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The Highest Rated Shows In Chicago

Here 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.

Million Dollar Quartet

Four Legends. One Night. Music History Made. You may have loved Million Dollar Quartet in 2017 at Paramount Theatre - now imagine it set in Sun Studio itself. The new Stolp Island Theatre will be designed to immerse you in the experience so you can say "I was there!" On December 4, 1956, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins had a chance encounter at Sun Studio in Memphis. What transpired 
was one of the greatest impromptu jam sessions in music history.

Daily Herald- Highly Recommended
Around The Town Chicago- Highly Recommended
Chicago Theatre Review- Highly Recommended
Chicago Culture Authority- Highly Recommended
Broadway World- Highly Recommended
NewCity Chicago- Highly Recommended
Million Dollar Quartet
Debate: Baldwin vs. Buckley

TimeLine Theatre at Cortelyou Commons

"Is the American Dream at the expense of the American Negro?" This was the topic on February 18, 1965 when an overflow crowd packed the Cambridge Union in Cambridge, England, to bear witness to a historic televised debate between James Baldwin, the leading literary voice of the civil rights movement, and William F. Buckley Jr., a fierce critic of the movement and America's most influential conservative intellectual. The stage was set for an epic confrontation that pitted Baldwin's call for a moral revolution in race relations against Buckley's unabashed elitism and implicit commitment to white supremacy. This historic clash reveals the deep roots and lasting legacy of racial conflict that continues to haunt America.

Chicago Tribune- Highly Recommended
Chicago Reader- Highly Recommended
Chicago Stage and Screen- Highly Recommended
Chicago Theatre Review- Highly Recommended
Buzznews.net- Highly Recommended
The Fourth Walsh- Highly Recommended
Third Coast Review- Recommended
MaraTapp.org- Highly Recommended
NewCity Chicago- Highly Recommended
Debate: Baldwin vs. Buckley
Mr. Parker

Terry Parker is a middle-aged man navigating life after a profound personal loss. As he works to rediscover his identity and adjust to unexpected changes, Terry is challenged by a world that feels unfamiliar when he begins to date a much younger man. Terry must also adjust to the change from his identity as the "better half" of a "power couple" to a single man without any public image of his own.

Chicago Reader- Highly Recommended
Windy City Times- Highly Recommended
Chicago Theatre Review- Highly Recommended
Buzznews.net- Highly Recommended
Entertaining Chicago- Highly Recommended
Allie and the After Party- Highly Recommended
Broadway World- Recommended
Mr. Parker
Fun Home

Porchlight Music Theatre at Ruth Page Center For Arts

Winner of seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and a Pulitzer finalist, Fun Home is a refreshingly honest, emotional and revolutionary musical. Based on Alison Bechdel’s critically acclaimed graphic novel, Fun Home shares how Bechdel unlocks memories, milestones and mysteries of her youth as she begins to write her first graphic novel. With a compassionate score and a brilliant script, Fun Home tells the story of seeing your parents through grown-up eyes.

Chicago Tribune- Recommended
Stage and Cinema- Highly Recommended
Around The Town Chicago- Highly Recommended
Buzznews.net- Highly Recommended
The Fourth Walsh- Highly Recommended
Chicagoland Musical Theatre- Highly Recommended
Third Coast Review- Recommended
PicksInSix- Highly Recommended
Allie and the After Party- Recommended
Broadway World- Highly Recommended
NewCity Chicago- Highly Recommended
Fun Home
Teatro ZinZanni: Love, Chaos and Dinner

Enter a realm where reality and dreams converge; an experience unlike any other! Teatro ZinZanni is a whirlwind of international cirque, comedy and cabaret served with a multi-course feast. Described as the "Kit Kat Klub on acid," the fast-paced action unfolds around, above and alongside you as world-class acrobats, musicians, divas, illusionists, madmen and aerialists fill the intimate Spiegeltent ZaZou, a unique jewel box mirror tent. Teatro ZinZanni's signature blend of Love, Chaos & Dinner has played to sold out audiences in Seattle and San Francisco, and now comes to Chicago's Cambria Hotel with its "feast for the senses." (The New York Times)

