CHICAGO – Fact or fiction is a current debate in news programming, especially as people naturally digest “the news” that makes them comfortable. A new five-episode web series created by filmmaker Ashton Swinford, “Miss Information,” is a satire-oriented show that seeks to entertain and educate viewers on the bias, fake news and bot infiltration that litters social media.
HollywoodChicago.com Theater Reviews & Interviews
Interview: Actor David Dastmalchian on His Remarkable Film ‘Animals’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 21, 2015 - 1:42pmCHICAGO – Sometimes you just need a break, that small window of opportunity to burst through and make the mark. Actor David Dastmalchian knows all about that phenomenon, as he produced and starred in his semi-autobiographical film “Animals,” and got the break of a lifetime landing a role in the film, “The Dark Knight.”
Theater Review: ‘Down the Moonlit Path’ a Sensational, Interpersonal Stage Experience
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 16, 2015 - 9:50amCHICAGO – The power of creativity, and the risk of live theater, is all on display through Nothing Without a Company’s latest amazing journey, “Down the Moonlit Path.” The interactive stage experience refreshes the soul and realizes the joy of life.
Theatre Review: Hans Christian Andersen’s ‘The Princess and the Pea’ Gets Modern Makeover at The Marriott
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on March 14, 2015 - 10:42pmCHICAGO – Merging old-fashioned chivalry with modern-day TV screens, The Marriott Theatre for Young Audiences is currently staging a smile-inducing, family friendly reimagining of Hans Christian Andersen’s beloved fairy tale “The Princess and the Pea”.
Theater Review: Brown Paper Box Co. Stages Pointed ‘Spike Heels’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 29, 2015 - 3:40pmCHICAGO – If you can remember the 1990s outside of childhood, you are in the glow of middle age, so congratulations. The Brown Paper Box Co. theater ensemble takes us back to those thrilling days of yesteryear with “Spike Heels,” a relationship comedy centering on the co-mingling antics of two couples, with a slight nod toward George Bernard Shaw and the play “Pygmalion” (or its musical counterpart, “My Fair Lady”).
Theater Review: ‘The Book of Merman’ Should Satisfy Both Sets of Fans
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 23, 2015 - 12:08pmCHICAGO – One potential theater-goer loves the “The Book of Mormon.” The other would rather stay home and watch old Ethel Merman YouTube videos. Pride Films & Theater offers the ultimate solution by combining both in a campy musical, “The Book of Merman.” Yep, two Elder characters from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints meets foghorn singer Ethel Merman.
Theater Review: Step Up Productions Gives the Gift of ‘HoliDaze’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 11, 2014 - 9:30pm- A Couple of Nobodies
- Aline Lathrop
- Christmas
- Christmas Armaments
- Christmas at the Staples Center
- Dana Lynn Formby
- Gift Horse Grill
- Holiday
- HoliDaze
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- Joshua Rollins
- Kristiana Rae Colón
- Lunch Box Love
- Patrick McDonald
- Perfect Space
- Step Up Productions
- Steven Peterson
- Theater
- Yule
- Theater, TV, DVD & Blu-Ray
CHICAGO – Need a break from the noise of the holidays? Step Up Productions, – in residence at Chicago Dramatists Theater – present “HoliDaze,” a collection of six one-act plays, all dealing with the nature and nurture of the season. The showcase runs through December 21st, 2014.
Theater Review: ‘Carrie: The Musical’ is Surprisingly Serious
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 5, 2014 - 7:01amCHICAGO – Some people spend the rest of their lives trying to compensate for slights felt in high school – that social jungle is staged in “Carrie: The Musical.” Based on Stephen King’s novel, the story of Carrie White is presented as an adversarial tale by Bailiwick Chicago at Victory Gardens Theater.
Theater Review: ‘Hair’ Still Shines at American Theater Company
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 3, 2014 - 11:09amCHICAGO – At intermission, I remarked to a fellow theater patron that the musical “Hair,” presented by the American Theater Company (ATC) of Chicago, still has a solid impact. His logical reply, “it’s hard to mess this one up.” The ATC does the classic hippie musical proud, with a raucous rendition.
Theater Review: A Star Blazes in ‘Marilyn Monroe, Whoever You Are’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 29, 2014 - 1:50pmCHICAGO – The many sides of the mega film legend Marilyn Monroe was like a prism in an ever-changing kaleidoscope. Yet somehow actor and playwright Amber Hargroder was able to capture Monroe’s essence in a one woman show.
Theater Review: Passionate ‘Hit the Wall’ Feels Like Revolution
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 9, 2014 - 12:59pmCHICAGO – There are few civil rights events shrouded in mystery like the Stonewall Inn Riots – a June night in 1969 in New York City, when gay liberation was born. Witnesses and participants in the riots have grown exponentially over the years (“I was there.”) and the who, what and how the riots began have also been in dispute as time goes by. All of that perspective is realized in Ike Holter’s incendiary stage play “Hit the Wall,” presented by the Chicago Commercial Collective at the Greenhouse Theater in Chicago.
Theater Review: Dark Souls Congregate in UrbanTheater Company’s ‘Devil Land’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 15, 2014 - 4:04pmCHICAGO – Insanity is often a shared phenomenon. One family member can drive another family member over the brink, an incident can break collective spirits and indulgence in religion can alter perspectives. All the bleak darkness of these mental incapacities are on display in the Midwest Premiere of the UrbanTheater Company stage production of “Devil Land.”
Theater Review: Mary-Arrchie Theatre Serves ‘Crime and Punishment’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on February 12, 2014 - 5:04pmCHICAGO – The epic Russian novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, “Crime and Punishment,” gets a condensing by Mary-Arrchie Theatre Company, as the morality in the book is rendered into a palatable 95 minute stage version, directed by theatre founder and Artistic Director Richard Cotovsky.
