Chicago Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 14

BWW Review: HANDS ON A HARDBODY at Refuge Theatre Project
by Rachel Weinberg - March 18, 2019

In HANDS ON A HARDBODY, now making its Chicago premiere with Refuge Theatre Project, the mobility offered by that titular hardbody truck is not just of the wheeled variety. Instead, the contest among 10 working class Texans to be the last to have their hands on that Nissan truck also becomes a rathe...

BWW Review: A BRONX TALE on Tour in Chicago
by Rachel Weinberg - March 15, 2019

It's in the moments of high energy and pure entertainment that A BRONX TALE succeeds the most, and the company finds all the joy in Alan Menken's reliably tuneful score....

BWW Review: Steppenwolf for Young Adults Presents WE ARE PROUD TO PRESENT A PRESENTATION…
by Rachel Weinberg - March 03, 2019

Jackie Sibblies Drury's WE ARE PROUD TO PRESENT A PRESENTATION…, currently onstage as the second production in Steppenwolf for Young Adults' season, opens up challenging questions about history, who has the right to tell what story, and how best we can represent critical moments from the past withou...

BWW Review: AN INSPECTOR CALLS at Chicago Shakespeare Theater
by Rachel Weinberg - February 22, 2019

AN INSPECTOR CALLS is a gripping theatrical experience from start-to-finish. Director Stephen Daldry's breathtaking revival of J.B. Priestley's 1946 thriller had its origins in 1992 and comes to Chicago Shakespeare Theater now as part of an international tour from the National Theatre of Great Brita...

BWW Review: TWILIGHT BOWL at Goodman Theatre
by Rachel Weinberg - February 20, 2019

TWILIGHT BOWL is a thoughtful and delicate examination of what it means for the young women in the play to find their places in the world, and the fact that 'making it' in life might look quite different for all of them. The play posits that there is no definitive definition of success and that the ...

BWW Review: LA TRAVIATA at Lyric Opera Of Chicago
by Emily McClanathan - February 17, 2019

As with most tales of doomed romance, Giuseppe Verdi's LA TRAVIATA highlights the contrasts between two social spheres and the difficulties faced by lovers who try to bridge this chasm. In this 1853 opera, based on a play by Alexandre Dumas, fils, the beautiful courtesan Violetta Valery (Albina Shag...

BWW Review: THE ABUELAS at Teatro Vista
by Rachel Weinberg - February 16, 2019

As with THE MADRES, Walker has once again constructed a devastating and empowering portrait of strong women facing unbearably tragic circumstances in THE ABUELAS....

BWW Review: THE PRODUCERS at Paramount Theatre
by Emily McClanathan - February 16, 2019

Before attending THE PRODUCERS at Paramount Theatre, I had a disturbing dream in which this production cut everything deemed offensive or politically incorrect from the original: tap-dancing Nazis, sex-crazed old ladies, grossly stereotyped portrayals of, well, everyone. 'But what will they have lef...

BWW Review: DEAR EVAN HANSEN National Tour in Chicago
by Rachel Weinberg - February 15, 2019

Both profoundly moving and profoundly disturbing, DEAR EVAN HANSEN is one of the most deeply troubling musicals I've seen. I left DEAR EVAN HANSEN with a swirl of mixed emotions. The musical is a meditation on social media and how it makes the social isolation and challenges of high school all the m...

BWW Review: THE TOTAL BENT at Haven Theatre (in association with About Face Theatre)
by Rachel Weinberg - February 14, 2019

The Midwest premiere of Stew and Heidi Rodewald's THE TOTAL BENT is a meditation on self-expression and the oppressive forces that can stand in the way of that expression....

BWW Review: A DOLL'S HOUSE, PART 2 at Steppenwolf Theatre Company
by Rachel Weinberg - February 11, 2019

A DOLL'S HOUSE, PART 2, now in its world premiere at Steppenwolf, explores the gap between society's expectations for the central character Nora and how she perceives herself. Lucas Hnath's sequel to Ibsen's classic, proto-feminist work A DOLL'S HOUSE sees Nora returning through the very door she sl...

BWW Review: PIPELINE at Victory Gardens Theater
by Rachel Weinberg - February 11, 2019

In PIPELINE, playwright Dominique Morisseau reflects on the cracks in the inner-city public-school system, and the ways in which it often functions as a school to prison pipeline for young black men, without vilifying the system's participants. It's a skillfully crafted balance that demonstrates how...

