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Broadway In Chicago and Kokandy Productions announced that the critically acclaimed revival of the 10-time 2025 Jeff Award–nominated musical JEKYLL & HYDE will make its Broadway In Chicago debut at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place (175 E. Chestnut St.), September 8—October 25. The engagement follows last year’s completely sold-out and extended Chicago run — which marked the musical’s first staging in the city in more than 15 years. Directed by Producing Artistic Director Derek Van Barham with music direction by Nick Sula and choreography by Brenda Didier.

JEKYLL & HYDE will be included in the next Broadway In Chicago season package, on sale this April. Groups of 10 or more may purchase tickets now by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or calling 312-977-1710. See below for additional ticket and performance schedule information.

The entire original cast will return for the Broadway Playhouse run, including Jeff Award nominees David Moreland (Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde), Ava Lane Stovall (Lucy Harris), and Emily McCormick (Emma Carew).

The full design team and orchestra are expected to return with all the specific elements for the Broadway Playhouse production to be announced at a later date.

Murder and chaos are pitted against love and virtue in this sweeping gothic musical.

The epic struggle between good and evil comes to life on stage in the musical phenomenon, Jekyll & Hyde. Based on the classic story by Robert Louis Stevenson and featuring a thrilling score of pop rock hits from multi-Grammy- and Tony-nominated Frank Wildhorn and double-Oscar and Grammy-winning Leslie Bricusse, Jekyll & Hyde has mesmerized audiences the world over.

Lou Raizin, President and CEO of Broadway In Chicago, said, “This collaboration with Kokandy Productions reflects what makes Chicago’s theatre community so powerful — artists and institutions working together to elevate bold storytelling and expand access to exceptional live performance. JEKYLL & HYDE is a thrilling example of the depth of talent in our city, and we are proud to bring this acclaimed production to the Broadway Playhouse for a broader audience.”

Scot Kokandy, Executive Producer of Kokandy Productions, added, “To say we are excited is an understatement. Last year’s production of JEKYLL & HYDE was the most ambitious production we have attempted to present, and we are ecstatic and honored to partner with Broadway In Chicago to bring it back this fall.”

Derek Van Barham, Producing Artistic Director of Kokandy Productions and Jeff Award-nominated Director of JEKYLL & HYDE, noted, “We were overwhelmed by the initial response to our JEKYLL & HYDE.  Clapping, cheering, standing ovations in the middle of the show — it was like being at a rock concert for everyone's favorite band. Directing this amazing cast at the Broadway Playhouse and seeing our production grow on this stage means the world to me. And that it’s returning during the Halloween season makes it a wickedly delicious treat for Chicago.”

JEKYLL & HYDE JEFF NOMINATED CREATIVE TEAM
Derek Van Barham (Director) is the Producing Artistic Director of Kokandy Productions. Directing credits include Children of Eden in Concert (Broadway In Chicago), Amélie, Into the Woods, Alice by Heart, Sweeney Todd, American Psycho, Head Over Heels (3 Jeff Awards and 2 Jeff nominations, Kokandy); Spring Awakening (Flint Rep); Rock of Ages (Metropolis); The View Upstairs (Circle Theatre); Miracle by Dan Savage, Poseidon (Hell in a Handbag); Carrie, Bat Boy, Merrily We Roll Along (CCPA/Roosevelt University). Choreography credits include Evil Dead (Jeff nomination), Coraline the Musical, Ghost Quartet and Shockheaded Peter (Black Button Eyes). He was previously named one of Windy City Times’ 30 Under 30, and one of Newcity Magazine’s 50 Players 2024. MFA: CCPA/Roosevelt University. IG: @dvbarham

Nick Sula (Music Director) is an award-winning pianist and music director, proud to return to Kokandy Productions where he served as music director for the Jeff Award-winning productions of Sweeney Todd (Jeff Award for Outstanding Music Direction), Into the Woods (Jeff Awards for Outstanding Music Direction and Orchestrations), as well as the Chicago Musical Theatre Festival. Other Chicago theatre music direction credits include: Anything Goes (Jeff nomination) with Porchlight Music Theatre; Ghost Quartet (Jeff nomination), Mary Rose, Nevermore, Amour and Coraline with Black Button Eyes Productions; Myths & Hymns, The Glorious Ones (Jeff nomination), Hello Again, La Cage aux Folles and Pippin with BoHo Theatre. As a professor of musical theatre he serves as a music director, instructor and vocal coach at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.

Brenda Didier (Choreographer) is thrilled to collaborate with Derek (DVB) for the first time and to return to Kokandy after choreographing Grand Hotel in 2018 (Jeff nomination). Direction and/or Choreography credits include work with: Chicago Shakespeare Theater, The Goodman, Marriott, Paramount, Porchlight Music Theatre, Mercury Theater, Theo and many others. Tour: Kenny Rogers Christmas Tour, Cirque Shanghai: Navy Pier Skyline Stage and productions in Atlantic City, Las Vegas and the New Victory Theatre in New York. Ms. Didier made her TV Choreography debut with T-Mobile's national holiday commercial "Home for the Holidays." She is a multiple Jeff Award recipient in both Direction and Choreography (Equity and Non-Equity wings) and Artistic Director/Founder of The Lincolnshire Academy of Dance, now in its 28th Season. "Thank you to Derek, Nick, Shane, Scot and our incredible cast, design team, band and crew! Thank you for supporting live theatre! Love to Mike, Mom, family and friends!”

