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Hedy Weiss biography
Hedy Weiss has been Theater and Dance Critic of the Chicago Sun-Times since 1984, reporting on local, national and international productions, as well as a …
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ACT II: A second look at area stages — ‘A Cole Porter Songbook’
Listen to the songs of Cole Porter — that Indiana-born composer and lyricist who from the 1920s through the 1950s penned some of the greatest Broadway and Hollywood scores — and you will easily be able to identify his preoccupations. In no particular order they …Read More
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Audra McDonald at ‘Home’ on new CD
Audra McDonald will be feted with the 2013 Sarah Siddons Society Award in Chicago on June 17, joining such esteemed company as Helen Hayes (the first recipient, 60 years ago), Barbara Cook, Patti LuPone and a Who’s Who of other formidably talented performers. The official …Read More
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Just The Ticket
From the blues to horror and sealed with a kiss: ‘AIN’T NO CRYING THE BLUES’ The Black Ensemble Theater, 4450 N. Clark, revisits Howlin’ Wolf, a performer whose music and performance style had an impact on Mick Jagger and countless others. Through August 11. www.blackensemble.org. …Read More
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‘West Side Story’ showing its age in latest tour version
HEDY WEISS: The dancing is excellent, the acting and singing less so in non-Equity production of the classic musical.
Black Ensemble’s reimagined ‘Howlin’ Wolf’ comes up a winner
HEDY WEISS: Rick Stone’s uncanny, animated portrayal of the blues legend now comes surrounded by a memory play.
Tony Awards present a ‘Woolf’ pack to Steppenwolf revival
HEDY WEISS: Star Tracy Letts and director Pam MacKinnon win trophies for the production, also named best revival of a play. And Cyndi Lauper’s “Kinky Boots” is declared the best musical.
ACT II: A second look at area stages — ‘River,’ ‘Reverb’ solid efforts
Here are two wildly different shows — one awash in dark-edged Americana-style poetry and song, and one, exceptionally brutal, that goes beyond the pale in its depiction of rage: “Spoon River Anthology” (through June 16 at Provision Theater, 1001 W. Roosevelt): The characters in Edgar …
Hubbard Street’s ‘Dance(e)volve’ an engaging mixed bag
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s two-weekend run of its Dance(e)volve: New Works Festival program is mostly sold out. That is a testament to both the adventurousness of the company’s audience, and the troupe’s fervent commitment to showcase the efforts of choreographers within its own ranks. Of …
10 for the summer: Hot times (on stage) in the city
There are no “off months” in Chicago theater. So even if the sun shines well past curtain time on summer nights, there are many dark, air-conditioned refuges to be found in every corner of the city (and suburbs). Here, arranged by starting date, are 10 …
Truth be told, Writers’ ‘Liar’ is a marvelous masquerade
I am no great fan of 18th century French comedies of manners. A little of all that “lifestyles of the nouveau riche and their servants” goes a very long way. But director William Brown’s production of “The Liar,” now at Writers’ Theatre, is so effervescent, …
Circle, Pride and Theo Ubique win top Non-Equity Jeffs
Top honors at this year’s Non-Equity Jeff Awards, which recognize excellence in Chicago’s non-union theaters, went to three dramatically different shows Monday night at the 40th annual ceremony held at Park West. Named best production of a play for the 2012-2013 season was Circle Theatre’s …
Words of ‘The Glass Menagerie’ like you’ve never heard them before
HEDY WEISS: A remount of Mary-Arrchie Theater’s production is even more luminous as Hans Fleischmann, both directing and playing Tom, finds the music in Tennessee Williams’ lines.
ACT II: A second look at area stages — Hubbard St. Danc(e)volve
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago has performed the work of many of the great contemporary choreographers on the international scene, from Ohad Naharin, Jiri Kylian and Jorma Elo to Twyla Tharp and William Forsythe. It also has nurtured such younger masters as Aszure Barton, Sharon Eyal …
Chicago Dancing Festival to emphasize Chicago companies
Time to start getting into the rhythms of this August’s showcase of ballet, modern, ethnic and rhythmic dance.
Sketchbook Festival just the ticket
Chicago commuters are familiar with the eight color-coded routes of the trains that comprise the CTA system. And now, for its 13th annual Sketchbook festival of new plays, Collaboraction has charted its own playfully hued map of journeys, with the (invented) Black Line and Blue …
‘Smudge’ disturbing, compelling and ultimately heartbreaking
HEDY WEISS: Brutally honest production by Ka-Tet Theatre looks in on a couple struggling to accept a malformed baby.
Albany Park Theater Project’s latest work hits home
HEDY WEISS: Actors ages 13 to 20 star in “I Will Kiss These Walls,” a new show about the cost of foreclosures that astonishes right from its thrilling opening sequence.
Contrived plot wounds Chicago Dramatists’ ‘Homecoming’
HEDY WEISS: A veteran returns from Vietnam with contempt for his service in world premiere by Robert Koon.
ACT II: A second look at area stages — ‘The Knowledge’ and ‘Rabbit’
While the British class system of the early 20th century is still alive and well courtesy of TV’s “Downton Abbey,” two very different manifestations of English class-consciousness in our own time can be found in a couple of strongly acted and directed plays now on …
