Emily McClanathan

When the creative team set out to turn the popular movie into a musical, they knew its fans would expect a visual spectacle. They say they've delivered.

With elements of magical realism, the play examines the legacy of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, ancestral connections that span generations, and tensions between familial obligations and individual destiny.

The opener, the Dean Martin classic “Sway,” sets the tone with three couples performing what you’d see at a ballroom dance competition, with a hint of a lap dance at...

In a break from tradition, Juliet is not merely a lofty idol during the famous balcony scene. Before Romeo ever attempts to climb up, she comes down to him, putting...

The title character only speaks two words — “friend” and button” — but they’re enough for the fuzzy bear in green overalls to charm the house for this summer production.

The ticketed experience is back in Chicago for a second summer. You get in your steps, but some of the locations feel a bit pedestrian.

Underlying the farcical hijinks of mistaken identities and lovers’ quarrels, the theme of found family lends a sweet note to this Pride Month production.

As a bookworm who used to live in Rogers Park, I’m a longtime fan of this theater, and Nambi E. Kelley’s adaptation of Richard Wright’s 1940 novel is one of...

Taffeta (Julian “joolz” Stroop) conjures the ghosts of Abe Lincoln (Matt Martin) and Elmer Ellsworth (Shea Petersen) to spin a tale of love, loss and self-acceptance.

Hell in a Handbag's motley company rattles off irreverent parodies of some two dozen songs from “Cats,” “Les Misérables,” “Mary Poppins,” “My Fair Lady” and more.