December 2024 – Chicago Theater and Arts

Calling Chicago Theatre Aficianados

Goodman Theatre tops Jeff Equity nominations (Photo courtesy of Goodman Theatre) — (Photo courtesy of Goodman Theatre)

From Chicago Shakespeare Theater and Goodman Theatre to Second City and Steppenwolf Theatre Company, tickets to shows across the Chicago area go on sale right after the new year begins. (The Hashtag is #CTW25)

Mark the calendar for 10 a.m. Jan. 7, 2025 to get in on sale tickets for ChicagoTheatreWeek.com. CTW is Feb. 6-16, 2025. But tickets at the $15, $30 or less will quickly disappear.

HotTix.org will host Chicago Theatre Week from Feb. 17 to 23, 2025 which will extend Theatre Week discounts to participating productions for an additional week.

Short list of participating theater shows

Sondra Radvanovsky in Concert – Lyric Opera

Singin’ In the Rain in Concert – Lyric Opera

A Raisin in the Sun – Court Theatre

Beautiful – The Carole King Musical – Drury Lane

Avaaz – Chicago Shakespeare Theater

The Heart Sellers – Northlight Theatre

Fool for Love – Steppenwolf Theatre Company

A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Betrayal – Goodman Theatre

Winter Series – Hubbard Street at Harris Theater for Music and Dance

Fat Ham – Goodman Theatre and Definition Theatre

Waitress – Paramount Theatre

Salonen Conducts Bluebeard’s Castle – Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Kitty James and Destiny’s Trail to Oregon – The Factory Theatre

A Lie of the Mind – Raven Theatre

MFA Collaboration: Wink – Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts

Native Gardens – Buffalo Theatre Ensemble

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – Marriott Theatre Lincolnshire

Teatro Zin Zanni

Complexions Contemporary Ballet at Auditorium Theatre

Whirled News Tonight – iO Theater

The Infinite Wrench – The Neo-Futurists

Mr. Parker – Open Space Arts

Lobby Hero – Shattered Globe Theatre

The Devil’s is in the Detours – The Second City

Fun Home – Porchlight Music Theatre

The Cave – A Red Orchid Theatre

The Mannequins’ Ball – Trap Door Theatre

“Chicago Theatre Week is a time for exploration and discovery,” said League of Chicago Theatres Executive Director Marissa Lynn Jones. “It is a pleasure to bring new audiences to our treasured stages that bring talent from across the globe. Chicago is the home of the best theatre artists in the world with stories for all ages and experiences, ” said Jones.

Chicago Theatre Week is presented by the League of Chicago Theatres in partnership with Choose Chicago. Subscribe to the Theatre Week email newsletter for updates and announcements.

“Chicago offers one of the most dynamic performing arts scenes in the world,” said Choose Chicago Interim President. “I am proud to support Theatre Week in partnership with the League of Chicago Theatres.

ChicagoTheatreWeek.com. The official hashtag for Chicago Theatre Week 2025 is #CTW25.

Jodie Jacobs

Show review roundup from Chicago Theater and Arts

Reno Lovison picks for 2024

#1 – “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” at Goodman Theatre was best all around and also best new musical. Great energy, scenery, music, dance and general performance.

#2 -“Jersey Boys” at Mercury Theater is best revival. Well written story with awesome retro music well performed.

#3 – “Wells and Welles” by local playwright Amy Crider presented by Lucid Theatre was best two person play. Difficult choice because I also liked “Dear Elizabeth” and “Reclamation of Madison Hemings.”

#4 – “English” at Goodman was most thought provoking. Nice cross-cultural story. “The Long Christmas Dinner” by Thorton Wilder at TUTA Theater is a close second.

#5 – Best individual performance goes to Harry Lennix for “Inherit the Wind” at Goodman.

* Best new venue is Bramble Arts Loft, 5545 N. Clark Street, an unusual light and airy second floor loft space with elevator.

“Natasha, Pierre & the Comet of 1812” at Writers Theatre

Picks from Jodie Jacobs

#1 – “Natasha, Pierre & the Comet of 1812” at Writers Theatre as a complete, entertaining production. It had it all from great vocalizations and costuming to story line and exceptional acting.

#2 -“Every Brilliant Thing” at Writers Theatre. Jessie Fisher Fisher is brilliant in this one-persons show and so is the play written by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe. It likely touches many lives as it balances depression with hope.

#3 – “1776” as best revival at Marriott Theatre. Audiences might wonder what there is to say about the Declaration of Independence, a document written by Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, modified by some of the delegates to the Continental Congress and whose wording we presumably learned in elementary school. But under Nick Bowling’s direction the scene comes alive with terrific acting by a well-chosen cast and Tanji Harper’s choreography.

#4 -“Silent Sky” by Lauren Gunderson at Citadel Theatre, as most thought provoking. The well-acted play is about Henrietta Leavitt and other 19th century female astronomers who were not recognized at the time for their work because they were women.

#5 – “Rigoletto”at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Yes, opera is theater. It is drama, great voices, good staging and costuming even if you don’t care for the story. And even non-regular opera goers would recognize “La donna è mobile,” translated as “Woman is fickle.”

Dazzling Lights

Light up the night at Lightscape

Stroll a path you haven’t quite taken in the Chicago Botanic Garden. (Photo credit: Chicago Botanic Garden)

It’s just over a mile but it’s a December night so the air can be brisk. Bundle up or pick up hot chocolate or coffee along the way. Parts of the path may be familiar. However, that won’t matter. There are signs and helpers guiding the route.

