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Mar 22, 2024 – 1:55 pm

Interview: With Anthony Freud’s announcement that he will depart the Lyric Opera of Chicago as its general director in July of this year, a significant transition in one of the Windy City’s leading arts institutions is upon us. “I feel great about the company, the strength of the institution from which I’m retiring,” said Freud at a recent sit-down interview in his office on the fourth floor of the Lyric Opera House. “I’m proud of the way we have evolved through challenging times. I think the work that we do is exciting, thought-provoking, innovative, and surprising in many ways.”

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Shattered Globe summons blush as well as heat in Williams’ gritty comedy ‘The Rose Tattoo’

Jan 27, 2015 – 12:26 pm
The Rose Tattoo at Shattered Globe Theatre 2015 (Michael Brosilow)

Review: When I look back on Chicago’s current theater season, certain performances will stand out as they always do for that singular blurring of actor and character that makes you feel more like you’re eavesdropping than watching a play. No doubt that special few will include Eileen Niccolai’s earthy, vulnerable, funny embodiment of Serafina Delle Rose in Tennessee Williams’ “The Rose Tattoo” with Shattered Globe Theatre. ★★★★

Tatiana Serjan’s electrifying Tosca sparks supercharged new production at Lyric

Jan 25, 2015 – 10:25 pm
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Review: ★★★★ Rekindling the fire, even the sense of surprise, in an opera as frequently mounted as Puccini’s “Tosca” is no small trick. But that is precisely the triumph of the new production that opened Jan. 24 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago – a mesmerizing night of music theater imaginatively staged, perceptively conducted and gloriously sung. In her Lyric debut as Tosca, Russian soprano Tatiana Serjan displayed a voice of great beauty, flexibility and power, all marshalled to ringing drama effect.

‘Accidentally, Like a Martyr’ at A Red Orchid: Stranger walks into gay bar, and tragedy follows

Jan 23, 2015 – 7:02 pm
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Review: Many adjectives tumble to mind in my fingers-over-the-keyboard wait for one that might sum up Grant James Varjas’ play “Accidentally, Like a Martyr,” a sleeper of a smash at A Red Orchid Theater. The descriptive finalists: Brilliant, enthralling, magical, cool. ★★★★★

Chicago Shakes’ ‘Macbeth’ for young adults explores the dangers of unchecked ambition

Jan 22, 2015 – 6:10 pm
The unnerving reality of their bloody coup begins to catch up with Macbeth (Chris Genebach) and Lady Macbeth (Lanise Antoine Shelley). (Liz Lauren)

Preview: Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” is a tale told by an idiot full of…no, wait a sec. That’s not right. The idiotic tale is life – life itself, which Shakespeare’s reckless, overreaching, murderous Macbeth has messed up beyond redemption. In its 75-minute reduction of the Bard’s Scottish play aimed at junior high and high school students, Chicago Shakespeare Theater explores themes of power and evil, personal accountability and the dire consequences of rash action. “Macbeth” opens Jan. 24 at CST.

21-year-old Atlanta Symphony bassoonist wins post as new principal with Chicago Symphony

Jan 22, 2015 – 3:33 pm
Kieth Buncke named principal bassoon of Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Report: Keith Buncke was still a Curtis Institute of Music student in February 2014 when he won the principal bassoon job, at 20, with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Now 21, he has taken a second bounce, and it’s a big one – to become the new principal at the CSO.

‘The Humans’ at American Theater Company: Family as vortex of love and the unspeakable

Jan 21, 2015 – 11:30 am
Boyfriend Richard (Lance Baker, foreground) learns a family tradition from the Blakes, from left, Erik (Keith Kupferer), Deirdre (Hanna Dworkin), Aime

Review: As a slice of life play, Stephen Karam’s “The Humans,” taps deep into the real and complicated meaning of family values, and it leaves a stunning impression. In American Theater Company’s close-knit ensemble production, it is so casually articulate, genuinely empathic, starkly true. ★★★

Theater 2014-15: In Act II, Broadway in Chicago unveils two shows bound for that other B’way

Jan 19, 2015 – 5:18 pm
The show is 'Stomp,' and this is not a donut break. (Steve McNicholas)

Preview: When the curtain rises for the supercharged percussion show “Stomp” on Jan. 20 at the Bank of America Theatre, the winter-spring portion of Broadway in Chicago’s 2014-15 season will surge ahead at full throttle. The dozen touring productions opening in Chicago from now through June include two pre-Broadway musical premieres, “First Wives Club” and “On Your Feet,” plus reprises of mega-hits “The Book of Mormon” and “Jersey Boys.”

