Barbara Vitello
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Girl power: Big vocals, savvy casting fuel Paramount’s ‘Mean Girls’Sep 10, 2026 2:02 pm - Paramount Theatre’s regional premiere of “Mean Girls” benefits from outsize performances from the actors playing the musical’s titular queen bees and wannabes.
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Humanity endures: Marriott’s ‘Come From Away’ a testament to compassion, kindnessSep 09, 2026 12:22 pm - Marriott Theatre’s first-rate revival of the Sept. 11, 2001 inspired musical “Come From Away” is a timely reminder of how compassion and decency can prevail in the wake of a tragedy.
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Spotlight: Citadel stages ‘Eureka Day,’ Metropolis revives ‘Ride the Cyclone’Sep 08, 2026 2:53 pm - Metropolis Performing Arts Centre revives the darkly comic musical “Ride the Cyclone;” Citadel Theatre revives “Eureka Day,” an incisive satire on wokeness; Chicago Shakespeare Theatre pairs Duke Ellington with William Shakespeare and Lifeline Theatre adapts a young adult classic this week in Chicago area theater.
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Best bets: ‘A Revolution of Values’ at Elmhurst Art Museum; family fests in Rosemont, AuroraSep 08, 2026 9:40 am - Elmhurst Art Museum kicks off a joint exhibition rooted in the legacy of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War; Aurora and Rosemont host family-friendly festivals; the Joffrey Ballet presents the Chicago premiere of the rarely performed “Liliom.”
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Undeniably appealing: Drury Lane’s ‘Buddy — The Buddy Holly Story’ will have you tapping your toesSep 08, 2026 8:00 am - There’s nothing like early rock ’n’ roll to put a smile on audience members’ faces and set their feet to tapping and Drury Lane Theatre’s revival of the jukebox musical “Buddy — The Buddy Holly Story” does exactly that.
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Enduring Arcada: Landmark St. Charles venue celebrates centennialSep 05, 2026 9:20 am - For the last century, the landmark Arcada Theatre in St. Charles has hosted stars from George Burns and Judy Garland to Buddy Guy, The Gin Blossoms and Loretta Lynn. The onetime vaudeville palace turned concert venue celebrates its centennial on Sunday, Sept. 6.
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Suspects in attack outside Des Plaines mosque not detainedSep 02, 2026 5:18 pm - A Cook County judge did not detain three men charged in connection with an attack last week outside a Des Plaines mosque, but ordered all three to surrender their firearms to authorities.
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Ever-timely epic: Elgin’s Janus Theatre revives ‘An Iliad’Sep 02, 2026 10:38 am - Ten years after Janus Theatre Company staged “An Iliad,” director Sean Hargadon revisits the play adapted from Homer’s epic poem, this time with an all-female cast.
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Spotlight: Comedy classic ‘The Front Page’ heralds Northlight’s Evanston homecomingSep 01, 2026 1:26 pm - Northlight Theatre inaugurates its new home in Evanston with the premiere of Jeffrey Hatcher's adaptation of “The Front Page,” based on the play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur and the 1940 screwball comedy “His Girl Friday.”
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Bartlett woman pleads not guilty to recording patient nude at South Barrington memory care facilitySep 01, 2026 10:11 am - A 25-year-old Bartlett woman charged with unlawfully recording residents at a South Barrington memory care facility while they were naked pleaded not guilty to the charges Tuesday in Rolling Meadows.