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Come From Away – Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre – Through Oct. 18, 2026

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The Marriott always does an amazing job moving people on, off and around their theater-in-the-round stage, but they may have outdone themselves, again. The twelve cast members are in constant motion, entering, exiting, moving set pieces, pretending to be on moving vehicles, playing multiple roles and, oh ya, doing some extremely fine acting and singing,

I don’t know how the responsibilities for the movement are divided between director and choreographer, but kudos to both, Jessica Fisch and Katie Spelman respectively.

And here’s something I’ve never done before – a shout out to the Dialect Coach, in this case, Sammi Grant. Her contribution was indirectly brought to my attention in Alex Goodrich’s opening when he mentioned the peculiar accent found in Newfoundland, which he described as part Irish, part Fargo.

I also would like to single out Justin Albinder, who played at least three or four very different characters with distinction, reminding me of fellow cast member Matt Crowle’s turn as nine members of the D’Ysquith family in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder at Porchlight Music Theatre in 2019.

You come away from Come From Away having seen a show that’s tearjerking, funny, and inspirational.

The Front Page – Northlight Theatre – Through October 25, 2026

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Another opening, another new theater. The Front Page is Northlight Theatre’s first production at its new 285-seat space in Evanston. The parking situation confused me, but I’m easily confused. Nice place to see a show.

This was the second play from 1928 that I saw this year, the first being Holiday at the Goodman Theater, which makes me wonder if someone will be producing Animal Crackers any day now.

It seems like just yesterday that I wrote about a different production of Front Page, though it actually was over eight years ago. The one constant – I am forever amused by the Earl Williams character hiding in the desk, a feature that I find more fun in person than in either of the filmed versions I’ve seen.

There are familiar faces in the cast, all doing good work, in this tight, well-paced comedy that provides some nice laughs, but the one actor I want to single out, appearing in a smallish, but delectable, role, is Tim Kazurinsky, as Pincus. Tim and I were at Second City about the same time. He was in the main stage cast and I . . . wasn’t, though I was able to procure a tragically unsuccessful audition. I’m sure that if we had ever spoken to each other we would have become fast friends. But he was busy flying around the theater, making a name for himself, and I was . . . around.

Play On! – Chicago Shakespeare Theater – Through October 18, 2026

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Turns out it wasn’t Duke Orsino of Illyria who said “If music be the food of love, play on,” but rather Duke Ellington of Harlem, at least in the world created on stage at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, in a show featuring hits such as It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing), Don’t Get Around Much Anymore and Mood Indigo.

Worked for me, as I prefer my Shakespeare to be nontraditional. For example, the last time I saw one from the bard at this eponymous theater was As You Like It, featuring 23 Beatles songs. Before that there were such pleasures as The Flying Karamazov Brothers performing in the Comedy of Errors; Gary Busey’s One Man Hamlet; The Second City’s Romeo and Juliet Musical: The People vs. Friar Laurence, The Man Who Killed Romeo and Juliet; and The Q Brothers presenting Othello the Remix.

The show features a host of wonderful performances and a great band. There’s never a dull moment, or, for that matter, a dull color among the jazz-age costumes.

New Faces Sing Broadway 1976 – Porchlight Music Theatre – The Biograph – Sept. 16, 2026

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New faces, new season, new venue. Add in a new director (long-time singing and acting favorite Lorenzo Rush Jr. stepping into the role for this show), a new host (the wonderful Erica Stephen, who wowed us in Cabaret, among other shows), and a new energy resulting from all of the above (I even walked up and down the stairs to the second floor theater instead of taking the elevator) and you’ve got a great evening.

The new venue gave the new director and the new faces a new freedom to explore staging and performance possibilities previously unavailable in these annual shows. So, instead of a parade of people walking on and off the stage, we had an actual set that allowed interaction throughout the night, thereby enhancing the experience and allowing performers to show off a little more of their personalities.

