Fans of the Robin Hood saga really love the Robin Hood saga, from cartoon fox to Americanized accent with many BBC forays in between. Forks & Hope and Strawdog Theatre Company have a new Robin Hood that is none of those things- in the most incredible way possible. Adapted from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s The Foresters, the snappy production of Robin Hood and Maid Marian has something for all age ranges and theatrical preferences; lyrical prose for the word nerds among us, a {Read More}
The Princess & The Pea & Dialogue My Kids Can’t Stop Saying.
November 19, 2014 By Leave a Comment
You’re gonna want to step lively for this one: Chicago Kids Company’s The Princess & The Pea at The Beverly Arts Center (a gorgeous venue, by the by), is a throwback to vaudevillian song n’ dance theatre. With more patter, hilarious asides, and slapstick than you can ding a rimshot at, this show is enthralling for the 2-12 set (and just as much fun for their accompanying grownups). Princess Penelope wanders into the castle of a possessive Queen of a Mama {Read More}
Skelebration At Redmoon! The Last Weekend!
October 23, 2014 By 2 Comments
Friends, over the weekend Skelebration was skelebrated by my children. (Remember way back to last week when I talked about touring the facility? Which sounds way more important that it ought?) This magical, seasonal, and otherworldly playground is a choose-your-own adventure of the spookiest kind- inside a theatre company’s lofty (and tricked out!) warehouse. And seriously. The theatrical explosion that is Redmoon has done it again. How they’ve managed to reinvent something which blew the minds straight outta the skulls {Read More}
Bingo’s Birthday (And Zu’s Glee) At Emerald City Theatre.
September 28, 2014 By 6 Comments
Even the most refined theatergoer (you know, the kind that doesn’t require diaper changes at intermission) needs to begin somewhere. Chicagoans are extraordinarily lucky to have Emerald City Theatre’s Little Theatre and their Play With Me Plays as a primer, as a safe place for the youngest member of the family to enjoy the arts, and as a wonderful way to spend an hour. Their latest offering, the adorable Bingo’s Birthday (created and directed by Artistic Director Ernie Nolan), is a {Read More}
Lifeline’s “Lyle” Is Adorable Theatre For The Littles.
April 11, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Lyle- he of Lyle, Lyle Crocodile fame- is perfectly happy with his life on East 88th Street. He has his mother, his father, his best pal of a brother, and a host of neighbors and friends who [mostly] welcome a crocodile to their block. But when Hector P. Valenti- star of stage and screen- appears with a promise to reunite Lyle with his crocodile Mama, everyone assumes that the showman is up to his old tricks and refuses to trust {Read More}
Emerald City Theatre’s Llama Llama!
November 5, 2013 By 4 Comments
A day in the life of a little kid can be downright hard. I’d say “just ask them,” but you probably already know the signs: the whining, the stubbornness, the flat-out floor tantrum… (Nobody?) But there’s the good stuff, too: the braveness, the milestones, the moments when you see that they’re not your helpless baby anymore… Emerald City Theatre’s newest show, Llama Llama, encapsulates four of the popular Anna Dewdney books featuring the titular character, and showcases the trials and {Read More}
TUTA Theatre Chicago’s The Silent Language.
April 23, 2013 By 1 Comment
People, people, there is so much good theatre going down around Chicago this month. But right up there at the tippety-toppest is TUTA Theatre Chicago’s darkly comedic fairy tale The Silent Language, directed by Jacqueline Stone; meaning, seriously, don’t miss this one. The U.S. premiere- written by Serbian playwright Miodrag Stanisavljevic and translated by Zoran Paunovic- is TUTA’s first foray into performances intended for younger audiences. And it’s spot on. Poor Gasho (Max Lotspeich) plays the guitar in TUTA’s The Silent Language Photo {Read More}
