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 lesser of such evenings. If I’ve written about them, links are provided. If I published a review, it is linked.
Eastland: A New Musical/Lookingglass/June 16
Epic French Masterpieces/Paris Opera Ballet/June 30
Carmina Burana/Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Chorus at Millennium Park/September 21
Simon Boccanegra/Lyric Opera/November 9
Metamorphoses/Lookingglass/September 29
Good People/Steppenwolf/September 26
Winter Fire/Joffrey Ballet/February 15
Fela!/Broadway In Chicago/March 28
Invisible Man/Court Theatre/January 21
Skylight/American Players Theatre/August 18
Angels in America/Court Theatre/April 14
Disgraced/American Theater Company/January 30
Rashid Johnson: Message to our Folks/Museum of Contemporary Art/June 1
Show Boat/Lyric Opera/February 12
Seascape/Remy Bumppo/September 17
The Iceman Cometh/Goodman Theatre/May 3
James Joyce’s The Dead/Court Theatre/November 17
Golden Anniversary Choral Spectacular/Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus/June 29
I Am Going to Change the World/Chicago Dramatists/June 2
Three Sisters/Steppenwolf/July 10
Sunday in the Park with George/Chicago Shakespeare/October 3
Ameriville/Victory Gardens/February 2
Rinaldo/Lyric Opera/February 29
Spring Series/Hubbard Street Dance/March 15
This Will Have Been: Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s/Museum of Contemporary Art/June 1
The School for Lies/Chicago Shakespeare/December 12
The Book of Mormon/Broadway In Chicago/December 20
A Steady Rain/Chicago Commercial Collective/July 12
Teseo/Chicago Opera Theater/April 27
Aida/Lyric Opera/February 8
Sweet Bird of Youth/Goodman Theatre/September 23
Time Stands Still/Steppenwolf/January 28
Nickel History: A Nation of Heat/16th Street Theater at Steppenwolf Garage/July 20
Rent/About Face Theatre and American Theater Co./May 12
Twelfth Night/American Players Theatre/August 17
The Admirable Crichton/American Players Theatre/August 19
A Christmas Carol/Goodman Theatre/November 25
Elektra/Lyric Opera/October 6
Oedipus el Rey/Victory Gardens/July 9
One Night Only (A Different Kind of Reality Show)/Black Ensemble Theater/October 7
Illegal Use of Hands/American Blues Theater/September 6
The North Plan/Theater Wit/March 3
Honneger’s Pacific 231, Bates’ Alternative Energy, Franck’s Symphony in D Minor/Chicago Symphony Orchestra/February 3
Schubert’s Entr’acte No. 3 from “Rosamunde, D. 797, Clyne’s Night Ferry, Schubert’s Symphony No. 9 in C Major, D. 944 (“Great”)/Chicago Symphony Orchestra/February 9
Camino Real/Goodman/March 11
Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony/Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus/June 22
Jersey Boys/Broadway In Chicago/April 11
Internet Superheroes: Hennessey Youngman/Museum of Contemporary Art/February 21
The Marvin Gaye Story/Black Ensemble Theater/May 24
Winter Series/Hubbard Street Dance/December 7
Perfectly Frank: From Broadway to Hollywood/Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus/July 14
An Exaltation of Place/Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus/June 15
Respiced: A Silk Road Cabaret/Silk Road Rising/April 7
Hellcab/Profiles Theatre/November 15
Batsheva Dance Company/Auditorium Theatre/March 17
The Convert/Goodman Theatre/March 4
Race/Goodman Theatre/January 22
Crowns/Goodman Theatre/July 5
The March/Steppenwolf Theatre/April 15
Timon of Athens/Chicago Shakespeare/May 2
Ben Bailey, Adam Burke, Ken Garr and the Second City’s Improv All-Stars with Colin Mochrie and Maribeth Monroe/Up Comedy Club/February 17
The Delicate Hour/Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak at the Dance Center/February 23
One World Under One Roof/World Music Festival Closing Night at Chicago Cultural Center/September 27
Motion/Signal Ensemble/January 28
Blizzard ’67/Chicago Dramatists/January 13
The Magic Flute/Chicago Opera Theater/September 15
Chicago Gourmet/Millennium Park/September 30
WarHorse/Broadway In Chicago/December 19
Green Day’s American Idiot/Broadway In Chicago/February 7
Accidental Rapture/16th Street Theater/January 19
Being Shakespeare/Chicago Shakespeare Theater at Broadway Playhouse/April 18
Come Fly Away/Broadway In Chicago/January 11
Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival/January 8 & January 14
The Second City’s Improv All-Stars/UP Comedy Club/February 13
Chicago Works: Molly Zuckerman-Hartung/Museum of Contemporary Art/June 1
Falling: A Wake/Rivendell Theatre/March 10
Amahl and the Night Visitors/Chicago Chamber Opera/December 1
Troilus and Cressida/American Players Theatre/August 18
Mamma Mia!/Broadway In Chicago/January 24