Barbara Vitello

2 weeks ago | dailyherald.com | Barbara Vitello

Charlie McCullagh plays amateur pilot Larry Walters, who soared above Los Angeles in a lawn chair attached to helium weather balloons in “42 Balloons,” a new musical in its North American premiere at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Courtesy of Pamela Raith Photography High-flying tuner Larry Walters’ 1982 flight above Los Angeles in a lawn chair attached to 42 helium-filled weather balloons inspired the musical “42 Balloons” by writer, composer and lyricist Jack Godfrey.

2 weeks ago | dailyherald.com | Barbara Vitello

On Monday, Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights announced its 2025-26 season, which includes revivals of “Grease” and “The Wizard of Oz.” A revival of “Grease,” the Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey musical that debuted at Chicago’s Kingston Mines in 1971, inaugurates the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre’s 25th anniversary main stage season, which the Arlington Heights theater announced Monday. Previews begin Sept. 17 for the tuner that includes songs from the 1978 film.

2 weeks ago | dailyherald.com | Barbara Vitello

“Hamilton,” which has played Chicago twice before, returns next year as part of a national tour. The show will run March 4 through April 26, 2026, at the CIBC Theatre. Courtesy of Joan Marcus “Hamilton,” Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award-winning blockbuster bio-musical about Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, the orphaned immigrant who penned most of “The Federalist Papers” and served as the nation’s first treasury secretary, returns to Chicago next year, Broadway in Chicago announced Monday.

3 weeks ago | dailyherald.com | Barbara Vitello

Andrew Garman, left, Amelia Workman and Thomas Murphy Molony play a family accessing the internet for the first time in Goodman Theatre's premiere of “The Antiquities,” produced in association with Playwrights Horizons and the Vineyard Theatre. Courtesy of Hugo Hentoff “The Antiquities” — 3.5 stars From curtain up to curtain call, “The Antiquities” — Jordan Harrison’s centuries-spanning, sci-fi tale about artificial intelligence wreaking havoc on humanity — runs 95 intermissionless minutes.

3 weeks ago | dailyherald.com | Barbara Vitello

The first act finale of Paramount Theatre's spectacular “Cats” was among several showstoppers in director Trent Stork's cirque-inspired revival running through June 15. Courtesy of Bret Beiner Photography “Cats” — 3.5 stars Moments before the curtain rose on Paramount Theatre’s cirque-inspired “Cats” revival, a friend and former critic described his mood as “guardedly optimistic.” “It’s ‘Cats,’” he shrugged. He had cause to be wary.