This fall, a Black Ensemble Theater transformed

Terrific acting in the early days of the fall season

Perchance it was too much lying around on the beach this summer. Or maybe there's the sense that these are serious times requiring serious artistic responses. Whatever the reason, Chicago actors have been on fire this past week.

Suburban theater for the week of Sept. 16-22

KERRY REID picks what's on stage in the Chicago suburbs.

Theater openings for the week of Sept. 16-22

The big upcoming opening nights.

'Yo Joe!' parody on target; 'City That Drinks' fizzles

NINA METZ reviews 'Yo Joe! A Real American Hip-Hop Musical' (3 stars) and 'The City That Drinks' (1.5 stars)

Goodman announces $10 million in endowment funds

At a breakfast event Thursday attended by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the Goodman Theatre said that it had raised $10 million towards the $15-million goal of its new endowment campaign, dubbed "Endowing Excellence: The Campaign for Goodman Theatre."

Be a good little widow? Good luck with that

THEATER REVIEW: "Be a Good Little Widow" at the Flat Iron Arts Building ★½ ... Joan Crawford, Medea and the Wicked Witch of the West combined have nothing on Hope, the monster-in-law who completely torpedoes "Be a Good Little Widow."

All 7 Sophocles dramas make for a crowded emergency room

THEATER REVIEW: "Sophocles: Seven Sicknesses" by The Hypocrites ★★★½ ... When Aristotle coined the term hubris, he could well have been talking about Sean Graney, the Chicago theater director who decided to adapt and stage not one Sophoclean drama, but all seven at once.

Poignant and bittersweet, 'Follies' sways between past and present

BROADWAY REVIEW: "Follies" ... For the Kennedy Center revival of "Follies," a 1971 musical about a bittersweet showgirls' reunion on the eve of the demolition of their beloved old theatrical grind joint, the inside of Broadway's Marquis Theatre has been entirely covered in tattered dust cloths.

'The Kid Thing' forgets a kid is not a thing

THEATER REVIEW: 'The Kid Thing' at Chicago Dramatists ★★½ ... At the top of Sarah Gubbins' new play, ordinary dinner-table chatter between two close, 30-something lesbian couples gives way to a revelation.

ATC to stage premiere of 'Disgraced' with New York producers attached

In what artistic director PJ Paparelli is calling a possible pre-Broadway tryout, American Theater Company will stage the premiere of the new play "Disgraced" by Ayad Akhtar. The play, which was workshopped at The Vineyard in New York, is about a Muslim-American lawyer trying to climb the corporate ladder at some cost to himself.

Miners cross a painted line into art world

THEATER REVIEW: "The Pitmen Painters" at TimeLine Theatre ★★★½ ... You might think of Lee Hall's "The Pitmen Painters" as a kind of prequel to "Billy Elliot," sans the Elton John ballads.

Class struggle from 1930s takes on ghostly hue

THEATER REVIEW: "Waiting for Lefty" by American Blues Theater at the Biograph ★★★ ... "Waiting for Lefty" surely now makes you aware of how much the American conversation has shifted, even if the pain of its workers has not.

Stage Left mostly succeeds with tales from the campaign trail

NINA METZ reviews "Farragut North" at Theater Wit ... Beau Willimon's 2008 behind-the-scenes look at wheeling and dealing on a presidential campaign is savvy enough to understand what audiences want to see. The play is soon to be a movie adaptation from George Clooney called "The Ides of March."

Stage 773: Curtain is rising on an impressive new theater space on Belmont Avenue

Few theaters in Chicago have been as influential in the nurturing and developing of off-Loop theater as the Theatre Building Chicago, the venerable venue that has stood near the Lakeview corner of Belmont and Racine avenues since its founding in 1977.

'Pinkalicious' a musical for the young and the pink-loving

THEATER REVIEW: "Pinkalicious" ★★½ by Emerald City Theatre at the Broadway Playhouse
Pinkalicious Pinkerton, whom you'll detect is the heroine of this little musical fable for the preteen set, has a thing for pink cupcakes.

2012 Marriott season includes world premiere

A new, born-in-Chicago musical penned by Michael Mahler and Aaron Thielen is the centerpiece of the 2012 season at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire. Entitled "Hero," the show is about an 20-something, aspiring comic-book artist who still lives at home with his dad and who is beset by a sudden change in his life.