Chicago Tribune- Recommended
Chicago Sun Times- Recommended
Chicago Reader- Highly Recommended
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews- Recommended
Around The Town Chicago- Highly Recommended
Chicago Theatre Review- Highly Recommended
Buzznews.net- Highly Recommended
Third Coast Review- Highly Recommended
Chicago On Stage- Highly Recommended
PicksInSix- Highly Recommended
Chicago Culture Authority- Recommended
Splash Magazine- Highly Recommended
Teatro ZinZanni: Love, Chaos and Dinner
Fool For Love

In a sweltering motel room in the Mojave Desert, May and Eddie lick their wounds and get ready for another relentless round. This brawl is eternal and infernal. And the Old Man is always watching.

Chicago Tribune- Recommended
Chicago Sun Times- Highly Recommended
Around The Town Chicago- Highly Recommended
Chicago Theatre Review- Highly Recommended
PicksInSix- Recommended
Chicago Culture Authority- Highly Recommended
Fool For Love
Fat Ham

"This is what I was raised in: pig guts and bad choices." As Juicy grapples with his identity and his family at a backyard barbecue, his father's ghost shows up asking for revenge-on Juicy's uncle, who has married his widowed mom-bringing his quest for joy and liberation to a screeching halt. James Ijames has reinvented Shakespeare's masterpiece, creating what The New York Times hails as "a hilarious yet profound tragedy, smothered in comedy," where the only death is the patriarchy. For more than a decade, Definition Theatre has celebrated stories created with, inspired by and intended for people and communities of color. Supported by a dedicated ensemble of artists, Definition is a cultural hub that amplifies + archives underrepresented voices as catalysts for social justice and racial healing.

Chicago Tribune- Recommended
Chicago Sun Times- Highly Recommended
Daily Herald- Highly Recommended
Chicago Reader- Highly Recommended
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews- Recommended
Around The Town Chicago- Recommended
Chicago Theatre Review- Highly Recommended
Buzznews.net- Highly Recommended
Third Coast Review- Recommended
MaraTapp.org- Highly Recommended
Chicago Culture Authority- Highly Recommended
Splash Magazine- Recommended
Allie and the After Party- Highly Recommended
Broadway World- Highly Recommended
Fat Ham
A Slow Air

A pair of estranged siblings are brought together through a remarkable string of events to reckon with memories of lives lived together and apart.

Chicago Tribune- Highly Recommended
Chicago Reader- Recommended
Stage and Cinema- Highly Recommended
Buzznews.net- Recommended
Splash Magazine- Highly Recommended
A Slow Air
Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament

Medieval Times is an exciting, family-friendly dinner attraction inspired by an 11th century feast and tournament. Guests are served a four-course banquet and cheer for one of six knights as they compete in the joust and other tests of skill. Expect lots of jousting, swordsmanship, thrilling hand-to-hand combat, and displays of extraordinary horsemanship as part of an exciting story set in Medieval Spain.

Chicago Tribune- Highly Recommended
Chicago Sun Times- Highly Recommended
Chicago Stage Review- Recommended
Chicagoland Theater Reviews- Recommended
Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament
A Raisin in the Sun

As the Youngers await their recently deceased patriarch's life insurance check, they allow themselves to imagine a bigger life - a life with room to breathe - until those plans are thrown into jeopardy. Hansberry's language rings as wise and prescient as ever in her moving answer to Langston Hughes's question, What happens to a dream deferred?

Chicago Tribune- Highly Recommended
Chicago Sun Times- Recommended
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews- Recommended
Chicago Theatre Review- Highly Recommended
A Raisin in the Sun
The Heart Sellers

It's Thanksgiving 1973, and life in the USA is lonely for recent Asian immigrants Jane and Luna, with their workaholic husbands leaving them to fend for themselves. Over sips of wine and a questionable frozen turkey, they reminisce about home and dream of spreading their wings together in the land of opportunity: disco dancing, learning to drive, and even a visit to Disneyland. Inspired by the landmark "Hart-Celler Act" which opened a new path to citizenship for people around the world, this funny and moving play gives a big-hearted voice to the Asian immigrant experience.

