Chicago Theatre Triathlon

02/27/2023

It’s been a minute but we’re back to reviewing live performances! Had the pleasure of catching the limited engagement of Hamburg Ballett’s The Glass Menagerie this past weekend at Harris Theater for Music and Dance. Choreographer John Neumeier draws from Tennessee Williams’s family melodrama while offering a window into the playwright’s inner monologues. It’s infused with refreshing glimpses into the Wingfields’s daily routines and romanticized pasts away from their haunted home while beautifully orchestrating the beats until its tragic climax. Fantasy and memory merge to triumphant heights demonstrating how the two are often intertwined. This riveting adaptation delivers a pulsating dose of nostalgia to a beloved classic.

10/10/2022

This weekend marked the inaugural production of Theatre Contronym’s Sunflower🌻! Following in the tradition of many ensemble-driven, storefront theaters in Chicago, there is notably no director with cast/crew contributing to creative decisions as a collective. In a limited run at Greenhouse Theater Center, this tight-knit ensemble delivers a hour long mediation on love, loss and the language we often desperately cling to in order to make sense of both.

Written by Sean Dance Fannin with dramaturgy by Lia Christine Dewey, a group of nameless characters (Jack Bowes, Rachel Kent, Amelia Roque, Silas Stapleton, and Salem) strive to define love within their current romantic dilemmas. As the great Tina Turner once asked, “What’s love got to do with it?” What ensues is a breakdown (or breakthrough 🤔) in communication through the use of repetition, poetic musings and meaty metaphors.

These contemplative moments painfully give way to open wounds and bittersweet epiphanies that often leave you lingering to pause and absorb each new perspective at a time. It posits many ideas about love for audience members to take away depending on their lived experiences. While not necessarily prescribing solutions nor a sense of hope, there is something refreshing about witnessing the blunt desires and fears about relationships unearthed in all their painful, messy glory.

01/22/2021

New Ohio Theatre promises an online adventure for young ones, puppetry lovers, and those in need of a lift. Stream this virtual experience now!

It's a new year yet everything feels the same. As the pandemic continues with staying at home the norm, it can be easy to become discouraged, bored, and sad, often all at once. New Ohio Theatre offers a pleasant distraction from our current events in Journey Around My Bedroom. For parents looking fo...

01/03/2021

In addition to covering local artists/events year-round, every month this year on CTT will have a new theme. Cast your vote for this month's now!

Vote on this month's theme!

01/01/2021

Across television, film, and Zoom theatre, here's what got me through 2020. Wishing everyone a healthy and happy new year! See you next year

It's been a hell of a year. With theatres shuttering in March, no one could have predicted this pandemic would leave the state of the arts forever changed. Like most theatre artists, I've been in mourning for our industry because unlike film or television, there's no clear timeline of when live ente...

05/12/2020

The Passage Theatre’s All-One! The Dr. Bronner’s Play is just what the doctor ordered. This virtual reading penned by Beth Hyland and directed by Sammy Zeisel offers a refreshing dose of comedy and clarity in the midst of a pandemic. While you learn about all eighteen (!) uses of Bronner’s soap and dig deep into the maker’s wild past, the strongest impression made is seeing each individual’s creative contribution to this alluring narrative. It’s been recently extended this week so pick up those tickets today 💜

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