TICKET INFORMATION & PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
JEKYLL & HYDE will be included in the next season package, on sale this April. Current subscribers can add tickets to their season package when renewing by visiting BroadwayInChicago.com or calling 312-977-1717. Groups of 10 or more may be purchased now by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or calling 312-977-1710. Individual on-sale dates and performance schedules to be announced this spring.

ABOUT BROADWAY IN CHICAGO
Broadway In Chicago was created in July 2000 and over the past 26 years has grown to be one of the largest commercial touring homes in the country. A Nederlander Presentation, Broadway In Chicago lights up the Chicago Theater District entertaining up to 1.7 million people annually in five theatres. Broadway In Chicago presents a full range of entertainment, including musicals and plays, on the stages of five of the finest theatres in Chicago’s Loop including the Cadillac Palace Theatre, CIBC Theatre, James M. Nederlander Theatre, and just off the Magnificent Mile, the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place and presenting Broadway shows at The Auditorium.

For more information, visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com .
Follow @BroadwayInChicago on Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , Bluesky #BroadwayInChicago

ABOUT KOKANDY PRODUCTIONS
Founded in 2010, Kokandy Productions seeks to leverage the heightened reality of musical theatre to tell complex and challenging stories, with a focus on contributing to the development of Chicago-based musical theatre artists, and raising the profile of Chicago's non-Equity musical theatre community.

The company's artistic staff is comprised of Derek Van Barham (Producing Artistic Director), Scot Kokandy (Executive Producer), Nicholas Reinhart (Associate Producer), and Adrian Abel Azevedo & Leda Hoffman (Artistic Associates). The Board of Directors includes Preston Cropp, Scot Kokandy, Danielle Sparklin and Katie Svaicer. 

For additional information, visit www.kokandyproductions.com . 

For some, an evening of Chekhov may sound like pure misery, but Red Theater’s “The Seagull” running at The Edge Off Broadway soars. The original adaptation by Red Theater cohort Ian Mayfield imagines Anton Chekhov’s emotionally searing dramady as a chamber play. Under his direction, this faithful version is a hidden gem of this winter’s storefront theatre scene.

Though known for depressing family melodramas, Chekhov did have a sense of humor, and perhaps in no other play is his cynical wit more on display than “The Seagull”. Any production is only as good as its neurotic, self-involved Arkadina. Anne Sheridan Smith is a captivating presence in the role of the celebrated actress. She brings an amusing larger-than-life performance that’s devilish to watch. Lovelorn and constantly drinking Masha played by Magdalena Dalzell delivers cutting physicality that’s also quite thrilling.

Jamie Herb is one of the production’s strongest assets in the role of Nina. Her performance takes full advantage of the closely drawn staging. She tells entire stories with haunting gazes. Her eventual breakdown feels more disturbing than the play’s actual tragic conclusion. However, perhaps no character is as pitiful as Medvedenko the schoolteacher. Ben Murphy plays the role with a subdued quietness that’s like whatever the opposite of “golden retriever boyfriend” energy is.

Original scoring by Jonathan Hannau lends to the chamber play atmosphere and elevates the ambiance. Maggie McGlenn’s sumptuous costumes combined with Hunter Cole’s minimal staging keep the focus on the action. As the actors move in and around the space, audiences will feel personally drawn in, as if they’re a silent guest at a party.

Red Theater’s “The Seagull” is a great example of what makes Chicago’s fringe and storefront scene so exciting. While many may look to the bigger institutions like Goodman or Steppenwolf to tackle major works by important playwrights, with the right talent in place a small theater can be just as impactful, if not more in some cases. Ian Mayfield’s version spends a lot of time dissecting Chekhov’s musings on artistic forms, and that curiosity about the craft of theatre feels evident in this cast. The result is a labor of love, and exactly what you want from a good night of theatre–that you lived through something. 

Through March 15 at Red Theater at The Edge Off Broadway. 1133 W Catalpa Ave. Tickets via www.redtheater.org

This review is proudly shared with our friends at www.TheatreInChicago.com. 

“The story of these characters has already begun.”

When you enter the Factory Theater space for Kubrickian, you will notice that the actors are already on stage. Lights are fully up, and the three actors are moving about the stage. One is stretching, another is pacing, and another is doing a mix of the two - even throwing in some light jogging. It’s clear that the three actors are in their own world, and we are simply here to observe.

Director AJ Schwartz warns us of this soft start in the program, and so it should not be a surprise. You might find that the choice is clever for a few reasons. On one level, Zack Peercy’s play takes place in a world that is meant to feel unfamiliar. Watching the actors move about for unclear reasons and without words appropriately sets us up for what we are about to see.

On another level, perhaps Schwartz’s choice gets at the root of what Kubrickian is about. Peercy’s play is about a lot of things. There is isolation and fear. Grief and loss. Even passion and hope. However, at its core, one might argue that this story is about the relationships between the men on stage.  Schwartz sets up a window into who these characters are to each other. As Schwartz notes in the program, their story begins before we arrive. We may not necessarily understand how they got there, but perhaps that’s not the point. We as an audience receive the gift of witnessing their relationships in the present – a brief window into who they are and how they grow before they continue on well after we have left.

Peercy’s world premiere takes place in an unknown white space in which three men find themselves trapped – Chris (Taylor Mercado Owen), Danny (Rio Soliz Ragazzone), and Howard (Ben Auxier). Scenic Designer Josh Philoon appropriately creates a world that feels ambiguous and unknown. Without any clear escape from their situation, Danny and Chris have no choice but to turn to conversation for entertainment. Over the course of the story, the discussions become more intimate, and Danny and Chris realize they may have more in common than they had originally thought.

