October 2025 - Stage and Cinema
Album Review: TATUM’S SWINGIN’ SESSION!!! (Tatum Langley and Shout Section Big Band) | Stage and Cinema
Album Review: TATUM’S SWINGIN’ SESSION!!! (Tatum Langley and Shout Section Big Band) | Stage and Cinema
PROOF THAT SWING HASN’T GONE OUT OF STYLE If you think big band jazz is a museum piece, Tatum’s Swingin’ Session!!! will blow that notion clear off the bandstand. Under the sharp direction of Brett Dean, Chicago’s own Shout Section Big Band brings brassy swagger and airtight polish to fourteen tracks that feel both reverently… The post Album Review: TATUM’S SWINGIN’ SESSION!!! (Tatum Langley and Shout Section Big Band) appeared first on Stage and Cinema.| Stage and Cinema
YOU’RE NEVER GOING TO SEE A BETTER PRODUCTION OF THIS EVERGREEN MUSICAL. JUST BRING SOME CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM. How do you solve a problem like the schmaltz in The Sound of Music? Or even, how do you review a populist juggernaut like The Sound of Music? It’s been sixty-five years since its first appearance on Broadway… The post Theater Review: THE SOUND OF MUSIC (National Tour at The Nederlander in Chicago) appeared first on Stage and Cinema.| Stage and Cinema
THANKS TO ANTAEUS, CYMBELINE RIDES AGAIN Who knew Cymbeline could gallop? Director Nike Doukas’s new staging at Antaeus Theatre Company turns one of Shakespeare’s most notoriously unwieldy plays into something brisk, lucid, and surprisingly delightful. Though often dismissed as a late-period jumble, this Cymbeline proves that with intelligence and judicious trimming, even Shakespeare’s strangest hybrids… The post Theater Review: CYMBELINE (Antaeus Theatre Company in Glendale) appeared...| Stage and Cinema
ROXIE’S BACK IN TOWN! MY KIND OF PLAY, CHICAGO IS In Jazz Age Chicago, 1924 to be precise, Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner were tried and subsequently acquitted of murder. A young Tribune reporter and aspiring writer, Maurine Dallas Watkins, covered the two (unrelated) murder cases for the paper and later used them as inspiration… The post Theater Review: CHICAGO: QUEERLY ADAPTED FROM THE PLAY YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF THAT INSPIRED THE MUSICAL YOU CAN’T GET AWAY FROM (Redtwist) appeared ...| Stage and Cinema
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA OFFERS UNITY THROUGH AN ABSURDIST GROUP THERAPY SESSION I had no idea what I was walking into when I drove out to the Pasadena Playhouse (more than an hour’s drive during traffic) to see absurdist clown Julia Masli entertain the crowd at a 70-minute absurdist clown’s group therapy… The post Theater Review: JULIA MASLI: HA HA HA HA HA HA HA (Pasadena Playhouse) appeared first on Stage and Cinema.| Stage and Cinema
Angelin Preljocaj has carved out a daring niche in the dance world, fusing classical ballet with contemporary flair to invent a unique, bold alphabet of movements. Now, the US premiere of Ballet Preljocaj’s Gravity is at The Joyce Theater, and it is an amazing experience, a meditation on the invisible force that binds us all.… The post Dance Review: GRAVITY (Ballet Preljocaj, The Joyce) appeared first on Stage and Cinema.| Stage and Cinema
STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT: TALKING, WALKING, TALKING SOME MORE “A guy walks into a bar…” That action is the first line in a long line of jokes, and it is what happens early on in A Night Like This, but its serious look at sadness is no joke. It takes place at Christmastime, although the… The post Film Review: A NIGHT LIKE THIS (Directed by Liam Calvert) appeared first on Stage and Cinema.| Stage and Cinema
GAY LOVE, PRIVACY, MYSTERY, NUDITY, AND COWS Those who prefer fast-moving plots, in a confusion-free zone so that it’s always clear what’s going on in the story and in the characters’ heads won’t have only good things to say about Only Good Things, even if they feel drawn in by the film’s drawn-out story centering… The post Film Review: ONLY GOOD THINGS (directed by Daniel Nolasco) appeared first on Stage and Cinema.| Stage and Cinema
LOVE IN UNEXPECTED PLACES Two women, from quite different backgrounds, meet in Boston in 1968, a time and a place where ancient grudges and present-day conflicts seem sure to keep them apart. And yet, their very differences bring them together. Adriana Alvarez (Jo) and Tara Forseth (Mary) convincingly portray a transformation from friendly kindness to… The post Theater Review: MOTHER MARY (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre) appeared first on Stage and Cinema.| Stage and Cinema
A LOVELY SURPRISE The focus of the first program in the 28th season of Rob Kapilow’s “What Makes It Great,” was Franz Joseph Haydn’s String Quartet in G Major, known as “Jack-in-the Box.” With his signature wit and energy, celebrity conductor and music educator Rob Kapilow entertained and educated about this particular string quartet and… The post Concert Review: THE GENIUS OF HAYDN (“What Makes It Great” with Rob Kapilow at Jordan Hall) appeared first on Stage and Cinema.| Stage and Cinema
SOMETHING WITH SILLINESS, SERIOUSNESS, SASS, SCHEMING, AND SEX TALK In real life, being patient with impatient, impulsive teenagers who are also snarky, sneaky, disagreeable and disrespectful can age and enrage adults. However, fictional versions of such young folks and their follies and frenzies can be funny and/or dramatically involving. Many movies, novels, plays, and TV… The post Film Review: SHE’S THE HE (directed by Siobhan McCarthy) appeared first on Stage and Cinema.| Stage and Cinema
HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF ETTA JAMES? MUSE/IQUE SCHOOLS US IN SOUL Presented by MUSE/IQUE at The Huntington Library and The Skirball MUSE/IQUE’s concerts have never been simple performances; they’re living history lessons that turn scholarship into celebration. Under the meticulous leadership of Artistic and Music Director Rachael Worby, the Pasadena-based ensemble has carved a… The post Concert Review: HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF ETTA JAMES? (MUSE/IQUE at The Skirball) appeared first on Stage ...| Stage and Cinema
The Bent Theatre Company Tackles – and Conquers – Part 2 of Matthew Lopez’s Epic The Inheritance This past May, Palm Springs’ LGBTQ+ company The Bent Theatre staged The Inheritance, Part 1 as the final offering of their third season. They were justifiably proud to be the first non-professional theatre on the West Coast granted… The post Theater Review: THE INHERITANCE, PART 2 (The Bent) appeared first on Stage and Cinema.| Stage and Cinema
A revolution without an end game misses the mark, but only by this much. Babes With Blades, a theatre company that uses stage combat to create striking, thought-provoking theatre, presents a world premiere production at the Edge Theatre in Edgewater. Ensemble member Jillian Leff’s The Mark is a dystopian drama that examines a society that… The post Theater Review: THE MARK (Babes With Blades Theatre Company at the Edge) appeared first on Stage and Cinema.| Stage and Cinema
A REVOLUTION LOST IN THE (BEAUTIFUL) NOISE Revolution(s) is the first Owen Theatre production of Goodman’s centennial celebration. With a book by Zayd Ayers Dohrn and music and lyrics by multiple Grammy winning, rap-metal legend Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave), the musical examines the effects of transgenerational economic and racial injustice in modern… The post Theater Review: REVOLUTION(S) (Goodman Theatre) appeared first on Stage and Cinema.| Stage and Cinema
A KNOCKOUT OF CONSCIENCE NOW BECOMES A STREAM OF CONSCIENCE Stage and Cinema called the visceral and relevant Broadway hit Punch “a knockout of conscience.” Now, Manhattan Theatre Club is giving audiences everywhere the chance to see what Broadway has been raving about when Punch streams live from the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre during its… The post Highly Recommended Broadway Streaming: PUNCH (Manhattan Theatre Club, League of Live Stream Theater) appeared first on Stage and Cinema.| Stage and Cinema
Classic table games offer an enjoyable experience that combines strategy, focus, and analytical thinking. Especially in long-standing games like chess, checkers, or backgammon, certain methods stand out to increase your chances of winning. At this point, making the right moves at the right time is just as important as reading your opponent’s tactics. While researching… The post A DETAILED OVERVIEW OF STRATEGIES TO WIN IN CLASSIC TABLE GAMES appeared first on Stage and Cinema.| Stage and Cinema
Step backstage at any performance and you’ll see nerves, anticipation, and last-minute choices—all fueled by instinct as much as rehearsal. In the performing arts, that gut feeling isn’t just stage fright. It’s a powerful force guiding every bold entrance, risky improvisation, or directorial curveball. While preparation lays the groundwork, the truly unforgettable moments are often… The post GUT INSTINCTS AND CURTAIN CALLS appeared first on Stage and Cinema.| Stage and Cinema
A CIRCUS OF CULTURE, A CABARET OF CONSCIENCE: STEP RIGHT UP TO THE UNITED STATES OF ZINZANNI The gorgeous Art Deco Spielgeltent still sits on the fourteenth floor of the Cambria Hotel in the Chicago Loop. The front staff are still exquisitely attired and well-mannered as they guide you to your table where, as always,… The post Theater Review TEATRO ZINZANNI CHICAGO (New Show for Fall/Winter, 2025-26) appeared first on Stage and Cinema.| Stage and Cinema
Explore how theatre and film capture the essence of human creativity. Discover insights into performance, storytelling, and emotion—plus expert tips for preparing for the Versant English Test with confidence.| Stage and Cinema
[Contributing writer: Nick McCall] The Radiant Disorder of Tim Venable’s Teenage Inferno Rogue Machine is presenting Tim Venable’s intense and disquieting new play Adolescent Salvation, which arrives not as a tidy debutante but as a brilliant troublemaker. It lurches, it burns, it contradicts itself. It is alive in ways most new plays are not. Venable […]| Stage and Cinema
AN AUTHENTIC, FUNNY ACCOUNT OF SOBRIETY, STUMBLES, AND SURVIVAL Recovery from substance abuse isn’t just about putting down the drug of choice and living happily ever after. The “recovery” part then starts. It involves dealing with who you are in the world without being drunk, stoned or high. It becomes a lifelong process of self-examination. […]| Stage and Cinema
WHO NEEDS A HEALTHY CORTEX WHEN YOU’VE GOT THIRTY-TWO SHOWSTOPPERS? The urge to create has served as a muse for countless forms of art: literature, opera, film, and theatre are littered with examples of the form. Opening the new season of Pride Arts at Center on Halsted A New Brain, a musical by multiple Tony winners, […]| Stage and Cinema
MOTHERFUCKER! WHAT A COLOSSAL MISSED OPPORTUNITY With heightened and relentless dialog, Stephen Adly Guirgis’s The Motherfucker with the Hat follows Jackie, a recently paroled ex-con and recovering addict whose fragile new life teeters when he finds an unfamiliar hat in his girlfriend Veronica’s apartment. The discovery ignites suspicions of betrayal that ripple through his relationships—with […]| Stage and Cinema
Let there be no mistaking it, Mark Vigeant is so funny that if he was performing on an amphitheater set up in front of Mount Rushmore, after the first five minutes milk would be shooting out of Lincoln’s nose, Washington would be laughing so hard his cumbersome dentures would go flying out of his mouth, […]| Stage and Cinema
