Spoken Spanish puts the accent on 'West Side Story'

On the night in December when the first national tour of "West Side Story" opened in Los Angeles, the director David Saint had a drink thrown in his face.

'Curb' comic's stand-up blends sweetness and acid

COMEDY REVIEW: Jeff Garlin's "No Sugar Tonight" at Steppenwolf Theatre ★★★
Only Jeff Garlin could get away with doing an entire show about his giving up sweet stuff, even titling the show "No Sugar Tonight," while swigging from a bottle of Gatorade.

Theater openings for the week of July 15-21

Chris Jones picks opening nights in Chicago and the suburbs.

'Love, Loss and What I Wore' to star Nora Dunn

Former "Saturday Night Live" star Nora Dunn will star in the Chicago production of "Love, Loss and What I Wore," producer Daryl Roth announced Thursday.

Theatre Y offers imaginative look into outcasts

Kerry Reid reviews "Exiles" and "Vincent River," the first two of a trilogy by Theatre Y.

Acting the scientist at Fox Valley Rep; 'Aladdin' in Lincolnshire

Kerry Reid on what's on stage in Chicago's suburbs for the week of July 15-21.

First Folio's very fine 'Romeo and Juliet' hangs tragedy on the adults

THEATER REVIEW: "Romeo and Juliet" ½
Kerry Reid reviews First Folio Theatre's production for the Tribune.

Following every strange turn of the Yellow Brick Road in 'The Wiz'

THEATER REVIEW: "The Wiz" at Theatre at the Center ✭✭✭
"The Wiz," let us stipulate, was always a weird show. With the passage of 36 years, it only has become stranger.

Jessie Mueller appears headed to Broadway

Jessie Mueller, the versatile musical-theater actress known for her work at the Marriott Theatre, Drury Lane Oakbrook and the Goodman Theatre, appears headed for Broadway in "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever," starring Harry Connick, Jr.

Head of Actors' Equity in Chicago to retire

Kathryn V. Lamkey, the respected head of the Actors' Equity Association in Chicago, is to retire at the end of the year, Equity announced Tuesday morning.

Hannibal Buress: Taking no prisoners

COMEDY REVIEW: Hannibal Buress at Zanies ✭✭✭½
If you want to hear crickets in a comedy club, here's one useful line: "Who's here tonight on an Internet date?"

Writers' hires architect Jeanne Gang to design new theater

Writers' Theatre in Glencoe said Monday that it has hired Studio Gang Architects, led by Jeanne Gang, to design its proposed new home in the northern suburb.

Looking at mother's little helpers, but missing the point

THEATER REVIEW: "That Face" at Redtwist Theatre ★½
Playwright Polly Stenham's family drama falls short.

With Tony Fitzpatrick, it's 'Stations Lost' and summer found

THEATER REVIEW: "Stations Lost" by Tony Fitzpatrick at the Steppenwolf Garage ★★★
With his gig at the Steppenwolf now seemingly an annual event, Tony Fitzpatrick is taking on the air of Garrison Keillor, as seen from the back of a Damon Avenue bus.

A New York break for Jonathan Berry

Jonathan Berry, one of the Chicago theater's most promising young directors, has scored a Gotham gig.

No 'Mommies' at the Royal George

The planned summer production of "Mommies - A Musical Blog" has been postponed, producer Jeanie Linders said Thursday afternoon. The show was to have opened July 29 at the Royal George Theatre.

Jake, Elwood and Huggy, all singing the Euro blues

THEATER REVIEW: "The All New Original Tribute to the Blues Brothers" at the Auditorium Theatre ½
So at the Auditorium Theatre, there's an Australian Elwood, a British Jake and a European cover band.

The Theater Loop has a new look

The Theater Loop has a new look. However, all your favorite features are still here. In the near future, we hope to bring you yet more new content and resources.

Jeff Garlin comes full circle. Just with a little less circle.

Here in sweet home Chicago, Jeff Garlin has gone from "I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With" to "No Sugar Tonight." It's an interesting 20-year trajectory. A revealing 20-year trajectory. Wouldn't you say, Mr. Garlin?

A new season at the Neo-Futurists

The Neo-Futurists have announced their 2011-12 season.  Typically electic titles abound.

'Good Boys and True' and 'Icarus'

Nina Metz reviews Towle Theater and Bohemian Theatre Ensemble, both playing at Theater Wit, for the Tribune's On the Fringe.

A new associate artistic director at Chicago Dramatists

Chicago Dramatists said Wednesday that Meghan Beals McCarthy has been hired as the theater's new associate artistic director.

