Chicago Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations

Review: LEGALLY BLONDE: THE MUSICAL at Music Theater Works At The North Shore Center For The Performing Arts
by Tina St. Angelo Wetzel - December 23, 2024

This story is definitely geared to young females. They do identify with it. It was apparent in the audience. It is about respecting yourself but also treating each other with respect. Believe in yourself. Have faith in others but ultimately, have faith in yourself. We all need to remember these impo...

Review: TEATRO ZINZANNI at Cambria Hotel
by Rachel Weinberg - December 12, 2024

TEATRO ZINZANNI is still kicking it in the indoor Spiegeltent Zazou nestled on the fourteenth floor of the Cambria Hotel in the Loop. It’s still a reliably entertaining variety show, and this particular edition includes many returning performers....

& JULIET National Tour Presented by Broadway In Chicago
by Rachel Weinberg - December 05, 2024

& JULIET is an unserious jukebox musical that’s deeply serious about its commitment to fun....

Review: RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN'S CINDERELLA at Marriott Theatre, Lincolnshire IL
by Tina St. Angelo Wetzel - November 24, 2024

This is the crucial moment in the current childrens’ theatre production at Marriott Lincolnshire of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s beloved musical, Cinderella. The cast of ten, under the direction of Laura Rook, brings delight and joy to the littlest members of the audience, many of the girls dressed as ...

Review: FALSETTOS presented by Court Theatre and TimeLine Theatre Company
by Rachel Weinberg - November 25, 2024

FALSETTOS, originally written as two-one act musicals set in 1979 and 1981, respectively, feels simultaneously dated and prescient. In this co-production from Court Theatre and TimeLine Theatre Company, director Nick Bowling leads a first-rate ensemble that preserves the musical as a period piece bu...

Review: THE SECRET GARDEN at Theo Ubique
by Misha Davenport - November 22, 2024

What did our critic think of THE SECRET GARDEN at Theo Ubique?...

Review: FROZEN at Paramount Theatre Aurora, IL
by Tina St. Angelo Wetzel - November 10, 2024

What did our critic think of FROZEN at Paramount Theatre Aurora, IL?...

Review: WHITE CHRISTMAS at Marriott Theatre
by Tina St. Angelo Wetzel - November 07, 2024

Read our review of WHITE CHRISTMAS at Marriott Theatre....

Review: LEROY AND LUCY at Steppenwolf Theatre Company
by Rachel Weinberg - November 04, 2024

In Ngozi Anyanwu’s LEROY AND LUCY, two strangers meet at a crossroads in Mississippi...and not much happens. Based upon the myth of Robert Johnson, who supposedly sold his soul to the devil to make it as a blues musician, the play finds Leroy (Jon Michael Hill) and Lucy (Brittany Bradford) in a limi...

Review: BEST KEPT SECRET: TELL EVERYONE at The Second City E.t.c.
by Rachel Weinberg - October 31, 2024

The Second City’s latest e.t.c. revue BEST KEPT SECRET: TELL EVERYONE wants to remind audiences that life is a cabaret, old chum. While some Second City revue themes hang together better than others, BEST KEPT SECRET slyly pays homage to the classic Kander and Ebb musical CABARET and the general ide...

Review: LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS at North Shore Center For The Performing Arts, Skokie, IL
by Tina St. Angelo Wetzel - October 26, 2024

What did our critic think of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS at North Shore Center For The Performing Arts, Skokie, IL?...

Review: SOME LIKE IT HOT National Tour Present by Broadway In Chicago
by Rachel Weinberg - October 24, 2024

SOME LIKE IT HOT brings old-fashioned musical comedy, hijinks, and a ton of superbly executed tap dancing to the stage. ...

Review: BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA at BrightSide Theatre
by Tina St. Angelo Wetzel - October 20, 2024

What did our critic think of BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA at BrightSide Theatre? ...

Review: PRIMARY TRUST at Goodman Theatre
by Rachel Weinberg - October 15, 2024

Namir Smallwood’s performance as Kenneth is a real testament to his superb abilities as a performer and the intimacy of PRIMARY TRUST becomes more profoundly emotional thanks to him. ...

Review: Siegfried Tieber at THE MAGIC PARLOUR
by Rachel Weinberg - October 14, 2024

Magician Siegfried Tieber’s sparkling, genuine charm is every bit as magical as his tricks in his special engagement at THE MAGIC PARLOUR....

Review: AN ACT OF GOD at Copley Theatre, Aurora IL
by Tina St. Angelo Wetzel - October 10, 2024

A question from Archangel Michael to God. The newest production in the BOLD Series at the intimate Copley Theatre in Aurora is An Act of God. Alex Weisman, in his bravura Paramount Copley debut as God, delivers each of the revised Ten Commandments to the audience in a way they do not expect. Sarcasm...

Review: HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD National Tour Premiere
by Rachel Weinberg - September 27, 2024

HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD is three hours of nostalgia-fueled, utterly captivating theater...with heaps of stage magic. The Chicago engagement marks the national tour debut of the eighth installment in J.K. Rowling’s HARRY POTTER series....

Review: THE OUTSIDERS at The Home Creative Co.
by Zac Thriffiley - September 25, 2024

Despite some moving performances from the supporting cast, seasoned fans of and newcomers to THE OUTSIDERS may be underwhelmed by a production whose various elements leave it struggling to “stay golden.”...

Review: INHERIT THE WIND at Goodman Theatre
by Rachel Weinberg - September 24, 2024

Goodman Theatre’s season-opening production of INHERIT THE WIND centers on a fictionalized version of the 1925 “Scopes Monkey” trial — at its heart, a debate on creationism vs. evolutionism. Though playwrights Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee make it clear they’re on the side of evolution, it’s sti...

Review: NOISES OFF at Steppenwolf Theatre Company
by Rachel Weinberg - September 23, 2024

NOISES OFF is lengthy and occasionally redundant because the show literally runs through Act One three times from different perspectives. But it’s also legitimately funny — which is rare and welcome for a Steppenwolf show....

Review: NATASHA, PIERRE AND THE GREAT COMET OF 1812 at Writers Theatre
by Rachel Weinberg - September 20, 2024

It’s a joy to experience GREAT COMET end-to-end, and for musical theater lovers that want to hear a complicated score flawlessly performed, this is the ticket. This GREAT COMET soars....

Review: LIGHT SWITCH at Open Space Arts
by Zac Thriffiley - September 18, 2024

Open Space Arts's production of LIGHT SWITCH shines a much-needed spotlight (no pun intended) on the struggles of neurodiverse members of queer communities, thanks in large part to its captivating leading man....

Review: HENRY V at Chicago Shakespeare Theater
by Zac Thriffiley - September 17, 2024

Featuring a strikingly charismatic yet grounded performance from its leading actor, HENRY V presents a compelling study of the excitement and danger inherent in even the best-intended feelings of nationalism....

Review: THE FLYING LOVERS OF VITEBSK at Northlight Theatre
by Zac Thriffiley - September 15, 2024

Now receiving its Chicagoland premiere, Northlight Theatre’s THE FLYING LOVERS OF VITEBSK features brilliant performances and moments of exquisite stagecraft, though the play’s lean script occasionally saps the production of necessary tension and greater thematic depth....

Review: THE HOUSE OF IDEAS at City Lit Theater
by Zac Thriffiley - September 04, 2024

THE HOUSE OF IDEAS provides an entertaining history of Marvel’s precipitous rise to pop cultural supremacy that nicely captures the collaborative spirit of Kirby and Lee’s frequently tumultuous partnership. But more casual fans of the brand may find themselves lost in the play’s more intricate plot ...