From left: Tom Brandon, John Sheehy, Connor Going (at piano), Andrew Carter, Denis Grinden (seated) and Mark Loveday in “The Choir of Man.” (Credit: Brian Wright)

Lift a glass and make a toast to the musical and verbal talents of some Emerald Islanders who have arrived on the shores of Lake Michigan for brief stays.

From left: “Miss Saigon” stars Christine Bunuan, Anthony Festa and Emily Bautista appear on “Chicago Tonight.”

Decades after it premiered in London, the mega-musical “Miss Saigon” is still captivating audiences around the world. Meet three of the stars from the new touring production.

Betty Buckley, center, and the “Hello, Dolly!” National Tour Company – 2018. (Photo credit: Julieta Cervantes)

The enduring 1964 hit with an impossibly catchy score fervently champions the quest for love, adventure, mischief and the all-important joy (and necessity) of seizing the day.

Santino Fontana, center, in “Tootsie.” Also pictured, from left: Drew King, Leslie Donna Flesner, Sissy Bell and John Arthur Greene. (Photo by Julieta Cervantes)

For all its timely social commentary, “Tootsie” (a gently updated musical version of the hit 1982 film) feels a bit like show business balm – a feel good work for the #MeToo era.

From left: Matt Codina, Eddie Clendening, Jamie Pittle and Zach Lentino in “Heartbreak Hotel” at the Broadway Playhouse. (Credit: Brett Beiner)

Too often this Elvis Presley-focused prequel to “Million Dollar Quartet” homes in on material that might have been cut from that earlier show. But on the plus side, it infuses the story with much that was omitted from “Quartet.”

Charity Angel Dawson, Desi Oakley and Lenne Klingaman in “Waitress.” (Credit: Joan Marcus)

Director Diane Paulus taps into the pain and high comedy of the story, but Chicago’s Cadillac Palace Theatre is far too big a venue for this essentially intimate show.

Teal Wicks, Stephanie J. Block and Micaela Diamond in “The Cher Show” at Broadway in Chicago's Oriental Theatre. (Photo by Joan Marcus)

The most winning aspect of this flashy new musical at the Oriental Theatre is how three different actresses with powerful voices so deftly capture Cher at various stages of her life.

Bryan Adams performs in 2007 (Marco Maas / Flickr)

Songwriter Bryan Adams and other members of the creative team behind “Pretty Woman: The Musical” talk about the intersection of pop music, movies and musicals.

Samantha Barks and Steve Kazee in the world premiere engagement of “Pretty Woman: The Musical” at Chicago’s Oriental Theatre. (Photo by Matthew Murphy)

Can a story that feeds on the decades-old roots of the #MeToo movement serve as a deftly massaged corrective?

What does it take to adapt a classic Disney musical for a live audience? We sit down with the award-winning composer to talk about remaking “Aladdin,” and the “keys” to his success.

Chicago actor Jonathan Weir rehearses for the role of Jafar in “Aladdin.” (Justin Barbin / Broadway in Chicago)

A conversation with actors Anthony Murphy and Chicago’s own Jonathan Weir from the production “Aladdin.”

Meet two men who think gondolas and lights will give a significant boost to Chicago tourism.

Food Network host Alton Brown

The Food Network host will perform a culinary variety show at the Cadillac Theater May 7. 

Squidward and Steven Tyler

In light of The SpongeBob Musical, we matched up songwriting celebs to their SpongeBob counterparts.   

SpongeBob SquarePants about to get his own musical. (Antonio Perez, Flickr)

The musical, directed by Steppenwolf’s Tina Landau will feature original songs from David Bowie, Cyndi Lauper, and Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, among others. 

We revisit a conversation with Matt Stone and Trey Parker, two of the creators of the musical: The Book of Mormon. Watch web extra interviews.