Chicago Tribune- Somewhat Recommended
Daily Herald- Recommended
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews- Highly Recommended
Around The Town Chicago- Recommended
Chicago Theatre Review- Highly Recommended
Buzznews.net- Highly Recommended
Evanston Roundtable- Highly Recommended
The Heart Sellers
Lobby Hero

Shattered Globe Theatre at Theater Wit

Lobby Hero is set during the graveyard shift at a mid-rise apartment foyer in Manhattan. A rudderless security guard, his demanding supervisor, a rookie cop, and her self-centered partner are forced to navigate whether doing the wrong thing for the right reason can ever be justified. As Ben Brantley of The New York Times wrote, "motives come in every shade but black and white" in Lobby Hero, creating a 'combustible brew of impulses.'"

Chicago Tribune- Highly Recommended
Chicago Reader- Somewhat Recommended
Chicago Theatre Review- Highly Recommended
The Fourth Walsh- Highly Recommended
Third Coast Review- Highly Recommended
PicksInSix- Recommended
Chicago Culture Authority- Recommended
Splash Magazine- Highly Recommended
Allie and the After Party- Recommended
NewCity Chicago- Recommended
Lobby Hero
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical

Witness the captivating story of Carole King's meteoric rise to stardom, from humble beginnings to her undeniable status as one of the most celebrated voices in popular music. With melodies such as “I Feel the Earth Move” and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” this production weaves an emotional tapestry rich with nostalgia. Beautiful isn't just a musical, it's an immersive celebration of resilience, creativity, and the authentic spirit of a music legend.

Chicago Tribune- Somewhat Recommended
Daily Herald- Somewhat Recommended
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews- Highly Recommended
Around The Town Chicago- Highly Recommended
Chicago Theatre Review- Highly Recommended
Splash Magazine- Highly Recommended
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
Best Kept Secret: Tell Everyone

Step behind the velvet curtain into The Second City e.t.c., a lavish comedy speakeasy where the only rule for the evening is laughter. Outside, it’s winter. But here, the show is so hot and hilarious, it’ll melt away your troubles. This interactive world of illusion, decadence, and the illusion of decadence invites you to join in on a heist of hijinx sparkling with sketch, song, and improv spontaneity. The best kept secret? You are the most important part of the show. Join us and find delight. Right this way, your table’s waiting.

Chicago Sun Times- Recommended
Chicago Reader- Recommended
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews- Recommended
Around The Town Chicago- Recommended
Third Coast Review- Highly Recommended
Chicago Culture Authority- Recommended
Broadway World- Highly Recommended
Best Kept Secret: Tell Everyone
Frida...A Self Portrait

Iconic Mexican painter Frida Kahlo was a woman who lived boldly, loved wildly, and painted prolifically in order to see herself and the world around her more clearly. Witness this extraordinary figure come to life onstage through playwright and performer Vanessa Severo, who brings breathtaking physicality and raw honesty to this stunningly creative production. With music and movement, Vanessa cracks open a powerful portal between herself and Frida, uncovering insights into the painter's physical limitations, complex love life, addictions, and, of course, the beauty in her art.

Chicago Tribune- Somewhat Recommended
Chicago Sun Times- Recommended
Chicago Reader- Somewhat Recommended
Talkin Broadway- Highly Recommended
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews- Somewhat Recommended
Around The Town Chicago- Highly Recommended
Chicago Theatre Review- Highly Recommended
Chicago Theater and Arts- Highly Recommended
Chicago Culture Authority- Recommended
Evanston Roundtable- Highly Recommended
Frida...A Self Portrait

To see the reviews of all plays go to Review Round-Up.