Greenhouse Theater Center Archives

Princess Di—Gone But Still Kicking! paints a divisive portrait of the late royal

by Bridgette M. Redman July 19, 2023July 19, 2023

An icon and legend, the late Princess Diana, first wife to King Charles III, lends herself to many different interpretations. Jillann Gabrielle has established herself as a creator and performer of one-woman musicals about such iconic women as Greta Garbo, Hedda Hopper, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Now Gabrielle presents her interpretation […]

Nearly a dozen members of the ensemble of The Buttcracker, a diverse gathering of performers of different races, ethnicities, and genders, gathers onstage. In the center is a performer in a red see-through blouse, a black satin corset, and red socks held up by black garters. They sport a drawn-on mustache and carry an unfurled black fan insscribed "SLEIGH."

Theater Review

Doff we now our gay apparel

by Dan Jakes December 7, 2022December 9, 2022

There are two Christmas pantomimes based upon 19th-century fables currently playing on Chicago stages, and unless Mary Zimmerman has been up to some dramatic retooling, it’s safe to assume this is the only one that features crotch sparks. Producer Jaq Seifert’s cheeky, irreverent holiday-themed burlesque revue returns for its sixth edition and first back from […]

Burlesque performers doing a dance number as part of the Buttcracker show

Agenda

World AIDS Day screenings, the Buttcracker, and more

by Kerry Reid, Micco Caporale and Salem Collo-Julin December 2, 2022December 2, 2022

Last week, the annual winter flower shows opened at the city’s conservatories in Garfield Park and Lincoln Park. This year, the theme at Garfield Park Conservatory (300 N. Central Park) is “Snow Day,” which they’re channeling with a 12 feet tall “tree” created with white poinsettias, as well as oversized snowmen hidden throughout the conservatory’s […]

Two women in white lingerie stand onstage. They are holding up a large arch of white feathers, which encircles their heads and bodies. Arms of other people holding the arch are visible behind them.

Arts & Culture

Buttcracker burlesque cracks traditional ballet wide open

by Matt Simonette December 1, 2022December 2, 2022

Jaq Seifert admits that the title of the holiday show they created, The Buttcracker, came to them while sitting around a campfire in 2015. “I was hanging out with some burlesque dancers,” they recall. “I had been working at a burlesque theater for a little bit as a sort of company manager. We were just […]

A young white woman in a blue sleeveless dress sits while a young white man holding a microphone stands behind her. Two martini glasses are on the table before them, and a neon sign reading "cocktails" is on the wall.

Theater Review

Sex education

by Marissa Oberlander May 4, 2022June 29, 2022

The Chicago production of off-Broadway’s longest running comedy is a fun, interactive night out with some surprisingly touching, and even useful, takeaways. The 75-minute show is based on a 1997 book of the same title (by Dan Anderson and Maggie Berman), which the program reminds us was ahead of its time—before Will & Grace, Sex […]

Theater Review

Lesley Nicol steps out of the TV kitchen

by Kelly Kleiman March 22, 2022March 22, 2022

Early in her autobiographical monologue How The Hell Did I Get Here?, Lesley Nicol notes that as a child she was described as “bonny,” which can mean either pretty or a bit too chubby. By the same token, describing a show as “cute” can mean either it’s charming or merely trivial. Fortunately, in Nicol’s case, […]