Theater
Paramount’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory adds a touch of bitter to the sweet
Pure imagination mixes with deception in a smart twist on Roald Dahl’s tale.
Latest stories
Manual Cinema’s Christmas Carol returns to Writers Theatre
This inventive take on Dickens finds sympathy for the Scrooge in all of us.
Noor Inayat Khan: The Forgotten Spy brings a footnote of World War II center stage
Almanya Narula’s award-winning solo show comes to Chicago.
Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas has charm and heart galore
Puppets (and some human friends) take over the Studebaker for this Jim Henson-inspired musical.
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theater Previews
Sleeping With Beauty brings an irreverent take to a British holiday tradition
PrideArts finds holiday cheer again with a bawdy panto.
John Michael teaches us how to time travel with the Neo-Futurists
The solo artist brings a mankini and hundreds of boxes of Narcan to Spank Bank Time Machine.
Nyra’s Dreams uses Indian dance to explore contemporary women’s experiences
Prop Thtr and SurTaal Dance collaborate on the world premiere.
Rats—now and forever
Two Chicago shows put the maligned rodents in the spotlight.
From cab culture to throuples with the Destinos festival
Taxilandia and Armonía offer fresh perspectives on community and connection.
A dramatic top ten for fall
The Understudy staff picks their favorite theater titles for the season.
Murder, she sang
Murder, ReWrote is both send-up and homage to the beloved Angela Lansbury TV series.
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Theater reviews
Cinderella emphasizes the magic of kindness
Drury Lane Theatre’s production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein chestnut gets it right all across the board.
POTUS is painfully funny
The women behind the man in the Oval Office have a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
The Lifespan of a Fact tackles truthiness
It’s storytelling vs. fact-checking in TimeLine’s local premiere of the 2018 Broadway play.
Wise Guys: The First Christmas Story turns the journey of the Magi into a buddy adventure
Factory’s holiday show is both smart-assed and sincere.
Court’s The Lion in Winter slices through the surface
Ron OJ Parson’s staging focuses on the lost love of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitane.
Commedia Divina: It’s Worse Than That is Dante for the age of MAGA
The Conspirators offer a frenetic romp through our recent national nightmares.
Beetlejuice is a demonic good time
But some of the plot points land nasty in the musical version.
Witch casts half a spell at Artistic Home
Jen Silverman’s update of a Jacobean dark comedy feels a little on the safe side.
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Ghost light by kerry reid
Remembering Marc Silvia, Debra Rodkin, and Ernest Perry Jr.
The three actors were all important and beloved players in Chicago theater.
Remembering Linsey Falls
A beloved stalwart of the storefront scene, the actor died at 50 on November 5.
George Bailey and American Blues Theater get a new home
The stalwart company opens It’s a Wonderful Life in December; Tommy makes an expected leap to Broadway; and the Harris Theater scores a major gift.
In the wake of a new study, the city declares Theater Season
Giving the local performing arts scene a boost; Chicago Dancers United unveils new aid for the dance community and Chicago Dance History Project gets new leadership.
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Opera
Lights, music, Scrooge, and Shostakovich
A short roundup of cultural events, seasonal and otherwise
Seduced, abandoned, and excellent
Lise Davidsen makes a stunning Lyric debut in Jenůfa.
Lyric’s victorious Daughter of the Regiment
It’s a stretch right now, but her army is funny.
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Stages of survival
Definition Theatre makes plans for a new home while building community connections
Creating neighborhood partnerships in Woodlawn and beyond is central to the BIPOC-focused company’s vision.
‘We don’t want to get bigger. We want to get deeper.’
Jenny Magnus on 35 years with Curious Theatre Branch
The room where it happens, again
Hamilton holds up in the latest tour.
Fall Theater & arts preview
‘125 is feeling very good’
Celebrating Chicago’s cultural past and present at the Fine Arts Building
The quest for Eleven
A young theater artist searches for Gary Tucker and the Godzilla Rainbow Troupe.
Setting the stage for queer stories
A seasonal preview of LGBTQ+ theater
You won’t be my neighbor
Class and internalized racism explode in WELCOME TO MATTESON!
