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Top 10 best of Broadway in 2023: From Daniel Radcliffe in ‘Merrily’ to Jessica Chastain in ‘Doll’s House’
Here, in order of preference, are my top picks from New York's Great White Way on the first full year since the pandemic.
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Best performances in Chicago theater in 2023: These actors made plays, musicals and comedies come alive this year
They were the leads of big musicals ("Boop," "Tommy") or stars in other ways. Including an unprecedented top-10 double appearance.
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Chicago actor Mike Nussbaum dies at 99, the oldest working actor in the country
“He was the godfather of the working Chicago actor,” said Barbara Gaines, former artistic director of Chicago Shakespeare Theater.
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Review: ‘Sugar Hill: The Ellington / Strayhorn Nutcracker’ at the Auditorium Theatre is a joyful, jazzy reinvention
Those who know jazz masters Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn will be whisked away by this "Nutcracker" set in 1930s New York.
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Chicagoans of the Year for Dance: Joffrey Ballet stage managers make the magic happen
Joffrey Ballet stage managers Mandy Heuermann and Katherine Selig bear the ultimate responsibility for every light cue firing on time, every prop piece placed where it needs to be and every set change going off without a hitch.
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Chicagoan of the Year for Theater: Roche Schulfer guided the Goodman through the arts storm of the century
Across the country during the pandemic, nonprofit theaters lost their audiences and were forced to cut staff. Not at the Goodman Theatre.
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Review: ‘Appropriate’ opens on Broadway, with Sarah Paulson leading the most intense family since ‘Osage County’
Paulson is on fire all night long, torching not just anyone sharing Second Stage with her — including Elle Fanning — but half of the open-mouthed audience.
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Best dance in Chicago for 2023: Top 10 reimagined fairy tales, notable shows and standout performances
More than a handful of the year’s highlights leaned hard into storytelling, including the Joffrey's "Little Mermaid" and "Frankenstein."
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Best Chicago theater of 2023: From ‘Tommy’ to a soul opera, our top 10 shows chosen from many
This was an especially fine year for musicals but over the last 12 months, I’ve also admired everything from revivals to daring new plays.
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Review: Warm ‘It’s a Wonderful Life: Live in Chicago!’ by American Blues Theater has always felt like home for the holidays
Now staged in its new theater on Lincoln Avenue, this holiday show based on the Jimmy Stewart movie has gathered an audience that would follow it anywhere.
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Review: Updated ‘Dial M for Murder’ at Northlight Theatre will keep you guessing
Mysteries and thrillers like this one are having a sudden, surprising renaissance in Chicago theater.
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‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ is coming to Chicago next, a boost for theater-going in the Loop
Some eight years after its London bow, the “Harry Potter” stage play is coming to Chicago next September, and sticking around.
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Review: ‘How to Dance in Ohio’ on Broadway is at its best when it lets its autistic stars shine
This new musical focuses on a group of real, young, neurologically atypical persons in Columbus, Ohio, all preparing together for their prom.
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Review: Milwaukee Ballet’s new ‘Nutcracker’ leans old-school — and it’s utterly spectacular
Led by artistic director Michael Pink, the Milwaukee Ballet's status among the nation’s top-tier ballet companies is firmly sealed now.
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Review: ‘Promises, Promises’ by Blank Theatre is a fun, retro night out with Burt Bacharach
I admire the way director Danny Kapinos’ production is willing to trust the audience with this 1960s musical.
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‘Hip Hop Nutcracker’ blends classical with hip hop, with MC Kurtis Blow helping build the energy
"The movement allows you to hear the music in a new way, and the music allows you to see the movement in a new way.”
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Review: ‘Boop! The Musical’ opens in Chicago with a new Broadway star, far from a cartoon
The relatively unknown Jasmine Amy Rogers turns in an astonishing performance at the heart of “Boop! the Musical” in its pre-Broadway opening, directed by Jerry Mitchell.
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Review: Jamie Allan’s ‘Amaze’ at Rhapsody Theater is a revelation, and in the most unexpected ways
Everything this longtime British magician does on stage is rooted in personal storytelling — there's an uncommon warmth and openness amid all the illusions and deception.
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Review: ‘Islander’ at Chicago Shakespeare is a welcome, beguiling musical visitor from Scotland
This is a contemporary folk tale inspired by the music and sounds of Scotland, earlier seen at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
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Review: ‘The Nutcracker’ by the Joffrey Ballet tugs the heartstrings — whether it’s your first time or 51st
Americans love “Nutcracker” because it’s an unwavering treatise about dreams coming true.
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NINA METZ
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MICHAEL PHILLIPS
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Review: ‘Christmas With Elvis’ at the Chopin Theatre feels like a trip back to fearless off-Loop theater, circa 1992
Playing a single woman visited by the ghost of Elvis, Brenda Barrie apparently has decided she is doing Eugene O’Neill and proceeds accordingly. She’s very funny, too.
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Review: Promising new ‘The Wiz’ at Cadillac Palace has moments where it strays off the road
Few titles command the affection of “The Wiz,” and the show’s most fabulous songs, including “Ease On Down the Road,” have been sung now for close to 50 years.
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Frances Sternhagen, who played Esther Clavin on ‘Cheers’ and Bunny MacDougal on ‘Sex and the City,’ dies at 93
Frances Sternhagen, the veteran character actor who won two Tony Awards and became a familiar maternal face to TV viewers later in life in such shows as “Cheers,” “ER,” “Sex and the City” and “The Closer,” has died. She was 93.
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Review: ‘A Christmas Carol’ at the Goodman Theatre is a play to make you believe kindness can win
“A Christmas Carol” urges us to open our hearts to our fellow passengers through this life. May even the most cynical among us take heed.
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What was Scrooge like as a child? Park Ridge seventh-grader portrays him at Goodman Theatre
Park Ridge 11-year-old Leighton Tantillo is playing Ebenezer Scrooge as a child, as well as Peter Cratchit, in the Goodman Theatre's "A Christmas Carol."
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Review: Funny, moving ‘Who’s Holiday’ at Theater Wit is the Malört of holiday shows
After spending a boozy hour in Cindy Lou Who’s trailer, you’ll never again see the classic Dr. Seuss tale the same.
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American Blues Theater opens a new home on Lincoln Avenue, carved from a former Walgreens
The impressive new two-theater complex will stage the upcoming “It’s a Wonderful Life: Live in Chicago!,” slated to open on Dec. 10.
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Review: ‘Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas’ at the Studebaker is a happy holiday show for all ages
Any fan of Jim Henson shouldn’t miss this truly splendid addition to the seasonal attractions on offer in Chicago’s Loop.
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Review: ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ at the Paramount has lots of chocolate, now it just needs to warm up
Granted, Roald Dahl’s dark and complex stories from the 1960s are not easy to adapt into family musicals.
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Review: A swirling, fashionable ‘Cinderella’ at Drury Lane Theatre brings sparkle to the season
What you are seeing here is the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein “Cinderella,” retooled a bit for modern sensibilities.