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 ...

The annual international festival of body-forward theater features a sporty, sexy two-man (and one radio) locker room face-off from Argentina; an ode to Nina Simone from Scotland; and an acclaimed ...

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 ...

The Saints have been a pillar of support for the cultural community for more than forty years, providing volunteer ushers to medium and small performing-arts companies throughout the Chicago area. The ...

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 ...

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 ...

The Seldoms bring their deeply researched dance theater piece about climate change to the Dance Center, with set design by Bob Faust and book by Seth Bockley.

Ducking in and out of a dense flurry of snow, I jump onto a bus heading downtown. Anxiously looking down at my watch, I wonder if I will be late. The first arrival of a protracted snow presses into ...

It was the summer of 1980—the first season for American Players Theatre in rural Spring Green, Wisconsin. The company was performing “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” on the hilltop stage. William Borth, ...

A deadlocked Congress quibbles over minutia, periodically interrupted by signs of impending disaster. Egos clash, insults hurled. Then, at a critical moment of heated debate, someone bursts into song.