Schwartz’s ensemble is strong. Peercy’s play is quite the undertaking for all involved. Auxier as Howard moves through the play without sound or motion – simply sitting in the back as the action happens around him. Considering the chaos that ensues around him, that is no small thing, and you might find that Auxier continues to catch your eye as you wonder when there might be a shift and he finally reacts.

Because Howard does not speak, most of this play exists as a two-hander between Danny and Chris – a challenge that Ragazzone and Owen tackle with grace. We quickly learn that Chris has a deep love for Stanley Kubrick films – a genre with which Danny unfortunately has little experience. While this creates an obstacle for much of the beginning, we hit a key moment where Danny encourages Chris to share the details of The Shining. As Chris begins to open up, something shifts in their dynamic. Peercy cleverly unlocks a very specific moment in a relationship where we witness the other’s passion for the first time. As Chris shares what he finds so inspiring about Kubrick’s work, Danny starts to see him in a whole new way. Ragazzone and Owen bring a beautiful authenticity to the scene. In this pressure-cooker of a world, they create a relationship that you want to see succeed. Something to offer a small semblance of hope when it’s unclear what their fate might bring.

The stellar performances and thought-provoking script alone make Kubrickian a play worth seeing. If you are one for a puzzle, then Peercy’s story is certainly a fit for you.

RECOMMENDED

Run Time: 90 minutes without intermission

Kubrickian runs through March 15, 2026 at the Factory Theater – 1623 W. Howard Street. For tickets and information, see the Factory Theater website.

This review is proudly shared with our friends at www.TheatreInChicago.com. 

I love when I’m surprised by a writer I assume is new to the scene, only to discover she has been honing her craft for years, quietly building a body of work the rest of us somehow missed. I love it even more when that discovery feels like striking gold. Such is the case with Kristen Adele Calhoun. A superior writer—assured, funny, emotionally and culturally precise—whose name, until now, had somehow eluded me. With Black Cypress Bayou, now receiving an unbelievable production at Definition Theatre, Calhoun announces herself (at least to Chicago audiences) as a major voice worthy of far more attention than she has received.

Under the smart, lively direction of Ericka Ratcliff, this production hums with comic electricity and emotional undercurrent. Ratcliff clearly trusts the text, allowing its humor to bloom organically while never losing sight of the deeper currents flowing beneath the laughter. The result is a staging that feels both buoyant and grounded—like the bayou itself, shimmering on the surface while concealing depth below.

The play centers on the Manifold women, and Ratcliff has assembled a quartet of actresses whose distinct comedic styles interlock beautifully. Michelle Renee Bester’s Ladybird Manifold anchors the evening with sharp timing and a steadiness that suggests stern resolve and steel. Bester understands that the funniest lines land best when rooted in truth.

Rita Wicks, as RaeMeeka Manifold-Baler, nearly steals the show with a performance that is riotously funny without tipping into excess. Her physical comedy is precise, her reactions razor-sharp. She seems to ride the rhythm of Calhoun’s language like a seasoned jazz musician, finding unexpected grace notes in throwaway lines. The audience’s laughter often arrives in waves when she’s onstage.

RJW Mays brings Vernita Manifold to life with a grounded warmth that balances the more explosive personalities around her. There is a generosity in Mays’ work—a listening quality—that allows scenes to breathe. Meanwhile, Jyreika Guest’s Taysha Hunter offers a refreshing contrast: contemporary, alert, and emotionally transparent. Guest navigates the character’s shifting loyalties and vulnerabilities with admirable nuance.

What makes this ensemble particularly thrilling is that each performer operates in a different comedic key, yet Ratcliff orchestrates them into harmony. The tonal blend—broad, dry, wry, heartfelt—shouldn’t work as seamlessly as it does. But here, it absolutely does.

In a production centering women both onstage and behind the scenes, there is an undeniable sense of cohesion and purpose. Scenic designer Alyssa Mohn, lighting designer Conchita Avitia, and sound designer Willow James conjure a fishing wharf deep in the bayou that feels at once literal and slightly mystical. Weathered wood textures, humid washes of light, and the subtle lapping of unseen water create a world that breathes. The environment is not mere backdrop; it is an active presence.

The costumes further ground the characters in time, economic reality, and personality. Fabric choices, silhouettes, and wear patterns quietly communicate history. We understand who these women are before they speak.

Ratcliff has described Calhoun as “tragically under produced.” After seeing Black Cypress Bayou, that phrase lands with force. If the rest of Calhoun’s catalog carries even half the wit, structural confidence, and emotional intelligence on display here, then Chicago theatres—and American theatres more broadly—have some catching up to do. Calhoun’s other plays, including works that explore Black Southern life, intergenerational memory, and the elasticity of family bonds, reportedly continue her signature blend of humor and haunting. One leaves this production not only satisfied, but curious—eager to track down everything else she has written.

Definition Theatre has given this play the gift every writer deserves: a production that listens, that elevates, that celebrates. Black Cypress Bayou is not simply entertaining, it is invigorating. It reminds us that discovery is one of theatre’s great pleasures. And sometimes, the most thrilling “new” voice is one who has been waiting patiently for us to catch up.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

When: through March 15th

Where: Definition Theatre@55th, 1160 E. 55^th Street., Chicago, Il.

Running time: 90 minutes no intermission

Tickets: Start at $25

312-469-0390

definitiontheatre.org

This review is proudly shared with our friends at www.TheatreInChicago.com. 

