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, art). Note, the company I keep is not a factor, though it often redeems the 9lesser of such evenings. If I’ve written about them, links are provided. If I published a review, it is linked.
Previous Years: 2013 2012 2011 2010
Smokefall/Goodman Theatre/October 8
Swan Lake/Joffrey Ballet/October 24
Newsies/Broadway In Chicago/December 12
The Midnight City/Firecat Projects at Steppenwolf Garage/October 6
Don Giovanni/Lyric Opera/September 27
Compagnie Kafig: “Correria Agwa”/The Dance Center of Columbia College/February 20
Hedda Gabler/Writers Theatre/January 16
J.S. Bach, The Brandenburg Concertos/Chicago Symphony Orchestra/November 22
The Art of Falling/Hubbard Street Dance + The Second City/October 15
King Lear/Chicago Shakespeare Theater/September 17
In the Garden/Lookingglass/April 26
Contemporary Choreographers/Joffrey Ballet/February 12
Dance Theatre of Harlem/Auditorium Theatre/November 21
The Way West/Steppenwolf/April 12
Art Spiegelman and Phillip Johnson: Wordless!/Logan Center/January 25
Into the Woods/The Hypocrites/February 11
Panic on Cloud 9/The Second City/December 17
Airline Highway/Steppenwolf/December 13
Grounded/American Blues/June 11
Summer Series/Hubbard Street Dance/June 6
The Night Alive/Steppenwolf/September 30
Alarm Will Sound + Taught Abroad/Loops and Variations at Millennium Park/July 3
Chicago’s Golden Soul/Black Ensemble Theater/February
The Sound of Music/Lyric Opera/April 27
Buzzer/Goodman Theatre/February 19
A Christmas Carol/Goodman Theatre/November 23
This Is Our Youth/Steppenwolf/June 19
Concert for Chicago/Chicago Symphony Orchestra/September 19
Venus in Fur/Goodman Theatre/March 16
Independence Day Salute/Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus/July 4
Brigadoon/Goodman Theatre/July 7
The Importance of Being Earnest/American Players Theatre/July 19
Princess Grace Awards: New Works/Hubbard Street Dance Chicago/December 6
The Qualms/Steppenwolf/July 15
The Last Ship/Broadway In Chicago/June 25
On Grace & Politics: Anna Deavere Smith & Toni Preckwinkle in conversation/Logan Center/January 13
The Phantom of the Opera/January 15
Gypsy/Chicago Shakespeare/February 13
Capriccio/Lyric Opera/October 6
The Barber of Seville/Lyric Opera/February 1
Luna Gale/Goodman Theatre/January 27
Peter and the Starcatcher/Broadway In Chicago/April 2
Road Show/Chicago Shakespeare/March 20
Depraved New World/Second City/March 27
Mud Blue Sky/A Red Orchid Theatre/April 13
The How and the Why/TimeLine Theatre/February 6
Romeo and Juliet/Joffrey Ballet/April 30
Hit The Wall/Chicago Commercial Collective/May 2
Love, Life and Laughter: An Evening of Show Tunes, Cabaret and Song/July 18
The World of Extreme Happiness/Goodman Theatre/September 26
Act Your Age! with Beth Urech/Daystar Center/February 22
Death Tax/Lookingglass Theatre/September 12
Russian Transport/Steppenwolf/February 15
The White Snake/Goodman Theatre/May 18
Twist Your Dickens or Scrooge You!/Goodman Theatre/December 11
Nora Schultz: Parrottree—Building for Bigger Than Real/Renaissance Society/January 12