This take on Gaetano Donizetti’s 1832 comic opera, L’elisir d’amore, is a two-act antidote for our COVID-plagued reality. Cleverly directed by Daniel Slater and beautifully designed by Robert Innes Hopkins, it’s another one-set production, but what a set! In contrast to Macbeth’s interminable gray, this Elixir transports us to a sunny resort hotel in colorful […]
Category: Performing Arts Review
Posted inPerforming Arts Review
Risking all for opera
A Verdi classic, a twist on Bizet, and a doubleheader of new work kick off the opera season in Chicago.
Posted inPerforming Arts Review
Chicago-style magic is ready for its close-up again
Magical thinking is both bane and balm. Without a little bit of belief in the possibility of miraculous transformation, I’d probably never get out of bed (especially lately). Yet amid the toxic noise of resolute anti-vaxxers-and-maskers and QAnon, it’s obvious that obdurate faith in the impossible against the tide of science, facts, and reality carries […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Coming through the pandemic storm with The Tempest
A trash island forms the background for Oak Park Festival Theatre’s outdoor staging of The Tempest.
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Teatro ZinZanni brings back glitz, kitsch, and the joy of living
Teatro ZinZanni,the dinner circus spectacle, reopens at the Cambria Hotel.
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A Sea Change for a time of upheaval
Cabinet of Curiosity sets sail with a new live show about mermaids, whales, sharks, seagulls—and climate disaster
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Henchpeople is a satisfying amuse-bouche for the return of live theater
Ross Compton’s Henchpeople is a shaggy and endearing comedy about supervillain support staff.
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Lyric’s al fresco Hansel and Gretel is a family-friendly treat
North Park Village Nature Center provides an ideal setting for Lyric’s Hansel and Gretel.
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We’re all in the same boat (alone) with Moby Dick and How Do We Navigate Space?
Two streaming shows from Theatre in the Dark and Strawdog capture the drama of obsession and isolation.
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An inspector calls: The Ministry of Mundane Mysteries messes with a critic’s head
This interactive performance-piece-by-phone offers a daily dose of oddness.
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Fillet of Solo reminds us that no one is alone
The annual festival of storytelling offers the freshest catches for COVID days.
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Weaving tangled webs with Constellations and Missed Connections
Theatre Above the Law and A Red Orchid Theatre dive into the physics and magic of being alive together.
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Zoo Motel and The Journey take us away from it all
Links Hall and Chicago Shakespeare host two virtual interactive shows on isolation and connection.
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Retail, resistance, and rebirth in Wally World and Kickback
Christmas Eve goes to 11 in Isaac Gómez’s workplace comedy; About Face celebrates Black queer lives, past and present.
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The Chimes and I Hate It Here ring out a horrible year
Charles Dickens and Ike Holter are unlikely twin spirit guides in two online shows.