Under the Masks

God of Carnage – AstonRep Theatre

Michael and Veronica, a pair of parents, are hosting another pair of parents, Alan and Annette, in their home to discuss a fight their two 11-year-old sons had resulting in one boy hitting the other with a stick and knocking out two teeth. It begins as four enlightened, urbane parents all coming together to showcase how mature they can be. It turns quickly into a four-way brawl that would put their children to shame.

Spread the Love Around

Sister Act – Mercury Theatre

“Sister Act” conjures up images of whimsy, wimples and Whoopi Goldberg and Dame Maggie Smith. They starred in one of the funniest and most financially successful musical films of 1992. In our current era of screen-to-stage transferals, audiences may either be skeptical of one more theatrical musical based on a popular movie, or they’ll be panting with the anticipation of seeing their favorite comedy, live on stage. And while this glorious new presentation, now playing at Chicago’s beloved Mercury Theater, doesn’t offer Whoopi Goldberg’s star power, the production still sparkles up to the heavens. Deloris Van Cartier, the 70’s club singer who goes into hiding after witnessing a murder, is in the very capable hands of a heavenly gifted young actress with a vast resume to prove her prowess.

Comfort Food and Country Music

Pump Boys & Dinettes – Porchlight Music Theatre

If you were to take a leisurely drive down Highway 57 you might end up at a little service station somewhere between Frog Level and Smyrna, North Carolina. Thanks to Scenic Designer Sydney Lynne’s attention to detail, the set fills the entire, wide stage of the Ruth Page Center for the Arts. Adjoining the gas station is the Double Cupp Diner, where two sweet, spunky sisters are whipping up bottomless cups of coffee, pecan and sweet potato pies, and many other southern delicacies. If you pull up a chair you can relish the show’s easy-going menu of country pop/rock songs that celebrate life’s little joys and sorrows—something that everyone can understand and appreciate.

Pipe Dreams in the Jim Crow Era

The Last Pair of Earlies – Raven Theatre

Autumn in Chicago this year feels more like Spring, because it’s like a time for rebirth. After 19 long months, deprived of any live performances to enjoy and inspire us, the theatres are finally reopening. Like so many venues, Raven Theatre is also back to producing revivals by well-known playwrights and wonderful new works of art by emerging authors. This world premiere by Chicago playwright Joshua Allen that opens Raven’s new season, sensitively shaped and guided by the extremely talented Wardell Julius Clark, was well worth the wait.

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.