Stories by Hedy Weiss

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago has retained a number of its most superb and experienced dancers. At the same time, it has incorporated a good deal of new talent that clearly can carry off the many challenging and stylistically varied works that are part of its ever-expanding repertoire.

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater returns to Chicago for the first time since the outbreak of COVID-19 with rousing works and a nod to tradition. 

This past week, in a chillingly prescient way, a rescheduled visit of English National Ballet’s production of Akram Khan’s “Creature” arrived on the Harris stage, and it could not have been more ideally timed. 

The CSO's bravura rendering of this masterwork was, indeed, a temporary balm for the soul and evidence of how great works of art speak to us throughout time.

“Come From Away” is the altogether brilliant musical based on the spirit-raising effort finessed by a small community in Newfoundland, Canada in the wake of the shocking terrorist attacks perpetrated on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. 

A revival of “The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci,” a testament to a unique imagination, is now playing at the Goodman Theatre. 

Chicago Tap Theatre danced onto the stage of the Athenaeum Theatre with 11 pieces by a variety of choreographers, all performed with the sort of percussive energy that suggested the COVID curse had better get out of town.

The pairing began with Beethoven’s demonically difficult 1806 “Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major,” with Mitsuko Uchida as the incomparable soloist. And it was followed by Philip Glass’ “Symphony No. 11,” which had its world premiere in 2017, and now received a volcanic rendering by a monumental gathering of Chicago Symphony Orchestra musicians.

A new play about the life of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at Pride Arts Center imagines her final reflections on a remarkable life. 

“Blues in the Night” at Porchlight Music Theatre is a talent-filled production that will leave you flying high. 

Rachmaninov’s “Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor,” is a nerve-shatteringly difficult work. Backed by the full orchestra, which was in its usual sublime form, Lukas Vondracek rendered the extraordinary work with a superb mix of both titanic power and surprising lyricism.

The Marriott Theatre’s “West Side Story” opened Wednesday night in a production especially notable for its rip-roaring Latin and jazz-infused dance sequences choreographed by Alex Sanchez.

Chicago’s Trinity Irish Dance Company returned to the stage of the Auditorium Theatre for the first time since the pandemic drove it away two years ago for a thunderous performance.

“Women of Soul,” which runs through March 6 at Mercury Theater Chicago, is a powerhouse revue featuring a long list of decades-spanning singers. 

August Wilson, the playwright who so brilliantly chronicled African American life in each decade of the 20th century, waited until very late in his career before writing “Gem of the Ocean.” The play is given a riveting production at the Goodman Theatre. 

Tyla Abercrumbie's riveting drama “Relentless” is receiving its world premiere production by Timeline Theatre, running through Feb. 26. 

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra traveled back in time with a program of works by early 18th century Baroque masters Antonio Vivaldi and George Frideric Handel. 

The goal behind the concert at Orchestra Hall, which featured the notably “conductorless” New York-based Orpheus Chamber Orchestra along with saxophone master Branford Marsalis, was to explore the intriguing early intersection of classical and jazz music. 

What this glorious, superbly performed concert did prove was that listening to these works without the element of dance that ordinarily is a crucial partner of the music, you begin to hear them in a wonderfully fresh and exciting way. 

Pianist Igor Levit’s riveting concert at Orchestra Hall on Sunday afternoon not only displayed his technical brilliance but also raised the art of listening to a science.

Maestro Riccardo Muti was in stellar form during Thursday night’s concert in Orchestra Hall. He clearly is in love with the indomitable musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and they return that passion with a magnificent combination of sound and fury and absolute beauty.

The production is a sad introduction for new audiences and a spirit-crushing experience for those who’ve seen “Oklahoma!” many times throughout the years.

The “musical film” is a fascinating look at the creation of “The Marriage of Figaro,” the first of the composer’s three major operas in Italian.

From almost the very first note it was apparent that something was very wrong with the sound system and miking, and much of the dialogue and singing, all along the way, was either inaudible or garbled. In fact, the only clear sound came from the orchestra, seated in the pit and led by Michael McBride.

While its score may be classic retro, the songs are performed with great authenticity by artists who came of age decades after the baby boomers and Generation Xers who grew up with them.

Have you ever wondered what Santa Claus’ childhood was like? Or why he’s so driven to take off from the North Pole for an arduous worldwide trip each Christmas Eve? The answers to those questions can be found in the 90-minute opera “Becoming Santa Claus.”