All stories by Mary Wisniewski on BroadwayStars

Friday, July 24, 2026

American Players Theatre’s Wondrous “As You Like It,” Staged in the Woods by Mary Wisniewski

In Shakespeare's comedy, the characters go to the forest and become more fully human. The same thing happens when you see theater in the woods at Spring Green, Wisconsin.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, July 22, 2026

“Hair” Is More Relevant Than Ever by Mary Wisniewski

Kokandy Productions revives the "tribal love-rock musical" at Chopin Theatre.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, July 20, 2026

“The Matchmaker” Is the Play That Became “Hello, Dolly!” by Mary Wisniewski

On stage at American Players Theatre, Wisconsin native Thornton Wilder's play is an old-fashioned but well-made farce that was later adapted into the 1964 Broadway hit.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, July 13, 2026

In a Room Full of Empty Chairs, a Couple Grapples With Nothingness by Mary Wisniewski

The Eugène Ionesco play, on stage at American Players Theatre, is philosophically bleak, but with a comedic vaudeville feeling.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, June 22, 2026

The Invisible Costumes of “Catch as Catch Can” by Mary Wisniewski

In this production at Steppenwolf Theatre, three gifted ensemble members transition between genders and ages to tell a family story in a new way.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Friday, May 22, 2026

Camping with Conspiracy Theorists at A Red Orchid by Mary Wisniewski

In “The Targeted,” a new play by Hanna Kime, conspiracy theorists gather at a rustic retreat for a meeting of the “Solidarity and Truth Summit.”

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 20, 2026

“An Enemy of the People” Tells Inconvenient Truths by Mary Wisniewski

TimeLine Theatre christens its new Uptown building with the Henrik Ibsen work, adapted by Amy Herzog in 2024, about a doctor whose alarming discovery makes him a town pariah.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 13, 2026

Brokeback Mountain the Play Makes Its North American Premiere in Chicago by Mary Wisniewski

Playwright and actor Ashley Robinson was performing in Wicked when he saw Brokeback Mountain the film. Now he's written a play adaptation.

SOURCE: Playbill at 03:38PM[SHARE]

“Scaramouche” Is a Swashbuckling Good Time by Mary Wisniewski

The musical version of the classic novel makes its world debut at City Lit Theater, a comedy-adventure-romance mixed with dueling and song.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 6, 2026

A Theater That Focuses on Stories From the Past Makes a Future in Uptown by Mary Wisniewski

Elizabeth Auman discusses TimeLine Theatre Company's new home, built for performance, and the journey that led them there.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Friday, April 10, 2026

Goodman Stages a Magnificent Production of "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" by August Wilson by Mary Wisniewski

In Wilson's 1982 play, the playwright imagined a recording session for prolific early-blues recording artist Gertrude "Ma" Rainey and her band in Chicago in 1927.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, April 8, 2026

avery r. young's Afro-Surrealist Opera, "safronia," Is A Story of the Great Migration by Mary Wisniewski

The West Side native and interdisciplinary artist is taking on a new challenge"acting and singing in his own production that draws from gospel hymns, blues, funk and poetry.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 07:59AM[SHARE]
Monday, April 6, 2026

In Her Story Theater's "The Official Biography," Opposing Writers Debate Truth and Fiction by Mary Wisniewski

Gary Houston and Shelby Marie Edwards star as two leads who develop an improbable intellectual chemistry in this play by Kurt McGinnis Brown.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, March 30, 2026

"Theater of the Mind" Is an Interactive Trip Through a Memory Palace by Mary Wisniewski

David Byrne and Mala Goankar's show explores the science of perception, taking audience members through experiments involving sight, vision and taste, while telling a story of a life from it…

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, March 12, 2026

City Lit's "Changing Channels" Finds Comedy in the Shadow of the Blacklist by Mary Wisniewski

John Reeger's witty new play set during the golden age of television follows a variety-show performer forced to choose between career success and political conscience.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, March 9, 2026