Zesty acting but a problematic storyline in 'Girl With Sun in Her Eyes'

THEATER REVIEW: "A Girl With Sun in Her Eyes" by Pine Box Theater ½
Some formidable acting power is stuffed into this deceptively titled little drama by Joshua Rollins that's actually a gritty police procedural.

The lure of the LED screen

While performing in Chicago last month as part of the Just For Laughs festival, comedian Bill Burr spotted an audience member texting in the front row.

'Traces' gets a New York run

"Traces," the circus show that impressed at the Broadway Playhouse in Chicago last winter, is getting an off-Broadway run. The show will open in August at the Union Square Theatre in New York. It's the work of the Montreal-based 7 Fingers; Fox Theatricals are the producers.

What Chicago can learn from Toronto

TORONTO - At Luminato, the festival of arts, culture and ideas that just concluded in Canada's largest city, one message rings the loudest and clearest: This festival was created "to shine Toronto's light on the world and the world's light on Toronto." You can't say it much clearer than that.

Cirque du Soleil: Bugging out extravagantly under the big top

THEATER REVIEW: "Ovo" ½
Insects are such a good match for the Cirque du Soleil, you have to wonder why those scurrying around that famous Montreal hive had not thought of them before.

Belle and Mr. Beast save an otherwise hairy production

THEATER REVIEW: "Beauty and the Beast" at the Oriental Theatre ½
Many Belles wander smiling through the proceedings. With Emily Behny, you feel something is at stake.

Two worthy new summer plays: 'Chinglish' and 'The Homosexuals'

David Henry Hwang's "Chinglish" is that rare theatrical beast that's culturally wise, but also enough of a good time that if you head over to the Goodman directly from the office, you won't feel like you've shelled out money to take part in some kind of after-hours seminar.

Laughs in translation in David Henry Hwang's shrewd new 'Chinglish'

THEATER REVIEW: "Chinglish" at the Goodman Theatre
Business relations develop to the point a Chinese buyer and U.S. seller find themselves in bed together.

About Face charts a new century of gay life in Chicago

THEATER REVIEW: "The Homosexuals" by About Face at the Biograph
Evan tries to figure out what it means to be gay when, as his friend observes, "there are no dirty words."

'5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche' and 'Radio Goggles'

Kerry Reid reviews The New Colony and Oracle Productions in On the Fringe

'Educating Rita' has working-class heart, world-weary distance

THEATER REVIEW: "Educating Rita"
Kerry Reid reviews Willy Russell's chamber comedy about a young working-class hairdresser in Liverpool bent on self-improvement and the embittered middle-aged English professor who becomes her tutor.

Black Ensemble's sweet night of love, love songs

THEATER REVIEW: "All in Love Is Fair" by Black Ensemble Theater
There is a naughty nickname associated with the music of the late Luther Vandross, reflecting the accepted wisdom that his silky voice never fails to leave silky undergarments on the rug. So if you're going to create a show based on vignettes of couples falling in, falling out of and staying in love, you could do a lot worse than using Vandross and other R&B masters as your soundtrack.

This time musical makes some Spidey-sense

NEW YORK — "Spidey 2.0," as the once-pretentious, hitherto-arty, forever-costly musical called "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" is now colloquially known, is quite startlingly different from the disastrous original incarnation of the comic-book musical that humbled Bono and The Edge and ate Julie Taymor alive.

'Lilka Kadison' is possessed by the supernatural

About halfway through "The Last Act of Lilka Kadison," the final show of the 2010-11 season at the Tony Award-winning Lookingglass Theatre, I found myself reflecting on the deep perils of dramatizing the memories of older folk.

'Bug' can't help but get under your skin in Redtwist room

At one point in Kimberly Senior's juicy Redtwist Theatre production of Tracy Letts' "Bug," I completely forgot about the dead body lying on the floor for several minutes. Until I happened to shift in my seat, and found my foot touching soft flesh. And I didn't even think I'd picked a particularly prominent seat.

Play about end-of-life issues is Mahoney's finest work to date

Gunner, the memory-challenged central character in Bruce Graham's new play "The Outgoing Tide," is slowly losing his grip on the ebbs and flows of life. But whereas it must be tempting to play an elderly man suffering from the onset of Alzheimer's, or severe dementia, as a timid, nervous fellow, there is not a hint of that in John Mahoney.

'Book of Mormon' sees the light of Tony glory

"The Book of Mormon" knocked down the door of the 65th annual Tony Awards at New York's Beacon Theatre Sunday night, snagging a worshipful total of nine Tonys, including best musical.

MCA Stage announces season of live shows

Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art has announced its 2011-12 slate of live shows. It's an eclectic array for the fall: