Articles by Patricia Simms

Lyric’s Show Boat Review: All Aboard the Cotton Blossom!

Lyric’s Show Boat Review: All Aboard the Cotton Blossom! Lyric Opera of Chicago created a unique work melding the best of theater and opera performance: a richly textured evening on the Cotton Blossom

Magic Flute Review – Lyric’s Musical Gift to Whole Family

Magic Flute Review – Lyric’s Musical Gift to Whole Family This opera is the perfect introduction to the opera for young children, and the perfect Holiday entertainment for the entire family

JUBALEE Review - Global Rhythms Continues the Celebration

JUBALEE Review - Global Rhythms Continues the Celebration The Chicago Human Rhythm Project (CHRP) opens its 22nd season with Global Rhythms. This year’s performances spotlight national and international artists.Performances are November 26 and 27

Poe in Octo Review - Trek or Treat? Both!

Poe in Octo Review - Trek or Treat? Both! What a fantastic, OK, phantasmagorical way to reframe Poe’s familiar stories just in time for Halloween and the most wonderful autumn weather ever

Orion Ensemble Review – A Season Opener with Flair, Care and Music from Everywhere

Orion Ensemble Review – A Season Opener with Flair, Care and Music from Everywhere You still have two opportunities to enjoy Orion Ensemble’s first concert of its new season without having to shout “Encore!” once

Back the Bid Chicago Architecture Foundation Tour Review– Don’t Miss the Bus!

Back the Bid Chicago Architecture Foundation Tour Review– Don’t Miss the Bus! On Sunday, September 13, 2009 at 9:30am, Back the Bid Day, the Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF) will give you a chance to visualize the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics here in our home town, Chicago

A GIRL WITH SUN IN HER EYES Review – Don’t Miss This Edge of your Seat Thriller

A GIRL WITH SUN IN HER EYES Review – Don’t Miss This Edge of your Seat Thriller Wow! I can’t remember when I last sat through such a mesmerizing evening of theater! You have until August 7 (although I wouldn’t be surprised it it’s held over!) to see this stunning play

All Temp Furnace Installation Review – The Heat’s On

All Temp Furnace Installation Review – The Heat’s On All Temp rated a Superior Service Award on Angie’s List, a Better Business Bureau BBB Accredited business, as well as Bryant’s Gold Medal of Excellence

Writers' Theatre HEARTBREAK HOUSE Review - Who's Heart Is Broken?

Writers' Theatre HEARTBREAK HOUSE Review - Who's Heart Is Broken? From the moment you enter the theater, you are enveloped in the luxury of the Heartbreak House’s ambiance and ambiguity

Richard III Review - Royal Ruthlessness a Rocky Ride

Richard III Review - Royal Ruthlessness a Rocky Ride Says Artistic Director Barbara Gaines, “As he seduces us as his audience, we become complicit in his crimes

Animal Crackers Review - Shtick to the Script

Animal Crackers Review - Shtick to the Script Chaos. Music. Anarchy. Dancing. Romance. Clowning. Suspense. Hilaria. These are the top ten reasons to see Animal Crackers

Palmer House Review - Restored and Resplendent

Palmer House Review - Restored and Resplendent Everything about the Palmer House Hilton makes her a Grande Dame

Arizona Biltmore Review - Celebrating 80 Years as the Jewel of the Desert

Arizona Biltmore Review - Celebrating 80 Years as the Jewel of the Desert The Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa celebrates its 80th anniversary as the "Jewel of the Desert"

Desert Botanical Garden Review – Phoenix's Spectacular Desertscape

Desert Botanical Garden Review – Phoenix's Spectacular Desertscape Chihuly,Music,Butterflies--the list goes on, but the reason to go to the Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden is the Desert Botanical Garden

Phoenix Symphony Review - A Bravura Performance to an Exuberant Audience

Phoenix Symphony Review - A Bravura Performance to an Exuberant Audience Phoenicians love their symphony orchestra and they love their Music Director Michael Christie

Heard Museum Review – A Celebration of Native Cultures and Art

Heard Museum Review – A Celebration of Native Cultures and Art The Heard Museum of Native Cultures and Art is a living museum - giving voice to a uniquely American people.

