The Nutcracker

The House’s fantastical deconstruction of this time-honored holiday story centers on Clara’s journey to save her family from the Rat King before Christmas, with the help of a Nutcracker, a gift from her beloved Uncle Drosselmeyer. What unfolds is a heartwarming holiday story that weaves together riveting dialogue, astonishing puppetry, beautiful song and spellbinding spectacle to tell a darkly moving story of magic and mystery.

Presented by The House Theatre of Chicago

Nov 18 - Dec 30, 2012

@ Chopin Theatre

1543 W. Division, Chicago

Show Type: Comedy/Drama

Box Office: 773-278-1500

The Nutcracker - The House Theatre of Chicago

Potted Potter: The Unauthorized Harry Experience - A Parody by Dan and Jeff

Whether you camped outside a bookstore for three days awaiting the release of the Deathly Hallows or you don’t know the difference between a horcrux and a Hufflepuff, the comedy, magic and mayhem of POTTED POTTER makes for an entertaining and hilarious visit to the theatre. The fast-paced show, which has made audiences aged six to Dumbledore (who is very old indeed) roar with laughter all over the world, POTTED POTTER is perfect for the entire family.

Thru - Dec 16, 2012

@ Broadway Playhouse

175 East Chestnut Street, Chicago

Show Type: Comedy

Box Office: 800-745-2000

Potted Potter – The Unauthorized Harry Experience – A Parody by Dan and Jeff | All Seven Harry Potter Books In Seventy Minutes!

Chicago Potted Potter 2012 Tickets | Broadway in Chicago

Plaid Tidings

Plaid Tidings, the holiday sequel to Chicago’s longest running musical Forever Plaid, entertains Theatre at the Center audiences November 15 through December 23. Summoned by the angelic Rosemary Clooney, Jinx, Frankie, Smudge and Sparky are sent back to Earth to stage a nostalgic holiday extravaganza. A show for the whole family, Plaid Tidings combines favorite tunes from the ‘50s and ‘60s with traditional holiday songs and carols, a hilarious tribute to The Ed Sullivan Christmas Spectaculars, and plenty of winning references to the era and its sounds – including some singing by Perry Como himsellf!

Thru - Dec 23, 2012

@ Theatre At The Center

1040 Ridge Rd, Munster, IN

Show Type: Musical

Box Office: 219-836-3255

Theatre at the Center - Forever Plaid Presents Plaid Tidings

SANTA’S DEAD! and DIRTY CAROL’S CHRISTMAS

Giving homage to classic noir films and Christmas television specials, MidTangent Productions (MTP) presents a dazzling and daring musical double feature like no other. Written by MTP Artistic Director Tony Lewis and company members Aaron Michael Adamkiewicz and Karla Meyer, these shows continue MTP’s dedication to bringing original works with a familiar twist to the Chicago GLBTQ community. This production features many MTP Artistic Ensemble members both in front and behind the curtain and will have surprise guest appearances and live entertainment between the one-act shows.

Nov. 17 - Dec. 22, 2012 ~ Fridays and Saturdays at 9:00pm

@ Hydrate Nightclub

3458 N Halsted, Chicago

Show Type: Musical

* Tickets are $10 ~ Shows are for 21+ *

TICKETS: MidTangent Productions’ Holiday Double Feature

MidTangent Productions’ HOLIDAY DOUBLE FEATURE! - Nov. 17 - Dec. 22

The Dead

Artistic Director Charles Newell and Music Director Doug Peck, whose professional collaborations include Porgy and Bess and Caroline, or Change, team up for a delightful reimagining of Court Theatre’s eccentric holiday classic, James Joyce’s The Dead. Filled with the warmth of a flickering hearth, the fervor of an Irish folk song, and the mystery of a snowy winter’s eve, this piece tells the tale of a group of family and friends as they gather to sing and dance in celebration of the Feast of the Epiphany in Dublin at the turn of the last century. Hauntingly beautiful and joyfully spirited, James Joyce’s The Dead offers a heartfelt accompaniment to the holiday season.

Thru - Dec 9, 2012

@ Court Theatre

5535 S. Ellis Avenue, Chicago

Show Type: Drama

Box Office: 773-753-4472

James Joyce’s “The Dead” ~ Court Theatre - Professional Theatre at the University of Chicago

Mommy, Will the World End Tonight?

by John Edward Uth
Direction by Megan Kowalsky
Musical Direction by Emily Barrett

This absurd musical comedy follows a suburban family from 1962 to 2112 as the family copes with the threat of nuclear war, religious cults, Y2K and a near future world where mutant chickens, neural-implant-enhanced teenagers and ninja robots are everyday threats to human existence.

