All stories by Kerry Reid on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Working does more than punch the clock by Kerry Reid

Theo Ubique's staging celebrates the dignity of everyday labor. As the populist question goes, "If work's so great, how come they have to pay you to do it?" That…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 06:45PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Midsommer Flight's Twelfth Night offers hijinks and insight by Kerry Reid

The beautiful Lincoln Park Conservatory setting is just one reason to see this returning production. William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is only nominally a holi…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 06:50PM[SHARE]

The Santaland Diaries offers diminishing returns by Kerry Reid

Steven Strafford's Crumpet is delightful, but the material feels dated. In the season opener of Abby McEnany's new Showtime series, Work in Progress, McEnany run…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 06:40PM[SHARE]

Q Brothers Christmas Carol makes even Navy Pier bearable this season by Kerry Reid

An 80-minute 'ad-rap-tation' tells Scrooge's story without missing beats. The "ad-rap-tation" of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, created by the Q Brothers C…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 06:30PM[SHARE]

Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins gives a trickster twist to the holiday by Kerry Reid

Strawdog's family-friendly holiday show returns for a second year. Hanukkah shows are hard to find, relatively speaking, but there are two running locally right …

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 06:15PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Grace and the Hanukkah Miracle combines one family's history with a scavenger hunt by Kerry Reid

The inaugural show from Chicago Immersive is empathetic and wise. Immersive holiday shows in Chicago usually mean Halloween fare"haunted houses lend themselves n…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 06:40PM[SHARE]

The Golden Girls: The Lost Episodes"Holiday Edition, Vol. 2 adds some sweet dirty fun to the holidays by Kerry Reid

Hell in a Handbag's franchise decks the halls with campy good feelings. Trivia time: what Golden Girls character still believes in Santa? You don't need multiple…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 06:25PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Beyond the tinsel by Kerry Reid

December performing arts aren't just about the holly jolly. THEATER PICKS (KERRY REID) Good Grief…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:30PM[SHARE]

Eleanor's Very Merry Christmas Wish offers families a sweet holiday outing by Kerry Reid

A rag doll yearns for a forever friend in this new musical. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer's Dolly isn't the only rag doll hoping for a forever home. In Eleanor'…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 06:55PM[SHARE]

Always . . . Patsy Cline is a honky-tonk treat with Firebrand by Kerry Reid

Harmony France and Christina Hall trade off the two roles in this warmhearted story based on real events. Since Firebrand's production of Always . . . Patsy Clin…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 06:50PM[SHARE]

The First Deep Breath rattles the family skeletons at Victory Gardens by Kerry Reid

Lee Edward Colston II's play leaves it all on the table"and the floor. "Go back to where you started, or as far back as you can, examine all of it, travel your r…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 06:35PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, November 19, 2019

The Nutcracker retains its hold on the heart by Kerry Reid

The House Theatre's annual tradition remains one of Chicago's best seasonal offerings. It took me nine years to get out to the House Theatre's annual nonballetic…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 06:29PM[SHARE]

Lindiwe is at its best when it lets the music do the talking by Kerry Reid

Steppenwolf's latest collaboration with Ladysmith Black Mambazo has too much story, not enough song. Steppenwolf's long association with Ladysmith Black Mambazo,…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 06:20PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Romeo and Juliet is only halfway there at Chicago Shakes by Kerry Reid

The central characters feel like an afterthought in Barbara Gaines's contemporized version. Setting Romeo and Juliet in a contemporary urban setting inevitably d…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 06:00PM[SHARE]

A heart transplant reveals old heartaches in Exquisita Agonía by Kerry Reid

Aguijón Theater's production of Nilo Cruz's drama is searing and sharp. Nilo Cruz's plays often center on people suffering displacement and trying to find dis…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 05:40PM[SHARE]

Do You Believe in Madness? is more befuddled than angry by Kerry Reid

In its 108th main-stage revue, Second City tries to get a handle on our crazy times. A year ago, Second City unveiled Algorithm Nation or the Static Quo, a grim …

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 05:32PM[SHARE]

P.Y.G. or the Mis-Edumacation of Dorian Belle cuts with double-edged satire by Kerry Reid

