Wherein I attempt to rank every show I’ve seen this year, a running list as the year unfolds, regardless of genre (theater, music, dance). Note, the company I keep is not a factor, though it often redeems the lesser of such evenings. If I’ve written about them, links are provided. If I published a review, it is linked.
Previous Years: 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010
Fema Kuti/Millennium Park/June 20
Good Night, Oscar/Goodman Theatre/March 21
Somewhere Over the Border/Teatro Vista/May 19
Luminaire/Cabaret ZaZou/September 23
Lion King/Broadway in Chicago/November 18
Dear Evan Hansen/Broadway in Chicago/December 9
To Kill A Mockingbird/Broadway in Chicago/May 18
Relentless/TimeLine Theatre/January 27
Bald Sisters/Steppenwolf/December 11
Hadestown/Broadway in Chicago/March 2
Beyond Borders/Joffrey Ballet/October 12
A Day in the Country/Hideout/June 12
The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington/Steppenwolf/September 11
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci/Goodman Theatre/February 22
Mendelssohn Reformation Symphony/Grant Park Music Festival/June 18
King James/Steppenwolf/March 15
The Brightness of Light/Lyric Opera/October 8
Campaigns, Inc/TimeLine Theatre August 10
Swing State/Goodman Theatre/October 16
Sons of Hollywood/Windy City Playhouse/February 3
Six, the Musical/Broadway in Chicago/April 12
Wicked/Broadway in Chicago/September 29
Serenade & Of Mice and Men/Joffrey Ballet/April 27
The Devil Wears Prada, The Musical/Broadway in Chicago/August 7