The path is the Chicago Botanic Garden’s annual Lightscape event that seems to wander past and amidst multi-lit trees, pastures and geometric shapes. Opened Nov. 15, 2024 and continuing through Jan. 5, 2025. the path is glorious!

The Cathedral at Lightscape. (J Jacobs photo).

But the route is also practical. Just about two-thirds through when you could use a whatever break, you reach the education building with its restrooms, snack bars and tables.

Then, continue past more beautifully lit landscapes to the finish after walking through the”Cathedral,” a multi-lit archway kind of tunnel.

What you need to know: The event is by timed entry that begins at dusk – 4:30 p.m. and goes usually to 9 p.m. depending on the date.

For tickets and more information visit Lightscape | Chicago Botanic Garden.

Jodie Jacobs

Best holiday shopping

Art Institue of Chicago has a great gift shop (J Jacobs photo) — Art Institute of Chicago has a great gift shop (J Jacobs photo)

For holiday shopping at its best – meaning taking out the hassle and stirring in fun, consider these two ideas.

What: One of a Kind Show
Every year the One a Kind Show’s more than 600 artisans takes up a floor at The Mart. Yes, it’s that huge building facing the Chicago River that has changing light murals across its riverfront side.

First, wander its food aisle to find tasty treats from candy to cakes to take home or send. Then, check out the artisan booths where everything from paintings and jewelry to purses and glass items will have you adding your own wishes to those gifts your getting others.

When: Dec 5-Dec. 10 am-7 pm and Dec. 10 am-5 pm
Where: THE MART, 222 Merchandise Mart Plaza, Suite 470, Chicago, IL 60654, (312) 527-4141 and (800) 677-6278 toll free.

What: Combine Art Institute of Chicago galleries with its store in person or visit AIC’s shop on line. The Art Institute of Chicago is a world renown travel destination but it also has a great, well stocked gift shop. Look for artistic scarves, jewelry, note paper, glassware, puzzles, paperweights, stuff for kids and the home plus creative calendars and stationery. Shops are at both entrances so just stop by if not visiting an exhibition.

When: anytime on line. In person days open and hours, Mon 11–5, closed Tue-Wed. open Thu 11–8, Fri–Sun 11–5. Note first hour of every day, 10–11 a.m., is reserved for members.

Where: 111 S Michigan Ave., (front entrance) and 159 E. Monroe St, (Modern Wing entrance) Chicago, IL 60603.

Jodie Jacobs

An infinite and universal family story

L-R: Huy Nguyen, Matt Miles, Charlie Irving, Wain Parham, Alexis Primus. (Photo by Josh Bernaski)

Highly Recommended

Holidays have a unique way of punctuating our lives causing us to come together on an annual basis. Through this activity we assess alliances, trade information, and mark the passage of time.

In The Long Christmas Dinner by Thorton Wilder presented by TUTA Theatre and directed by co-artistic director Jacqueline Stone, we join an affluent Midwestern family at their Christmas table sometime in the not-too-distant past.

But this is not just one dinner, it is a sequence of similar dinners seamlessly stitched together in a linear fashion showing the progression of events that affect this family over multiple generations.

Christmas dinner is the thread that unites the changing timeline but it all occurs in the same place. Over time, characters enter and exit each adding their individual stitch to the tapestry that is the story of this family.

Wilder is the master of the mundane, that is to say, the commonplace and earthly, but not necessarily boring. In The Long Christmas Dinner, like with his well-known play, Our Town, he illustrates that it is the seemingly trivial day-to-day activities that make up life.

He also suggests that families are not created only by blood relations but also through shared memories and shared experiences. These are the ties that bind.

In spite of the confined point in space represented, we are reminded of a larger world through the Alaskan adventures of Uncle Branden (Wain Parham), the European dreams of Genevieve (Charlie Irving), and Young Roderick’s (Matt Miles) entry into WWII.

Likewise, the wives who have entered the family weave in stories of their own including the matriarch Mother Bayard (Joan Merlo), Lucia (Alexis Primus) and Leonora (Seoyoung Park).

As a playwright, Wilder felt challenged to find devices that could compress time in order to tell a very large story within the limitations of a theatrical performance.

The characters blend time by referencing past events and by doing so showing us how they have a hand in shaping our present thoughts. We think what we think because of what we have learned from those who have passed before us and shared their lives with us. In that way the past is always with us.

Wilder does not shy away from death. He wants us to see that death, as well as new life, is part of the process. Life is happy, sad, and ordinary. There are conflicts large and small but things resolve in their own way in good time.

The Long Christmas Dinner is like a river we have stepped into at some point. It was clearly flowing before we entered and it and its tributaries will continue to flow after we leave its shores.

The relatively new Bramble Arts Loft in Andersonville is the chosen venue for this production which features an excellent ensemble expertly directed by Jacqueline Stone.

The light and airy facility is refreshing with two performance spaces. This takes place in the Beatrice Theatre configured as a half round of about 100 stadium style seats with good sightlines for all.

The stage is a platform with no wings or backstage area. It spotlights an early 20^th Century formal table setting on an oriental carpet with an opulent chandelier festooned with hundreds of tiny crystals hanging above. The room makes you immediately feel like you have been invited for dinner.

Details: The Long Christmas Dinner is presented by TUTA Theatre at the Bramble Arts Loft, 5545 N. Clark Street, Chicago, through December 26, 2024. Running time: 75 minutes with no intermission. For tickets and information visit www.tutatheatre.org.

Reno Lovison