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The Chicago Reader

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Arts & Culture, Theater Review Mar 10, 2020
Recommended
Judy and Liza—Once in a Lifetime shows the bond between two divas

A cabaret homage to Garland and Minnelli lights up the Greenhouse.
- By Albert Williams
- Tags: Theater Review, Judy and Liza—Once in a Lifetime, Greenhouse Theater Center, Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli, Nancy Hays, Alexa Castelvecchi, Robert Ollis, Peter Allen, Recommended

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Jan 29, 2020
Spoken Word muddies the issue of consent

MPAACT's campus drama pushes some hot buttons, but casts an ugly pall.
- By Dan Jakes
- Tags: Theater Review, Spoken Word, MPAACT, Shepsu Aakhu, Lauren LL Lundy, Greenhouse Theater Center, Veronda G. Carey

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Dec 10, 2019
The Land of Forgotten Toys has forgettable songs, but a charming story

A young girl must save Christmas in this new family musical.
- By Jack Helbig
- Tags: Theater Review, The Land of Forgotten Toys, Greenhouse Theater Center, Dylan MarcAurele, Larry Little, Jaclyn Enchin, Jennifer Enchin, Mike Ross, Nicholas Reinhart, Bre Jacobs, Liz Norton

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Sep 4, 2019
Sons and Lovers is faithful, but not thrilling

D.H. Lawrence's portrait of mother love misses the mark in this On the Spot adaptation.
- By Max Maller
- Tags: Theater Review, Sons and Lovers, Greenhouse Theater Center, On the Spot Theatre Company, Mike Brayndick

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Aug 21, 2019
Recommended
All Quiet on the Western Front brings diversity and relevance in Red Tape's production

Matt Foss's adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque's World War I classic is both powerful and frustrating.
- By Catey Sullivan
- Tags: Theater Review, All Quiet on the Western Front, Matt Foss, Red Tape Theatre, Greenhouse Theater Center, Erich Maria Remarque, Elena Victoria Feliz, Leah Urzendowski, Rachel Sypniewski, Dan Poppen, Nicholas James Schwartz, Stephen Sakowski, Recommended

Arts & Culture, Theater Review May 15, 2019
Recommended
The Mushroom Cure chronicles one man's quest for relief from OCD

If you've ever been to a 12 Step meeting, this will feel familiar.
- By KT Hawbaker
- Tags: Theater Review, The Mushroom Cure, Adam Strauss, Greenhouse Theater Center, OCD, 12 Step, Recommended

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Dec 6, 2018
The latest edition of El Stories explores the drama of the Holiday Train

The Waltzing Mechanics's production returns after a two-year hiatus.
- By Dan Jakes
- Tags: Theater Review, El Stories, Holiday Train, Waltzing Mechanics, CTA, Greenhouse Theater Center, Carinne Uslar, Red Line, snowpocalypse

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Nov 29, 2018
Arcadia pulls its audience into various emotional and historical puzzles

The story serves as a love letter to hunger.
- By Kerry Reid
- Tags: Theater Review, Arcadia, Promethean Theatre Ensemble, Greenhouse Theater Center, Tom Stoppard, Sidley Park, Lord Byron, Meghann Tabor, Scot West, Cameron Feagin

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Oct 25, 2018
There are a lot of facts in Truman and the Birth of Israel, but they don't add up to much

Instead this Greenhouse production invents its central dramatic incident to make its point.
- By Tony Adler
- Tags: Theater Review, Truman and the Birth of Israel, Greenhouse Theater Center, Harry S Truman, William Spatz, David Cohen, Tim Kough, Catherine Dvorak, anti-Semitism, Holocaust, Israel

Arts & Culture, Performing Arts Feature Jul 27, 2018
MPAACT’s Summer Jams provides a stage for young black performers

“They’re willing to take a chance, and a lot of companies don’t do that.”
- By Katie Powers
- Tags: Performing Arts Feature, MPAACT Summer Jams, Ma’at Production Association of Afrikan Centered Theatre, Greenhouse Theater Center, Razor Wintercastle, Prints of a Diva, Regina Peters—Gina to Nina Simone, Check This Sh!t Out, Platonic Life Partners, Closet(s), A Black Body in Space and Time, Tia Jemison, black theater, emerging theater artists

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Jun 8, 2018
Tiresias Was a Weatherman is an Antigone for our age of extreme weather and constant medication

Organic Theater Company tackles climate change, Big Pharma, family dysfunction, the evils of the media machine, and too much else for one play.
- By Dmitry Samarov
- Tags: Theater Review, tiresias, greek, antigone, jaime mire, annabelle, organic theater company, greenhouse theater center, rain, wind, sun, thunder, big pharma, josh anderson

Arts & Culture, Theater Review May 11, 2018
Greenhouse Theater’s Birds of a Feather never really takes flight

Charitably, Marc Acito's show can be considered children's theater for adults.
- By Justin Hayford
- Tags: Theater Review, birds of a feather, greenhouse theater center, marc acito, Peter Parnell, Justin Richardson, And Tango Makes Three, Central Park Zoo, Paula Zahn, Jacob Harvey, penguins

Blogs, Bleader Mar 2, 2018
Chiditarod XIII and more of the best things to do in Chicago this weekend

Jane Bond: Funny But Deadly and more goings-on March 2-4
- By Madeline Happold
- Tags: Arts, Do This, Funny But Deadly, Laugh Out Loud, Formosa, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, Chiditarod, West Town, Noble Square, Mother of the Dark Water, Greenhouse Theater Center, Annoyance Theatre, independent films, Hot Reads, iO Theatre, Japanese Cultural Center, Chicago Street Fashion, Chicago Wahoo Club

Blogs, Bleader Feb 12, 2018
Slam poetry by YouTube sensation Neil Hilborn and more of the best things to do in Chicago this week

A tribute to Selena and more goings-on about town February 11-14
- By Rachel Yang
- Tags: Arts, Do This, selena, logan square auditorium, neil hilborn, up comedy club, hooking up with second city, selena tribute, queen of tejano, dj alive girls, punch house, sarah sherman, sarah squirm, empty bottle, grindr the opera, who wants love, greenhouse theater center

Blogs, Bleader Feb 9, 2018
A special Valentine's Day version of Mortified and more of the best things to do in Chicago this weekend

The Humans at Cadillac Palace Theatre and more goings-on February 9-11
- By Rachel Yang
- Tags: Arts, Do This, The Woman Who Left, Logan Center for the Arts, Nothing Is Ours but Time, Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Native American Woven Arts, Mitchell Museum of the American Indian, Bye Bye Liver, Stage 773, Lincoln Hall, Mortified Valentine Shmalentine, The Humans, Cadillac Palace Theatre, Stephen Karam, Musical Therapy The Musical, Greenhouse Theater Center

Blogs, Bleader Sep 22, 2017
Banned Books Week gets entertaining

City Lit Theater's Books on the Chopping Block pop-up and other local events draw attention to the year's most challenged works.
- By Tony Adler
- Tags: Theater, Arts, Books, Banned Books Week, American Library Association, City Lit Theater, Books on the Chopping Block, censorship, Harry Potter, Holy Bible, Chuck Palahniuk, Make Something Up: Books You Can't Unread, LBGTQ, Chicago Public Library, Dramatists Guild, Dramatists Legal Defense Fund, Banned Together: A Censorship Cabaret, Stage 773, Spring Awakening, Totally Fucked, Roosevelt University, Almost, Maine, Greenhouse Theater Center, MC-10, Use It or Lose It: An Evening of Short Plays About Your Rights, American Civil LIberties Union, Rebecca Gilman, Brett Neveu, Thomas Bradshaw, ACLU, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly

Arts & Culture, Performing Arts Feature Aug 23, 2017
Gypsy, Machinal, and three more new theater reviews

"The greatest book musical of all time" and a Woyzeck for the jazz age are among this week's best bets.
- Tags: Performing Arts Feature, Gypsy, Arthur Laurents, Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim, Jerome Robbins, Rudy Hogenmiller, Music Theater Works, Gypsy Rose Lee, Madame Rose, Mary Robin Roth, burlesque, machinal, woyzeck, Georg Büchner, Sophie Treadwell, jazz age, Greenhouse Theater Center, Elizabeth Margolius, Jacob Harvey, Heather Chrisler, Cody Proctor, Walkabout Theater, A Persephone Pageant, Mark Messing, Sarah Ruhl, Morgan McNaught, Sister Africa, Stephanie Liss, Genesis Theatricals, Democratic Republic of Congo, Elayne Traunik, The Veil, Connor McPherson, Ann Radcliffe, Chekhov, Idle Muse Theatre Company, Ann Kreitman

Arts & Culture, Performing Arts Feature Oct 1, 2016
Cheers Live, Dog Night, The Happiest Place on Earth, and nine more new theater reviews

The latest Chicago stage shows range from the rawly emotional to the enjoyably ridiculous.
- Tags: Performing Arts Feature, Cheers Live on Stage, Broadway in Chicago, Nich Radcliffe, Organic Theater Company, Joe Mantegna, Open Space Theater, Bleacher Bums, Northlight Theatre, Anthony Giardina, The City of Conversation, Lia D. Mortensen, Marti Lyons, Chicago theater, Pulse Theatre, The Colored Museum, George C. Wolfe, ETA Creative Arts Foundation, Aaron Mitchell Reese, Demetra Drayton, Ekia Thomas, Dead Children, The Side Project Theatre Company, Robert Tenges, Erik Wagner, Kirsten D'Aurelio, Adam Webster, Victoria Gilbert, Dog Night, Rabid Bat Theatricals, North Lakeshore Cultural Center, Gunder House, Philip Dawkins, The Happiest Place on Earth, Disneyland, Jonathan L. Green, Greenhouse Theater Center, Genesis Theatricals Productions, The People's Choice, Philip Pinkus, political satire, Baby Wants Candy, Game of Thrones, Thrones! A Musical Parody, Nick Druzbanski, Caitlyn Cerza, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, pH Theater, William Finn, Rachel Sheinkin, Erin Elisabeth Smith, Jason Geis, Filament Theatre, The Van Gogh Cafe, Community Tavern, Portage Park, Cynthia Rylant, Julia Ritchie, Visiting Edna, David Rabe, Steppenwolf Theatre, Anna D. Shapiro, Donterrio Johnson

Arts & Culture, Feature Apr 27, 2016
Bullets Over Broadway, The Producers, MPAACT's Feral, and nine more new theater reviews

Two hit musical comedies and a drama examining the Chicago Police Department's "systemic racism" are among this week's best bets.
- Tags: Feature, Bullets Over Broadway, Woody Allen, PrivateBank Theatre, Susan Stroman, Michael Williams, Even Longer and Farther Away, Appalachian Trail, Chelsea Marcantel, Thrisa Hodits, The New Colony, Byhalia, Mississippi, Deanna Reed-Foster, Evita, Eva Perón, Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, Che Guevara, Feral, Shepsu Aakhu, MPAACT, Black Lives Matter, Chicago Police Department, police shootings, Carla Stillwell, Victoria Allen, George C. Stalling, In the Heat of the Night, John Ball, Matt Pelfrey, Shattered Globe Theatre, Michael Stanfill, Theater Wit, Teatro Vista, In the Time of the Butterflies, Julia Alvarez, Rafael Trujillo, Maribal sisters, Ricardo Guitierrez, Uriel Gomez, Caridad Svich, Liviu Pasare, Victory Gardens Theater, The Lion in Winter, James Goldman, Katharine Hepburn, Peter O'Toole, Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitane, Brian Pastor, Promethean Theatre Ensemble, Athenaeum Theatre, Brian Parry, Elaine Carlson, Empire, Lucious and Cookie Lyon, Polarity Ensemble Theatre, Greenhouse Theater Center, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare, Keith Cavanaugh, Laura Sturm, Ann Keen, The Producers, Mercury Theater, L. Walter Stearns, Mel Brooks, Bill Larkin, Matt Crowle, Allison Sill, ABLA Productions, A Splintered Soul, Alan Lester Brooks, Keira Fromm, Holocaust survivors, Red Theater, Redtwist Theatre, Benjamin Brand, Aaron Sawyer, Gage Wallace, Kevin V. Smith, cannibalism, Two Rooms, Honest Theatre, Fury Theatre, Lee Blessing, Chad Gilliland, hostage crisis

