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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 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 ...

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 ...

Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak present the final chapter in a multi-year project exploring the body’s relationship with, response to and resilience in the face of trauma.

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 ...

Robert Falls may have stepped down as artistic director at the Goodman Theatre three years ago, but suddenly he’s everywhere on the Chicago theater scene. He directed a critically acclaimed production ...

I arrived late to the puppet cabaret, but my friend had kindly saved me a seat. A standing-room crowd filled the larger of two studios housed in an unassuming one-story brick building on Western ...

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 ...

It’s 6:30 in the morning, and Jackie Taylor is a bundle of high energy and vibrancy. She greets me with a friendly, “Hi sweetheart!” at the newly built Black Ensemble Theater, a 59,000-square-foot ...