“The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” Shows Our Lives Are What We Make Them The Goodman Theatre's production is an enchanting exploration of the self, by way of Oscar’s life and his Dominican ...

Don’t be surprised if you recognize Charin Alvarez, as her extensive career in Chicago theater and film continues to grow. Alvarez has been acting in Chicago since 1996, and it would be simpler to ...

The Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire has reinvented classic musicals and produced Chicago premieres and new works for fifty years—but they’re not out of surprises. “Our favorite shows,” says Peter ...

During Peter Andersen’s time as producing artistic director of Oak Park Festival Theatre, the company has seen tremendous growth in audience and artist engagement. Says Andersen, “Audiences have been ...

Now in its thirty-first season, Writers Theatre continues its tradition of staging both new works and new interpretations of the classics. Artistic director Braden Abraham says that the Glencoe ...

The founder of Making a Difference Dancing (the M.A.D.D. part of the name) continues to do just that. His twenty-three-year-old organization, founded to disrupt the “school-to-prison pipeline,” has ...

Chicago stages have been described as petri dishes for talent development, with the city seen as a particularly fertile launching pad for the stars of tomorrow, whether in acting, comedy, writing or ...

This has been the season of composer Jeanine Tesori in Chicago. Her opera “Blue” had its much-anticipated Lyric Opera premiere last fall. Porchlight Music Theatre performed her Tony-winning “Fun Home” ...

For centuries, lighting designers have been integral to bringing stories to life on stage, playing a noble role as an artist who avoids the spotlight to illuminate others. You know good lighting ...

Is Chicago theater back? That was the sentiment at photographer Joe Mazza’s studio, where my visit to an icy, dark alleyway led to a doorway leaking warm light and frantic jazz energy. Inside, this ...

Gods give demigods life. So does Margaret Atwood. In Atwood’s retelling of the life of Penelope, the veiled, enigmatic, ever-weaving wife of Odysseus is reborn. In Homer’s “Odyssey,” Penelope is ...

Sought-after choreographer Aszure Barton was named Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s second-ever resident artist in 2023 and has been adding gems to the company’s wide-ranging repertoire since. Two of ...