T.I.C. TOP LIST - The Highest Rated Shows In Chicago
The "Theatre In Chicago (T.I.C.) Top List" is a list of the top rated plays now running in the Chicago area based on what the current reviews are saying. To see all of the play reviews go to Review Round-Up.
A lean, tragicomic version of the Faustus story, An Apology … presents Doctor Faustus in the last hour of his final night on earth – irritated, whining, drunk, and repentant of nothing save his failure to keep a proper diary. Over the course of this hour he rails against his silent servant Mephistopheles and tells the fantastic tale of his life – a life filled with wonders, as well as an immeasurably vast evil.
Chicago Tribune-
Highly Recommended
Time Out Chicago-
Highly Recommended
Chicago Reader-
Highly Recommended
Chicago Theater Blog-
Highly Recommended
Gapers Block-
Highly Recommended
Chicago Stage Review-
Highly Recommended
Arthur Miller's quintessential masterpiece depicts an ordinary man, Willie Loman, a traveling salesman, in desperate pursuit of the American Dream for himself, his sympathetic wife, Linda and his two sons, Biff and Happy. Michael Menendian directs this revival, featuring Co-Artistic Director JoAnn Montemurro and Raven Ensemble Member Chuck Spencer as Linda and Willie Loman.
Chicago Tribune-
Recommended
Chicago Reader-
Highly Recommended
NewCity Chicago-
Highly Recommended
Windy City Times-
Highly Recommended
Chicago Free Press-
Highly Recommended
Copley News Service-
Highly Recommended
Talkin Broadway-
Highly Recommended
Chicago Theater Blog-
Highly Recommended
Chicagoist-
Highly Recommended
Edge-
Highly Recommended
ChicagoCritic-
Highly Recommended
Steadstyle Chicago-
Highly Recommended
Dee Gee Theatricals & John Cossette Productions at Apollo Theater
On December 4, 1956, an auspicious twist of fate brought together Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley. The place was Sun Records’ storefront studio in Memphis. The man who made it happen was the “Father of Rock-n-Roll,” Sam Phillips, who discovered them all. The four legends-to-be united for the only time in their careers for an impromptu recording session that embodied the birth of rock ‘n’ roll and has come to be known as one of the greatest rock jam sessions of all time.
From the tip-top of its super teased coif, to the bottom of its dynamic dancing toes, “You Can’t Stop the Beat” of this Broadway musical comedy phenomenon that inspired a major motion picture and won eight Tony awards, including Best Musical. Set in Baltimore in 1962, Hairspray is the story of the pleasantly plump teen, Tracy Turnblad, who will do whatever it takes to appear on the popular Corny Collins show and win the heart of Link Larkin, all without denting her ‘do. Direct from Broadway where it’s played for over 2,300 performances, Hairspray brings its hipness and hilarity to the Marriott stage.
This is the story of how four blue-collar kids became one of the greatest successes in pop music history. They wrote their own songs, invented their own sounds and sold 175 million records worldwide – all before they were thirty! JERSEY BOYS features their hit songs “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Rag Doll,” “Oh What a Night” and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.”
The revamped version of this entertaining musical features the reverential retelling of the Gospels of Matthew and John in a contemporary southern setting, set to bluegrass music. The award winning musical is based on the book The Cotton Patch Gospel of Matthew and John by Clarence Jordan, a Bible scholar and Civil Rights activist. Tom Key and Russell Treyz adapted Jordan's writtings and worked with the late Harry Chapin to create this musical stage version.
Chicago Tribune-
Recommended
Time Out Chicago-
Recommended
Chicago Reader-
Highly Recommended
Windy City Times-
Highly Recommended
Chicago Theater Blog-
Highly Recommended
ChicagoCritic-
Highly Recommended
Steadstyle Chicago-
Highly Recommended
Hamlet, Shakespeare’s greatest drama, is retold from the perspective of his schoolmates, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, in Tom Stoppard’s comedic masterpiece. Equal parts Laurel and Hardy, Waiting for Godot and classic Shakespeare, Stoppard’s scintillating wit, far-reaching imagination and astonishing skill with words traces the journey of these fascinating characters as they struggle to avoid the inevitability of the Bard’s tragic conclusion.
Chicago Tribune-
Somewhat Recommended
Chicago Sun Times-
Highly Recommended
Time Out Chicago-
Recommended
Chicago Reader-
Recommended
NewCity Chicago-
Highly Recommended
Windy City Times-
Highly Recommended
Copley News Service-
Highly Recommended
Chicago Theater Blog-
Highly Recommended
Chicagoist-
Highly Recommended
Edge-
Highly Recommended
ChicagoCritic-
Highly Recommended
Steadstyle Chicago-
Highly Recommended
Wanda Petronski speaks strangely, has a funny last name, and lives in the wrong part of town. Who would believe she has a closet full of one hundred beautiful dresses? The kids at Franklin Elementary School sure don't believe her. In The Hundred Dresses, Maddie Martin and Peggy Hawthorne learn first-hand the danger of stereotypes and harsh words. The Hundred Dresses is a poetic tale about the power of words and finding the courage to stand up for others, even if you are standing alone. For everyone ages 6 and up.
