Disney Archives - Chicago Reader

The ensemble of Beauty and the Beast at Chicago Shakespeare is pictured clumped together sitting on the floor. Belle is in the center.

Disney delight

by Amanda Finn July 26, 2023July 26, 2023

The stages at Chicago Shakespeare Theater are accustomed to classic tales of daring sword fights, magic spells, and a prince in disguise—just the kinds of stories that Belle loves to read. Although Navy Pier is far from Belle’s French provincial town, CST’s production of the Disney favorite Beauty and the Beast roars to life nonetheless. […]

an animated Black teenager reaches out to an alien-looking blue shape

Film

Strange World

by John Wilmes December 2, 2022December 2, 2022

Everyone is delightfully lost in a softly Lovecraftian Osmosis Jones labyrinth with climate change overtones and lovely faceless critters everywhere, trying to pantomime meaning to these stumbling humans.

two women stare darkly at each other, one with red hair and a dark blue dress, the other in an evil-looking black dress with red and gold accents

Film

Disenchanted

by Atavia Reed November 22, 2022November 22, 2022

It’s worth catching up with Giselle and crew one last time, even if the madness of the Big Apple is swapped for the bake sales of suburbia.

the Hulk and She-Hulk outside, facing each other with prayer hands

Film

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law

by Josh Flanders August 19, 2022September 12, 2023

She-Hulk is the kind of smart, funny production that proves that like Ms. Marvel, Thor: Ragnarok, or Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel is at its best when it combines self-conscious humor with great storytelling.

The cast of The Little Mermaid in bright colorful costumes dance in a line. White circles of light on the floor suggest the underwater atmosphere.

Theater Review

Sea legs

by Catey Sullivan June 8, 2022June 8, 2022

Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale, “The Little Mermaid,” is a load of hooey. Consider: The titular mermaid throws herself on a dagger in the end, because she can’t bear to go on after some dude she first encountered days earlier marries someone else. Also, she gives up her voice in exchange for legs so she […]

Film

“I’ve always considered myself an outsider“

by Matthew Sigur October 22, 2021October 22, 2021

On Thursday morning, Bobcat Goldthwait is driving to the Music Box Theatre for a test screening of his latest documentary. It’s a short drive for the comedian/writer/director who just recently moved to DuPage County and gave himself the nickname the “Daniel Craig of DuPage.” “I had to get out of [DuPage],” Goldthwait jokes. “The autograph […]