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An eclectic Chicago oriented podcast covering performing arts, neighborhood news, movies, books and business showcasing multicultural and age diverse people. We want to give you an idea of what we enjoy, and what we experience living in "The Windy City."
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Blending spooky folklore with offbeat humor, White Rooster by Matthew C. Yee a world Premiere at Lookingglass Theatre is a haunting tale of grief, family and the messiness of moving on. Chicago Theater Review by Kim Campbell.
This campy, opera style, cabaret performance mostly in drag is oddly compelling. The unconventional storyline comprised of seven sexually ambiguous individuals has the show living up to its tagline of a queer extravaganza. Thompson Street Opera Company is worth keeping an eye on. Their recent premiere production of Off-Nights at the Sometimes Café at Bramble Arts Loft in Andersonville was a short run but worth mentioning for the record.
In “Changing Channels” at City Lit Theater in Chicago, Maggie Carlin and boss Eddie Gilroy abruptly learn that creating what will become an iconic TV comedy show is not all fun and games. Currently appearing on the fledgling DuMont TV network, Gilroy has an offer to move his wildly popular show to CBS. However, his manager, “Bullets” played by Johnny Moran informs him due to suspected communist infiltration of the new television medium CBS is requiring all of its employees to sign a loyalty oath. The storyline of “Changing Channels” is a fictional account of actual events, and the characters are thinly veiled portrayals of real people.Listen to this full podcast to learn more about this production and the history of the red scare.Review by Reno Lovison ChicagoBroadcastingNetwork.com
A nonstop “catcaphony” of frenzied feline fun that will create a lasting memory. With elements of musical theater, dance, opera and acrobatics there is definitely something for everyone in Music Theatre Works production of CATS at Skokie’s North Shore Center for the Performing Arts.
There are two good reasons to see Harvey, by St. Sebastian Players. One is the humorous quirky Pulitzer Prize winning script by Mary Chase and the other is the exceptional performance of Jeff Broitman as Elwood Dowd, the pleasant oddball fellow whose companion and best friend is a six-foot rabbit.
You’ll probably love this if you’re of Irish heritage because of the familiarity of the songs and background message. If you’re a few generations removed or have no Irish heritage you will likely find some insight into this segment of America that makes up about 10% of the overall population.The Irish and How They Got That Way by Porchlight Theatre Company is at Ruth Page Center for the Arts, tickets are available at PorchlightMusicTheatre.org Theater review by Reno Lovison concludes with an original rendition of Danny Boy recorded live at the Roots Room.Cover photo by LaPenna.
This intimate drama at Redtwist Theater in the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago delivers a message of unconscious bias and institutional slavery put into motion generations ago but messages that are still very much alive and grappled with today on both sides of the racial divide. Review by Reno Lovison approximately 5 minutes. Highly recommended.
Featuring an impressive, ancient, oppressive, dimly lit three story plaster and brick edifice, that apparently was a former jail, it is now the military home of a company commander and his wife located on an offshore island. Set in Scandinavia sometime in the late 19th or early 20th Century, Alice (Kathryn Erbe) and Edgar (Jeff Perry) will soon be marking the 25TH anniversary of their mostly unhappy marriage. The structure serves as a physical representation of the couple’s own feelings of entrapment and isolation.Playwright August StrindbergAdaptor Conor McPhersonDirector Yasen PeyankovScenic Design - Collette PollardCostume Design - Ana KuzmanicLighting Design - Lee FisknessTheater Review by Reno Lovison
“Holiday” at The Goodman is a fresh world-premiere adaptation of the classic boy meets girl - - boy meets girl’s sister romcom by Richard Greenberg based on the original 1928 version by playwright Philip Barry and featuring an outstanding cast. ChicagoBroadcastingNetwork.com #Theater #Review #Podcast. #Chicago
Stephen Sondheim’s vintage musical “Company” presented by Madkap Productions explores the life choices of Bobby (Graham Todd) the only one of his friends still unmarried at a time when marriage by thirty was expected.
