The Xanadu aesthetic? That’s easy. “Think Casey Kasem–meets–Greek mythology–meets–drug-addled hallucinatory fluorescent roller derby,” says Christopher Ashley, director of the musical production—performed in part on roller skates—that hits Chicago in January. To help visualize the exceedingly campy universe, we grilled Ashley for specifics on the musical’s most crucial element: its props. Read more

The Brothers Grim

Two similar-sounding plays from two very different playwrights unite in an experiment at American Theater Company (1909 W. Byron St.; atcweb.org). Sam Shepard’s True West, about a screenwriter and his thief of a brother, is traditionally cast white, while Topdog/Underdog, Suzan-Lori Parks’s Pulitzer-winner about an entertainer and his thief of a brother, is traditionally cast black. Beginning Thursday, February 5th, actors...

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He's as nice a guy as they come—in real life and on TV. But Tom Irwin is finally getting to exercise his dark side with a sinister Steppenwolf role and a cameo on Lost Read more
Henry Godinez is the director, curator, and founder of the Latino Theatre Festival, a wildly eclectic showcase of artists hailing from Barcelona to Bucktown. Read more