Alex Goodrich Archives - Chicago Reader

A woman with long blonde hair sits at a pub table next to a man with short brown hair. They both wear jeans and work shirts, with pints of beer in their hands.

A universe of privation

by Irene Hsiao February 21, 2023February 21, 2023

No wings close the expanse of earth that widens the Court Theatre stage to a landscape in Caryl Churchill’s Fen, directed by Vanessa Stalling, with scenic design by Collette Pollard. The terraced land, hemmed in scalloped edges by shining metal borders, looks like the ocean, diminished and immobilized in its crash against the massive concrete […]

Heidi Kettenring as Dolly stands center in a red dress and feathered hat. She is surrounded by a group of six waiters sitting on the floor, looking up at her.

Theater Review

Lookin’ swell

by Jack Helbig September 22, 2022September 22, 2022

Hello, Dolly! is not revived that often. It only feels that way, because Jerry Herman’s score (book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder’s play The Matchmaker) is so infectious and ubiquitous, because so many larger-than-life stars have played Dolly Levi over the years—among them Carol Channing (of course), Pearl Bailey, Bette Midler, Bernadette Peters, […]

Five cast members for It Came From Outer Space stand onstage, leaning in various directions with their arms stretched above them and to the sides. A very large moon is in the background and a row of telephone poles is on the right. They have expressions of shock and surprise on their faces.

Theater Review

Out of this world fun

by Kerry Reid July 6, 2022July 18, 2022

Last year, Chicago Shakespeare offered We Are Out There, a digital sneak peek of Joe Kinosian and Kellen Blair’s goofy musical adaptation of the 1953 Universal Pictures sci-fi film, It Came From Outer Space, which was itself based on an original story by Ray Bradbury. Now it’s finally onstage at Chicago Shakes’s cozy upstairs studio […]