Curtain Call Chicago - June 8, 2026

Kinky Boots is a big-hearted musical about Charlie Price, who inherits his family’s failing shoe factory and gets an unlikely boost from Lola, a fabulous drag performer with a bold idea. Together, they create a new line of boots and discover that acceptance, friendship, and being yourself can change everything.

Curtain Call Chicago - June 02, 2026

Theo Ubique’s Damn Yankees is a high-energy revival of the Tony Award-winning musical, in which a devoted baseball fan makes a devilish deal to help the Washington Senators beat the Yankees. It blends romance, comedy, and classic songs like “Heart” and “Whatever Lola Wants” into a playful, fast-moving night at the theater

Curtain Call Chicago - June 15, 2026 

Catch as Catch Can is a sharp, inventive family drama by Mia Chung about two blue-collar New England families whose lives are shaken when a prodigal son comes home. Using three veteran actors to play six roles and directed by Amy Morton, the play explores identity, race, gender, and the pressures of family expectation.

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.

Curtain Call Chicago - June 15, 2026

Untitled Vampire Play at Lookingglass Theatre is a sharp romantic-comedy-meets-horror story about Val, a vampire, and Dom, her mortal partner, whose relationship is complicated by family drama and a serial killer stalking Chicago. The play explores love, commitment, codependency, and the messy human problems that come with immortal relationships 

Curtain Call Chicago - April 29, 2026

Steppenwolf Theatre is one of Chicago’s most celebrated theater companies, known for powerful, innovative productions and a world-class ensemble of actors, directors, and playwrights. Founded in 1974, it has helped shape American theater with acclaimed works on its Lincoln Park stages. Now it celebrates its 50th Season with a look its’ final shows of the season, and a description of how the 51st season was selected. The interview is a conversation with its co-artistic directors Audrey Francis and Glenn Davis.

Curtain Call Chicago - May 16, 2026

When truth becomes a threat, democracy starts to look an awful lot like a desperate hostage situation. TimeLine Theatre’s Chicago Premiere of Amy Herzog’s “An Enemy of the People” turns Henrik Ibsen’s 19th-century warning into an eerily and uncomfortably relatable fight over power, political spin, and the price of speaking plainly in public.

The story: Dr. Thomas Stockmann, a physician in a small Norwegian town discovers that the town’s lucrative spa baths are contaminated posing a serious health risk to all. Expecting gratitude, Dr. Stockmann’s message is met with fierce opposition from local officials, including his own brother, who happens to be the town’s mayor. 

Curtain Call Chicago - June 3, 2026

Jerry Lewis is an international legend in the world of film and television comedy. He was an actor, writer, producer, director and yet his life was quite complicated with many rumors emerging over the years about various parts of his life including his work for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and his professional relationship with Dean Martin, the other half of one of the most famous comedy teams ever: Martin and Lewis.

Finally, the truth is told through the memories shared by his son, Christopher. Chris says that the examples his Dad set for him and his viewers were the building blocks for laughter as a part of everyday life with a focus on helping people in need which became a critical part of his life’s mission.

Curtain Call Chicago - June 17, 2026

Laurel and Hardy: After the Laughter is a deeply researched book that chronicles the final years of comedy legends Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, from their curtailed 1954 British tour through Hardy’s death in 1957 and Laurel’s quiet retirement in Santa Monica living at the Oceana. Drawing on letters, news reports, private documents, and rare photographs, it offers an intimate look at their declining health, abandoned plans for a comeback and Laurel’s reflective later life as he watched a new generation discover “Stan & Ollie” on television. This interview is of co-author Nico Cartenstildt, also the author of a previous book on the legendary comedy team.

Curtain Call Chicago - May 8, 2026

Pandemonium, Please Hold is The Second City’s 114th Mainstage revue, a fast-moving sketch and improv show that turns everyday chaos into sharp, chaotic comedy. It features outrageous characters, musical numbers, and audience-driven moments, so the energy changes from night to night 

Curtain Call Chicago - May 11, 2026

Octet is a play by Dave Malloy about eight strangers in a church basement who gather for an internet addiction support group and confront the ways technology shapes their lives. It blends music, humor, and unease into a sharp look at modern loneliness and connection.

Curtain Call Chicago - March 12, 2026

Ravinia President and CEO Jeff Haydon sat exclusively with Paul Lisnek to reveal the 2026 Festival Season. Lots of big stars, Orchestras covering Jazz, Classical, Broadway and Show and even a sing-a-long with the Movie Grease evening hosted by Paul Lisnek….an incredible variety. Beyond the programs, Jeff and Paul discuss all the different ways to enjoy the park, travel and parking and the best way to get tickets. An important annual reveal you will want to watch here!