We were probably both the best and worst kind of people to attend the world premiere of The Addams Family musical. As lovers of the '90s movies, we consider Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd and Christina Ricci’s performances as Morticia, Gomez, Uncle Fester and Wednesday, respectively, to be iconic. We have an above-average knowledge of the television show, and our childhood bookshelves contain multiple collections of Charles Addams drawings. Despite our love of musicals, we also understand the unfortunate nature of Broadway - lowest common denominator material is more often the rule than the exception. We were hoping against hopes that the creators of this big-budget show, previewing in Chicago prior to its spring 2010 New York opening, would have translated the unique source material into something rich and unusual that takes full advantage of its stellar casting. We were sorely disappointed. more ›

The Theatre Office at Chicagoist Towers almost can't handle the amount of news we’ve heard this week. Here’s everything we’re talking about: more ›

Musical theater has been on our minds lately because frankly, we’re having trouble finding it in Chicago. Not just any musical theater - new work that originates in the second city. Sure Wicked had a nice run but the show began with an out-of-town try-out in San Francisco. Jersey Boys is still going strong, but the show’s ticket prices don’t really appeal to the masses. National tours come through all the time, most rrecently with Rent opening this week. But let’s face it: it’s just a cheap ploy to make a lot of money. (Original cast members Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal are way too old to play struggling 20 year olds in the East Village.) And to add insult to injury, each one of those shows is based on some prior piece of work. more ›