Rachel Weinberg

Raise a glass to THE CHOIR OF MAN, a rollicking good time of a show. The show’s a UK transfer and it transports audiences to the fictitious pub The Jungle, modeled after classic Irish and British pubs. Therein, the eponymous nine man choir serves up pop and rock hits on tap. THE CHOIR OF MAN is all about having fun and delivering on its promise of great vocal arrangements.

Mercury Theater Chicago has staged a “homegrown” production of JERSEY BOYS full of Chicago heart. The bio jukebox musical has graced Chicago tour stages over the years (in fact, I had a chuckle looking back at the review of the first national tour I wrote for my high school newspaper), but this is the first staging to showcase Chicago talent — and it definitely accomplishes that goal.

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins has set the table for one hell of a family dinner in PURPOSE. Directed by Phylicia Rashad in a world premiere for Steppenwolf, this family drama keenly focuses on the privileged Jasper family, whose patriarch is a Civil Rights icon. The first act moves at a brilliant clip with lots of darkly funny moments during a contentious family drama, then unspools into a more serious and somber contemplation of the skeletons in the family’s closet in the second. 

Goodman Theatre Artistic Director Susan V. Booth puts her own spin on Margaret Atwood’s decidedly feminist tale THE PENELOPIAD. As with her famous novel THE HANDMAID’S TALE, Atwood uses THE PENELOPIAD as a device to convey the horrors and abuse committed against women. Atwood’s points are valid and mirror the gender inequalities and abuse women still experience now (the original novella was penned in 2005). But THE PENELOPIAD’s feminist argument isn’t revelatory. Instead of providing truly new insight or perspective, the play rather reinforces existing (though rightfully undeniable) points. 

MRS. DOUBTFIRE is escapist musical theater fun with tremendous character actor Rob McClure (reprising the role from Broadway) carrying on Robin Williams’s immense legacy from the 1993 film in the lead role.

Director Mary Zimmerman returns to the Goodman with the whimsical and inventive THE MATCHBOX MAGIC FLUTE. Zimmerman’s adaptation of Mozart’s iconic opera is lively and accessible; this would be a great introduction for those new to the opera.

“Like a Rolling Stone,” the Bob Dylan jukebox musical GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY rolls along at an erratic pace with haphazard direction.

With NOTES FROM THE FIELD, playwright Anna Deavere Smith once again proves she’s a master of her genre of theatrical storytelling. Known for her documentary (or verbatim) plays, Smith presents monologues from 19 different interviews in this exploration of the school-to-prison pipeline in America. By allowing her interview subjects to literally speak for themselves, Smith has mastered the art of showing and not telling. NOTES FROM THE FIELD has a clear agenda; it’s a searing condemnation of the systemic failings of the American judicial, police, educational, and penitentiary institutions — and most notably a condemnation of the ways in which those systems have failed Black and Brown Americans. But Smith conveys her points with a blistering humanity (even if, at two hours and 40 minutes, I think she could have arrived at those points with a shorter run-time).

ILLINOISE is a journey through our great state of Illinois using movement. Directed and choreographed by Justin Peck and featuring music and lyrics from Sufjan Stevens’s ILLINOIS album, the show uses dance as its primary narrative language. Peck collaborated with playwright Jacke Sibblies Drury on a loose storyline for ILLINOISE, but that story is communicated entirely through dance. Stevens’s lyrics underscore the situations in the show and mirror the emotional shades of the choreography.

HIGHWAY PATROL has refreshing bravery and honesty; it’s an intriguing exploration of online identity and the connections that might be found, or that we seek to find, on our social media profiles and in our DMs.

It’s delightful, it’s delicious, it’s de-lovely...it’s ANYTHING GOES at Porchlight Music Theatre. Artistic Director Michael Weber’s production captures all the joy and laughs in Cole Porter’s 1934 classic musical comedy. Thanks to the new 2022 book by Timothy Crouse and John Weidman, it’s also a tight ship running two hours and fifteen minutes (original book by P.G. Wodehouse, Guy Bolton, Howard LIndsay, and Russel Crouse.)

Teatro ZinZanni is back inside the spiegeltent nestled on the fourteenth floor of the Cambria Hotel on Randolph to delight audiences with its latest edition: LOVE, CHAOS, AND DINNER. The creative team has brought back the title from the first iteration of the show in Chicago for this engagement. It’s a reliably delightful combination of cabaret and circus entertainment, and because it’s literally dinner and a show in one, it’s a reasonably good value, too.

Betty Boop is making her stage debut...and thanks to Jasmine Amy Rogers in the role, she’s making a real star turn. I truly didn’t know what to expect when BOOP! THE MUSICAL was announced. How would a cartoon character featured primarily in animated shorts from 1930-1939 make her way into a 2023 musical? The answer ends up being a conventionally plotted, enjoyable visual wonder with some classic big musical numbers. BOOP! THE MUSICAL brings the bops and good vibes.

It’s a “brand new day” for THE WIZ with new material from Amber Ruffin in this Broadway-bound engagement, but the production is well-trod territory.

These days, truth is elusive — and Timeline Theatre’s THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT plays with that idea. It’s the age of endless fact-checking resources on the internet, but also the age of misinformation spread across TikTok, Reddit, and other social media. Wherein lies the truth? And what is accurate? Sometimes, it’s hard to say. THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT meditates on that theme.

This is a fun, female-driven farce. It’s a good reminder that a lot of American politics seems to involve competent women cleaning up after incompetent men — and the play hits on that message well. It’s a crazy, raunchy good time that I enjoyed, but I don’t think it delivers sharply on deeper themes or meanings. It’s best to sit back and enjoy the ride of just another insane day at this White House. 

Although it debuted off-Broadway more than thirty years ago, Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s ASSASSINS remains a thrilling, bone chilling, brilliant, and immensely taut musical. Drawing on the United States history of successful and would-be presidential assassins, ASSASSINS is an astounding exploration of disillusionment and infamy. The musical feels remarkably prescient in the era of TikTok influencers and an epidemic of mass shootings in America; ASSASSINS unnervingly pre-dates both of these phenomena and yet is a real immediate reflection of them. When the ensemble sings in “The Gun Song” that “all you have to do is move your little finger/ and you can change the world,” it’s absolutely terrifying in a 2023 context. Sondheim and Weidman present a cast of historical characters that feel disenfranchised and disillusioned by American ideals, and modern America certainly hasn’t been disabused of this notion.

This COMPANY is a touching portrait of one woman’s attempts to connect with her friends amid a bustling New York City, simultaneously a connecting and isolating place.

If you like good old-fashioned magic, sleight of hand, and mind-reading tricks, Dennis Watkins’s THE MAGIC PARLOUR is the ticket. Watkins has been performing his one-man show since 2011, and it’s newly arrived in the former Petterino’s reception space, which has been transformed into the titular magic parlor. Watkins is a master at his craft — the magic tricks themselves, of course, but also at entertaining audiences. He’s a real performer; evidently he’s had plenty of time to hone his act, but he also understands how to charm in a way that’s warm and inviting (even if the bits are well rehearsed). I think that’s in many ways the great feat of THE MAGIC PARLOUR; what’s a magician without charm up his sleeve?

Mercury’s YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN is a Halloween treat with many classic musical comedy tricks.