![[Trans]formation](http://www.hollywoodchicago.com/sites/default/files/images/aTransfront.thumbnail.jpg "[Trans]formation")
CHICAGO – The great and lofty Steppenwolf Theatre of Chicago has brought the current political season right on target with “POTUS: Or Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive,” now extended through December 17th. Click POTUS.
HollywoodChicago.com Theater Reviews & Interviews
Podcast Talk: Allison Tolman & Lucas Neff of ABC-TV’s ‘Downward Dog’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 17, 2017 - 4:12pm- ABC-TV
- Allison Tolman
- Barry Rothbart
- Downward Dog
- Fargo
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- Interview
- Kirby Howell-Baptiste
- Lucas Neff
- Ned
- Patrick McDonald
- Pittsburgh
- Podcast
- Raising Hope
- Samm Hodges
- Steppenwolf Theatre Company
- Sundance Film Festival
- The Second City
- Theater
- University of Illinois-Chicago
- Web Series
- Theater, TV, DVD & Blu-Ray
CHICAGO – From “Mr. Ed” to “Dog with a Blog,” talking animals have had their place on TV. The latest has origins as a web series, with the clever title “Downward Dog.” The show premieres on Wednesday, May 17th, 2017 (9:30pEST/8:30pCST), on ABC TV, and features Ned the Dog as Martin, and human companions portrayed by Allison Tolman and Lucas Neff.
Theater Review: Nothing Without a Company’s ‘The Kid Thing’ is Fulfilling & Authentic
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 18, 2017 - 10:35am- Alaina Moore
- Anna Rose ii-Epstein
- Berger Mansion
- Donor
- Gabriel Fries
- Hannah Ii-Epstein
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- Jake Fruend
- LGBTQ
- Nothing Without a Company
- Patrick McDonald
- Samantha Michelle Nava
- Sarah Gubbins
- Shalyn Welch
- Taylor R. Craft
- The Kid Thing
- Theater
- Theater Review
- Theater, TV, DVD & Blu-Ray
CHICAGO – Like the awesome Engine Who Could, the mighty Nothing Without a Company stage crafters have constructed another triumph at their new home in Berger Mansion on Chicago’s north side. “The Kid Thing” – written by Sarah Gubbins – is a terse, convincing and emotional play about fear, identity and breeding, and it is performed by its cast of five with utter authenticity. The show has a Thursday-Sunday run at the Berger North Mansion through April 15th, 2017. Click here for more details, including ticket information.
Theater Review: Ease on Down to Kokandy’s Sensational ‘The Wiz’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 15, 2017 - 5:31amCHICAGO – When stage theater can cause outbreaks of elation, celebration and joy, then it must be due to Kokandy Productions’ revival of “The Wiz.” The urban reinterpretation of “The Wizard of Oz” story – told through tuneful euphoria and jubilant dance – is ecstatically produced, in every morsel of its stagecraft.
Theater Review: John Michael is Really Cooking in ‘Meatball Seance’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 6, 2017 - 9:33amCHICAGO – Currently, one of the best monologists in Chicago – and certainly one of the nuttiest – is John Michael. After notorious and successful runs of his last two one-man shows, “John Michael and the Order of the Penix” and “Dementia Me,’ Michael is taking on his dating life once again in the fun and hilarious “Meatball Seance.” The show has a Thursday night slot at Mary’s Attic in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood through April 6th, 2017. Click here for more details, including ticket information.
Theater Review: Collaboraction Exposes the ‘Gender Breakdown’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 4, 2017 - 9:01am- Aimy Tien
- Brianna Buckley
- Carolyn Sinon
- Collaboraction Studios
- Dani Bryant
- Erica Vannon
- Gender Breakdown
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- Jazmin Corona
- Kamille Dawkins
- Kate Hawbacker-Krohn
- Mia Vivens
- Patrick McDonald
- Priya Mohanty
- Rula Gardenier
- Siobhan Marguerite Reddy-Best
- Theater
- Wicker Park
- Theater, TV, DVD & Blu-Ray
CHICAGO – In a spectacular original work, the power of the theater comments upon the inequity of “types” for women performers in the theater and other media. Collaboration’s “Gender Breakdown” is a performance piece on how women are subject to many cattle calls just based on how they look, and how certain women – especially those of color and ethnicity – will not even be considered for roles that involve romance or portraying a lead protagonist, for example…even when doing scene training in college. The stories are direct and authentic, and burst from the hearts of the storytellers. It runs in Chicago through March 19th, 2017 (see link below).
Theater Review: Brown Paper Box Co. Dances ‘The Baltimore Waltz’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 29, 2017 - 10:54amCHICAGO – During the scourge of the AIDS epidemic, at its height in the late 1980s, a playwright lost her brother to the condition. Inspired by him, Paula Vogel wrote “The Baltimore Waltz,” a story about her and her brother’s travels through Europe – and filtered through the prism of fantasy and the movies. The Brown Paper Box Company presents a re-staging of the play in Chicago through February 19th, 2017.
Theater Review: Morality of Gender Identity on Display in ‘[Trans]formation’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 19, 2016 - 8:31pmCHICAGO – The issue of gender identity, especially for those who are born with a vagueness as to what to call themselves between/beyond boy and girl, has come front and center in the U.S., both with the legalization of gay marriage and the callous repudiation of identity by trying to pass laws dismissing it (the North Carolina “bathroom” laws). The performance companies of The Living Canvas and Nothing Without a Company is currently staging “[Trans]formation,” which presents gender identity art by six performers, who perform most of the play in the nude.
Theater News: Rich Cotovsky at Final ‘Abbie Hoffman Died for Our Sins’ Fest From Aug. 19-21, 2016
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 19, 2016 - 7:04amCHICAGO – It’s 3am on Saturday night/Sunday morning on August 20th, and you’re just not ready to quit. How about indulging in the 2016 “Abbie Hoffman Died for Our Sins” Theater Festival? The three-day theater marathon is in its 28th edition, and will be sponsored for the final time by the Mary-Arrchie Theatre Company, and hosted by the “Godfather of Storefront Theater,” Rich Cotovsky. It all takes place at the Den Theatre, 1333 N. Milwaukee in Chicago (details below).
Theater Review: Brown Paper Box Co. Exuberantly Pursues ‘Now. Here. This.’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 31, 2016 - 10:39amCHICAGO – The Brown Paper Box Co., which embodies the passion and simplistic beauty of the storefront theater tradition, presents another fantastic and insightful musical, “Now. Here. This.” Director M. William Panek guides a splendid cast of two women and two men in a reflective, modern day morality tale.
Theater Review: ‘The King and I’ at Lyric Opera of Chicago
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 5, 2016 - 10:11amCHICAGO – The venerable musical “The King and I,” by the legendary team of (Richard) Rodgers and (Oscar) Hammerstein, is now 65 years old. The Lyric Opera of Chicago is injecting fresh life into this senior aged play, with a sumptuous new production that is top drawer at every level.
Theater Review: ‘New Country’ is Original, Exuberant & Poignant
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 23, 2016 - 3:47pmCHICAGO – The Country Music industry has become as huge as any category of music entertainment. So Mark Roberts, the creator of the TV sitcom “Mike & Molly,” has fashioned a boisterous new play about the machinations of that genre of music industry, and gave it the plaintive title of “New Country.”
Theater Review: Chicago Lyric Opera’s Energetic ‘Romeo and Juliet’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 1, 2016 - 10:39amCHICAGO – The familiar story of the “star crossed lovers” by William Shakespeare, “Romeo and Juliet,” has been given as many interpretations over the years as there are stars in the sky. The Lyric Opera of Chicago presents the operatic French version, with a bright and venerate staging.
