Sunset Playhouse’s Wait Until Dark is a vision of simmering noir mystery that makes nearly all the right choices. 

Wait Until Dark – Sunset Playhouse

Wait Until Dark follows Susan Hendrix, a blind woman who is unwittingly in possession of a doll three nefarious men are trying to very much to get a hold of. That’s it; the entire plot of the play revolves around these three nefarious men—Roat, the oily, maniacal brains of the operation; Carlino, the dirty ex-cop muscle; Mike, the likeable honey pot— and their increasingly nefarious ways of bullying an innocent blind woman into giving it up. It is a deceptively simple plot, but it’s the clever choices it makes that make it work. 

On the Wheels of a Dream

Ragtime – Music Theater Works

Music Theater Works is on a roll with its latest offering, a gorgeous production, riding on the wheels of a dream cast, orchestra and artistic team. This theatre company has proven, in its first three shows, that under the guidance of newly appointed Artistic Director Kyle A. Dougan, there’s nothing this professional group can’t accomplish.    

Illuminating the Pitfalls

What the Constitution Means to Me – Broadway in Chicago

If we couldn’t have Heidi Schreck, the playwright and original leading actress of the play on Broadway, then we’re very lucky to have Cassie Beck appearing in this National Tour production. She plays Ms. Schreck in her Tony-nominated and Pulitzer Prize finalist play that illuminates the pitfalls of this almost sacred document, while supporting her presentation with events from Ms. Schreck’s own background. Cassie is attractive, charismatic, very articulate and extremely passionate about the subject, as if she’s actually channeling the playwright. This achievement must be, at least partially, attributed to Oliver Butler’s tight direction.

The Music & Life of Fannie Lou Hamer

Fannie – Goodman Theatre

Are you ready for a powerhouse performance that’ll absolutely blow you out of your seats? Well, here she is boys…here she is world…here’s E. Faye Butler! The always impressive, multitalented, much-adored and often accoladed actress is back where she belongs. No stranger to Chicago audiences, the Divine Ms. Butler has starred at the Goodman Theatre in such hits as “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” “Crowns” and “Pullman Porter Blues,” which was also written by Cheryl L. West, the gifted author of this electrifying biographical drama. After first being presented during the height of the pandemic in parks across the city, the actress once again, completely inhabits the titular role in this one-woman production, allowing this historical figure to take over the Goodman Theatre.

All You Need Is Love

As You Like It – Chicago Shakespeare Theatre

Wowza! Just…Wow! Daryl Cloran’s magnificent adaptation of one of Shakespeare’s most beloved plays is like a fresh, brand-new musical comedy that could easily play on Broadway or in the West End. This genius theatre artist has incorporated almost two dozen of the most popular tunes from the Beatles Songbook into this comedy. What’s so surprising is how perfectly the lyrics sync with the story. It’s as if the Fab Four had written these songs expressly for this comedy. The result is a newly imagined, unbelievably romantic, creatively conceived and perfectly cast and performed production. 

A Fall Favorite Forevermore

The Madness of Edgar Allan Poe: A Love Story – Oak Park Festival Theatre

Spooky Season is in full-swing and besides corn mazes and pumpkin patches we are really itching for something else to fill the days leading up to Halloween. Maybe you want something creepy, but not too creepy, and a haunted house with inflatable aliens popping out in front of you isn’t quite it either. This play, “The Madness of Edgar Allan Poe: A Love Story”, is what I would call a “sophisticated haunted house”. If you are looking for an upgrade when it comes to your standard fall festivities, this is a must-see show. 

Serving Up Food and Farce

A Recipe For Disaster – Windy City Playhouse

Windy City Playhouse, Chicago’s preeminent theatre company for immersive dramas and comedies, is back at the table, so to speak. Playwrights Carl Menninger and Amy Rubenstein join forces with Chicago top chef, Rick Bayless, the master chef behind the Frontera Grill and Topolobampo, to create this new comedy that serves up food and farce at a frantic pace. The result, directed by David H. Bell with the same momentum as “Noises Off,” is a side-splitting, savory treat that’s a real feast for all the senses, particularly the sense of humor.

The Wait Is Finally Over

Together At Last – Second City

As with every theatre that has been shuttered for 18 months due to the pandemic, the wait is finally over! That much-loved Chicago comedy club, Second City has reopened with its 109th main stage revue. This original, brand-new, two-hour evening of short skits (including intermission) and songs is as topical and timely as we’ve come to expect from this company. The show is clever, funny and fast-paced. It’s crammed full of adult humor and profanity, making it appropriate for audiences over 18 years of age. It addresses such contemporary topics as, of course, COVID-19, the effects of the pandemic on everyone, vaccine mandates, the reluctance by some to getting vaccinated and President Biden and his policies. There’s also parodies about air travel and wearing masks (like everyone in the audience), social media, parent and child relationships, a rowdy Florida school board meeting, a contentious divorce and many, many other topics from today’s news. 

Once Upon a Time

Grimm – Theatre Above the Law

Reimagining and recombining fairy tales is a mode of story telling probably only slightly less ancient than the fairy tales themselves. I imagine there is more than one fairy tale I know by heart but have never actual heard or seen in its original format, having just pieced it together from its adaptations. Theatre Above the Law’s new show Grimm, picks a few darker or lesser known of Grimms’ fairy tales, just in time for Halloween.

Starting Over

This Wide Night – Shattered Globe Theatre and Interrobang Theatre Project

Georgette Verdin, Interrobang Theatre Project’s talented Artistic Director, deftly collaborates with Shattered Globe Theatre to tell a gorgeous, heartbreaking story that feels perfect for our times. Seldom do either of these theatre companies disappoint, and this production, their re-entrance into the much-awaited world of live theatre in Chicago, is as strong as ever. At first, Chloe Moss’ one-act drama doesn’t seem to be about very much. But as the scenes wash over you, the audience finds itself plunging headfirst into this two-hander, discovering that it’s actually about a number of topics. In particular, this is a story about starting over and about our universal need for one another.