Stories by Hedy Weiss

A vivid production of “Schiller’s Mary Stuart” at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater is fresh and modern, but never artificially tricked up.

A world premiere play by Bruce Norris, a rare return to acting by Tarell Alvin McCraney and the Chicago premieres of a recent Broadway hit by Lucas Hnath and a 2015 play by Danai Gurira – and more – are coming to Steppenwolf Theatre.

Long before Chuck Berry died in March 2017 at the ripe old age of 90, he was revered as the granddaddy of rock ‘n’ roll. Black Ensemble Theater tells the story in “Hail, Hail Chuck: A Tribute to Chuck Berry.”

American Ballet Theatre has traveled light for this engagement, homing in on modern works that mostly thrive on a variety of lighting effects, with several pas de deux lifted from larger ballets and performed on a bare stage that puts the movement in stark relief.

Talk about timing: The Chicago premiere of Sarah DeLappe’s tour de force mix of verbal and physical athletics and teen angst comes as the U.S. women’s ice hockey team wins the 2018 Olympic gold medal.

Court Theatre’s newly announced 2018-2019 season includes a world premiere stage adaptation of Saul Bellow’s “The Adventures of Augie March” by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Auburn (“Proof”).

The production of “Cosi fan tutte” now at Lyric Opera of Chicago is a beauty. And in its playful but unquestionably bittersweet exploration of love, fidelity, betrayal and the unreliable nature of both men and women, it could easily have been written yesterday.

You will catch only a brief glimpse of the big explosion of hair, but in “Bunny Bunny” at Mercury Theater Chicago you will fully feel the manic energy and rapid-fire comic responses of Gilda Radner.

Chicago is dancing up a storm this season, and plans for an exceptionally strong 2018-2019 season are already being announced. A preview of what’s to come.

In Paramount’s revival of the 1966 musical, director-choreographer Katie Spelman not only finds a perfect balance between the personal and political, but fully captures the flamboyant decadence of 1930s Weimar Germany without exploiting the pure shock value of its sexual antics. 

The Joffrey Ballet’s winter program is a stunning showcase of the prowess of its dancers, as well as the stellar talents of the Chicago Philharmonic and music director Scott Speck.

Lyric Opera of Chicago announces its 2018-2019 season, including Massenet’s “Cendrillon” (“Cinderella”), a Lyric premiere of a new-to-Chicago production.