oaks, CA, when Thai-American life-insurance salesman Max (David Huynh) begins sleepwalking and violently lashes out at his pr…
There was a time when the theater curtain separated the performer from the audience, defining a clear boundary between art and participation. Today, that curtain is gone. In its place stands…
MOVE OVER TYLER PERRY; HERE COMES CHERUBINI'S MEDEA Lyric Opera rarely stages anything written before the nineteenth century, apart from Mozart and the occasional Handel and Gluck, so it is …
NOTHING CAN TAKE YOU FROM JEN TULLOCK'S PERFORMANCE We've all seen the headline flash on TV: "New Book Tells All About Author's Escape from Restrictive Religious Upbringing." It's a story th…
RICHARD BERMUDEZ SLAYS TWICE IN SDMT'S JEKYLL & HYDE San Diego Musical Theatre is presenting a gripping revival of the 1997 Broadway musical adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 h…
MIND OVER MATTER: IDEAS TAKE CENTER STAGE IN JOHNATHAN SPECTOR'S INTELLECTUALLY COMPELLING THIS MUCH I KNOW When was the last time you made a choice? What went through your mind? Did you kno…
ANDRÉ DE SHIELDS THE REDEEMER André De Shields should be a landmark; for over six decades, he has towered over the worlds of theatre, film, and television with the kind of presence that…
ON THE THIRD RAIL: STRONG ACTORS KEEP THIS DUTCHMAN FLYING The Trap Door Theatre is a quintessential Chicago storefront theatre " it's housed in a converted garage, accessed through a narrow…
DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT SKIPPIN' PIPPIN Pippin offers musical theater lovers the complete package: brilliant performances, terrific directing, a stimulating book by Roger O. Hirson and a chee…
FAITH, FLIGHT, AND THE FIGHT TO ENDURE In our current state of political unrest " with government shutdowns and widespread uncertainty about how to make ends meet " stories about the power o…
RECONCILING WITH SHANLEY'S PAST In Italian American Reconciliation, playwright John Patrick Shanley, best known for Moonstruck and Doubt, returns to the Bronx of his youth where conversation…
THE HILARIOUS NOISES OFF IS ON AT SF PLAYOUSE " OFF YOU GO The huge interior of an imposing English country estate by Heather Kenyon greets visitors to the San Francisco Playhouse, scene of …
JUST HOW I LIKE MY THEATER " HOT, SWEET, AND SAUCY Now playing at New Conservatory Theatre Center, The Hot Wing King is a spicy tale of love, friendship, and a cooking contest gone gloriousl…
TWO LONG HOURS WITH THE FORMER MAN OF THE HOUR There is no question that Churchill was a hero who played a major role in saving the world from Hitler's fascism (though perhaps not as big a r…