For all the theater I’ve attended in Chicago—since childhood, really—I’m slightly embarrassed to admit that this weekend marked my first visit to Michigan Avenue’s Lookingglass Theatre, the 35-year-old ensemble company […]
When I hear the name Patti Smith, so many images are conjured in my mind. The 1970s at Club 950, No Exit, and Neo were teeming with people sporting mohawks […]
I was put under a spell on Friday. King Roger by the Chicago Opera Theater (COT) was the spellbinding work that eased my anxiety from sitting in a traffic snarl […]
Rossini’s Le Comte Ory is my second French-language opera within a week. Verdi’s Don Carlos is also at the Lyric. Le Comte Ory is considerably more lighthearted and is in […]
The Surrealism movement started in the 1920s, perhaps in response to WWI but definitely in reaction to art and literature being restrained and stifled into categories. Artists of the time […]
Leopoldstadt is a place, a Jewish section of old Vienna. It’s also an imagined history of how two intermarried Jewish families lived (or didn’t live) through six decades of the […]
“I’m an immigrant and an exile,” Gabriel Byrne begins his autobiographical solo show at the century-old Music Box Theatre on Broadway. For two hours-plus, the legendary Irish actor tells stories […]
I always look forward to Timeline Theatre productions because the company provides the background and history of the play in a lobby display and in the playbill. Ron OJ Parson […]
I do not amuse easily and when something is touted as farcical, I expect it to be on point. The Artistic Home presents a sidesplitting farce with playwright Siah Berlatsky’s […]
The Lyric Opera in Chicago is at the forefront of opera productions on the world stage. It’s right up there with La Scala in Milan or the Met in New […]
Deeply Rooted Dance Theater gave a powerful performance that elated the audience and took me on an emotional trip down memory lane. The performers were Deeply Rooted members and company […]
Above the Water is a devised physical show (with puppets in it) about grief. At various points in my life, puppets had helped me get over several fears–including a childhood […]