Marking 70 years of bold, expressive movement, American Icons from The Joffrey Ballet shines as a vibrant salute to the choreographers who shaped American ballet and helped define the company’s enduring legacy. Presented at the stunning Lyric Opera House in the heart of downtown Chicago, the program unfolds under the leadership of The Mary B. Galvin Artistic Director Ashley Wheater, MBE, and President & CEO Greg Cameron. With live accompaniment by members of the Lyric Opera Orchestra, the evening feels grand from the very first note.

Act 1 opens with Kettentanz, choreographed by Gerald Arpino, set to music by Johann Strauss Sr. and Johann Mayer. The curtain rises on a large, beautiful tree center stage, instantly setting a tone of elegance and celebration. The women are dressed in flowing pastel dresses that move effortlessly with each turn, while the men match them with buoyant, precise footwork. The live orchestra, including the delicate, beautiful sound of a harp, adds warmth and richness to the entire act. The dancers are often grouped in pairs, completely in sync, creating a sense of harmony and lightness. The overall feeling is joyful and fresh, almost like welcoming spring. While the choreography feels simple and not overly complex, it works in its favor, allowing the dancers’ technique and musicality to shine. One standout is Hyuma Kiyosawa from Nagano, Japan. He moves with sharp yet graceful precision and a swiftness that immediately draws the eye. His energy radiates across the stage, and when he finishes his time in the spotlight, the audience erupts in applause even as the performance continues. Throughout the act, many dancers take turns in short solos, duets, and pairings, with the men effortlessly lifting the women as they glide through the Viennese-inspired choreography.

After a brief 15- minute intermission, Act 2 shifts dramatically in tone with Secular Games by Martha Graham, set to music by Robert Starer. The curtain rises to reveal six male dancers, shirtless, barefoot, and wearing tights, a striking visual that immediately changes the atmosphere. A woman seated behind me audibly gasps “whoa,” and the audience seems just as captivated. The set includes three ropes, rounded seats, and a ball that the men toss between them. The ball cleverly shifts the audience’s focus, highlighting each dancer in turn as they show off both strength and control. The stage feels almost like a gymnastics practice space, and the opening section carries an intense, competitive energy, as though the dancers are vying for attention and dominance. Each man impresses with powerful movements, one even executes a cartwheel, blending athleticism with artistry.

Eventually, the female dancers enter in leotards of varying colors, adding contrast and balance to the stage. The first duet feels deeply emotional, conveying closeness and intimacy through challenging lifts and seamless transitions. As the act unfolds, the choreography becomes more dynamic and layered, with multiple interactions happening across the stage at once. There is an underlying story of desire and rivalry, a male dancer drawn away from one female partner toward another, competition bubbling beneath the surface. It feels as though everyone is dancing to impress, to attract, to win. One standout here is Lindy Mesmer from Blacksburg, Virginia. She moves with grace and strength, especially during lifts where she holds extended poses high in the air with remarkable control. Her presence feels both powerful and poised, capturing the tension and emotion of the piece.

Act 3 transitions into Postcards, choreographed by Robert Joffrey, set to music by Erik Satie. The mood softens immediately. A male and female dancer, dressed in white, the woman in a flowing white dress, begin a tender duet. Anais Bueno from Córdoba, Mexico and Stefan Gonçalvez from São Paulo, Brazil glide across the stage with a slow, romantic energy. An opera singer enters and begins singing live, a beautiful and fitting addition given the Lyric Opera setting. The dance feels intimate, emotional, and filled with love. Their movements are smooth and connected, almost as if they are breathing in unison. It is a quiet, reflective moment in the evening that allows the audience to pause and feel.

After a second intermission, Act 4 brings the final piece, Voluntaries by Glen Tetley, set to music by Francis Poulenc. The curtain rises to a striking image: a giant white sphere speckled with color dominates the background, echoing the tones of the dancers’ costumes. Victoria Jaiani and Dylan Gutierrez begin the pas de deux in silence, moving without music in a way that immediately captivates. Suddenly, the organ erupts with a dramatic sound reminiscent of Phantom of the Opera, filling the theater with an almost eerie intensity. The duet is fluid and daring, their bodies contorting and intertwining with precision and trust. There is something celestial about the staging, the moonlike sphere, the unusual music, the almost otherworldly costuming. As more dancers join in a pas de trois and multiple couples take the stage, the choreography grows expansive and technically demanding, filled with lifts, flips, and sweeping transitions. While the opening moments are mesmerizing, some sections with the larger groups feel slightly repetitive. Still, the athleticism and difficulty of the choreography are undeniable. The piece ends as it begins, returning to the single couple in silence, bringing the evening full circle.

Overall, the two-hour program moves quickly, each act distinct in tone and style, giving the audience just enough time with each choreographer’s vision. The talent within The Joffrey Ballet is truly remarkable, from the precision of classical pairings to the raw athleticism of modern movement. American Icons is a colorful, dramatic, and thoroughly entertaining night at the theater.

Performances run February 19 through March 1, 2026, at the Lyric Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive, Chicago. Showtimes include 7:30 p.m. evening performances (Thursday through Saturday) and 2:00 p.m. matinees on select Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets are available through joffrey.org or directly at the Lyric Opera House box office. For anyone looking for an evening filled with live music, emotional storytelling, and truly impressive dancers, this is a performance well worth seeing.

For more information, click here.

There is something almost perversely apt about staging Miss Julie inside a birdcage.