Thru - Dec 8, 2012 ~ Saturdays: 10:30pm

@ Theatre Wit

1229 W Belmont Ave, Chicago

Show Type: Musical

Box Office: 773-975-8150

Theater Wit

At The Flash

At The Flash is a fierce and funny show that condenses LGBT history into the story of five characters - a closeted man in the 1960s, a black drag queen in the 1970s, a club kid in the 1980s, a budding lesbian activist in the 1990s, and a family man/entrepreneur in the 2000s. David Leeper stars under the direction of PFP Executive Director David Zak.

Presented by Pride Films and Plays

Thru - Dec 16, 2012

@ Center On Halsted - Hoover-Leppen Theatre

3656 N. Halsted St, Chicago

Show Type: Comedy

TICKETS: At The Flash

At The Flash

By Venus Zarris

You arrive at 1317 W. Chicago Avenue to find a metal door, unmarked except for a small poster of the play. You enter the door to find yourself in a tiny makeshift foyer, framed with two-by-fours that are covered with opaque plastic. You are pleasantly told that the space may get cold so feel free to use the blankets provided on the seats. You walk into a raw warehouse; exposed brick walls, plastic substituted for a drop-ceiling. The room is dark and the atmosphere subtly hints of dissidence. There is an old television on the stage playing footage of street riots. This is not, as the play’s title might suggest, the set for a frolicking albeit dated sex flick. Before PORN even begins, you feel as if you are hiding from the prying eyes of institutionalized suppression. The stark venue is perfect for this stark story.

“We live in troubled times. We should be cautious, even if it’s useless.”

As we enter the bleak world of playwright Adrás Visky’s PORN (1989. A butterfly.), we meet The Girl: Code Name Porn. This is how she is referred to in countless dossiers that are created by her neighbor, code name SKUNK, as he reports on her every move to the secret police. She is an actress who, in the midst of the Romanian revolution of 1989, presents free open-air performances for the street children that she calls “her little dirty ones.” How can this be perceived as a political threat? Free thought and hope are always the enemies of an evil institution. If you’re an artist living under a corrupt system and the system doesn’t target you, then perhaps it’s time to question your work.

PORN (1989. A butterfly.) takes us through an emotional kaleidoscope of characters and circumstances that realize the destitution of life under the iron fist of Nicolae Ceauşescu, the Romanian communist party leader, near the frantic end of his hostile regime. Visky’s stylized visions are impressionistic interpretations of autobiographical horrors. You are watching a historically violent reality through the surprisingly lovely filters of a poet; surprising because of the tenderness that he employs to render his harsh stories.

“Calm down, I speak my mind and there is no cure for it.”

If not for its foundation in true stories from a very real revolution, PORN would make for a beautifully bleak Orwellian counterpart. Visky’s form, delivered by director Éva Patkó and her exceptional cast, is a richly textured theatrical phantasm of intimacy, intensity, subjugation and imagination. The form does not always follow the function of creating a complete expository impact. We feel the delicate build but the eviscerating conclusion is far more distant than immediate. Perhaps Visky is allowing us to dodge a direct hit from the bullets of brutality that he has witnessed and survived. There is certainly more mercy in his artistic restraint than he experienced in his real life.

“How many murderers does a suicide have?”

Rest assured though that this is no light telling of a dark tale. The immeasurable complexity of emotion is given an astonishing reality by Melissa Lorraine as The Girl. Lorraine steps on the stage in such an unassuming way that you have no inclination of what you are in store for. As she vividly crafts the unconventional story of an endearingly eccentric and passionate actress, we find ourselves under the spell of a performer with almost preternatural powers. She can go from wild-eyed manic to hushed introspection on a dime without the slightest hint of technique. In the midst of absolute suppression, she realizes a character with childlike vulnerability and almost oblivious strength. The Girl’s destiny is decidedly hopeless early on, but Lorraine does not create a victim or a pawn. Rather she creates a person that shows us how resilience can exist through unyielding purpose and love can happen in the center of despondency. The Girl stands against the system without bravado and Lorraine holds us transfixed in Visky’s evocative writing. Much like in her 2010 performance of Visky’s Juliet, we see a resplendent paring of performer with playwright. Much like in 2010, Lorraine delivers one of the year’s most uniquely spellbinding performances.

Of all of the deserved accolades that can be lavished on Theatre Y’s mission and breathtaking work, perhaps the most accurately deserved is an imagined prescient hypothetical. If they were creating their art under a corrupt and brutal regime, they would no doubt have already been imprisoned and would quite possibly be dead by now. Given that peculiar theoretical paradigm, when viewing their work it is as if you are watching the ghosts of great artists poignantly, vehemently and posthumously rage against the very structural machine of human deprivation. Even in a “free” country, Theatre Y’s work is beautifully subversive. Since we are always just an election or two away from the potential of crushing suppression, their insight is always imperatively relevant.