Broadway in Chicago spring season to include 'American Idiot,' 'Fela' and 'Bring it On'

Touring productions of the musicals "American Idiot," "Bring it On" and "Fela!" are the highlights of the spring 2012 season at Broadway in Chicago. They join the previously announced blockbuster, "The Book of Mormon."

Sondheim review is Porchlight putting its best foot forward

THEATER REVIEW: "Putting It Together" at Porchlight Music Theatre ★★★ ... "Putting It Together" has always been a revue that encourages flexibility of staging, and director Brenda Didier uses that freedom well.

'Book of Mormon' on a Chicago mission

"The Book of Mormon," the sweetly satirical and gently profane hit Broadway musical from the creators of "South Park" and the co-composer and the co-lyricist of "Avenue Q," will dedicate a new mission in Chicago in December 2012.

Cirque Michael Jackson show adds Chicago dates

Cirque du Soleil's "Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour" added Chicago dates Tuesday. The show, a Cirque-style tribute to the King of Pop written and directed by Jamie King, will play at the United Center on July 20 and 21, 2012. Tickets will range from $50 to an eye-popping $250.

This 'Cyrano' cuts straight to the point

THEATER REVIEW: "Cyrano" ★★★ by House Theatre of Chicago ... At the top of "Cyrano," Matt Hawkins' freewheeling House Theatre of Chicago deconstruction of Edmond Rostand's "Cyrano de Bergerac," the man himself enters, smiles and sits down at a piano.

Stephen Ouimette added to 'Iceman' cast

Stephen Ouimette, the distinguished Canadian actor known for his work at the Stratford Festival of Canada and for the cultish TV show "Slings and Arrows," has been added to the cast of Robert Falls' starry production of Eugene O'Neill's "The Iceman Cometh," the Goodman said Friday afternoon.

Porchlight's tuneful ambition

Under its new artistic director Michael Weber, Porchlight Music Theatre is going to concentrate on this pithy and concise mission: "American Musicals. Chicago Style."

2011 FALL THEATER GUIDE

New theaters. Renovated playhouses. Hot dramas. Nervous new artistic directors. Stephen Sondheim and his “Follies.” A celebration of Stephen Schwartz. “The Kid Thing” by Chicago Dramatists and About Face. “The Real Thing” in Glencoe. All kinds of things at Theater Wit. With apologies to Oscar Hammerstein II, the fall is busting out all over.

Babes With Blades takes on 'Cyrano' story; ho-hum 'Rocky Horror'

KERRY REID reviews "The Double" by Babes With Blades and "The Rocky Horror Show" by Ludicrous Theatre this week in On the Fringe.

Hershey Felder headed back to Chicago with Bernstein

Hershey Felder, the pianist and showman whose composer-based solo shows have long been popular in Chicago, will make his return to the Royal George Theatre this fall.

New managing director for Next Theatre

The Next Theatre Company announced Wednesday that Jon Arndt is its new managing director. (POSTED BY DOUG GEORGE)

Broadway casting set for 'Chinglish'

The entire Goodman Theatre cast of David Henry Hwang's “Chinglish” will reprise their roles on Broadway this fall. With one exception.

Jeffrey Sweet show is coming to Chicago

Jeffrey Sweet lives in New York, but he's a Victory Gardens playwright and a man long compelled by the history of Chicago theater.  So he said this week that he plans to bring his current hit from the New York Fringe Festival to town. Briefly, for now. 

Report: No Cromer 'Sweet Bird' this fall

David Cromer's planned, high-profile Broadway production of Tennessee Williams' "Sweet Bird of Youth" appears to be in trouble. According to a report in the New York Times Wednesday morning, James Franco has withdrawn from the project, which was to star Nicole Kidman. The paper also reported that the show has been postponed indefinitely. 

New theater planned for Andersonville

Andersonville is buzzing about a possible new theater on Clark Street. And David Cerda is buzzing about a possible new home for his campy Hell in a Handbag Productions.

Jeffs rediscover the Goodman Theatre

After bypassing Chicago's largest theater in recent seasons, the Joseph Jefferson Awards Committee rediscovered the Goodman for its 2011 slate of nominations, selecting David Henry Hwang's "Chinglish," Mary Zimmerman's adaptation of "Candide" and Robert Falls' riff on Chekhov.

