A Visual and Auditory Spectacle

A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Chicago Shakespeare Theatre

Shakespeare’s fantasy comedy is no doubt familiar to most theatre goers. The comedy weaves together three stories: a quarrel between the king and queen of the fairies, four young Athenian lovers trying to sort out their affections and a group of six rustic actors rehearsing a play for the Duke’s wedding day. All of these plots play out primarily in the forest under a full moon, and ultimately become connected through the marriage between Theseus, the Duke of Athens, and his lovely bride-to-be, Hippolyta. Of course, complications arise and provide the basis for this comedy. 

Digga, Digga, Digga

Fantastic Mr. Fox–by Emerald City Theatre

Digga, Digga, Digga

Roald Dahl’s beloved 1970 children’s novel about a family of foxes was adapted for the stage by David Wood and first presented in England about eighteen years ago. Emerald City Theatre, continuing their partnership with Victory Gardens, opens a new, 22nd season with this play at the Biograph Theatre.

Baring It All for Bucks

The Full Monty–by Theo Unique

Baring It All for Bucks

The sad state of how unemployment impacts the life of the average Joe provides the conflict in many recent stories. Whether set in Sheffield, England, where the original film takes place, or Buffalo, NY, the setting for this musical version, joblessness not only results in poverty, but causes depression and issues of self-respect.

A Terrifying Ghost Story

The Woman in Black–at the Royal George Theatre

A Terrifying Ghost Story

Onto a nearly empty stage walks Arthur Kipps, an elderly English gentleman, holding a bound script in his shaking hands.

Reindeer Games and Jazz Hands

SnowGirls—The Musical–by Hell in a Handbag

Reindeer Games and Jazz Hands

Derek Van Barham’s high-stepping holiday parody of the erotic cult film, “Showgirls,” with spritely music by David Cerda, follows the career of a pretty, if somewhat naive and overly ambitious reindeer named Snowmi Malone (nicely played by HiaH newcomer, Harper Leander).

No Elf on a Shelf

The Santaland Diaries–at the Goodman Theatre

No Elf on the Shelf

Not everyone looks upon the holiday season with the same unbridled joy and delight as movies, musicals and television specials would have you believe is in everyone’s hearts. Even that crabby old Victorian curmudgeon, Ebenezer Scrooge, eventually found Christmas to be a season of joy and renewal. But ask someone who’s worked in the public sector during the holidays, especially in retail or hospitality, and suffered the indignities and downright rudeness of people at their worst, and you will understand how some folks look at Christmas in an entirely different light.

Murder at Haversham Manor

The Play That Goes Wrong–at the Oriental Palace Theatre

Murder at Haversham Manor

Two warnings accompany this review. The first is to bring along an oxygen tank when you attend this show, because you’re going to laugh until you hyperventilate. This is, without any doubt, the funniest comedy, with more laughs per minute, than any other play, since “Noises Off.”

[sound of door slamming shut]

Deathscribe – Wildclaw Theater

Getting the Best of the Bogeyman

Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins–at Strawdog Theatre 

Getting the Best of the Bogeymen

Presented like a holiday vaudeville show aimed at younger audiences, this lively, laughter-provoking entertainment is actually a play-within-a-play.

Learning to Be True to Yourself

Book of Merman–by Flying Elephant Productions

Learning to Be True to Yourself

With the phenomenal success of Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez’s cleverly written, irreverent and infectious musical comedy, “The Book of Mormon,” it was inevitable that someone would eventually write a parody of this mega popular Broadway show.