‘Airline Highway’ at Steppenwolf: Characters outshine drama in Lisa D’Amour’s new play

Jan 18, 2015 – 12:38 pm
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Review: Lisa D’Amour’s latest play, “Airline Highway,” now in its world premiere run at Steppenwolf Theatre, pulls together an intriguing mélange of characters from what might euphemistically be called a subculture of contemporary New Orleans. They are a collection of losers. But memorable. Indeed, D’Amour’s sharply drawn prostitutes, addicts and schemers leave a more vivid impression than her troubled drama. ★★★

Bronfman, Muti and CSO sketch chamber music on vast canvas of Brahms’ 2nd Piano Concerto

Jan 16, 2015 – 6:42 pm
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Review: In broad, round terms, the figure of pianist Yefim Bronfman taking his seat at the keyboard to play Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and conductor Riccardo Muti on Jan. 15 immediately brought to mind images of the composer in exactly that posture. When Bronfman’s serene – really beyond sublime – performance had ended, that evocative association only felt confirmed.

American music is lodestar of 2015 Grant Park concert constellation; price is heavenly – free

Jan 8, 2015 – 7:33 pm
Billowy stainless steel sails surround the concert stage at Pritzker Pavilion (Christopher_Neseman)

Preview: It is one of the glories of Chicago’s summer and a thrilling populist tradition, the Grant Park Music Festival at Millennium Park, where the one-size-fits-all lawn price – free! – means that if you’ve got a blanket, your place under the stars is guaranteed. Artistic director Carlos Kalmar reflects on the 2015 season, just announced, which celebrates American greats alongside an appealing mix of symphonic classics. The stage of the Jay Pritzker Pavilion is framed by the signature billowing stainless steel forms of architect Frank Gehry.

At heart of Beethoven’s grandiose ‘Emperor,’ pianist Paul Lewis detects an image of grace

Jan 7, 2015 – 1:53 pm
Pianist Paul Lewis brings Beethoven's 'Emperor' Concerto to Orchestra Hall for performances with the Chicago Symphony.

Interview: At the core of Beethoven’s “Emperor” Piano Concerto, says British virtuoso Paul Lewis, dwells a tenderness that belies the work’s outwardly heroic trappings. That lyrical middle chapter, he says, bespeaks the concerto’s true heart. “Liszt called the slow movement of the ‘Emperor’ an angel between two demons,” says Lewis, who plays Beethoven’s last and most exuberant piano concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and conductor Vasily Petrenko in performances Jan. 8-10 at Orchestra Hall.

Cue cameras: Metropolitan Opera Live in HD, come of age, is playing at a cinema near you

Dec 16, 2014 – 12:06 pm
Michael Volle, Hans Sachs in Wagner's 'Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg.' (Ken Howard, Metropolitan Opera)

Feature review: The Metropolitan Opera is the most international of houses, but there is something quintessentially American about the Saturday afternoon HD cinema broadcasts that are now part of its marketing arsenal. After attending a performance of “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg” at the Met, I caught the same production, broadcast live to cinemas on Dec. 13, starring German baritone Michael Volle as Hans Sachs, the master shoemaker, cobbler of poems and mender of hearts.

‘Shining City’ at Irish Theatre: Shattering drama for one, encumbered by three extra characters

Dec 15, 2014 – 7:01 pm
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Review: For every line Brad Armacost speaks as a grief- and guilt-ridden widower consulting a therapist in Conor McPherson’s “Shining City,” but especially for the prodigious and emotionally wrenching monologue that occupies the center of this 90-minute drama, the production by Irish Theatre of Chicago is greatly to be recommended. For the rest, neither McPherson’s patch-up of a play nor this realization directed by Jeff Christian holds much charm. ★★★

New York Aisle: A tale of two cellists, to say nothing of two thirtysomething conductors

Dec 12, 2014 – 3:40 pm
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Review: It felt like an affirmation of classical music’s near-term future, the double-header of concerts I heard Dec. 5 at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. The experience was redolent of virtuosity, passion and optimism. There were two brilliant cellists: New York native Alisa Weilerstein, playing the Dvořák Concerto with the New York Philharmonic, and Jean-Guihen Queyras, a Frenchman playing Haydn’s effervescent C major Cello Concerto with the Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. Yet no less remarkable were the young conductors.

Hypocrites’ new ‘Pinafore’ adds third dimension to mash-up model of a modern major musical

Dec 2, 2014 – 4:20 pm
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Preview: Of all the improbable theatrical cross-cuttings, the inspiration for The Hypocrites’ singers-with-instruments spin on the Gilbert & Sullivan canon may take the prize. The model for artistic director Sean Graney’s rethinking of all that lighter-than-air G&S wackiness was a Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim’s dark, dark (albeit very funny) musical “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” – where there’s nary a modern major general in sight. On Dec. 5, Graney’s plucky company opens “H.M.S. Pinafore,” then – in repertory – swiftly revives recent Hypocrites productions of “The Mikado” and “The Pirates of Penzance.”

