The Theater Loop: Chicago Theater News & Reviews - Chicago Tribune

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Review: In ‘The Lifespan of a Fact’ at TimeLine Theatre, the fun is in the debate

In one corner, you have D’Agata, author of a piece about a suicidal kid jumping off the top of a Las Vegas hotel. In the other corner, you have Jim, who gets the job of fact-checking it.

November 10, 2023

Review: ‘Beetlejuice the Musical’ at the Auditorium is unstoppable — nothing this critic can do

My objections? Oh, an incoherent and crass book and tasteless jokes about “Creepy Old Guys” and so on. But Isabella Esler is a huge young talent as Lydia.

November 09, 2023

Review: ‘Assassins’ at Theo speaks to the moment, as Sondheim usually does

This show about killers and wanna-be killers of presidents is profoundly cynical, often an effective point of view for a musical, but somehow always troubling here.

November 09, 2023

Boop-Oop-a-Doop. ‘Boop! The Musical’ follows its cartoon heroine Betty into present day New York

Opening soon, the latest in a string of pre-Broadway musicals that director Jerry Mitchell has first brought to life in Chicago.

November 08, 2023

Review: ‘The Daughter of the Regiment’ at Lyric Opera is fun, fizzy and 50 years overdue

And was that the first ever Lyric encore? Tenor Lawrence Brownlee stops the show on opening night.

November 06, 2023

Review: In ‘POTUS’ at Steppenwolf Theatre, it’s hard to keep track of the chaos in this White House

Selina Fillinger’s comedy has become the most-produced play at American regional theaters this season. It’s not hard to see why.

November 06, 2023

Review: ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Glow!’ is a zany new revue at Second City e.t.c.

This is a goofy and warm-centered show that put me in mind of all the different trends I’ve seen at Second City.

November 05, 2023

Review: Hubbard Street Dance stages a welcome trio of works for ‘Of Peace’

The main event is a premiere of “Return to Patience” by Aszure Barton. The night opens with Darrell Grand Moultrie’s “Dichotomy of a Journey” and tucks Lar Lubovitch’s “Coltrane’s Favorite Things” in between.

November 03, 2023

Review: A warm and lovely ‘Twelfth Night’ on the islands at Chicago Shakespeare Theater

There's a contagious happiness, warmth and openness in this Shakespeare play. I guarantee you will not be bored.

November 03, 2023

Review: An always funny Danny DeVito double-teams with his daughter in Broadway’s ‘I Need That’

Playwright Theresa Rebeck’s new three-character play is about old age and the joy and tyranny of stuff.

November 02, 2023

Review: ‘Company’ at the Cadillac Palace has a stellar cast — though this will never be my favorite ‘Company’

Stephen Sondheim believed in the power of love, and in the someone who makes us "aware of being alive." This director has other ideas.

November 02, 2023

Review: ‘Household Spirits’ at Theater Wit is a very real ghost story about grief

There’s another member of the household that none of them can see. Clara has never left the house since her suicide 13 years ago.

November 01, 2023

Review: ‘Seagulls’ from Oak Park Festival Theatre turns over Chekhov’s play to a young indie band

These young actors give some winning performances despite the wobbly character development in the script.

October 31, 2023

You can’t keep the circus down: Ringling Bros. brings back ‘Greatest Show’ with a new tour

The former circus with its famed three rings and animal acts closed in 2017. The new tour has aerial work, clowning, a human cannonball and variety. “Ringling has always changed."

October 30, 2023

Review: ‘Magic Parlour’ is a special retro magic experience in new digs at Petterino’s

Dennis Watkins, Chicago’s premiere resident magician, has plied his trade for some 15 years in the Loop and now has the fancy new venue he deserves.

October 27, 2023

Kelly Cervantes: Surviving the unimaginable with ‘Hamilton’ and Chicago by our sides

The same week my husband Miguel Cervantes booked the title role of Alexander Hamilton in the musical "Hamilton" our 7-month-old daughter was diagnosed with epilepsy.

October 27, 2023

‘Tommy’ moves from the Goodman Theatre to Broadway

The quick Broadway transfer replaces a previous plan to first tour the show to more cities, but was not a surprise given the success of the Chicago run.

October 26, 2023

Suburban school district reconsiders postponing Hampshire’s spring musical about gay teens after student and parent outcry

After dozens of students, parents and alumni condemned the move as “embarrassing” and “frustrating,” a school district in the northwest Chicago suburbs is walking back its decision to cancel the performance.

October 25, 2023

Review: Teatro ZinZanni reopens its dinner-cirque show in fine, trimmer form

The host for your evening is the magician-comedian Lucy Darling, adept at crowd work and adding to that supper-club vibe.

October 25, 2023

Deeply Rooted Dance celebrates the past, lives in the present — and looks to the future

An upcoming performance program Nov. 3 at the Auditorium Theatre is an artistic digest of Deeply Rooted’s history.

October 25, 2023

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