With the recent release of Marvel’s monstrously successful Black Panther, you hear a lot about a particular kind of thirst being appeased. Black people are elated that they are being depicted as something other than a trite stereotype. In Black Panther, they are strong, smart and courageous. The kind of people who live up to …
Dark comedies come in a thousand flavors. And when you sit down to a newer one, you may have no idea of the nature of the darkness or where the humor in it will be found. Brown Paper Box Co.’s Speech & Debate, now playing at the Edge Theater on Broadway, proved to be one …
Brown Paper Box Co.’s Speech and Debate Captivating Read More »
Entering its 26th year, Eclipse enjoys the distinction of being the only theatre in the Midwest to focus exclusively on the works of a single playwright every season. By choosing to mount contemporary adaptations of plays by William Inge, Eclipse will be reintroducing modern audiences to a writer considered to be “one of the …
Playwright William Inge Featured in Eclipse Theatre’s 2018 Season Read More »
“He’s a genius” kept passing peoples lips when the lights went up for intermission at Hamilton in the old Schubert Theater last night. Even the jaded and sophisticated had to nod to agreement. That one man could both write and compose such a feat of ingenuity strains comprehension. Despite being a well-seasoned two-year-old, the musical …
The Black Ensemble Theatre (BE) has a tradition of delivering solid theatre by telling compelling stories through song. In Sammy: A Tribute to Sammy Davis Jr., song and dance act as ornamentation to a drama depicting exceptional innate talent and steely perseverance in the face of raw bigotry. Typical of a good BE show, a …
Black Ensemble Theatre Toasts Mr. Show Business: Sammy Davis, Jr. Read More »
You don’t need a Gatesian bankroll to make exceptional theater as Eclipse Theatre Company is proving with its current production of Breath Boom at the Athenaeum. Playwright Kia Corthron’s look behind the veil at how the young cope in the very violent world of our inner cities feels like an indictment of all of the …
Curious minds love the unexpected. Visiting a new story is chance to be surprised. If you’re lucky you’ll even be moved. If you’re exceptionally lucky, you’ll also laugh. All those things and more sloshed through Raven Theater’s production of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Choir Boy. Fresh as a sunrise, the hour and a half play made …
The Goodman’s production of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge fits a lot of bills. Typical of Miller, the writing is exceptional. Then you notice its deceptively intricate plot. And as the minutes click by, the play’s characters take on the density of a juicy porter house steak. All perfect ingredients for tragedy at …
Goodman’s A View from the Bridge a Pinnacle of Performance Read More »
Teaming up at Public House Theater to raise dollars for ACLU Illinois, ThirdCoastReview (3CR) and Kill Your Darlings (KYD) Live Lit hosted a kinetic benefit celebrating the first amendment by reading from formerly censored books. Dry and boring it was not. Orchestrated to coincide with an annual revel sponsored by the American Library Association to …
The world of performance is precarious, unpredictable and erratic. And it encompasses many more people than just those you see on the stage. If you work in that world as an actor, dancer, stagehand, or director; your next gig is never guaranteed and your livelihood rarely secure. Spurred by the 2015 death of local …
Third Annual Chicago Theater Bike Ride Remembers Its Own Read More »