It’s a ‘Shining’ hour for Irish Theatre of Chicago as rechristened troupe debuts with McPherson

Nov 26, 2014 – 11:10 pm
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Preview: When Michael Grant and a group of fellow Chicago actors formed Seanachai Theatre Company back in 1995, the name seemed inspired, exactly apt, a no-brainer. The word seanachai means story-teller in Irish Gaelic, and that’s what this troupe meant to do – stage the rich legacy of stories in the tradition of Irish theater. But after building its own legacy through two decades under the Seanachai banner, the company finally acknowledged that what had seemed obvious was anything but. Behold the renamed Irish Theatre of Chicago, which has its second birth Nov. 28 when the rechristened company makes its season debut with Conor McPherson’s “Shining City.”

New York Aisle: Met’s balanced ‘Klinghoffer’ revealed depth of Adams’ controversial opera

Nov 22, 2014 – 10:19 am
Death of Klinghoffer Metropolitan Opera Tom Morris production 2014 (Ken Howard)

Analysis: To sit in the audience at the Metropolitan Opera, where a richly inflected production of John Adams’ 1991 opera “The Death of Klinghoffer” unfolded this fall, was to experience the opera itself coming into focus. “The Death of Klinghoffer” is already a different experience than it was at its Brussels premiere 23 years ago.

‘Porgy and Bess’ at the Lyric Opera: From plenty of nuttin’, a masterpiece rises on Catfish Row

Nov 19, 2014 – 4:50 pm
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Review: The Lyric Opera’s revival of Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” is a thing of beauty not to be missed. More than that, it’s a ringing affirmation of this iconic American stage work as a great opera. Bass-baritone Eric Owens empowers Porgy with a voice larger than life yet scales this poor, crippled, yearning character to the credible proportions of a man. His woman, in a fragile union forged from convenience and necessity, is soprano Adina Aaron’s lithe and sexy Bess, vulnerable and gorgeously voiced. ★★★★★

Vienna Aisle: Comedic Muti leaves ’em laughing, and impressed by Chicago Symphony’s finesse

Nov 6, 2014 – 3:51 pm
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Interview: Habitués of Chicago’s Orchestra Hall have something in common with audiences in Vienna who heard the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s final European tour concerts last week at the Musikverein. They know the droll, often outrageously funny side of the CSO’s artistically exacting music director, Riccardo Muti. But the conductor was all seriousness when he declared the orchestra’s latest European tour a big success.

Vienna Aisle: Happily in tune with CSO, Muti nixes idea of position at Vienna State Opera

Nov 3, 2014 – 3:43 pm
Chicago Symphony rehearses Verdi Requiem at Vienna Musikverein Oct. 31, 2014 (Todd Rosenberg)

Report: When Riccardo Muti says that the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is one of the greatest orchestras in the world – as he did before 300 adoring guests in an intimate recital space at the famed Musikverein – the Viennese simply take it in stride. Out of politeness and affection alone they would give him that. Muti has been a favorite in the Austrian musical capital for decades. Curiosity about Muti’s Chicago orchestra was high during the CSO’s weeklong visit capping a five-country European tour. So was speculation whether he might be interested in the biggest music directorship in Vienna, suddenly open. But Muti says Chicago’s enough for him.

Vienna Aisle: Inside reeling mind of Tannhäuser via a bold psychological thriller at the Staatsoper

Oct 31, 2014 – 4:20 pm
Tannhauser (Robert Dean Smith) finds a sympathetic spirit in a young shepherd (Annika Gerhards). (Michael Poehn)

Review: Serendipity delivered me to the Vienna State Opera on Oct. 30 to take in director Claus Guth’s surprising, indeed completely out of the box and captivating production of Wagner’s “Tannhäuser.” It wasn’t just that the Wiener Staatsoper was in play on a night when the Chicago Symphony Orchestra – the object of my week in Vienna – wasn’t performing one of its four concerts at the Musikverein: The opera at hand was “Tannhäuser,” which the Lyric Opera of Chicago will be mounting later this season and which I had not seen in some time. ★★★★

Paris Aisle: Mid-tour, CSO and Riccardo Muti raise a roof with Tchaikovsky and Schumann

Oct 28, 2014 – 5:10 pm
Riccardo Muti conducts Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 in Chicago Symphony's tour concert in Paris at the Salle Pleyel Oct. 25 2014 (Todd Rosenberg)

Report: If the Chicago Symphony Orchestra needed an energy infusion halfway into its current European tour, surely that jolt came with its two concerts at Paris’ Salle Pleyel, where music director Riccardo Muti and company enjoyed ripping ovations from capacity audiences. After single-concert stops in Warsaw, Luxembourg and Geneva, the orchestra settled into Paris for two nights, and the Parisians snapped up every ticket to catch the Chicagoans and their celebrated maestro live. Still ahead is a full week of concerts in Vienna to cap the tour.