Under the direction of Gabrielle Randle-Bent, August Strindberg’s most celebrated chamber play, Miss Julie—an autopsy of class warfare disguised as seduction—arrives at Court Theatre in a production as conceptually bold as it is frustratingly self-defeating. Scenic designer John Culbert places the entire action within a giant birdcage veiled in scrim. The metaphor is unmistakable: these three characters are trapped—by class, by gender, by desire, by the invisible architecture of hierarchy. Within this enclosure they circle one another warily, predator and prey trading positions until collision becomes combustion.

And yet, the scrim that literalizes Strindberg’s thesis also undermines the very essence of chamber drama.

Chamber plays depend on proximity. They require that we see the flicker of doubt before it becomes cruelty, the calculation before it becomes command. The scrim, however gauzy, creates a barrier. We are not fully privy to the faces or the minute mental machinations of the actors. Instead of sitting in the kitchen with them, breathing the same charged air, we observe as though through glass. The concept imprisons not only the characters but the audience.

Still, the performances press fiercely against those confines.

Mi Kang’s Miss Julie is volatile and wounded, her aristocratic arrogance masking a desperate hunger for annihilation. She plays Julie not as a naïve romantic but as a woman testing the edges of her own destruction. Kelvin Roston Jr.’s Jean is taut with ambition. His Jean calculates even while seducing; every flirtation carries the weight of social ascent. The push and pull between Kang and Roston Jr. has genuine danger, their exchanges tightening like wire.

Rebecca Spence’s Kristine, meanwhile, anchors the production with moral steadiness. Kristine is the quiet witness to the carnage—a woman whose survival depends on understanding the rules rather than challenging them.

Kelvin Roston Jr. and Mi Kang in Miss Julie at Court Theatre.

The uncredited score becomes an unexpected fourth character. It begins with what sounds like a restrained string quartet—orderly, almost classical—before devolving into ear-piercing, disconnected, harsh chords. The progression feels deliberate: a descent into madness mirroring Julie’s psychological unraveling. It is invasive, unsettling, and impossible to ignore.

Raquel Adorno’s costumes subtly delineate class distinctions without ostentation. Fabric and silhouette do the quiet work of social architecture. No detail feels accidental.

This may well be Strindberg’s season in Chicago. Across town, Steppenwolf Theatre Company is mounting The Dance of Death, another of the playwright’s bruising dissections of intimacy and entrapment. That two major companies are wrestling simultaneously with Strindberg’s merciless worldview suggests a cultural appetite for dramas in which love is war and escape is illusion.

Court Theatre’s Miss Julie, guided by Gabrielle Randle-Bent’s disciplined direction, understands that these characters are caged long before the lights rise. The tragedy is that the scrim—meant to emphasize their confinement—keeps us from fully experiencing the suffocating intimacy that makes the play detonate. Strindberg wrote this as chamber music for three instruments. When we cannot quite see the musicians’ fingers on the strings, some of the music is inevitably lost.

Even so, the production lingers. Like the final discordant notes of its score, it vibrates with unease long after the cage goes dark.

RECOMMENDED

When: through March 8th

Where: Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave.

Running time: 90 minutes no intermission

Tickets: $60 - $90.00 Student, Group and military discounts available

773-753-4472

www.courttheatre.org

This review is proudly shared with our friends at www.TheatreInChicago.com. 

I like theatre that’s deep, thoughtful, angsty. There’s much to be said for a play providing undemanding escape, but I prefer to challenge my mind, to make me think. And THE LOWER DEPTHS, as adapted by Grayson Kennedy for Gwydion Theatre Company, certainly did that. Don’t see this alone – you’ll want to talk about it afterward. And do not forget to take your Prozac!

The play is the second in Gwydion Theatre's "Season of Class", exploring classism in society. THE LOWER DEPTHS, written in 1902, explores themes of truth vs. illusion, hope vs. despair, through characters like a thief, a prostitute, and an alcoholic actor in a dreary flophouse on the Volga. The central conflict emerges with the arrival of a mysterious tramp who offers hope through stories and advice. However, hope cannot long survive the lodgers’ perpetually bewailing their travails and vicissitudes.

I was initially anxious about how such a large cast (13!) could operate in the confined space of Chopin Theatre. I personally love Chicago’s singular streetfront theatres, boasting perhaps 50 seats and 200-300 square feet of stage space. See, I like to be immersed in the players’ pheromone cloud, perhaps even bespattered with various bodily fluids.

Y’know, reading back over that, it doesn’t sound very inviting, but trust me on this. And trust Chicago as well – Gwydion is oner of the myriad smaller companies that showcase the multitude of superlative actors in this town. In decades of attending these storefront venues I’ve seen plays I didn’t like, I’ve been critical of some production decisions, but very seldom are the actors themselves disappointing. We are very fortunate here in Chicago. I only wish I could believe these professionals are earning paychecks commensurate with their skill.

Where was I? Oh yes, big cast; and I find myself unable to single out the players of individual characters. I always try in these reviews to praise each actor on their individual performance but between their sheer numbers and the peculiarities of Russian names I can but name the cast and beg the actors’ forgiveness:

Alex Levy (Vaska Pepel); Katherine Schwartz (Vasilisa Karpovna); Matt Mitchell (Mikahil Kostilyoff); Brynn Aaronson (Natasha Karpovna); Tommy Thams (Andrei Mitritch Kleshtch); Hannah Freund (Anna Kleshtch); Christopher Meister (Abram Medviedeff);Bryan Breau (The Baron); Evan Bradford (The Actor); John Nicholson (Satine); Howard Raik (Luka); Maddie Hillock (Kvashnya); Abraham Deitz-Green (Alyoshka); Maya Moreau (Swing); Grayson Kennedy  (Swing).