The Chicago International Puppet Festival is a 12 day event that has been taking place in Chicago for several years that has attracts about 22,000 audience members who travel from around the world to be a part of the biggest event dedicated to puppetry in North America. This is a wonderful interview conducted by Chicago Broadcasting Network contributor Kim Campbell with Sandy Smith Gerding, Executive Director of the Chicago International Puppet Festival and Taylor Bibat, the festival coordinator and Director of Education. Listen, not only, for details of the festival events taking place in 2026 but also interesting tidbits about the art of puppetry and the world of puppetry as a creative art form.#chicago #puppetry #puppets #puppet #festival
This year we reviewed over 30 Chicago plays and events. This podcast recaps favorites and highlights of the 2025 season plus a few ideas for 2026.Some productions mentioned include:Iraq But FunnyAmelieTom & ElizaGalileoHedda Gablerand a few more.
The uplifting story of a distinctively red haired, hopelessly optimistic, depression era orphan named Annie is firmly rooted in the early 1930s where the stark contrast between the haves and have-nots was plainly evident everywhere. This was especially true in urban centers like New York City where fortunes large and small were lost in the 1929 stock market crash.
Part of the success and charm of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is its simple elegance. The story is easy to understand even by the youngest theater goers yet it does not talk down the audience. It’s a kind of secular parable with a strong moral lesson to change your ways before it’s too late and The Goodman Theatre has continued the lesson in Chicago for 48 years.
“Amadeus” presented at Steppenwolf Theatre Chicago is a story of two men, one believed to be beloved by God and one who believed he could negotiate to win God’s love.On the surface it is easy to assume this is a biographical sketch of Mozart, and indeed the story written by Peter Shaffer does allude to the final years of the composer’s life, but actually this is a story of one man’s envy of another man’s apparent God given talent. Podcast theater review and plot summary by Reno Lovison.
Performed in modern dress using original Elizabethan vernacular, Much Ado About Nothing is a quintessential Shakespeare comedy and seminal rom-com that has a little something for everyone. A humorous love story with a touch of drama that pokes fun at everyone no matter their rank. Presented by the Chicago Shakespeare Theater Company in their Courtyard Theater on Navy Pier, through December 21st 2025. Run time is about 2 hours and 25 minutes with one intermission. For ticket and information visit ChicagoShakes.com Podcast theater review y Reno Lovison.
For those unfamiliar with the 1886 original story of Jekyll and Hyde - - it is a tale of the strange case of Dr. Henry Jekyll, a fictional 19th century London physician who decides to experiment on himself using what might be described as psychotropic drugs. In doing so he unleashes his own demon in the person of his alter ego Mr. Hyde. This excellent musical version is presented by Kokandy Productions at the Chopin Theatre in Chicago.
Written in 1978 by Ira Levin DEATHTRAP holds the record for the longest-running comedy-thriller on Broadway, offering multiple plot twists over two acts with one set and five characters.This now classic play presented by Madkap Productions onstage at the Skokie Theatre will capture you in a web of illusion and deceit, with just enough humor to take the edge off the murderous treachery taking place before your eyes.
Taking place in New Orleans around 1813, the dialog by playwright Marcus Gardley skillfully explains that Napoleon has recently sold the Louisiana Territory to the United States and with statehood, the status of many free people of color and those of mixed-race heritage is going to change. This story deals with some dramatic and weighty subjects but the script by Marcus Gardley is not overbearing. If you are interested in seeing an enlightening historic drama well performed don’t miss this.The House That Will Not Stand is at Invictus Theatre Company of Chicago. For tickets and information visit invictustheaterco.com
Kim Campbell interviews author Wendy B. Correa about her memoir My Pretty Baby to investigate how the author took control of her life using somatic modalities and psychotherapy to overcome childhood trauma allowing her to create the happy loving family she always imagined.
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