New York Aisle: In Kimberly Senior’s Broadway view of ‘Disgraced,’ a man’s long fall is crushing

Oct 26, 2014 – 4:10 am
Dinner with friends takes a bitter turn in Ayad Akhtar's 'Disgraced,' directed by Kimberly Senior at Broadway's Lyceum Theatre. (Joan Marcus)

Review: Before hitting Broadway, Ayad Akhtar’s “Disgraced” bounded from its starting point at American Theater Company in Chicago to a run at Lincoln Center in New York. All three stagings have been the work of Chicago-based director Kimberly Senior, and the sequence has displayed a steady sharpening of her perspective, an ever firmer grasp on the conflict and torment that push the play and pull its anti-heroic protagonist toward inexorable ruin. The latest incarnation, at New York’s Lyceum Theatre, is nothing short of devastating. ★★★★★

‘Sweeney Todd’ at Porchlight: Indulge yourself with the best meat pie in Chicago; it’s deep dish

Oct 22, 2014 – 9:25 pm
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Review: The demon barber of Fleet Street is a bad one, that’s for sure; and Porchlight Music Theatre has a good one in David Girolmo. But the crucial ingredient of Stephen Sondheim’s macabre musical is that demonic purveyor of meat pies, Mrs. Lovett – and in Rebecca Finnegan, Porchlight boasts a beaut. ★★★★★

New musical ‘Amazing Grace’ recounts the story of perfect storm that redeemed a slave trader

Oct 19, 2014 – 12:23 am
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Preview:The acute historical irony is that the hymn “Amazing Grace” — which is the subject of the Broadway-bound musical that opens Oct. 19 at Chicago’s Bank of America Theatre — was written by an English sailor, John Newton, who had prayed in terror during a storm at sea while engaged in the evil of the triangle slave trade.

‘The Cryptogram’ at Profiles: Waiting up for Dad and absorbing a harsh message about life, lies

Oct 18, 2014 – 8:00 am
Michael Brosilow

Review: David Mamet’s eerie play “The Cryptogram” is the kind of stage experience that follows you home. Certainly in the wake of a hyper-intense account at Profiles Theatre directed Joe Jahraus, it continues to work on you, this brief, emotionally fraught and fractured tale of a little boy who’s so excited about a promised camping trip with his dad that he can’t sleep. For that matter, neither can his mother, or an old friend of the family who drops in. ★★★

Lyric’s ‘Capriccio’ embraces ensemble flair, patrician milieu of Strauss’ high-minded lark

Oct 17, 2014 – 7:46 am

Review: To watch Lyric Opera’s “Capriccio” is to put one’s mind inside a blissful dream of wealth and privilege, where the toughest choices facing a glamorous Parisian countess — played by Renée Fleming — concerned which adoring, handsome and talented young man to endow with her philanthropy, and her bed. ★★★★

With fine, broad brush, French troupe paints absurd and logic-challenged world of Ionesco

Oct 16, 2014 – 4:45 pm
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Review: It was an aha moment, in French. The final madcap flourish of “Ionesco Suite,” the Paris ensemble Théâtre de la Ville’s nonstop 80-minute pastiche drawn from Eugène Ionesco’s absurdist plays, now in a brief run at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, sent my mind reeling back through the decades to my college days. ★★★★

‘The Night Alive’ at Steppenwolf: It’s three guys, girl and thug looking for answers in life’s rubble

Oct 14, 2014 – 10:26 pm
Aimee (Helen Sadler) spices the lives of Tommy (Francis Guinan, left) and Doc (Tim Hopper). (Michael Brosilow)

Review: At the center of “The Night Alive,” Conor McPherson’s wry and compassionate spin on the human comedy, are three men grappling with life near its baseline. And in Steppenwolf Theatre’s unglossed, touching perspective on the play, these ordinary guys find in each other the redemptive qualities of connection, meaning and purpose. ★★★★

‘Smokefall’ at Goodman: Revisiting a family frayed at seams, blessed with magical hope

Oct 11, 2014 – 8:28 am
The Colonel (Mike Nussbaum) dotes on his granddaughter Beauty (Catherine Combs) in 'Smokefall' at Goodman Theatre. (Liz Lauren)

Review: Mike Nussbaum, irrepressible at age 90, is like great Bordeaux wine. Need I amplify that? Chicago’s prince of perdurable actors is the single best reason – among many good ones – to catch Goodman Theatre’s almost-instant revival of “Smokefall,” Noah Haidle’s fine-stitched play about family, its profound fractures and its potential for healing. ★★★★★