Completed with powerfully effective artistic design, Theatre Y’s remarkable world premiere of playwright Adrás Visky’s PORN (1989. A butterfly.) is a ravishing theatrical gift that should not be missed.

4 STARS

(“PORN (1989. A butterfly.)” runs through December 2 at a warehouse, 1317 W. Chicago Ave. 708-209-0183)

Porn

PORN (1989. A butterfly.) production photos by Devron Enarson.

Marriage is Murder

Ex-spouses Paul and Polly Butler write murder mysteries together. They act out the crimes in Paul’s apartment: poisoned chocolates and lethal martinis, alibis and fingerprints, bodies in a trunk and bodies all tied up, daggers, guns and even an axe all contribute to the hilarity. Nobody gets hurt, but their egos take some hits as they find that their marriage was mixed up with their work. They strive to outdo each other, learning in the wake of comic twists and turns that marriage, like murder, is in the details.

Thru - Dec 8, 2012

@ Riverfront Playhouse

11-13 South Water Street Mall, Aurora

Show Type: Comedy

Box Office: 630-897-9496

The Riverfront Playhouse

Ringling Brothers Circus – The Saddest Show on Earth

By Venus Zarris

As a theater writer in Chicago for the past ten years, I have seen actors endure a great deal of sacrifice and even suffering for their craft. I have seen them hurt on stage. I have them perform both injured and ill. They take financial risks and frequently forgo things like insurance and stability to create their work. Most actors I know give up a great deal to pursue a life on stage. It is impressive and inspiring but in the context of this article it is, most importantly, THEIR CHOICE.

People have the choice to put themselves through all manner of hardship in order to achieve their goals.

Animals, on the other hand, never dream of creating that perfect moment onstage. The “stage” isn’t even on their radar, unless it is something that they are unnaturally forced to endure.

No matter how you advertise them, wild animal acts in circuses are nothing short of cruel exploitation. Our sincere love and fascination for animals are blasphemed by these displays of abuse. We cannot profess to admire and respect animals and then the support their oppressive and horrendous mistreatment. Suffering is not entertainment, unless you are a sadist.

Campaigns and Programs - Animals in the Circus: Get The Facts

Look, I LOVED going to the circus when I was a child. More than anything else, I LOVED seeing the animals. But there was something that never felt right. I found myself crying every time I saw the lions and tigers “tamed” and the elephants standing on their heads. I didn’t have a vocabulary for my emotional reaction but something inside me just knew that it was not right.

When we hear about children who are kidnapped and abused we are mortified. If we found out that humans were being bread for the purpose of mass exploitation, we would be horrified and enraged.

So why then is it “good clean family fun” to take some of the planets most splendid creatures from their natural lives and subject them to confinement and cruelty?

It’s not fine. It is a dastardly transgression against animals and against the evolution of our human decency and morality.

In the 19^th Century and even in the early part of the 20^th Century, “freak shows” that exploited human beings as oddities and novelties were common practice. Men, women and children were denied their very humanity and paraded around as attractions for profit. Today, this is recognized as heartless depravity.

Does our compassion stop with people? Are animals less deserving of sympathy, kindness and dignity? How can the suffering of marvelous creatures be entertaining? How can we just leave our moral compass at home, plunk down our cash for tickets and then enjoy a traveling display of brutality?

I can only imagine it is because we simply don’t realize what we are watching. Here’s the facts, every circus that displays wild animal acts is guilty if abuse.

Campaigns and Programs - Animals in the Circus: Get The Facts

Do you remember seeing DUMBO when you were a child? Remember how terrible it was for the animals and FORGET the bullshit happy ending because for these animals, THERE ARE NO HAPPY ENDINGS. There is no happiness or comfort. There is only, fear, anxiety, abuse and suffering.

Circuses want to make money and they are counting on your lack of knowledge to do it. Ringling Brothers is the apex of wild animal circuses and they are horrible to the very creatures that make them rich.

Ringling Brothers Circus’ Over-the-Top Cruelty | RinglingBeatsAnimals.com

DO NOT support the SADDEST SHOW ON EARTH. Don’t inadvertently expose your kids to institutionalized commercial sadism. And please, spread the word. Cities all over the world are banning circuses with wild animal acts. The audience can step up and be the heroes for these animals that we obviously admire and adore. We can stop the crime of animal abuse in circuses. We can end this travesty in our lifetime.

Break The Chain | The campaign to stop circus suffering

The Saddest Show on Earth ad campaign was conceived by Y&R for PETA