If I’m totally honest (and I owe this stellar troupe that much), even as it was playing, I couldn’t keep track of which character was who. To my relief, this did not interfere with my appreciation of the play and the performances, as it is actually in keeping with the theme of the play. THE LOWER DEPTHS tends to undermine the individuality of the characters: they are emulsified into a slurry of Poor People, faceless and nameless. In this THE LOWER DEPTHS mirrors the attitudes of our Administration: they’re po’ folks, not actual people with real needs and feelings.

Adapted by Maxim Gorky, he was more interested in the characters than in creating a formal plot. There’s no linear sense to the situations portrayed – a woman is dying; the landlord is heartless; everyone’s having an affair with someone – but these are only separate instances in their overall wretchedness. Tellingly, none of them acknowledge any kinship in their tribulations; no one ever says, ‘yeah, I know what that’s like’ or ‘something like that happened to me once’. Thus, while society depersonalizes them, each isolates themself within the siloes of their personal experiences.

Luka, an elderly tramp, arrives with a philosophy of consolation and a better life. Reactions to this message - this theme of harsh truth versus the comforting lie - pervades the play and divides the inhabitants into opposing camps of the hopeful and the realists. Most of them choose to deceive themselves rather than acknowledge the bleak reality of their condition, leading inevitably to violence and death.

Oi! I’m supposed to be encouraging you to see this play, but you’d need to be, like me, a real angst enthusiast to be attracted by my description! But if you do like exploring the depths of desolation; the frequency of forlornness; the drama of dreariness … then THE LOWER DEPTHS is the play for you!

The production team included its artistic directors Tommy Thams and Grayson Kennedy and was drawn largely from Gwidion company members. Scenic Designer Hayley Wellenfeldt and Morgan Kinglsey created a monochromatic and versatile set with Lighting Designer Sam Bessler effectively defining scenes and characters. Costume Designers Cindy Moon and Grace Weir differentiated the subtle differences between, say, the actor and the Baron. Sound Designer Rick Reid sourced authentic Russian period music while Stage Manager Katie Espinoza pulled it all together and put it out there fluidly.

The Lower Depths is the first time in Russian literature that society’s outcasts took center stage in a drama. In claiming importance and humanity for a class that Gorky described as “ex-people” and “creatures who were once men,” he moved Russian drama into the political and social arena that would lead to revolution. May that purpose prevail in our own trying times!

THE LOWER DEPTHS plays at Chopin Theatre through February 28 - https://chopintheatre.com/.

RECOMMENDED

This review is proudly shared with our friends at www.TheatreInChicago.com. 

Paramount Theatre’s staging of Dear Evan Hansen brings fresh dimension to the Tony‑winning contemporary musical. Under Jessica Fisch’s direction, the story follows Evan, an anxious, isolated teenager whose therapist‑assigned letters to himself inadvertently spark a misunderstanding with the Murphy family - one that grows into a lie swelling far beyond them and eventually into a community‑wide phenomenon. What begins as a desperate attempt to feel seen evolves into a moral knot that forces Evan - and everyone around him - to confront grief, loneliness, and the universal hunger for connection.

The Murphys are drawn into Evan’s story with a fragile mix of hope and heartbreak, briefly finding in him an echo of the son they lost. His presence momentarily pulls their shattered family together, even as the truth threatens to reopen long‑buried wounds. The family’s grief feels immediate, Evan’s anxiety is rendered with nuance, and the show’s viral‑culture elements land with a more human, grounded weight.

While the video projections are deployed with striking precision that greatly assist in the storytelling, Fisch’s staging ultimately leans into the intimacy at the core of the piece. Rather than echoing the Broadway production’s digital spectacle, Paramount foregrounds character, relationships, and the rawness of teenage interior life.

The score - including “Waving Through a Window,” the very powerful and moving “You Will Be Found,” and “For Forever” - lands with the kind of vocal power and clarity that Paramount’s acoustics tend to amplify beautifully. The production highlights the contrast between the soaring, hopeful music and the messy, complicated truth underneath Evan’s choices.

Overall, Paramount’s Dear Evan Hansen becomes less a story about the internet and more a story about the quiet ache of wanting to matter. It’s intimate, empathetic, and emotionally direct - the kind of staging that makes the show feel newly personal.

“Dear Evan Hansen explores the boxes we put ourselves in: the emotional, the metaphorical, and the digital ones we post, like and share,” says Jessica Fisch, making her Paramount Theatre directorial debut with the Chicago Regional Premiere of the Tony Award-winning musical. It features (from left) Devin DeSantis as Larry Murphy, Elaine Watson as Alana, Bri Sudia as Cynthia Murphy, Pablo David Laucerica as Jared and Isabel Kaegi as Zoe.

The cast is exceptional - let’s take a moment to celebrate each of them.

Paramount Theatre’s Dear Evan Hansen finds its emotional center in Cody Combs, whose Evan is tender, tightly wound, and achingly human. Combs, in his Paramount debut, captures Evan’s anxious spirals and fragile hopes with remarkable clarity, pairing superb acting with vocal work that feels both raw and crystalline, grounding the entire production in authenticity. His performance never slips into caricature; instead, he shapes a portrait of a young man straining to breathe in a world that feels unbearably loud.

