Stephanie Shaw Archives - Chicago Reader

Four people stand in a line onstage. Behind them is a tinsel curtain and a table with a doll, a boombox, and other items. On the left is "Frau," (played by a male actor), wearing a red wig and a black jumpsuit. Next are two people dressed as Barry Gibb and Barbra Streisand, holding microphones and singing. They are in costumes and wigs from the late 70s. At the far right is a person in a green wig, wearing a buckled leather jacket and long denim shorts.

On a clear day you can clone forever

by Matt Simonette October 6, 2022October 6, 2022

Dr. Barbra Joan Frankenstreisand (Tyler Anthony Smith)—that ultimate hyphenate: superstar-mad scientist—has commandeered the stage at the Raven Room at Redline VR bar for what she calls a “clone-cert” to duplicate her beloved and very dead pooch. Few theater companies understand characters toeing the line between stardom and monstrousness like Hell in a Handbag Productions. Frankenstreisand, […]

Jessica Anne and Leah Urzendowski Courser

Arts & Culture

Growing up girl in The Miss Neo Pageant

by Marissa Oberlander May 30, 2013August 19, 2021

The Miss Neo Pageant is a thoughtful look at a loaded word: feminist.

Arts & Culture

International Symposium on Chicago Theatre attempts to shake the trees

by Asher Klein May 12, 2011August 19, 2021

There are almost 300 professional theater companies at work in Chicago today, ranging from big-name institutions like Steppenwolf and Second City to fringe stalwarts like the Curious Theatre Branch. Yet scholars still consider New York the epicenter of drama in the U.S. Columbia College’s International Symposium on Chicago Theatre is calculated to change that. “This […]