Phoenix Art Museum Review – Inside, Outside, an All-Around Work of Art

Phoenix Art Museum Review – Inside, Outside, an All-Around Work of Art The Phoenix Art Museum is one magnificent, sprawling home for exquisite visual arts

Valley Metro Light Rail Review – Spring Break Aboard Phoenix’s Newest Mode of Transportation

Valley Metro Light Rail Review – Spring Break Aboard Phoenix’s Newest Mode of Transportation The Valley Metro Light Rail system is a great way to get around

Wright's at the Biltmore Review - Compliments to the Chef

Wright's at the Biltmore Review - Compliments to the Chef An elegant innovative menu awaits you at Wright's at the Biltmore, the signature restaurant of Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa

The Hotel Monaco Chicago Review - The Little Gem Down the Street from Jewelers' Row

The Hotel Monaco Chicago Review - The Little Gem Down the Street from Jewelers' Row The Hotel Monaco is an elegant in-city retreat from the city







Lyric Carmen Review - The Most Popular Opera in the World!

Lyric Carmen Review - The Most Popular Opera in the World! "What could make a man cheat on his fiancée, drive his mother to tears, and ditch a good job? One woman — Carmen! She's the sex-bomb, gypsy seductress who loves them and leaves them — tossing egos and hearts in the dust"

Do the Hustle Review - Writers' Theatre's Scamtastic World Premiere

Do the Hustle Review - Writers' Theatre's Scamtastic World Premiere Sam and Eddie Sisson are more than just father and son; they’re a crack team of hustlers always looking for the next mark

Rosetta Stone TOTALe Review – A Tale of Two Travelers

Rosetta Stone TOTALe Review – A Tale of Two Travelers Learning a language the Rosetta Stone TOTALe way is probably the closest thing there is to being there because TOTALe is on-line and, therefore, accessible to you 24/7, wherever you are

Robin Hood Review - a Piccolo Panto for the Whole Family

Robin Hood Review - a Piccolo Panto for the Whole Family The operative words here are "Piccolo Panto." With this production of Robin Hood, Evanston's Piccolo Theatre tailors the English Panto to its wacky, high-energy style

Lyric A Midsummer Night's Dream Review - Captivating Characters Cut to the Chase

Lyric A Midsummer Night's Dream Review - Captivating Characters Cut to the Chase It's a dream about a dream and a play about putting on a play

Lyric Macbeth Review - Double double toil and trouble

Lyric Macbeth Review - Double double toil and trouble What an unbeatable formula. Shakespeare. Verdi. Barbara Gaines, founder and artistic director of Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Even though this was Gaines debut at the Lyric, there was never any doubt that she could bring out the Shakespeare in Verdi

Low Pay? Don't Pay Review - Piccolo Theatre's Extravagantly Hilarious Farce

Low Pay? Don't Pay Review - Piccolo Theatre's Extravagantly Hilarious Farce Dario Fo, 1997 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, reprises his signature style--lampooning the powerful and elevating the downtrodden

Steppenwolf's A PARALLELOGRAM Review - a knock it out of the park season closer

Steppenwolf's A PARALLELOGRAM Review - a knock it out of the park season closer A Parallelogram may not be a sexy title for a play, but it is totally engrossing, unpredictable but consistent with the plot and characterization, thoughtful, funny and profound

Sweet and Hot Review - Go for the songs, the showmanship, the dinner

Sweet and Hot Review - Go for the songs, the showmanship, the dinner Six scintillating, sexy, and sweet twenty-somethings sing Harold Arlen--the creator of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"--to our heart's delight. Go for the songs, the showmanship, the dinner. Get the whole Theo Ubique experience

Itsoseng Review – Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Gripping World Stage Series Opener

Itsoseng Review – Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Gripping World Stage Series Opener Itsoseng balances comedy and tragedy in the story of a young man's yearning for change amid the politics of township life during and following apartheid in South Africa

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