Malcolm Ewen's first foray into a life in the theater was in his hometown of Winnetka, in a middle school production of "The Hither and Thither of Danny Dither." He played the role of God. …
Cirque du Soleil has brought 25 different shows to the Chicago area over the last 30 years. I've reviewed 24 of them, from "Alegria" to "Saltimbanco" to "Varekai," from the old North Pier to…
In 1991, Joan Jett Blakk ran against Richard M. Daley for Mayor of Chicago. By the following year, the radical drag persona of the courtly, mild-mannered performer Terence Smith was running …
Comedian Patton Oswalt is coming to the Den Theatre in Wicker Park for three performances Aug. 15-16. According to the announcement Tuesday, tickets ($35 general admission, $55 VIP table sea…
So what, exactly, were Mary Godwin, Percy Shelley, Claire Clairmont and George Gordon Byron all really doing in the Villa Diodati in Lake Geneva (Switzerland, not Wisconsin) in the rainy sum…
The New York cast has been announced for Tracy Letts' "Linda Vista," and it's a lot of Chicago faces. The Broadway production of the play, which premiered at Letts' home stage at Steppenwolf…
Molly Bloom has come unstuck in time. All right, not the real Molly Bloom. She's fictional, after all. But in Steven Dietz's 2015 time-travel romance, "Bloomsday," James Joyce's heroine is t…
Might you find yourself a few steps ahead of the play at "Into the Breeches!," the new comedy from the Northlight Theatre? Is Winnetka north of Wilmette? Actually, so formulaic is George Bra…
"Four Chords and a Gun," the new show from Toronto now at the Broadway Playhouse, is an odd duck. Of course, so were The Ramones. Here was an American punk rock band with influence that ecli…
In 2011, the British author and critic Martin Amis " a man who believes that Saul Bellow was the greatest American writer of the 20th century " stood on a stage in this city and described Ch…
In 1977, the actor Joe Mantegna " then and now a rabid fan of the Chicago Cubs " came up with an idea designed to get baseball lovers into the theater. The result was the legendary Organic T…
If, like me, your only knowledge of Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg is the company's 2017 trip to Chicago for "Red Giselle," the North American premiere of artistic director Boris Eifman's "…
Newly announced for the Mercury Theater Chicago on Southport, the musical "Spamalot," coming this fall to the theater's mainstage from Aug. 30 to Nov. 3, 2019. 'Tis but a scratch. The musica…
Back in 2011, just before the first national tour of Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey's magnificent, Pulitzer Prize-winning musical "Next to Normal" came to Chicago, a dear out-of-town friend asked…
First performance: Sept. 27, 2016 at the then-PrivateBank Theatre. Opening night was Oct. 19. Last scheduled performance: Jan. 5, 2020. Number of shows: 1,365 performances over 171 weeks. Av…
The Chicago production of "Hamilton" will close Jan. 5, 2020, the Broadway producer Jeffrey Seller said in an interview with the Tribune Wednesday evening. The date of closing is not a surpr…
Laurie Metcalf was known to Chicago theater lovers for years before she became a Broadway mainstay. The Steppenwolf ensemble member " also known for her work on the TV sitcoms "Roseanne" and…
FRIDAY "La Havana Madrid": Sandra Delgado's play with music about a legendary Chicago nightclub in the 1960s is back for another run. Den Theatre, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave.; www.thedentheatre.c…
Obsessive-compulsive disorder and comedy aren't strangers to each other, as fans of Tony Shalhoub's "Monk" can attest. But comedian and solo performer Adam Strauss's detective work takes him…
In the days leading up to Memorial Day, Chicago traditionally has more theater openings than at any other time of the year. And 2019 is bringing an especially bumper crop of marquee spring a…
Like "The Tempest" and "Cymbeline," William Shakespeare's "The Winter's Tale" traditionally has been seen as a romantic play about forgiveness, penance and reconciliation. Its early dramatic…
"Considering this city's black thumb when applied to grass roots dance companies, I feel a compulsion to fly some zeppelin blimp over the Dance Troupe's home at 1725 N. Wells St." Given Chic…
Death! Cannibalism! Fire! Michael Shannon on film! All of the above are on offer in A Red Orchid Theatre's cacophonous new production of "Killing Game" ("Jeux de Massacre"), a show, lead by …
On an extraordinary night at Second City in Chicago, a fearless, vulnerable and determinedly transparent Margaret Trudeau took the stage to talk of affairs and mistakes, family and failures,…
In a pivot away from developers and controversial Evanston high-rises, Northlight Theatre says it has made a fresh plan for a new home. Northlight said Friday that it has signed an option ag…