A white Canadian pop star and two Black hip-hop artists share a reality-TV crib. There are two specific places in Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm's P.Y.G. or the Mis-…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 05:20PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, November 6, 2019

TimeLine uncovers a "lost" play from 1912 with Rutherford and Son by Kerry Reid

Githa Sowerby's tale of a grasping patriarchal capitalist still has resonance today. If you've never heard of Githa Sowerby, don't feel bad. When she died at 93 …

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 08:32PM[SHARE]

Staff Pick: Best transitions to new leadership by Kerry Reid

Prop Thtr and Haven When the big theaters have a changing of the guard in artistic directors, it's understandably big news.…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 01:00PM[SHARE]

Magic and music combine in the Memphis-set Hoodoo Love by Kerry Reid

Katori Hall's play takes its time but weaves a spell. "I lost my song. I lost it because I didn't know what it was worth," laments a young bluesman freshly retur…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, October 30, 2019

The Merchant of Venice remains an ugly play for ugly times by Kerry Reid

1938 Italy provides the fascist framework for this Invictus staging. With anti-Semitism on the rise in the U.S. and Europe, it might make perfect sense to revisi…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:15PM[SHARE]

Teatron: Chicago's Jewish Theatre Festival makes its inaugural bow by Kerry Reid

Shpiel Performing Identity produces this eight-day event as part of the Alliance for Jewish Theatre Conference. The attack on Pittsburgh's Tree of Life Synagogue…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 06:30PM[SHARE]

You Are Happy offers parallel plays by Kerry Reid

American Sign Language adds a cunning layer of commentary to Red Theater Chicago's dark romantic fable. Jeremy wants a girlfriend more than anything, but can't g…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM[SHARE]

Underscore Theatre's Proxy has some promise, but misses the heart of its story by Kerry Reid

A musical based on the true-life "Slender Man" attack raises more questions than it answers. Last week, Payton Leutner, the victim in the Wisconsin "Slender Man"…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM[SHARE]

Give thanks for some promising November live performances by Kerry Reid

The table is set this month with theater world premieres, dance works in progress, and comedy with cured meat. NOVEMBER THEATER PICKS (Kerry Reid) Laura and the …

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 05:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Kentucky puts the "blue" in the Bluegrass State by Kerry Reid

Leah Nanako Winkler's raucous and poignant family drama gets a stellar local premiere with the Gift Theatre. The homecoming prompted by weddings and funerals is …

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Bloody Bathory brings an infamous (alleged) serial killer back to life by Kerry Reid

Barrens Theatre's inventive immersive church staging is just the right amount of creepy. When it comes to infamous female serial killers, Aileen Wuornos has noth…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM[SHARE]

Three Muslim women confront polygamy in Twice, Thrice, Frice by Kerry Reid

Silk Road Rising and International Voices Project collaborate on this world premiere comedy. Three women"one an MBA student in her early 30s, one a painter and r…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM[SHARE]

In Keely and Du, a basement becomes an abortion-rights battleground by Kerry Reid

A pregnant woman seeking an abortion and her Christian captor face off in Jane Martin's still-relevant 1993 play. The pseudonymous Jane Martin (long rumored to b…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, October 9, 2019

A streamlined version of A Doll's House races through Writers Theatre by Kerry Reid

Even without a door slam, Henrik Ibsen's classic hits home. To view Nora Helmer's girlish high spirits as proof of immaturity is as much a mistake as viewing Bla…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM[SHARE]

Sundown, Yellow Moon does best in quiet shadows by Kerry Reid

Raven's production has heart, but doesn't fully connect the pieces. Twin sisters"an academic with a Fulbright and a struggling songwriter"return from New York to…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM[SHARE]

All that Chat

2025-2026 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 12, 2025: Call Me Izzy - Studio 54
Sep 16, 2025: Art - Music Box Theatre
Oct 08, 2025: Beetlejuice - Palace Theatre
Nov 13, 2025: Oedipus - Studio 54
Nov 16, 2025: Chess - Imperial Theatre
Mar 23, 2026: Giant - Music Box Theatre
Apr 06, 2026: Becky Shaw - Hayes Theater
Apr 16, 2026: Proof - Booth Theatre
Apr 26, 2026: Drama Desk Cut-Off