The event still features a few more unfamiliar songs than I would like, as there is very little room in my brain to process new information, but the mix was good, and the ever-present photos shown on a screen behind the stage and the background information articulated by Stephan were easily interesting enough to keep my mind from wandering. Not once, until now, did I think about John Dillinger having been shot as he left The Biograph after seeing Manhattan Melodrama. I do wish, however, that autocorrect would stop trying to change Biograph to Biography.

To add to everything else, there was actual room to mingle in the lobby and there were comfortable seats in this, the smaller of the two spaces in the building. I peeked into the larger one, which will be the site of Little Shop of Horrors, starting November 4, and it looked terrific. Suddenly I want to see more and can’t wait to see what Porchlight feeds me in that production.

Jazz Brunch – Storyville – Sundays

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The Storyville jazz infused, red-light district in New Orleans closed in 1917, or so I’m told, though you can revisit it in the 1992 movie of the same name.

One result of the closing was that famous jazz cornet player King Oliver left town and came to Chicago, followed a few years later by his mentee Louis Armstrong.

Neither of them was in attendance at brunch at Chicago’s Storyville establishment, not even for old times’ stake, but a nice trio led by guitarist Kevin Lipa entertained the patrons. As far as I can tell Lipa is not related to singer/songwriter Dua Lipa, who is someone I would know something about if I were a lot younger, or less clueless.

Kevin Lipa is a member of the band Bowmanville, named after the Chicago neighborhood where the only red lights are at intersections, but I’m not sure if the other two musicians were from that band as their names were not displayed. Hopefully they still get their share of the tips.

Consistent with the ambience, I went with the Blackened Shrimp n’ Grits. Tasty, but the grits were a little loose. Perhaps the chef was the witness from My Cousin Vinnie.

Next time I’ll take a double dose of cholesterol meds ahead of time and try the beignets.

Alex Edelman: What Are Your Going to Do – Steppenwolf Theatre – August 16, 2026

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My biggest takeaway from Edelman’s 75 minutes on stage was that, compared to him, I’m Rip Van Winkle. The man is a world class insomniac, which makes it all the more amazing that he has the energy to never stand still on stage, though perhaps it’s to prevent himself from dozing off in the middle of his own show, not that anyone could given the continuous laughter that he elicits from the audience with his unique reflections on life.

Edelman, perhaps above all else, is irreverent, but never irrelevant. His topics in this show ranged from being a hospital clown in Jerusalem to going on the road for two weeks with a Christian music tour to his collection of thousands of sea shells.

As in his Tony award-winning one-man show Just for Us (available on HBO), which I heartily recommend, Edelman addressed his heritage, his parents and his personal anxieties. As in The Big Bang Theory, where Sheldon often denied that he was insane, his mother having had him tested, Edelman told us several times that he wasn’t autistic, having been tested.

Luiz Ewerling & Amada – Night Out in the Parks – Washington Square Park – August 14, 2026

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Luiz Ewerling was born in 1958 in Southern Brazil and started playing the drums at age six, making his first television appearance two years later. What took him so long?

 He moved to the U.S. In 1984, bringing his roots with him, and possibly his drums, though he may have upgraded since then, judging by how good they sounded in the park.

The group was a joy to hear. As I know nothing about Brazilian music, I recorded a little on my phone and sent the recording to a knowledgeable friend, who gave me the following soundbite:

“The music is of a style called MPB, for Música Popular Brasileira, which first emerged at the end of the 1960s and mixes bossa nova with pop and so-called Tropicalista tendencies. I could also hear certain influences from Milton Nascimento and his crowd. Nice vocals too.”

As to those vocals, the singer was not Amada (which means beloved or loved one in Portuguese), but rather Ana Everling. As far as I know the similarities of her last name and Luiz’s is coincidental, as she is from Moldova, which is about 6500 miles from Brazil.

I found a good video of her with the band at the Old Town School of Folk Music that is very representational of their performance in the park. I have no idea what the translation of the lyrics might be, but they can’t possible sound as good in English.

Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares – Steppenwolf Theatre – August 9, 2026

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According to Laura Benanti, one of her daughters told her, in response to some personal revelation, that nobody cares.

Her daughter was wrong. I cared. Well, maybe not cared, but certainly enjoyed hearing about her life, through her particular off-kilter lens, as did the entire audience. It was a great show.

I had heard Benanti sing in radio highlights of her 2013 show In Constant Search Of The Right Kind Of Attention and in the wonderful, filmed version of the 2016 Broadway revival of She Loves Me. In person, even better.

I knew she was funny from the above and from her many TV appearances, but she’s even funnier than that. Great personal stories told with impeccable, comedic timing and highlighted by attention to every detail.

I didn’t know how well she moves her body. Not your average stand-up comedian or cabaret singer.

She also co-wrote the show’s original, funny, no-holds-barred songs with Todd Almond. Some of them contained lyrics that reminded me of material that Garfunkel and Oates (Riki Lindhome and Kate Micucci) used to put out, and that’s a good thing.

Champions of Magic – Studebaker Theatre – Through Sept. 2, 2026

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All seven reviews of Champions of Magic that I was aware of highly recommended it. If you’re looking for something to take your pre-teen grandchildren to, then go for it. They’ll probably have a great time, based on the enthusiasm of the kids when I attended, though I can’t personally relate based upon my youth.

As adult entertainment, unless you’re been living in a monastery your whole life, I would pass.

To be fair, there may have been awe-inspiring things in the second act, but I left at intermission, as did the two adults sitting next to me, having seen nothing I hadn’t seen before, and nothing that made these versions of old tricks stand out, not that I’m suggesting that I know how every illusion was done or that the craftsmanship was missing.

What often separates magicians is the quality of their banter, There was some decent back and forth between the performers and with the audience, and there was mild humor, all very professional, but, again, nothing memorable. The closest I came to excitement was when I almost got hit in the eye by a ping pong ball that was among the dozens launched from the stage.

Even the “death-defying” escape from a straightjacket was no match for the very old Penn and Teller version, which, though on the surface less dangerous than when performed in the manner done in Champions (a bear trap was involved), was far more entertaining.

If the regular magic shows around town aren’t enough for you, perhaps delay a trip to the Studebaker until Lucy Darling appears there in late September.  Past experience tells me that she’s a hoot.

 

Elaine Dame – Fourth Presbyterian Church Noonday Concert – July 24, 2026

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Elaine Dame let the crowd know right away not to request that she sing Old Man River, as it is not in her wheelhouse. Smart move.

She did, however, sing Moon River, and also played the flute for parts of it, though not simultaneously, which would have been something.

Her jazzy version of West Side Story’s Somewhere, while okay, did not have the emotional strength of the version sung by the four vocalists at the Grant Park Music Festival the night before.

I love jazz, but, in my opinion, layering that style of music just doesn’t make sense for every song. This profound revelation, along with Dame’s excellent scatting on some other songs, led me to wonder how composers feel about scat being added to their songs.

Out of laziness, and lack of concern for accuracy, I’m going all AI on you here. First, composers often write songs with scatting in mind and notated accordingly. Second, “songs that lend themselves best to scatting share specific traits, primarily up-tempo rhythms, jazz harmony, and repetitive or pentatonic melodic structures.” Third, singers like to ad lib different scats, even to the same song, but may defer to repetition of a scat that has become well known from a recording.

Dame included a Portuguese Samba song, the name of which I missed, as I don’t speak Portuguese. Dame admitted that she doesn’t either as she apologized in advance to anyone in the audience who did for any mispronunciations on her part. Turned out someone did, but I didn’t stick around afterward for any language lessons.

Local jazz guitarist favorite Andy Brown accompanied Dame and will be back as a headliner next week. I imagine he’ll also accompany his wife, Petra van Nuis, when she appears in three weeks.