Chicago Tribune-
Highly Recommended
Chicago Sun Times-
Highly Recommended
Chicago Reader-
Recommended
Chicago Theater Blog-
Highly Recommended
ChicagoCritic-
Recommended
Chicago's oldest cemetery is the backdrop for Graceland, the story of four lonely Chicagoans whose lives collide one August weekend while the Blue Angels airshow is in town. As fighter jets buzz the skies from dusk till dawn, estranged brother and sister Sam and Sara try to make sense of their father's recent suicide. Sara's one night stand with Joe, an aging lothario, brings further trouble in the form of Joe's mercurial teenage son, Miles. Graceland is a World premiere comedic drama about the loneliness of family, the tenderness of strangers and the unexpected benefits of bad decisions.
On the corner of North & Wells, a crowd gathers to laugh, relax and enjoy a cast of six talented actors take the piss out of what our world has become and how we got here. We've lost many things, but one thing will always stay the same – Chicago. We'll always have crooked politicians, civic pride and that crazy guy at Foster & Broadway.
Chicago Tribune-
Highly Recommended
Chicago Sun Times-
Somewhat Recommended
Chicago Reader-
Recommended
NewCity Chicago-
Recommended
Windy City Times-
Highly Recommended
Chicago Free Press-
Recommended
Copley News Service-
Highly Recommended
Centerstage-
Highly Recommended
Chicago Stage Review-
Highly Recommended
Steadstyle Chicago-
Highly Recommended
Its official – the United States is moving forward. We have a new President taking office, sweeping international economic crisis, and the effects of global warming all around us. It’s time to fire up the Rahminator and transplant a little Midwestern charm to Washington making America: All Better!
Chicago Tribune-
Highly Recommended
Chicago Sun Times-
Recommended
Chicago Reader-
Highly Recommended
Examiner-
Recommended
Chicago Free Press-
Recommended
Centerstage-
Highly Recommended
Thoroughly Modern Millie tells the humorous story of a young girl from Kansas who takes New York City by storm as she flaps, taps and Charlestons her way into the Roaring ‘20s. Millie experiences the hustle and bustle of Jazz Age Manhattan at a time when women were just entering the workforce and rewriting society’s rules. A funny, romantic story about following dreams and falling in love, Thoroughly Modern Millie was hailed as "a thoroughly delightful experience" by USA Today. The show features new hits including "I Turned the Corner,” "They Don't Know,” and "Long As I'm Here with You."
Chicago Tribune-
Recommended
Chicago Sun Times-
Highly Recommended
Time Out Chicago-
Somewhat Recommended
Chicago Reader-
Highly Recommended
Centerstage-
Highly Recommended
Steadstyle Chicago-
Highly Recommended
When Elvis knocks, will you be ready? The Stein's are having an identity crisis: Mom has been "born again" and spends all day chatting with Jesus in the kitchen; Dad hasn't gotten out of his pajamas in weeks and is starting to smell; and 16 year old Rachel is coping by going "goth." Who will save this family? Jesus? Stephen Hawking? Or Rachel's awkward new classmate who shows up at their door in his Elvis jumpsuit? To everyone's surprise, the invasion of his big heart and blind optimism might be their best hope for a new beginning.
The electric and dazzling Letitia "Lettice" Douffet is a passionate, colorful middle-aged tour guide grappling with a mundane world and Lotte Schoen, her straight-laced employer who serves as her reality check.
Chicago Tribune-
Recommended
Time Out Chicago-
Recommended
NewCity Chicago-
Highly Recommended
Windy City Times-
Highly Recommended
Centerstage-
Recommended
Chicago Theater Blog-
Highly Recommended
Chicagoist-
Somewhat Recommended
Edge-
Recommended
ChicagoCritic-
Highly Recommended
Steadstyle Chicago-
Highly Recommended
Tom Stoppard's translation of Gerald Sibleyras' play won the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy. It's 1959 and Philippe, Gustave and Henri, three veterans from WWI keep each other company on the back terrace of a retired soldiers' home. Through a series of witty scenes, the men goad one another into new adventures. The men's cantankerous camaraderie becomes strained as they plot an expedition to Indochina, or at least as far as the poplar trees on the distant hill.
Listen to "Talk Theatre In Chicago" for an interview with Mike Nussbaum, one of the stars of Heroes. Listen