Evan's mother Heide Hansen is played by Megan McGinnis who brings a beautifully layered warmth to the role. Her scenes with Combs pulse with a lived‑in tension  - the kind of love that’s fierce, imperfect, and stretched thin. McGinnis’s voice carries both exhaustion and devotion, making Heidi’s arc one of the production’s most affecting threads.

As Zoe Murphy, Isabel Kaegi delivers a performance full of quiet strength and emotional transparency. She sidesteps the trope of the unreachable girl, giving Zoe a grounded, searching presence. Her chemistry with Combs feels gentle and believable, especially in the moments when her grief and Evan’s longing quietly intersect.

Jake DiMaggio Lopez makes a striking impression as Connor Murphy, balancing volatility with a haunting vulnerability. We really feel for him. His presence lingers long after he leaves the stage, shaping the show’s emotional landscape in ways that feel honest rather than sensational. Taking on the role of gamer and Evan’s “family friend” Jared Kleinman, Pablo David Laucerica brings sharp comedic timing and unexpected warmth to. His dry wit consistently lands, yet he still reveals the softer insecurities beneath the sarcasm.

Bri Sudia and Devin DeSantis anchor the Murphy household with sharply etched, deeply felt performances. Sudia’s vocally impressive Cynthia Murphy is all open‑hearted ache - a mother clinging to hope with both hands - while DeSantis’s Larry carries a quieter, more guarded grief. Together, they create a portrait of a family fractured not by a single tragedy, but by years of unspoken pain.

Rounding out this wonderful cast, Elaine Watson brings crisp intelligence and real emotional nuance to Alana Beck, capturing her need to matter with disarming sincerity and seeming confidence. She becomes a quiet mirror to Evan - another teen outrunning her own loneliness in a very different way.

This cast moves with remarkable cohesion. Every scene feels interconnected, every emotional beat supported by the ensemble’s shared sense of truth. Combs’s Evan doesn’t exist in isolation; he’s shaped by McGinnis’s tenderness, Kaegi’s resilience, Lopez’s lingering shadow, and the layered grief Sudia and DeSantis bring to the Murphy household. In fact, every character is beautifully shaped. Their performances lock into one another like facets of the same story, creating a production that feels cohesive, intimate, and deeply human.

For a story centered on so‑called “losers,” this production proves itself a winner in every sense. And though the subject matter is heavy, there’s plenty of levity and genuine laugh‑out‑loud moments to keep the balance just right.

With a book by Steven Levenson and music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the musical premiered at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. in July 2015. Since then, it has traveled nationally and internationally - and now Chicago‑area audiences get to experience it in one of the region’s most beautiful venues, the Paramount Theatre.

Highly recommended.

Dear Evan Hansen is being performed at downtown Aurora’s Paramount Theatre through March 22^nd. For tickets and/or show information, visit https://paramountaurora.com/events/dear-evan-hansen/.

This review is proudly shared with our friends at www.TheatreInChicago.com. 

Paramount Theatre’s long-running smash hit musical Million Dollar Quartet has wrapped its winter break, and is rebooting to rock downtown Aurora’s Stolp Island Theatre for three more months, March 4-May 31, 2026.

Repeat audiences know, and newcomers really should experience, this new, limited engagement of Paramount’s critically acclaimed, immersive Million Dollar Quartet. Both the theater and the show were custom built to create an intimate, jukebox musical experience like none before, inventively staged inside a replica of the original Sun Records studio in Memphis.

It was there, on December 4, 1956, where Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins famously came together to record one of the most historic jam sessions in rock ‘n’ roll history. In Paramount’s Sun Records, the musical delivers incredible, up-close live performances of some of the best songs in rock ‘n’ roll history, including “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Folsom Prison Blues,” “I Walk the Line,” “Hound Dog” and “Great Balls of Fire.”

Paramount’s production returns with its original Jerry Lee Lewis, Garrett Forrestal, still leaping off his piano since MDQ inaugurated Stolp Island Theatre in June 2024. Veteran rockabilly player Matt McClure returns as Carl Perkins. Also back are Corey McKinney as Elvis Presley and Michael Potter as Johnny Cash, breaking hearts and walking the line respectively since last summer. Connor Green is new to the cast, stepping in as Sun Studios founder Sam Phillips. Paramount’s original Dyanne, show stopper Madison Palmer, and Maeghan Looney as Marion, are both returning for the extension, along with Brandon Pollard as Fluke, and Roy James Brown as Brother Jay, through Mar 22, when Jake Saleh returns as Brother Jay. 

Don’t miss Paramount’s radically unique restaging of one of the most popular jukebox musicals of all time. Dean Richards, WGN-TV/AM, said it was “like stepping into Sun Records where one special night took place." Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, called it “another example of how much the success of the nonprofit, audience-focused Paramount has transformed the center of Aurora into a live entertainment destination.”

Paramount’s Stolp Island Theatre is located at 5 E. Downer Place, Suite G, in downtown Aurora, with several restaurants and easy, affordable parking just a short walk away.

Paramount’s new, limited engagement of Million Dollar Quartet reopens March 4 and runs through May 31. Performance times are Wednesday at
1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., Thursday at 7 p.m., Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

All seats are $76 when purchased in person. Additional fees apply for phone and online orders. For tickets and information, visitParamountAurora.com, call (630) 896-6666, or stop by the Paramount Theatre box office, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Monday–Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and until show time on show days. 

Million Dollar Quartet inaugurated Paramount’s new Stolp Island Theatre with much fanfare in July 2024. The production was extended three times due to popular demand, running for more than a year and a half prior to this spring 2026 extension.

