“BOOP! The Musical” is clearly on its way to Broadway with an absolutely starry performance by Jasmine Amy Rogers, an actress who can sing and dance up a storm in a role that is sure to fly her into the spotlight, writes WTTW News theater critic Hedy Weiss.
Chicago Theater
WTTW News theater critic Hedy Weiss reviews recent performances from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Lyric Opera and Staatskapelle Berlin.
The reimaging of the classic story, now playing at the Cadillac Palace Theater in the production’s pre-Broadway run, has a devoted set of fans stretching back decades.
Earlier this month, it was announced that the theater was under new ownership, as Chicago’s Chance the Rapper and Jennifer Hudson partnered with Quincy Jones and developer Tyler Nevius as the Bridgeport theater’s new ownership group.
During the past couple of weeks, three of Chicago’s most formidable contemporary dance troupes — the Hubbard Street Dance Company, Giordano Dance Chicago and Deeply Rooted Dance Theater — have turned in terrific performances.
WTTW News theater critic Hedy Weiss recommends an evening spent with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, guest conductor James Gaffigan and the extraordinary pianist Conrad Tao.
Louis Armstrong, with his instantly identifiable raspy tenor voice, was a formative force in the world of jazz for nearly half a century. Now, the musical “A Wonderful World” has arrived in Chicago in a show that is bound to end up on Broadway.
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra was in its usual top form this past week in a concert that was zestily led by Jaap van Zweden, the Amsterdam-born conductor who is in his farewell season as music director of the New York Philharmonic.
Over the years there have been countless interpretations of “Frankenstein,” Mary Shelley’s extraordinary 1818 Gothic novel. But the Joffrey Ballet’s production of the story that recently opened at the Lyric Opera House might very well be its most stunning interpretation yet.
From Johnson’s 2024 Budget to a Crisis for Chicago Theater, Here Are 5 Must-Read Stories of the Week
Mayor Brandon Johnson this week unveiled his $16.6 billion spending plan for 2024. Meanwhile, Illinois confirmed its first measles case since 2019, and Chicago’s theater community is facing multiple challenges.
Interactive, 1920s-Set Experience ‘Into the Mist’ Returns for One-Night-Only Performance in Evanston
Held at Studio5 in Evanston, the interactive experience takes the audience back in time to the 1920s for music, dancing and comedy.
At once abstract, often acrobatic, and driven by alternately intensely challenging solo turns, strongly varied and emotionally heated interpersonal relationships, and ensemble riffs that are technically demanding and expertly finessed — “Take” is performed to stunning effect.
Audra McDonald's glorious soprano voice sounded as beautiful and emotionally expressive as ever, and her delightful commentaries between each of almost 20 mostly classic Broadway songs were at once witty and revealing.
Live theatre attendance in Chicago has dropped by 60% in the last four years, according to a recent report commissioned by Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events contains alarming data.
In its Chicago premiere, “The Lehman Trilogy” is a fascinating chronicle of a monumental aspect of American history that is being ideally performed by three fabulously gifted Chicago actors.
Find your own darn pumpkin patches and corn mazes. This is a list for adults who love the spooky season just as much as those costumed kids with their candy bags.
