Best theater of 2025: Storefront shows and Court Theatre reign in our top 10
Our list of the best on Chicago stages in the past year also visits Writers Theatre in Glencoe and Sam Shepard's desert by way of Aurora.
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Original ‘Rent’ star will appear in ‘Follies’ by Porchlight Music Theatre
The spring 2026 concert performance of Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman’s musical will also star Felicia P. Fields, Susie McMonagle and Angela Ingersoll.
Review: ‘Gaslight’ by Northlight Theatre is more Ibsen than Agatha Christie
This 20th century play, now updated and playing in Skokie, is a study in real human tension and psychology.
Review: In ‘Marjorie Prime’ on Broadway, the disquieting robot future is here
June Squibb, the oldest actress ever to open a Broadway show, stars as a grieving widow with dementia in a play about artificial intelligence.
Review: A welcome return home of the spoof musical ‘Urinetown’ at Theo Ubique Theatre
The origins of this musical by Greg Kotis and Mark Hollman stretch all the way back to Chicago storefront theater at the turn of the millennium, with a Broadway debut...
Appreciation: Why Tom Stoppard was my favorite living playwright
Stoppard reminded us that psychology is connected to family is connected to venture capital is connected to God is connected to sex is connected to rock 'n' roll is connected...
Review: ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ at Chicago Shakes is warm, lovely and funny indeed
If you fear boredom when attending Shakespeare, you need have no such worries here.
Review: A truly terrible ‘Taming of the Shrew’ at Court Theatre
The heavyweight conceit here is that we are watching a play within a play, a group of amateur actors doing the show for the first time.
Review: ‘White Christmas’ gets an extra special holiday production at Paramount Theatre
In a show of Irving Berlin numbers, well-sung by Evan C. Dolan, Sophie Grimm and Jessie J. Potter, there is a vocally thrilling performance from Alex Syiek as Bob Wallace.
Review: Off-Broadway ‘Baker’s Wife’ has the music of Stephen Schwartz and the story of a May-September marriage
A toasty, mulled vibe permeates "The Baker's Wife," at Classic Stage Company, a 1976 musical penned by Stephen Schwartz, now all over the media as the composer of "Wicked."