House Theatre places a contemporary spin on spirited 10th anniversary

If you had been to inform the common particular person on the road that your favourite stage model of “The Nutcracker” featured neither ballet nor the enduring Tchaikovsky rating, they’d assume you had been an unbearable hipster at finest — and maybe completely deranged at worst. But such an individual would clearly have missed the heartfelt marvel that's The House Theatre of Chicago’s 10th anniversary manufacturing of “The Nutcracker,” based mostly on E.T.A. Hoffmann’s darkish and magical story. So inform them: Go see it. You’ll thank me later. The House Theatre of Chicago’s ‘The Nutcracker’: 3.5 out of 4

2019 Equity Jeff Award nominations: Porchlight Music Theatre

Nearly 200 nominations in 34 award classes had been introduced Tuesday for the 2019 Equity Jeff Awards. Celebrating excellence in Chicago theater productions, the nominations embody 11 world premiere performs and musicals. Leading the pack this yr is Porchlight Music Theatre, which obtained 17 nominations, adopted by Paramount Theatre in Aurora with 16, and Court Theatre in Hyde Park with 15. The most-nominated exhibits are Paramount’s manufacturing of “The Producers,” which garnered 9 nominations general, adopted by its manufacturing of “The Wizard of Oz,” which obtained seven. The winners of the 51st annual Equity Jeff Awards can be introduced at a gala ceremony Oct. 21 on the Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace.