SLIGHTLY RECOMMENDED Where: A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 N. Wells St. When: through March 3 Tickets: $25-$30 Phone: 312-943-8722 If you think of Annie Baker’s “The Aliens” as a trio of interconnected character studies, the two-hour-long Chicago premiere at A Red Orchid Theatre may be tolerable. But if you’re expecting a play with anything resembling(…)
RECOMMENDED Where: Goodman Theatre Albert Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St. When: through Feb. 17 Tickets: $25-$86 Phone: 312-443-3800 By ANNE SPISELMAN Theater Critic Family secrets are at the core of “Other Desert Cities,” but what drives Jon Robin Baitz’s old-fashioned well-made play are the political and personal conflicts among the characters and a potent moral(…)
RECOMMENDED Where: Mercury Theater, 3745 N. Southport Ave. When: through March 10 Tickets: $25-$59 Phone: 773-325-1700 The Mercury Theater is kicking off its first subscription season of musicals with “A Grand Night for Singing,” the Rodgers and Hammerstein revue that made its Broadway debut in 1993. Directed and choreographed by Kevin Bellie, this is a(…)
RECOMMENDED Where: Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave. When: through Feb. 10 Tickets: $45-$65 Phone: 773-753-4472 By ANNE SPISELMAN Theater Critic The last scene of David Hare’s “Skylight” at Court Theatre is so touchingly funny, sweet and sad that it would be worth waiting for even if the tumultuous two hour-plus encounter between ex-lovers beforehand(…)
RECOMMENDED Where: Steppenwolf Theatre Company Downstairs Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St. When: through March 3 Tickets: $20-$86 Phone: 312-335-1650 By ANNE SPISELMAN Theater Critic If you’re captivated by damaged, self-deluded, dysfunctional urban characters, then Stephen Adly Guirgis’ “The Motherfu**ker with the Hat” is one for you. Savvily staged for Steppenwolf Theatre by ensemble member Anna(…)
RECOMMENDED Where: Bank of America Theatre, 18 W. Monroe St. When: through Sept. 8 Tickets: $45-$115 Phone: 800-775-2000 By ANNE SPISELMAN Theater Critic I’ve been trying to figure out what has made “The Book of Mormon” such a phenomenal hit. Sure, the multiple-award-winning musical with book, music and lyrics by Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and(…)
RECOMMENDED Where: Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Courtyard Theater, Navy Pier When: through Jan. 20 Tickets: $58-$78 Phone: 312-595-5600 By ANNE SPISELMAN Theater Critic Some adaptations of famous plays are faithful and others are free, but David Ives’ “The School for Lies” goes several fathoms beyond any version of Molière’s “The Misanthrope” you’ll ever see. Watching Director(…)
RECOMMENDED Where: Writers’ Theatre, Books on Vernon, 664 Vernon Ave., Glencoe When: through March 3 Tickets: $35-$70 Phone: 847-242-6000 Now that Writers’ Theatre is proposing to build a shiny new theater in Glencoe, I think Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and his cohorts deserve a special shout out for their consistently canny programming in the tiny(…)