We’re the Same

Girlfriend – PrideArts

This musical is absolutely everything. It’s so special that it will touch everyone who has a heart, regardless of gender or being straight or gay. Those who can recall their first crush, the earliest moment when love felt like a movie and changed everything, will certainly rejoice, shed a tear and laugh with happiness at this touching play. And, in addition, it has great music. It’s a story that’s filled with joy, overflows with self doubt and uncertainty, and then suddenly bursts with the wondrous disbelief at what has happened and the desire to make that love last forever.

The Cream Rises to the Top

National Merit – BoHo Theatre

Throughout our entire lives in this country, competition is paramount. We’re taught—indeed, brainwashed—to strive to always be the best at everything and never settle for being “average.” With this in mind, high school juniors are encouraged by their parents and academic counselors to study for and take the grueling PSAT, or the Preliminary Scholarship Aptitude Test. The purpose of this highly stressful activity is to compete for scholarships and admission to the nation’s top colleges and universities. 

Come to the Fun Home

Fun Home – Paramount Theatre

Fun Home is the story of writer and artist Alison Bechdel contemplating her relationship with her father, who she discovered as an adult was gay, like she is. Based on her real family, Bechdel turned the story into the graphic novel of the same name in 2006. In 2013, it was turned into a musical with book and lyrics by Lisa Kron and score by Jeanine Tesori, eventually picking up the Tony for Best Musical.

Leader of the Harlem Renaissance

My Brother Langston – Black Ensemble Theatre

Langston Hughes, who was originally named James (after his abusive, uncaring father), was a prolific writer. He was known for his plays, short stories, children’s books, novels and works of non-fiction. But Langston Hughes is primarily remembered for his beautiful, evocative poetry. Rueben D. Echoles, the multitalented Black Ensemble Theater member, wrote this heartfelt tribute to Hughes because he recognized the writer’s work as “powerful, revolutionary and still very relevant to this day.” In his beautifully crafted 90-minute play with music, audiences will definitely come away knowing the gifted writer known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance.

The Birth of Fake News

Campaigns, Inc. – Time Line Theatre

To most of us, the irritating practice of dredging up muck from a politician’s past and creating false soundbites, televised impressions and untrue news stories is a recent trend in TV reporting. But the birth of fake news goes back to 1934. While the art of employing deceit and devious campaign strategies wasn’t new, the two-person team of journalist and carnival promoter Leone Baxter and political supporter and newspaper man Clem Whitaker invented a whole new occupation: the first political consulting firm. Together they became an unstoppable force who called themselves, Campaigns, Inc.

Melodrama and Music

Zorro: The Musical – Music Theater Works

The legend of Zorro tells about a vigilante nobleman who returns from Spain to his California hometown to rescue his countrymen and bring about law and order. It’s a story filled with fiery passions, daring rescues and flaming swordplay. The tale is a familiar trope in literature, film and on stage. From the 1919 novella by Johnston McCulley, to Isabel Allende’s 2005 novel, Zorro (the Fox) became a Walt Disney televised serial in the late 1950s, as well as the 1998 film, “The Mask of Zorro.” The character is now familiar to most of us, and those who know this folk hero have certain expectations when anticipating a stage version of the story. Despite there already being several theatrical incarnations that feature the titular hero, a new musical version was created several years ago.

The Devil Wears Prada

The Devil Wears Prada – Broadway in Chicago

Chicago has been home to several pre-Broadway runs all of which have done quite well once on the Great White Way. This current production of The Devil Wears Prada is no exception.

Based on the book by Lois Weinberger, it then became a hit movie starring Meryl Strep, Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt. The musical has a score by Elton John and lyrics by Shania Taub, a book by Kate Wetherhead, under the excellent direction of Chicago’s own Anna D. Shapiro.

The Playboy of the Western World

The Playboy of the Western World – City Lit Theatre

At a pub in County Mayo, Ireland in 1907, a young man stumbles and says that he has just killed his father with a shovel. After telling his story, he instantly becomes a local celebrity, with the town celebrating his bravery in standing up to his horrible father. Things get more complicated with the father, apparently only injured, shows up looking for him.

A Boogie Wonderland

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

Amidst a profusion of sequins, marabou and mylar the ensemble of this cotton candy of a musical dazzles and delights audiences of every age, gender and persuasion. It’s just plain fun and, boy, with all that’s going on in the world today, do we ever need this dose of eye-popping, over-the-top beguilement right now. Christopher Chase Carter has energetically directed and choreographed a spirited, vivacious heartfelt musical version of the 2011 Tony Award-winning production that was, in turn, based upon a 1994 film cult classic.

Madcap enchantment and revelry abound in Summer Stage’s production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Madcap enchantment and revelry abound in Summer Stage’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Director Dustin J. Martin’s spin on the tale plays with the narrative’s play-within-a-play technique to present a charmingly transportive production that is as much about the high-minded nature of dramatic potential as it is a nimble farce full of bewitched lovers, vengeful fairies, and donkey-headed amateur actors.