BWW Review: ON CLOVER ROAD at American Blues Theater
by Patrick Rybarczyk - February 08, 2019

Like a car in a drag race, Steven Dietz's theatrical thriller ON CLOVER ROAD goes from zero to 100 within the first few seconds and doesn't shift down for 85 minutes. The challenge of telling this tale full of twists in such a short time is where do we go once we're at 100? The intensity for the act...

BWW Review: HOW TO CATCH CREATION at Goodman Theatre
by Emily McClanathan - February 03, 2019

In HOW TO CATCH CREATION, a world premiere at Goodman Theatre, playwright Christina Anderson tackles universal themes: the desire for human connection, the pursuit of creative and intellectual passions, and the longing to leave a meaningful legacy. Niegel Smith directs this intricately crafted tale,...

BWW Review: A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE at Porchlight Music Theatre
by Rachel Weinberg - February 02, 2019

Though the D'Ysquiths may be felled one by one in A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE, nothing can stop Matt Crowle from stealing the show....

BWW Review: PHOTOGRAPH 51 at Court Theatre
by Emily McClanathan - January 27, 2019

When Dr. Rosalind Franklin, portrayed by the formidable Chaon Cross, makes her first entrance in Court Theatre's PHOTOGRAPH 51, it's immediately clear that she inhabits a world dominated by men. Director Vanessa Stalling arranges the rest of the cast-who are all male-on the upper level of Arnel Sanc...

BWW Review: RED REX at Steep Theatre
by Rachel Weinberg - January 26, 2019

Ike Holter's RED REX, now in its world premiere at Steep Theatre, is a delightfully meta-theatrical experience. The play is the sixth in local playwright Holter's ambitious seven-play cycle about Rightlynd, the fictional 51st ward of Chicago. It is one of the most intriguing, brilliant, and solidly ...

BWW Review: Shattered Globe Theatre/Theater Wit's THE REALISTIC JONESES
by Rachel Weinberg - January 23, 2019

Despite the title, Will Eno's THE REALISTIC JONESES, now receiving its Chicago premiere in a co-production between Shattered Globe Theatre and Theater Wit, does not seem to wholly exist in the real world. Though Jack Magaw's tidy set design, Hailey Rakowiecki's quotidian costume designs, and John Ke...

BWW Review: DADA WOOF PAPA HOT at About Face Theatre
by Rachel Weinberg - January 20, 2019

In DADA WOOF PAPA HOT, now in its Chicago premiere at About Face Theatre, playwright Peter Parnell explores that nagging question of what it means to have it all. The play centers on a gay couple and their circle of friends. Though Alan (Bruch Reed) and Rob (Benjamin Sprunger) have been together for...

BWW Review: CARDBOARD PIANO at TimeLine Theatre Company
by Rachel Weinberg - January 18, 2019

Hansol Jung's CARDBOARD PIANO, now in its Chicago premiere at Timeline Theatre Company, centers on historical and contemporary issues in Uganda. Jung's narrative sweeps up much of that nation's recent history of violence, child soldiers, and homophobia into the story of just a few characters inside ...

BWW Review: ST. NICHOLAS at Goodman Theatre
by Rachel Weinberg - January 14, 2019

Acclaimed actor Brendan Coyle takes the Goodman stage in Conor McPherson's thoroughly bizarre monologue play ST. NICHOLAS, which combines the innately unsettling and the supernatural. Coyle, known for his work as Mr. Bates in DOWNTON ABBEY (which this critic has admittedly never seen) proves a maste...

Review: THE LIGHTNING THIEF Electrifies
by Misha Davenport - January 11, 2019

Review: THE LIGHTNING THIEF Electrifies...

BWW Review: FIDDLER ON THE ROOF at Cadillac Palace Theatre
by Emily McClanathan - December 26, 2018

In his Tony-nominated revival of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, now playing on tour at Broadway in Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre, director Bartlett Sher delivers a fresh and strikingly relevant vision of this 1960s classic. While Sher carefully honors the cultural and historical setting, a rural Jewish co...

BWW Review: Jamie Allan's iMAGICIAN: MAGIC BEYOND BELIEF
by Rachel Weinberg - December 24, 2018

Despite the incorporation of modern technology, Allan's iMAGICIAN is purely old-school, family-friendly magic. This makes iMAGICIAN an accessible show for all ages, making it suitable entertainment for families during the holidays....

BWW Review: LA RUTA at Steppenwolf Theatre Company
by Rachel Weinberg - December 22, 2018

I left the world premiere of Isaac Gomez's LA RUTA at Steppenwolf Theatre Company with a heavy heart, yet one that was also full as I admired the immense work of the all-female Latinx ensemble. Gomez's necessarily tragic play focuses on Mexican women who live in Ciudad Juarez and have been disappear...