weiss
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 — ‘Brighton Beach Memoirs’
Neil Simon might not be the darling of the avant-garde theater crowd. But anyone who doubts the enduring power of his plays to generate a surefire mix of tears and laughter should pay a visit to Raven Theatre’s revival of his 1983 drama “Brighton Beach …Read More
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Eifman Ballet finds inspiration in Rodin’s figures
The Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg, Russia has visited Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre on a regular basis since 2000. With its astonishing company of more than 50 dancers backed by lavish, almost cinematic design, it is a grand showcase for the unique vision of its founder …Read More
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Harris Theater to celebrate 10th anniversary in grand style
This fall will mark the 10th anniversary of the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, that 1,500-seat venue adjacent to Millennium Park that has made its mark by presenting an audacious array of performances by world class artists from both Chicago and around the globe. …Read More
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‘Ganesh’ a chilling theatrical experience
At one point in “Ganesh Versus the Third Reich” — the wholly astonishing and deeply provocative work by Australia’s Back to Back Theatre, at the MCA through Sunday only — Luke Ryan, who plays the role of a tyrannical theater director, shatters the fourth wall. …
Savage and devastating, ‘Roadkill’ upends Greek tragedy
HEDY WEISS: In a dimly lit apartment in Bucktown, Chicago Shakespeare Theater presents a story of human desecration that stays with you long after you leave.
Rhea Perlman, Francis Guinan save tavern tale from its routine plot
HEDY WEISS: Bruce Graham’s “Stella & Lou,” now in its world premiere at Northlight Theatre, depends on the skills of its stars in an otherwise average story of lonely people connecting at a bar.
ACT II: A second look at area stages — ‘Tea with Edie & Fitz’
Lucky timing or a shrewd bet on synergy? Thanks to this weekend’s release of Baz Luhrmann’s new film version of “The Great Gatsby,” the Dead Writers Theatre Collective might just get a little extra buzz for its production of “Tea With Edie and Fitz.” Set …
Ordinary men, extraordinary circumstances craft decisions that shape history in ‘Blood and Gifts’
For years the most nagging question in U.S. foreign policy was this: How did we get into Vietnam? In more recent times, that question (among many, many others) has been replaced by this one: How did we get into Afghanistan, and what kind of dirty …
Robert Sickinger, ‘father of Chicago’s Off Loop theater movment’ (1927-2013)
Robert “Bob” Sickinger, widely considered “the father of Chicago’s Off Loop theater movement,” and the man instrumental in the founding of the hugely influential Hull House Theater at Broadway and Belmont that blossomed throughout the 1960s, died of congestive heart failure Thursday morning in Delray …
Oh, ‘Henry’! Chicago Shakespeare stages a gem of a production
England’s King Henry VIII is familiar to us as the man who had six wives, who severed ties with the Roman Catholic Church in order to divest himself of one of them, had another beheaded, and along the way fathered the daughter who would become …
Rhea Perlman: Everybody knows her name
HEDY WEISS: The “Cheers” star bellies up to a new bar for “Stella & Lou” at Northlight Theatre.
‘Lake Effect’ sharply acted despite a faulty script
HEDY WEISS: Siblings meet their late father’s mysterious friend in the Silk Road Rising world premiere.
Lyric Opera not quite the right territory for ‘Oklahoma!”
HEDY WEISS: The performances stand out, especially in supporting roles, but this revival of the Broadway classic seems caught between the intimate and the operatic.
ACT II: A second look at area stages — ‘The Pianist of Willesden Lane’
‘The Pianist of Willesden Lane,” Mona Golabek’s exquisitely rendered musical memoir — now in a limited engagement at the Royal George Theatre — begins, fittingly enough, with an exhilarating description of her mother, Lisa Jura, as she boards a trolley in Vienna and heads off …
Rick Cluchey soars in balletic ‘Krapp’s Last Tape’
HEDY WEISS: The actor, once befriended by Samuel Beckett, mesmerizes in the playwright’s one-man classic.
Lynn Nottage finds inspiration for ‘Vera Stark’ in classic movies she watched as a child
At the very same time that Lynn Nottage was at work on what would become her 2009 Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “Ruined” — a scorching look at violence against women in the war-ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) — she was writing another play that could …
Chicago gets shout-outs as ‘Kinky Boots,’ Steppenwolf vie for Tonys
With abundant nominations for two productions first seen here — the Cyndi Lauper musical and the revival of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” — the city’s theater scene again proves it can take N.Y. by storm.
Joffrey Ballet’s ‘Othello’ positively stunning
HEDY WEISS: Revival of Lar Lubovitch’s masterpiece at the Auditorium Theatre suggests Shakespeare’s tragedy may best be told with dance.
Stage almost empty but full of emotion in ‘Yellow Moon’
HEDY WEISS: Scottish playwright David Grieg’s way with words is apparent in the Writers’ Theatre production of his play about a rebellious Glasgow teen on the run with a shy girl from a refugee family.
ACT II: A second look at area stages — Dancing Shakespeare
Choreographers of both classical ballet and modern dance have long found inspiration in Shakespeare. His plays have inspired many versions of “Romeo and Juliet,” as well as memorable takes on “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “The Taming of the Shrew,” “Hamlet” and “The Tempest.” It was …