Loretta Swit to do some Chicago shows of 'Love, Loss and What I Wore'

The upcoming commercial production of "Love, Loss and What I Wore" at the Broadway Playhouse has put another block of tickets on sale through Dec. 4.  And producer Daryl Roth also said Tuesday that Loretta Swit (of "M.A.S.H." fame) will join the rotating cast effective Nov. 8. 

What sort of casino suits the city of Chicago?

When Caesars Palace in Las Vegas threw a $95 million party for Celine Dion, it was just to draw in gamers. New Orleans went the other way, allowing no live entertainment in its casinos. Place your bets for Chicago.

Drury Lane to make 'Promises' part of 2012 season

“Promises, Promises,” the 1968 musical with a book by Neil Simon and a score by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, will be part of the 2012 season at the Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace, a spokesman for the theater said Monday.

Gotta sing. Gotta dance. For the boys.

THEATER REVIEW: "For the Boys" at the Marriott Theatre ★★½ ... Early in this premiering stage musical based on the 1991 Bette Midler movie, a young woman called Dixie Leonard arrives in World War II London to perform with her new partner, Eddie Sparks.

Artistic Home is headed to Stage 773

The Artistic Home is moving to Stage 773. The small Chicago theater company said Thursday that it will stage its entire 2011-12 season at the larger theater, beginning in October with Eugene O'Neill's "A Touch of the Poet."  (Oct. 2 to Nov. 6 at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave.; tickets $28-$32 at 773-327-5252 or theartistichome.org)

'For the Boys' is the musical made on Marriott's homefront

When a major regional theater outside New York develops a new musical, there's almost always a commercial producer involved. That commercial producer invariably comes with his or her checkbook.

Great chemistry in 'Whirled News Tonight'; little truth in 'Strangers & Romance'

NINA METZ reviews the long-running show at iO and a pair of one-acts by Strangeloop Theatre.

A man and a woman, talking nukes in the woods

THEATER REVIEW: "A Walk in the Woods" ★★½ by TimeLine Theatre at Theater Wit ... Lee Blessing's 1986 play, once a very timely two-character play about the early-'80s arms negotiations over intermediate-range nuclear forces, faces a brave, or maybe not so brave, new world order.

Up next at Second City? A new theater in Piper's Alley

Despite the famously lengthy titles of its revues, the Second City has come up with a very short name for its new venue in the Piper’s Alley complex on Chicago’s North Side: “Up.”

Drury Lane serves up a riveting, blood-red 'Sweeney Todd'

THEATER REVIEW: "Sweeney Todd" ★★★½ at Drury Lane Theatre ... Blood-red chaos, "a city on fire," is as crucial to any production of Stephen Sondheim's musical as those silver razers are to the famously vengeful barber.

Timothy Douglas' plans for 'shaking down' Remy Bumppo

"Well, let's be honest," said Timothy Douglas, over a coffee in Evanston the other day. "There aren't many people who look like me running theater companies that look like Remy Bumppo."

Make way again for the Molly! 'Christmas Schooner' sails into Mercury

"The Christmas Schooner" will dock again for the holidays on the North Side of Chicago. 

Jessie Mueller is cast with Harry Connick Jr. on Broadway

A young Chicago actress without a single Broadway credit to her name gets picked for a major new Broadway musical - that alone would be the stuff of dreams. But Jessie Mueller has done much, much better than that.

'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 at the Center announces 2012 plans

Theatre at the Center, the Equity musical house in Munster, Ind., has announced its 2012 season. The company operates on the calendar year.

Old Town School gets into theater biz with premiere of Chitlin' Circuit musical

The Old Town School of Folk Music is producing a theater piece for the first time in its 425-seat venue in Lincoln Square.

'Jersey Boys' returning to Chicago for 9-week encore next spring

"Jersey Boys" is coming back to Chicago. The current national tour of the hit musical about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons has been booked for nine more weeks in Chicago, back at the Bank of America Theatre.

Boundless talent in 'Sky's the Limit'

THEATER REVIEW: "Sky's the Limit (Weather Permitting)" at Second City e.t.c. ★★★½
The title is equally infused by an optimistic spirit and the sense that you really can't trust your power to stay on for long these days.