Theater Top 10 in Chicago: ‘Moulin Rouge!’ to ‘King James,’ these coming shows will chase your winter blues away
With the omicron variant causing havoc over the busy holiday period, Chicago’s theaters finished up 2021 feeling battered and bruised, not unlike their audiences. And there’s no certainty that the winter plans outlined here are going to entirely come to fruition exactly as planned. Still, life goes on. Last year, we didn’t have a winter preview at all, so, right there, things are getting better.
With fingers crossed and hope soaring, here are 10 exciting winter theatrical attractions to make you feel better about the future.
“Blues in the Night”: Porchlight Music Theatre Chicago has cast the redoubtable Felicia P. Fields and Donica Lynn at the central of a show aiming to chase away any and all of your winter blues. The revue “Blues in the Night,” which features songs made famous by Bessie Smith, Duke Ellington, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen, Alberta Hunter, Jimmy Cox, Ida Cox and others, will this time be set in a historic hotel on Chicago’s South Side, somewhere in the late 1930s. The director and choreographer Kenny Ingram will heat things up from there. Jan. 15 to Feb. 27 at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn St.; 773-777-9884 and porchlightmusictheatre.org
“Come From Away”: Although modestly scaled and conceived, this musical about what happened when a fleet of aircraft were forced to land in Newfoundland, Canada following the crisis of Sept. 11, 2001, has turned into a great popular hit, especially on this national tour of Christopher Ashley’s original Broadway production. Its emotional message of togetherness, tolerance and the generosity of ordinary people has proven most applicable to this pandemic moment and if you’re looking for something warm and heartfelt, this production likely will fit the bill. Feb. 22 to March 6 at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph St.; 800-775-2000 and www.broadwayinchicago.com
“Gem of the Ocean”: The Goodman Theatre was one of the first in the nation to produce all 10 of August Wilson’s major plays and it’s now reached the point where it is ready for Round 2. “Gem of the Ocean,” which the Goodman premiered in 2003, is set in 1904 in Pittsburgh’s Hill District and thus could be seen as the beginning of Wilson’s famed cycle of dramas depicting the Black experience in each decade of the 20th century. Of course, Wilson didn’t write the plays in order; “Gem” came toward the end and thus is freighted with this great writer’s growing interest in myth and symbol as a way of unifying his ever-richer plays. The new production will be directed by the veteran Chuck Smith. Wilson fans should note that this was the play where we finally met Aunt Ester, a character who haunts so many of the other dramas. Lisa Gaye Dixon plays that role with Sharif Atkins as Citizen Barlow. Jan. 22 to Feb. 27 at the Goodman’s Albert Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St.; 312-443-3800 and www.goodmantheatre.org
“Groundhog Day”: Now here’s a title for the moment: the Broadway musical based on the iconic Bill Murray movie, as filmed in beautiful Woodstock, Illinois. The musical, poorly directed in its original 2017 production, always was better material than Broadway pundits realized and it will be fun to see it re-imagined at this frequently excellent suburban theater, where director Jim Corti takes the helm of a show that’s all about doing the same thing over and over and over again. Sound familiar? Jan. 26 to March 13 at Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora; 630-896-6666 and www.paramountaurora.com
“King James”: This new play (long postponed due to the pandemic) from Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble member Rajiv Joseph looks at the relationship between the basketball star LeBron James and the city of Cleveland. It’s not a biography of the great man himself but more of an exploration of how and what he offered a Rust Belt city struggling to find its way toward the future. If successful, the show likely will have a Broadway future and it’s the work here of Anna D. Shapiro, the former artistic director of Steppenwolf, who will be directing a cast that includes Glenn Davis, one of her two successors. March 3 to April 10 at Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St.; 312-335-1650 and www.steppenwolf.org
“Lucy and Charlie’s Honeymoon”: Lookingglass Theatre bows its first new, in-person show since before the pandemic with the February opening of this musical, directed by Amanda Dehnert and composed and written by one of the theater’s own artistic associates, Matthew Yee. “Lucy and Charlie’s Honeymoon” its all about a “quintessential” young American couple, renegades both, as they journey across America to an original soundtrack drawing from both American folk and the country and Western genre. Feb. 16 to April 10 at Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave.; 312-337-0665 or www.lookingglasstheatre.org
“Moulin Rouge! The Musical”: An ebullient jukebox musical that samples songs by everyone from Edith Piaf to Mick Jagger to Katy Perry, this decadent celebration and live translation of Baz Luhrmann’s widely beloved 2001 movie is headed to Chicago this winter for an extended run that likely will be crucial to the Loop’s hoped-for economic recovery in 2022. As I noted when I saw this red-velour extravaganza on Broadway in 2019, the show has two main attractions: One is the sheer number of songs to be heard. There are some 70 musical numbers (or fragments thereof) featuring the work of 161 songwriters of dizzying variety. The other is Derek McLane’s eye-popping extravaganza of a set, a celebration of romance and glamour. Feb. 26 to April 24 at the James M. Nederlander Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St.; 800-775-2000 and www.broadwayinchicago.com
“Queen of the Night”: After a long pandemic pause, Victory Gardens is returning to live performance this January with a new play by travis tate, staged by the incoming artistic director Ken-Matt Martin. “Queen of the Night” looks at the relationship between a divorced Black father and his gay son as the two try and re-create one of their camping trips from when the young man was still a kid. A reckoning ensues that explores many complex issues of the moment. Jan. 29 to March 13 at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave.; 773-871-3000 or www.victorygardens.org
“Relentless”: TimeLine Theatre returns to live performance with a new work by Tyla Abercrumbie developed by the theater and directed by Ron OJ Parson. Set in Philadelphia in 1919, “Relentless” focuses on two Black sisters returning home to settle their mother’s estate and also trying to reconcile themselves with their own family’s past. This is a homegrown world premiere penned by a woman long known as a talented Chicago actor. Jan. 19 to Feb. 26 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave.; 773-281-8463 and timelinetheatre.com
“Wife of a Salesman”: The winter offering at Writers Theatre is not Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” but Eleanor Burgess’ feminist riff on the iconic Miller play. In this new work, which the playwright says also was inspired by interviews with her grandmothers, Burgess aims to re-center a play focused on the malaise of its central male character and his sons. Herein, a character inspired by Linda Loman travels to Boston to confront the woman with whom her husband is having an affair. March 3 to April 3 at Writers Theater, 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe, 847-242-6000 and writerstheater.org
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
