Curtain Call Chicago - October 21, 2026

LA Young's Phyllis Hyman Tribute brings the music of one of soul and jazz’s most distinctive voices to life in an unforgettable live performance for ONE NIGHT ONLY at City Winery Chicago on November 3rd, 2026.

If you love the timeless music of Phyllis Hyman, this is a tribute built for true listeners. LA Young is a contralto, sharing the same rare, rich, low-toned vocal range that made Hyman’s performances so captivating. Rather than an impersonation, Young is backed by her band, Soul Society™, with every arrangement performed live;  nothing on tape.

Tickets can be purchased at: www.CityWinery.com/Chicago

Curtain Call Chicago - October 14, 2026 

Never Mind the Happy is Marc Shaiman’s candid, witty memoir about a life in music, movies, theater and show business. It follows his journey from a young theater kid to an award-winning composer and lyricist, with stories about Broadway, Hollywood, major collaborations, and the personal highs and heartbreaks that shaped his career.

The book mixes sharp humor with genuine reflection, making it feel like part insider showbiz tale and part personal portrait of a creative life. It’s especially rich with his experiences with legends including Bette Midler, Barbra Streisand and so many more! These are the stories that define Shaiman’s world, from stage to screen.

Curtain Call Chicago - October 16, 2026

A Strange Loop follows Usher,(played by Eddie Weaver) a Black, queer Broadway usher struggling to write a musical about a Black, queer Broadway usher struggling to write a musical. Michael R. Jackson’s Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning work blends biting humor and raw emotion as Usher confronts his intrusive thoughts, family expectations and search for self-acceptance. Directed by Mikael Burke, the Chicago premiere is a co-production of Raven Theatre and About Face Theatre, running at Raven through November 8.

Curtain Call Chicago - October 20, 2026

Remy Bumppo Theatre Company presents Dominique Morisseau’s Mud Row at Theater Wit through November 15. Directed by Malkia Stampley, this moving, often funny family drama follows two generations of sisters connected by a home in a historically Black neighborhood in West Chester, Pennsylvania. When Regine inherits her grandmother’s house, she and her estranged sister, Toshi, must confront the painful history between them. Featuring Ayanna Bria Bakari as Regine and Tiffany Renee Johnson as Toshi, the production explores ambition, belonging and the complicated inheritance of family love.

Curtain Call Chicago - September 28, 2026

Suzan-Lori Parks’ Pulitzer Prize-winning Topdog/Underdog comes to Steppenwolf in a gripping new production directed by Kenny Leon. In a cramped room, estranged brothers Lincoln and Booth confront old wounds, unstable dreams and a dangerous shared history as rivalry, love and the lure of a high-stakes hustle push them toward a shattering reckoning. Featuring powerful performances by Glenn Davis and Namir Smallwood, the drama is a fiercely funny and devastating portrait of family, survival and the games people play to get ahead.

Curtain Call Chicago - October 9, 2026

Erika Sheffer’s Vladimir follows an independent Russian journalist whose pursuit of a dangerous story puts her convictions—and the safety of those around her—to the test. This timely drama explores the price of truth, the pressures of authoritarianism, and the personal sacrifices required to resist. Shattered Globe Theatre presents the Midwest premiere at Theater Wit, directed by Lou Contey thru November 14th.

Curtain Call Chicago - August 31, 2026 

Sunday in the Park with George is a work by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s presented by Kokandy Productions and presented in the intimate downstairs space of the Chopin Theatre.

The musical is inspired by Georges Seurat’s pointillist painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. In 1884 Paris, the exacting, emotionally remote painter George struggles to complete his ambitious canvas while his lover and model, Dot, longs for a fuller life and greater connection. Their relationship frays as George gives priority to his art.

A century later, George’s descendant—also an artist named George—faces a similar conflict between creative innovation and human intimacy. As he prepares a high-tech artwork inspired by Seurat’s painting, he confronts artistic doubt, family legacy, and the question of what artists owe to the people who love them. 

Curtain Call Chicago - September 25, 2026

The Last Word is Declan Grogan’s monthly IO Theater show where sharp comedy, spontaneous ideas, four unique beverages and the thrill of live performance converge. Catch it only on the last Friday of each month—because some things are worth saving for the final say.

Curtain Call Chicago - September 9, 2026 

Matching Minds with Sondheim: The Puzzles and Games of the Broadway Legend by Barry Joseph is a biography-meets-puzzle anthology that explores Stephen Sondheim’s lesser-known lifelong passion for designing and solving intricate games, arguing that puzzles were a core way he made sense of the world—“making order out of chaos,” as Sondheim himself put it. Drawing on more than eighty years of Sondheim’s activities, the book presents extremely rare, never-before-seen puzzles, treasure hunts, parlor games, board games, and crossword designs, alongside original interviews with celebrity friends and collaborators who played his games and analysis from puzzle designers and theater professionals. Beyond telling the story, it invites readers to try solving Sondheim-style puzzles and adapt his games for their own use, offering a fresh angle on his creative process for fans of his shows and useful anecdotes for interviews or features that go beyond standard musical-theater biographies.

Curtain Call Chicago - September 7, 2026

Vape! The Grease Parody is a Gen Z–inflected, 90-minute spoof of the 1978 film-musical Grease, currently running at Chicago’s Apollo Theater (2550 N. Lincoln Ave.) through January 3, 2027. Produced by Sketchworks Comedy with a mostly Chicago cast, the show reimagines Rydell High’s romances, rivalries, and hallway politics through a 2026 lens—swapping cigarettes for vapes, updating slang and social-media culture, and poking fun at the original’s iconic moments and innuendos.

Curtain Call Chicago - August 19, 2026

A conversation with Kate Luckinbill, granddaughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Kate discusses what life is like growing up with legendary grandparents and talks about two new books which seek to set the record straight about her famous grandparents.

First, Desi Arnaz: A Book is a reissue of Desi Arnaz’s candid autobiography, updated with new photos, a foreword by his granddaughter Kate Luckinbill, and an afterward by Lucie Arnaz. It offers a fresh look at the life and career of the Cuban-born entertainer who helped shape I Love Lucy and American television and what Desi had planned to do and write after the book came out, projects he was never able to complete.

And:

Lucy & Desi: The Love Letters is a collection of previously unseen letters between Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz that reveals their romance during the World War II years in their own words, from their early courtship through the I Love Lucy years and beyond. Illustrated with rare family photos and reproductions of the original letters, it offers an intimate look at one of Hollywood’s most famous and complicated love stories. With an introduction by their daughter Lucie Arnaz.

Curtain Call Chicago - June 10, 2026

David Byrne’s Theater of the Mind is an intimate, immersive theatrical experience that blends neuroscience experiments with storytelling to explore how we perceive reality, form memories, and understand identity. Guided in small groups through a series of sensory rooms, audience members see, hear, taste, and physically move through a series of experiences set up thru story that reveal how unreliable their own senses can be. The show becomes a kind of live, mind-bending science experiment inside the theater.  Joining in the conversation are two actors who play David: James Earl Jones, II and Elizabeth Laidlaw.