East meets West via uniquely visual ‘Concerning Strange Devices from the Distant West’
Study any of the grand paintings of the Renaissance and you might easily believe there could not possibly be a more sublime or detailed evocation of reality. Yet with the invention of the modern camera in the early half of the 19th century, there came …
‘Pygmalion’ triumphs in BoHo, Stage Left collaboration
HEDY WEISS: Shrewd casting brings fresh meaning to George Bernard Shaw’s classic about class and gender, marking its 100th anniversary this year.
‘American Wee-Pie’ a sweet, life-affirming confection
HEDY WEISS: The scrumptious new Lisa Dillman play at Rivendell Theatre tells a recession-friendly story of cupcakes and burial plots.
Speaking With ... Jackie Evancho 01.18.13
At age 10, she wowed viewers of “America’s Got Talent” by singing “O mio babbino caro,”the gorgeous and demanding aria — generally reserved for the most seasoned of opera sopranos — from Puccini’s “Gianni Schicchi.” But for Jackie Evancho, the haunting melody seemed to flow …
‘Side Effects’ finds a funny side to Parkinson’s disease
HEDY WEISS: One-person show by Madkap Productions tells the story not of the woman facing the disease, but of her pretty self-involved husband.
Kate Jablonski named Dance Chicago’s ‘choreographer of the year’
Kate Jablonski has received the 2012 Dance Chicago Choreographer of the Year Award, an honor presented under the auspices of Dance Chicago, Emergence Dance Theatre and the Cliff Dwellers Arts Foundation. The director of Beyond Words Dance Company, Jablonski was singled out based on her …
The Guide — Theater Listings 01.11.13
OPENING
THE ALIENS. A Red Orchid Theatre presents Annie Baker’s story of a couple of slackers who philosophize of life as life passes by, and the young barista who happens into their lives. Directed by Shade Murray. Previews Jan. 17-20. Opens Jan. 22. Thu-Sat, 8 …
Gift Theatre’s ‘Ten’ a sensational showcase
Sometimes you get what you DON’T have to pay for, and it’s priceless. A perfect case in point: “Ten,” the second (and sure to be annual) anthology program of short pieces that serves as the opening salvo for Gift Theatre’s 2013 season. A terrific, two-week-only …
ACT II: A second look at area stages — Rhinofest blows its horn
The name came courtesy of Salvador Dali, granddaddy of the Surrealists. “Dali used the term ‘rhino’ to describe a big event or big party, so when we started the Rhinoceros Theater Festival 24 years ago, Jenny Magnus and I borrowed the expression from him,” explained …
Den Theatre extends ‘Faith Healer’
The Den Theatre today announced a two-week extension of Brian Friel’s “Faith Healer,” now playing through Feb. 3 at the theater’s mainstage, 1333 N. Milwaukee. Seventeen years after sold-out runs at TurnAround Theatre and Steppenwolf Theatre, The Den’s critically acclaimed remount — “... it is …
Chicago’s winter filled with some pretty cool footwork
HEDY WEISS: Joffrey Ballet, Hubbard Street, Hamburg Ballet and other dance companies will heat up those winter nights.
‘Bud,’ ‘Pirate Ghost’ — kid-friendly stage plays debut here
Chicago’s children’s theater community is back in full swing with new offerings from two troupes: Chicago Children’s Theatre’s “Bud, Not Buddy” and Lifeline Theatre’s “The Mystery of the Pirate Ghost,” both opening Jan. 12.
Based on Christopher Paul Curtis’ Newbery Award-winning novel, “Bud, Not Buddy” …
TapMan lets his feet do the crime-fighting
Never underestimate the power of tap dancing.
Case in point is TapMan — a tap-dancing superhero who will fight evil at the Skokie Theatre every Friday night in January in “TapMan: Origin.”
We hate to blow TapMan’s cover but the crime fighter’s real name is …
Midtown Men celebrate songs of the ’60s
For Christian Hoff and the three other members of The Midtown Men, a group of four singers who performed on Broadway together in “Jersey Boys,” entertaining an audience is a bit like winning a ball game.
“There is satisfaction with the applause and the success …
Hershey Felder brings ‘American Story’ to Chicago
Pianist-actor-composer Hershey Felder, familiar to Chicago audiences for his one-man tour-de-force productions of “George Gershwin Alone,” “Monsieur Chopin” and “Maestro: Leonard Bernstein,” is bringing his latest work, “An American Story for Actor and Orchestra,” which depicts the story of Abraham Lincoln’s last day, to the …