Chalk this success up to being a production that delivers on all fronts. As soon as audiences step into the lobby, they find themselves outside the legendary Sun Records recording studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where they can step up to the Taylor’s Good Food concession stand for affordable snacks and beverages, view displays about the history of the play and take selfies astride a vintage-style motorcycle.

Paramount’s directors Jim Corti and Creg Sclavi worked with a “million dollar” production team to create a truly a one-of-a-kind live musical experience, stocked with amazing talent, an incredibly detailed, environmental set, and the amazing production values audiences expect from Paramount.

The production team includes Kory Danielson, music director; Jeffrey D. Kmiec, scenic designer; Matt Guthier, costume designer; Greg Hofmann, lighting designer; Adam Rosenthal, sound designer; Mike Tutaj, projections designer; Katie Cordts, wig, hair and makeup designer; and Jonathan Berg-Einhorn, properties designer. Rebecca J. Lister is stage manager and Emily Hanlon is assistant stage manager. Understudies are Roy James Brown (principal Brother Jay to start, understudy when Jake Saleh returns in late March), Brian Grey (Johnny Cash, Sam Phillips), Michael Kurowski (Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley), Drew Mitchell (Fluke), Ben Smallwood (Carl Perkins) and Kyle Wells (Brother Jay). The book is by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux. Original concept and direction by Floyd Mutrix.

Verano, a leading cannabis company that operates Zen Leaf dispensaries in Aurora and across Chicagoland, is Venue Sponsor for Stolp Island Theatre. Old National Bank is Marquee Sponsor for Million Dollar Quartet.

Holiday is a play written by Philip Barry in 1928 before the tragic stock market crash of 1929.  It has been made into two movies, most notably in 1938 starring Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn. This adaptation, artfully authored by Richard Greenberg, has brought a case study in the class system and its relationship with money and assets is not only thought-provoking but clever.  The use of modern idioms mixed with classic patter delivery of movies of the thirties and forties keeps the audience rapt awaiting the next joke or witticism to land.  The direction by Robert Falls is a translation of reticence and underlying suppressed emotion of a family possessing generational wealth on the upper east side of New York City. Falls delivers Greenberg’s words in a manner so true that the piece has a voyeuristic tone.

The play opens in the main modernized parlor of a Manhattan mansion so beautifully appointed that audible gasps could be heard throughout the audience. The scenic design by Walt Spangler is so spot on in depicting “Old Money” right down to the mallard decoys on the mantel that it transports everyone into the Seton family fortunes.  Lighting designer Amith Chandrashaker’s work baths the Seton family like a beautifully seated family portrait.  When the curtains are parted to allow daylight to seep into the parlor, it makes one question what time they arrived at the theatre.  It is in this opening scene that we meet the Seton family and guests.  Julia Seton (played by Molly Griggs) the compliant entitled daughter and her new beau, Johnny Case played with great range by Luigi Sottile. Linda Seton, the defiant sibling seeking to change the world and identify with the residents and children of Red Hook played with just the right mixture of outrage and vulnerability by Bryce Gangel and Ned Seton (Wesley Taylor), the youngest namesake brother who has failed to measure up. And, the scion of the fortune, Edward Seton played with steely reserve by Jordan Lage who ensures “the equilibrium of the house is not disrupted” as one scene tells us.

The story unfolds as Julia is besotted with Johnny Case, a new beau met in a “spa”, and we watch her try to mold him into a man to join the family business after first making his own millions. Case ended up in the “spa” through an intervention by friends who realized he was working himself to misery. Being around the family and relations of Julia Johnny begins to reexamine his life’s purpose and path.  With a healthy dose of sarcasm from Linda and Ned we see wealth and privilege scoffed at as much as it is valued and revered by Julia.  Johnny is a ping pong ball in the family’s game of emotions and parlayed witticisms. We travel in time through a season of proposal and an engagement announcement to other reasons to celebrate. We visit the childhood traumas of a mother dying young of cancer with her dreams of being a prima ballerina dashed by Edward Seton and his insistence on the importance of an heir. Each child is a character study in the privilege and travails of the very wealthy.  Johnny Case, who is first viewed as a pawn in their family games goes through his own evolution and the realism of wealth, money and power. Wesley Taylor is the standout of a well guided and directed ensemble.  He plays Ned with such mirth, hilarity and tragic pain that one moment he has you laughing and the next on the verge of tears. Every scene he is in becomes pivotal.

The other unexpected “star” of this show is the scenic design and transition.  One moment you are in the parlor and then next act transported to the childhood nursery/playroom of memories styled by their mother.  It hardly seems possible but in almost a magical fable like scene change we end up in the parlor.  It’s a feat rarely seen on stage and every member of the design and stage management team needs to be aware that their contribution to this piece is pivotal, both literally and figuratively. The scenic design alone is a reason not to miss this show but go for the laughs and beautiful line delivery such as “Alexa stop the joy”.  Modern, relatable and beautifully delivered.

There’s nothing not to love about Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn but Robert Fall’s direction of these talents honor this beautifully written adaptation which is a mini-Holiday for anyone who attends.

HOLIDAY, now playing at the Goodman’s Albert Theatre in Chicago through March 1, 2026.

https://www.goodmantheatre.org for ticket and performance time information.

Mary Beth Euker is a founding director of Cricket Theatre Company in Lake Zurich, Illinois, has appeared in shows at Devonshire Theatre in Skokie and Woodstock Opera House and directs in Lake Zurich at various schools and for Cricket.

*UPDATE - Extended through March 8th

This review is proudly shared with our friends at www.TheatreInChicago.com.