Paul Lockwood

Jan 12, 2025 | shawlocal.com | Paul Lockwood

When puns take center stage – as well as the left and right sides of the stage – you’ve got my attention. “Shucked,” a musical about the residents of fictional, corn-flourishing Cob County, is in Chicago at the CIBC Theatre for a much-too-brief touring production stop, and if you want to laugh more than you have in a long time, get tickets now. “Shucked” is simply an a-maize-ingly funny show.

Dec 9, 2024 | shawlocal.com | Paul Lockwood

What exactly is “& Juliet,” the musical now at Chicago’s Cadillac Palace Theatre until Dec. 15? If you guessed that it focuses on the female half of one of William Shakespeare’s most famous romantic/tragic couples, you’re right. But it’s more than that. To put it succinctly, the plot focuses on Shakespeare and his wife in a no-holds-Bard comedic, musical battle for Juliet’s future.

Nov 19, 2024 | shawlocal.com | Paul Lockwood

“You’ll shoot your eye out!”That quote may not have made it onto the American Film Institute’s 2005 list of the 100 top film quotes of all time, but for those who enjoy family-oriented, nostalgic holiday movies, that frequently used statement in 1983′s “A Christmas Story” is equally memorable. Theatre 121′s tune-filled stage production of “A Christmas Story: The Musical,” playing at the Woodstock Opera House through Dec.

Nov 15, 2024 | shawlocal.com | Paul Lockwood

“Cracklin’ Rosie.” “America.” “Forever in Blue Jeans.” “Sweet Caroline.” “I Am … I Said.” In “A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical,” now showing at the Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago’s Loop, those songs – and the stories behind them – are all included in a new musical about Diamond’s life. Since Parkinson’s disease ended Diamond’s ability to perform his own music in concert, “A Beautiful Noise” takes an entertaining – and also sobering – look at the performer’s past and present.

Nov 12, 2024 | shawlocal.com | Paul Lockwood

A family musical that adults will enjoy as much as their princess-costume-attired daughters and granddaughters? Yep. The Paramount Theatre in Aurora has booked an extended run of the Midwest regional premiere of “Disney’s Frozen the Broadway Musical,” and – snow joke – it’s fantastic. Eleven years ago, a Disney animated film was released that – despite its title – heated up the box office.