Manual Cinema’s adaptation of Dickens’ Victorian ghost story sees a reluctant Chicago aunt recreating her late husband’s ...

Don’t be surprised if you recognize Charin Alvarez, as her extensive career in Chicago theater and film continues to grow. Alvarez has been acting in Chicago since 1996, and it would be simpler to ...

Chicago stages have been described as petri dishes for talent development, with the city seen as a particularly fertile launching pad for the stars of tomorrow, whether in acting, comedy, writing or ...

Sought-after choreographer Aszure Barton was named Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s second-ever resident artist in 2023 and has been adding gems to the company’s wide-ranging repertoire since. Two of ...

For centuries, lighting designers have been integral to bringing stories to life on stage, playing a noble role as an artist who avoids the spotlight to illuminate others. You know good lighting ...

This has been the season of composer Jeanine Tesori in Chicago. Her opera “Blue” had its much-anticipated Lyric Opera premiere last fall. Porchlight Music Theatre performed her Tony-winning “Fun Home” ...

It was the summer of 1980—the first season for American Players Theatre in rural Spring Green, Wisconsin. The company was performing “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” on the hilltop stage. William Borth, ...

The Saints have been a pillar of support for the cultural community for more than forty years, providing volunteer ushers to medium and small performing-arts companies throughout the Chicago area. The ...

The founder of Making a Difference Dancing (the M.A.D.D. part of the name) continues to do just that. His twenty-three-year-old organization, founded to disrupt the “school-to-prison pipeline,” has ...

Now in its thirty-first season, Writers Theatre continues its tradition of staging both new works and new interpretations of the classics. Artistic director Braden Abraham says that the Glencoe ...

Manual Cinema looks to establish a new, puppet-driven holiday classic in its second year at the Fine Arts Building. Northlight stages this Victorian mystery about a conniving husband who deceives his ...

I arrived late to the puppet cabaret, but my friend had kindly saved me a seat. A standing-room crowd filled the larger of two studios housed in an unassuming one-story brick building on Western ...