CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on March 21st, 2024, reviewing the new streaming series “Manhunt” – based on the bestseller by James L. Swanson – currently streaming on Apple TV+.
Theater
The House Theatre Stages Comeback With ‘Rose and the Rime’
Submitted by Alissa Norby on February 25, 2009 - 11:37pmPlay Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – While most of America’s eyes were glued to the television screens Sunday night to catch Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire” nab its gold, the celebrated underdog of Chicago theatre companies shyly began to spout its new wings.
Elizabeth Stanley Lifts ‘Xanadu’ to Place Where Nobody Dared to Go
Submitted by Alissa Norby on January 31, 2009 - 7:34pmPlay Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – If classics such as “A Chorus Line” and “Les Miserables” willfully suggest the existence of a secured, calculated recipe for a Broadway hit, Christopher Ashley’s “Xanadu” is a concoction that has once again gleefully tipped over this admittedly elusive boiling pot.
Maybe, Baby, Buddy Has Found New Groove in Chicago’s ‘Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on September 22, 2008 - 10:32pmPlay Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Wow! I feel like I’m at a rock concert!” “Me too. It’s like I want to rush the stage!”
While overhearing this conversation between two young women at the recent Chicago opening of “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story,” I realized there were no better words to sum up Drury Lane’s recent jukebox-blaring, toe-tapping homage to one of the greatest rock and rollers of all time.
Route 66’s ‘On an Average Day’ Brings the House Down at Chicago’s Victory Gardens
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on August 8, 2008 - 2:34pmPlay Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Chicago theatre often surprises its audiences in the notorious fizzling summer months by providing us what I like to call “Christmas in July”. In this case, though, it’s August and Santa has hopped onto Route 66.
Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s ‘Willy Wonka’ Sure to Satisfy Your Child’s Sweet Spot
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on July 21, 2008 - 2:32pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Ah, it’s summer again. Kids in Chicago are playing in the Millennium Park fountains, teenagers are flooding in to see the latest cinema blockbusters and families are enjoying Lake Michigan’s beaches.
‘Lookingglass Alice’ a Proud Chicago Work of Jibber Jabber, Nonsensical Wonderment
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on July 16, 2008 - 12:43pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – On the fourth of July in 1862, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson rowed a boat up the River Thames with 10-year-old Alice Liddell. Alice was the daughter of the new dean of Christ Church where Dodgson was employed as a lecturer in mathematics.
Chicago’s Goodman Theatre Sings Lively New Tune With Fats Waller’s ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on July 6, 2008 - 8:39pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – If you were to visit Harlem in the 1920s, you might have found yourself in a nightclub exploding with hot keys, cold booze and swingin’ dances about as far from the stylings of “So You Think You Can Dance” as possible.
‘Superior Donuts’ From Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright Tracy Letts a Chicago Dish, Albeit a Stale One
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on July 1, 2008 - 1:06amRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – I wouldn’t have wanted to be Tracy Letts on Saturday afternoon. After winning both the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award for his opus “August: Osage County,” he had to have been feeling the tremendous pressure being placed on his newest work and first comedy “Superior Donuts”.
Chicago’s ‘Relatively Close’ is Concrete Proof That Death is Easy, Comedy is Hard
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on June 17, 2008 - 11:30pmRating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Forget the Year of the Rat. This is the year of the dysfunctional family reunion.
With Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize-winning drama “August: Osage County,” the Broadway remounting of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” and the Tony-sweeping revival of “Gypsy,” 2008 has been saturated with some of the finest performances of relational drama that theatre has seen in years.
Raven Theatre’s ‘Laughter on the 23rd Floor’ Serves Justice to Neil Simon Masterpiece
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on June 10, 2008 - 10:58pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Part slapstick and part Henny Youngman-style one-liner schtick, “Laughter on the 23rd Floor” is a classic American comedy that still rings funny no matter how many times you’ve seen it.