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Apr 8, 2015
Recommended
Remy Bumppo Theatre aces Tom Stoppard's test with Travesties

James Joyce, Vladimir Lenin, and Tristan Tzara mingle in a deeply smart, often hilarious production.
- By Tony Adler
- Tags: Theater Review, Travesties, Greenhouse Theater Center, Remy Bumppo, Ulysses, James Joyce, New York Times, Tom Stoppard, Will Shortz, The Real Thing, Vladimir Lenin, Henry Carr, Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest, Scott Olson, Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, The Coast of Utopia, Jumpers, Hapgood, Lord Byron, Arcadia, Nick Sandys, effrey Cummings, James Huston, Greg Matthew Anderson, Kelsey Brennan, Meg Warner, Jodi Kingsley, Rachel Lambert, Joe Schermoly, Recommended

Arts & Culture, Theater Review May 7, 2014
Recommended
Hit the Wall returns with an even better riot

The Inconvenience remounts its 2012 success chronicling Stonewall.
- By Tony Adler
- Tags: Theater Review, Hit the Wall, Greenhouse Theater Center, Steppenwolf Theatre, Garage Rep, Barrow Street Theatre, Judy Garland, Chicago Commercial Collective, off-Loop, Stonewall Inn, Greenwich Village, Ike Holter, Manny Buckley, Shannon Matesky, Layne Manzer, Daniel Desmarais, Sara Kerastas, Eric Hoff, Recommended

Blogs, Bleader May 5, 2014
Reader's Agenda Mon 5/5: the Living Newspaper Festival, "Production Line of Happiness," and Queens of the Stone Age

What's on the Reader's Agenda for Monday, May 5
- By Taylor Tolbert
- Tags: Do This, Arts, Jackelope Theatre Company, Ripped: The Living Newspaper Festival, MH370, Donald Sterling, Greenhouse Theater Center, Christopher Williams, photojournalism, Production Line of Happiness, Art Institute of Chicago, Queens of the Stone Age, Aragon Ballroom, Chelsea Wolfe

Blogs, Bleader May 29, 2013
Reader's Agenda Wed 5/29: Sexomedy, Roots Handmade Pizza, and Lunch Talks @ CAF

What's on the Reader's Agenda for Wednesday, May 29, 2013
- By Chelsea Hohn
- Tags: Do This, Arts, Melissa DuPrey, Sexomedy, Greenhouse Theater Center, Roots Handmade Pizza, Ukrainian Village, Rick Ortiz, Chris Curren, Stephanie Izard, Chicago Architecture Foundation, Hume An, Jeff Bone, Lunch Talks @ CAF

Blogs, Bleader Apr 3, 2013
Reader's Agenda Wed 4/3: The Magic Cabaret, Reading Under the Influence, and the Chicago Improv Fest

What's on the Reader's Agenda for Wednesday, April 3, 2013
- By Drew Hunt
- Tags: Do This, Arts, illusionists, Hot Topic, The Magic Cabaret, Greenhouse Theater Center, Sheffield's, Reading Under the Influence, C.J. Arellano, the Moth StorySlam, Shannon Cason, Solo in the 2nd City, Melinda McIntire, the Chicago Improv Fest

Blogs, Bleader Mar 4, 2013
Reader's Agenda Mon 3/4: The Greens, Pulaski Day, and puppets

What's on the Reader's Agenda for Monday, March 4, 2013.
- By Katie Kather
- Tags: Do This, Arts, puppets, links hall, ben joravsky, the greens, greenhouse theater center, the Polish museum of America, Pulaski Day

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