The Broadway tour of To Kill A Mockingbird, Aaron Sorkin’s stage adaptation of Harper Lee’s novel, just ended its stay in Chicago. Toward the beginning of the play, one of my initial thoughts was that Richard Thomas, who stars as Atticus Finch, is way shorter than he looks on TV. But things frequently aren’t… Continue Reading
Actor Jack O’Brien comes to Chicago soon with the national tour of Fiddler on the Roof – and for a brief homecoming. “I was here with Fiddler in 2018 at Christmastime and saw my family then. They are so ready to see more live theater,” O’Brien said. So much so, O’Brien said, that 20 friends… Continue Reading
After a two-year, COVID-19-related hiatus, Irish Theatre of Chicago recently returned to the stage with Brian Friel’s Molly Sweeney. The drama runs now through May 8 at the Chopin Theatre in Wicker Park. Mounting a show in what are sort-of post-pandemic times has been amazing and terrifying, said the show’s director, Siiri Scott. “We test… Continue Reading
Best Fest Buddy Tom and I recently headed out to the Rosemont Theatre to see the latest incarnation of Celtic Woman. With the pandemic apparently sort of over (or whatever the hell this phase might be), the act is once again on tour. This time it’s to support their most recent album, Postcards from Ireland.… Continue Reading
I spent a good portion of St. Patrick’s season with toddlers, and I’m glad that’s over. No, not the hanging with kids part, which continues. St. Patrick’s season, though: do they really need to be holding parades the first weekend in March for it? Who in their right mind drinks green beer? Corned beef… Continue Reading
By Mike Danahey Ash Wednesday was the perfect day to take in the opening night for the tour of the Tony-winning Broadway musical “Hadestown,” which plays the CIBC Theatre in the Loop through March 13. For starters, the show is set in a sort-of Depression era, sort-of Apocalyptic New Orleans that seems to be… Continue Reading
Heading to the parking garage Wednesday night after seeing the musical “Come From Away” at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, I had a flashback. A few days after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, I went downtown to see the original touring production of “The Full Monty” at the Shubert. The Loop was eerily… Continue Reading
The Broadway-bound musical Paradise Square is not based on Meatloaf’s Paradise by the Dashboard Light. And if you have two tickets to Paradise Square at the Nederlander in Chicago, please, for your show date’s sake, don’t start singing along to Eddie Money’s hit from the late 1970s. Glad we got that out of the way.… Continue Reading
We hit the 40th MKE Irish Fest this past Friday. It was a kilt-less journey as to not scare children or frighten farm animals. As is our custom, my friends and I traveled from the northwest Chicago suburbs to MKE Irish Fest via Route 31 and through the tiny Illinois-Wisconsin border town of Richmond, IL.… Continue Reading
March is Problem Gambling Awareness Month. No, it’s not because of St. Patrick’s Day and the alleged luck of the Irish. The luck of the Irish apparently was malarkey about how Irish migrant miners seemed to find good fortune during the Gold Rush in the American West back in the 1800s. It implied that the… Continue Reading