Stories by Hedy Weiss

In addition to the wonderful energy and ever superb playing of the CSO’s grand-scale musicians, there also were two guest artists on the program in the outstanding soprano Lidia Fridman and tenor Francesco Meli.

The four audiences in mid-February who were able to see guest artist Himari perform with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra could not have been more lucky, writes WTTW News critic Hedy Weiss.

A Dec. 18 concert by the ever-superb Chicago Symphony Orchestra was a stunner, with Klaus Mäkelä in top form.

It was an absolutely brilliant evening at Chicago Symphony Hall Oct. 16 as a full audience was clearly enthralled by two major works by the superb French composer Hector Berlioz

Multitalented is hardly enough of a word to describe Hershey Felder, the Canadian-born multilingual pianist, actor, composer and playwright. He can now be captured on the Writers Theatre stage in the Chicago/Midwest premiere of “Rachmaninoff and the Tsar.”

“Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” the classic English children’s novel by Lewis Carroll, could hardly be more familiar to audiences of all ages. But the Joffrey Ballet version of the story is a wonderfully innovative take on the classic tale.

There was only a single performance of an exhilarating CSO concert this past Saturday evening. It attracted a packed house with a wonderfully enthusiastic audience.

Klaus Mäkelä, a 29-year-old Finnish-born musician, will become chief conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2027. He has already demonstrated his winning connection with the CSO.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra took their place on stage for three performances led by visiting conductor Jaap van Zweden. The sheer immensity of Gustav Mahler’s “Symphony No. 7” was immediately evident.

Pair two of Chicago’s greatest cultural gems in a multifaceted program on the Symphony Center stage, and you have an ideal example of the city’s exceptional talent, writes Hedy Weiss.

Given the current state of the world there is something particularly wonderful about heading to a performance by the ever-remarkable musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, writes Hedy Weiss.

They really don’t create musicals like “Guys and Dolls” anymore. So, head straight to the superb Music Theater Works production of the show that debuted on Broadway in 1950.

Take a seat in Steppenwolf’s mainstage theater and enter the world of “Fool for Love,” Sam Shepard’s 75-minute play dating from 1983.

Rich Hein, an intensely gifted photographer who spent four decades working at the Chicago Sun-Times, died Sunday. He was 70.

To get straight to the point: “Hitt Records,” the musical revue now receiving its world premiere at the Black Ensemble Theater, is an absolute knockout, writes WTTW News theater critic Hedy Weiss.

Something entirely magical took place at Symphony Hall in a recent concert that featured a breathtaking world premiere of composer Osvaldo Golijov’s fascinating, grand-scale work, “Megalopolis Suite,” along with four additional and wholly beguiling works by Donizetti, Verdi, Chabrier and de Falla.

Not only was there a packed house for Thursday evening’s concert at Symphony Hall, but Riccardo Muti, along with the program’s two works by Beethoven, and guest artist, pianist Mitsuko Uchida, were winningly celebrated.

Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre has more than 3,800 seats, and almost every last one of them was filled this past Monday night as Sting took to the stage for two hours of his terrific music.

Eboni Booth’s deeply moving 2024 Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Primary Trust” is now receiving its Chicago premiere at the Goodman Theatre.

Thursday evening’s concert at Orchestra Hall was another knockout performance by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and it marked the brief return of conductor Marin Alsop, who clearly adores the CSO. It also was a program comprised of three radically different but splendid pieces of music.

Ian Maksin is a master cellist, guitarist, composer, recording artist, superb vocalist and multilinguist who can finesse more than 30 languages. In addition to everything else, he is a formidable world traveler. 

Phenomenal: That is an adjective that I use very sparingly. But it is the only way to describe the multitalented brilliance of Adam LaSalle and Matthew McGloin, the two wildly gifted performers in “2 Pianos 4 Hands.”

Have you been thinking about taking a trip to Las Vegas, playing the slots and then heading to a nightclub? Well, I’d advise you to save your money and instead just head to “Savor After Hours.”

Drury Lane Theatre’s altogether terrific revival of “Ain’t Misbehavin’: The Fats Waller Musical Show” — first produced on Broadway in 1978 — proves Fats Waller was far more than a masterful pianist.

The story of Carmen, that gypsy girl of southern Spain who set men on fire, began as a novella in 1845 and was turned into a beloved opera in 1875. “Carmen.maquia” is a dynamic interpretation on stage at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Let’s hear it for the girls, and for the 1960s — a decade of liberation and change, change, change, especially for American women. “Beehive: The ‘60s Musical” brings the decade to life, writes WTTW News theater critic Hedy Weiss.