When life and love have punched you in the heart and left you sprawled on the sidewalk, is it really possible to pick yourself up and expose your tender feelings again to the possibility of new love? Though it's cloaked in comedy, that's the central question in Northlight Theatre's Stella & Lou. This beautifully-constructed play, in which playwright Bruce Graham tempers his musings on loneliness and courage with quick-witted comedy based on human vanities, is a marvel in itself. With Rhea Perlman, formerly of the TV show Cheers, bringing out Stella's warmth, wise-cracking and down-to-earth …

  It comes as a bit of a shock to learn there were Jewish slave owners in the pre-Civil War South, and that they raised their slaves in their faith. That's the starting point for Matthew Lopez' "The Whipping Man" at Northlight Theater in Skokie. History confirms that small numbers of Jews of that time and place did hold slaves; Northlight is holding a series of discussions at suburban libraries to explore that phenomenon further. "The Whipping Man" begins just as the North has won the war and the South lies in ruins. The once-promising son of a wealthy Richmond home, Caleb DeLeon, played by …

  The Goodman Theatre's production of "A Christmas Carol" does not shy away from the dark, the frightening, and all those things we prefer not to think about. Indeed, this production uses stage wizardry to solidly confront us with many of the biggest fear factors in human life--poverty, sickness, loss, regrets and death.  Because of that, Ebenezer Scrooge's gradual emergence from the darkness into the light takes on a magnificent feeling of triumph. It's a fully cathartic experience.  This is the show's 35th year, and I've been seeing it, on a pretty regular basis, for about 13 years. Every …

  There are actors who recite Shakespeare, and there are actors who make Shakespeare come alive. Many of those in Writer’s Theater’s production of “Hamlet” make the words fly through the centuries and come out vibrant and compelling in 2012.  It’s a strong classical, ensemble production that, in director Michael Halberstam’s hands, has a sense of immediacy. For the newcomer to Shakespeare, the production makes the Bard’s words accessible, but Shakespeare lovers will also delight in its richness and nuance—and costumes, for that matter.  Costume designer David Hyman has draped the royals in …

  Ten minutes into "Amahl and the Night Visitors," a door behind the audience flings open, a light shines and graceful dancers, minimally dressed in beige, sway in camel-like motions. They lead a caravan of the Three Kings, each of whom wears a frame that supports a giant head made of papier mache, giving the impression that each king is about eight feet tall. It's a creative approach, and one that marks Petite Opera's production of Gian Carlo Menotti's "Amahl and the Night Visitors," which NBC commissioned 60 years ago for the then-new medium of television. It first aired during the 1951 …

When the lights come up on Metropolis Performing Arts Centre's production of "A Christmas Carol," they reveal Bob Cratchit's family sitting around their dining room table. That's a jolt for theater-goers accustomed to the traditional version of the show. It represents a radical re-working of the script by Scott Woldman, resident playwright at Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights, where the show runs through Dec. 24. The production has some fine acting, music, singing and dancing. The most notable thing about it, however, is the new script, which has some strengths as well as…

In England, the Christmas feasting and drinking continues for three days, from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day. That's a long time to be closed in with relatives, especially if you don't get along all that well. Alan Ayckbourn mines the comedy that scenario presents by taking one family's tensions from a simmer to a boil in "Seasons Greetings," playing at Northlight Theatre in Skokie through Dec. 18. The cast, an assortment of Chicago theater pros, nimbly portrays the oddball family members, who include a hypochondriac, a weapons freak, a mousy young woman, a doctor obsessed with putting on a …

Though New York captures much of the nation’s attention when it comes to live theater and stage originality — Chicago once again falling into its “Second City” moniker — there’s little denying the strength of Chicago’s theatrical heritage and the boom of its voice. From cutting edge theaters such as The Second City and Lookingglass to original works that have achieved commercial and critical acclaim — Grease and A Steady Rain being a historical and recent example, respectively — Chicago has the talent and ingenuity to match any of the nation’s marquee theater scenes.  Count A Twist of Water …

As Broadway classics go, Frank Loesser’s Guys and Dolls remains a timeless, energetic, and spirited hit. With an array of intriguing characters — from high-rolling gamblers and cabaret dancers to prayerful soul-savers — and a hearty love-infused premise backed by musical favorites such as “Luck Be a Lady” and “Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat,” Guys and Dolls enchants in character and dialogue, song and dance.             Of course, Guys and Dolls' 60-year presence on the American stage, a window that has witnessed revivals big and small, as well as audience and critical acclaim, challenges …

With Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Oakbrook Terrace's Drury Lane Theatre offers a performance as enduring and endearing as it is skilled and smooth. Headlined by Broadway veteran Steve Blanchard, who plays Adam with a rugged, captivating presence that places him as a man of the Old West era, and Abby Mueller, who grounds the character of Milly in a fun-loving, admirable grace, Seven Brides shares a timeless love story as relevant and pure in the fast-paced, tech-dominated 21st Century as in its 19th Century setting. Within the musical's first minutes, Adam, determined to return from town …

Down on Milwaukee Avenue, in Chicago's Jefferson Park neighborhood, the  Gift Theatre Company occupies a tiny storefront. It's an unusual spot for an Equity troupe, and an even odder place for such a significant local director as Sheldon Patinkin, whose theatrical work across Chicagoland dates back to the 1950s. It just goes to show how Chicago theater thrives. Just now, Patinkin and Gift are producing an intense revival of the Tony Award-nominated "The Lonesome West," the final play in Martin McDonagh's "Connemara Trilogy" about the shockingly murderous residents of a Western Ireland town…

Few of us wish to relive adolescence. And yet, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee places adolescent turmoil at the center of its world, forging a relationship with the audience that sparks empathy and enjoyment at a uniquely adolescent setting—a spelling bee. Playing at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights, Spelling Bee features six spellers—and four quickly eliminated audience members—competing for a spot in the national spelling bee finals. High on energy and substance, the musical comedy's spelling bee environment--set in a middle school gym complete with …