Chris Jones – Page 32

Gene Weygandt (center) as Asparagus the Theatre Cat and the cast of "Cats" at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora. (Brett Beiner)

Review: At the Paramount Theatre in Aurora, ‘Cats’ becomes a chaotic kitty circus

May 15, 2025 at 1:16 p.m.

This is an eye-popping show, even by Paramount's high standards, and the circus artistry is impressive. But Andrew Lloyd Webber's moving musical is given no room to breathe.

Glen Tullman, founder of The Hand & The Eye, left, and Jeff Kaylor, magician and "curator of magic," stand on a staircase in the building that will house the new magic theater at 100 E. Ontario St., on May 14, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)

The Hand & The Eye will be a new, $50 million magic theater off Magnificent Mile

May 16, 2025 at 6:15 a.m.

Chicago healthcare entrepreneur Glen Tullman is opening a new magic theater in the historic McCormick Mansion called The Hand & The Eye.

Amelia Workman and Kristen Sieh in "The Antiquities" in the Goodman's Owen Theatre. (Hugo Hentoff)

Review: In ‘The Antiquities’ at the Goodman Theatre, what becomes of our future selves?

May 14, 2025 at 2:17 p.m.

This densely packed, 95-minute drama by Jordan Harrison takes our current worries about artificial intelligence to their logical conclusion. Your head will spin.

Adisa Williams, Adonis Holmes, Hannah Ingle, Bill Letz, Leila Gorstein and Jordan Stafford in "This Too Shall Slap" on the Second City mainstage. (Timothy M. Schmidt)

Review: ‘This Too Shall Slap’ at Second City taps into our current anxiety — and our sometimes apathy

May 9, 2025 at 1:34 p.m.

Not every sketch works, but there's a spectacular Act 1 closer set in an anger-management class. Adonis Holmes plays a character having a meltdown: "I push the shopping cart, it...

David Cromer at the Barrymore Theatre in Manhattan on June 5, 2018. (Gardiner Anderson / New York Daily News)

David Cromer’s astonishingly busy spring with George Clooney, ‘Dead Outlaw’ and now ‘The Antiquities’

May 12, 2025 at 11:35 a.m.

He's co-directing the play at the Goodman Theatre, back in town after big openings on Broadway.

Jeff Rodriguez with Demetra Dee, Penelope Walker, William Anthony Sebastian Rose II, Jazzma Pryor and Glenn Obrero in "A Tale of Two Cities" by Shattered Globe Theatre. (Michael Brosilow)

Review: New adaptation of ‘Tale of Two Cities’ at Shattered Globe leaves us sidelined from Dickens’ story

May 6, 2025 at 12:53 p.m.

There are some talented actors in director Mikael Burke's production but in the end this show is just very slow, heavy going.

Harry Lennix, Alana Arenas, Glenn Davis, Tamara Tunie, Ayanna Bria Bakari and Jon Michael Hill in "Purpose" at Steppenwolf Theatre. (Michael Brosilow)

Steppenwolf Theatre play ‘Purpose’ wins the Pulitzer Prize for drama

May 6, 2025 at 6:14 a.m.

Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' work was commissioned by Steppenwolf, debuted in Chicago and is now on Broadway.

Paul Michael Thomson and Terry Guest in "At the Wake of a Dead Drag Queen" by Story Theatre at Raven Theatre. (David Hagen)

Review: ‘At the Wake of a Dead Drag Queen’ is about identity in a small Southern town at the end of the AIDS crisis

May 5, 2025 at 3:04 p.m.

Terry Guest's two-character play is set in 2004 and includes one of the best Chicago performances of the year.

James Vincent Meredith in "Hymn" at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. (Vashon Jordan Jr.)

Review: A Black bromance under stress in ‘Hymn’ at Chicago Shakespeare

May 5, 2025 at 10:37 a.m.

Director Ron OJ Parson foregrounds the power of friendship and the strength of Black familial bonds.

Denzel Washington, left, and Jake Gyllenhaal participate in the curtain call for the Broadway opening night of William Shakespeare's "Othello" at the Barrymore Theatre.

What the Tony nominations got right — and wrong

May 2, 2025 at 11:02 a.m.

A cautionary tale: Do great work in a bad production and Tony nominators likely will pass you by. But the reverse can be true, too.

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