"Hamilton" Still Brings Hope in America's Age of Caligula by Mary Wisniewski

The production moved its planned spring run to Chicago after Trump's takeover of the Kennedy Center. It's a tonic in a troubled time.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, March 4, 2026

The Science Behind "Theater of the Mind" by Mary Wisniewski

David Byrne and Mala Gaonkar's immersive theater project combines neuroscience experiments, art and storytelling.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Friday, February 20, 2026

Court Theatre Stages August Strindberg's Famous Study of Class and Gender by Mary Wisniewski

A noisy start and a murky finish are among the choices that obscure "Miss Julie"'s timely relevance for a divided America.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, February 18, 2026

The Royal Shakespeare Company's "Hamnet" Shows How Grief Inspires Art by Mary Wisniewski

The lead character in this U.S. premiere at Chicago Shakes is not the playwright, but his wife, Agnes. The play is about her union with the Bard and the family they create, as well as Will's…

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, February 11, 2026

"The Dance of Death" at Steppenwolf Is an Expressionist Painting by Mary Wisniewski

Conor McPherson's adaptation of August Strindberg's play conveys something true about human relationships"that love and hate are both forms of intimacy, and often intertwined.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, February 9, 2026

Redtwist Theatre's "Confederates" Tells Two Stories Across Two Different Eras by Mary Wisniewski

"Confederates" has powerful themes and performances that anchor a drama but struggles to unify its dual narratives.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Friday, January 30, 2026

"Birds of North America" Takes Flight at A Red Orchid Theatre by Mary Wisniewski

Anna Ouyang Moench's father-daughter drama unfolds through birdwatching and climate anxiety.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, January 29, 2026

Something Wilde: An Explosive "Salome" at the Lyric Opera by Mary Wisniewski

This is the North American premiere of David McVicar's production of the opera, inspired by the Pier Paolo Pasolini film "Salò" and set in a grey world reminiscent of fascist Italy under …

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, January 7, 2026

For Robert Falls, "Holiday" Is a New Kind of Work by Mary Wisniewski

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 …

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, December 18, 2025

City Lit Brings Sherlock Holmes to a Victorian Christmas Party by Mary Wisniewski

"Sherlock Holmes and the Christmas Clowns" is a happy combination of witty dialogue, lovely Victorian costumes and four-part harmony Christmas caroling, with a touch of Gilbert & Sulliva…

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, December 10, 2025

Northlight's "Gaslight" Turns One Husband's Manipulation Into a Victorian Detective Caper by Mary Wisniewski

If you feel like a little malice for the holiday season, catch the triumphantly feminist drama that coined a term prevalent in modern politics.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, November 26, 2025

Chicago Shakes' "Much Ado About Nothing" Revives the Spirit of Classic 1940s Romantic Comedies by Mary Wisniewski

Selina Cadell's production of the screwball comedy delivers solid Shakespeare"clear and easy to understand without dilution.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Friday, November 14, 2025

Writers Theatre Transforms Shakespeare's "As You Like It" Into A Foot-Tapping Musical by Mary Wisniewski

The musical version of the Bard of Avon's pastoral comedy is fun, but Shakespeare is the crust of this pie, not the filling.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, October 30, 2025

Music Theater Works Brings the Gospel of St. Matthew to a Coffee Shop by Mary Wisniewski

This "Godspell" doesn't shy away from modern politics and leans left.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, October 20, 2025

The New Musical Revolution(s) Wants to 'Rock the Joint to the Ground' by Mary Wisniewski

Driven by the hard-hitting music of guitarist and song writer, Tom Morello, Revolution(s) debuts at Chicago's Goodman Theater.

SOURCE: Playbill at 04:41PM[SHARE]
Thursday, October 9, 2025

In "Veal," the Tormented Middle School Friend Becomes Queen of North America by Mary Wisniewski

The new dystopian play is the kind of in-your-face, challenging theater that A Red Orchid can do so well.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM[SHARE]

All that Chat