Heat up on Chicago’s stages

The First National Tour of Stereophonic. (Photo credit: Julieta Cervantes)

Let’s begin with a literary history lesson dating back nearly two centuries: Emma Lazarus (1849-1887), who was born into a Jewish family in New York, has been described as “one of the most gifted poets writing between the outbreak of the Civil War and the advent of modernism, and who is considered the 19th century’s greatest Jewish-American author.”  

Along the way she penned a poem titled “Expectation” that reflected her hopeful anticipation of spring as it was to emerge from the end of winter. 

As she wrote: “Thick February mists cling heavily to the dead Earth and to each leafless tree. And closer down upon the hilltops draw dull forecasts there of bright, sure-coming spring. Yet the heart gathers hope and strange delight from this dear, unlovely, wished-for sight of leaden-misted twilights lengthening.” 

Worth noting: In addition to her poetry, prose, novels, and translations, Lazarus was inspired by the creation of the iconic Statue of Liberty, and wrote the sonnet, “The New Colossus.” But it was only some years after her early death that her words were inscribed on a bronze plaque installed on the statue’s pedestal. 

Now, on to the February theater scene in Chicago. Here is a sample of three shows created in one shape or form by Jewish artists of various types of talents: 

*Stereophonic: 

The most Tony Award-winning show of 2024, and the most Tony-nominated show of all time, it has been described as “mining the agony and the ecstasy of artistic creation as it zooms in on a music studio in 1976.” And that is where “an up-and-coming band is recording a new album and finds itself suddenly on the cusp of superstardom but also possibly near a breakup.” The writer of the show is the American playwright David Adjmi, who grew up in a Syrian Jewish family in Brooklyn, and whose paternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants. 

Playing now through Feb. 8 at the CIBC Theatre, 18 W. Monroe. Learn more at broadwayinchicago.com/shows/stereophonic. 

* Holiday: This is a world premiere based on a classic play by Philip Barry but adapted and updated in a world premiere by Tony Award-winner Richard Greenberg, who died last year. This adaptation—directed by former longtime Goodman artistic director Robert Falls—is based on a work set amid the social elite of New York in the 1920s. The play has been described as “delving into themes of love, privilege and the quest for personal fulfillment as a romantic outsider disrupts the status quo of the wealthy Seton family.” 

Running Jan. 31 through March 1 at the Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn. Learn more at goodmantheatre.org/show/holiday. 

* Eureka Day: 

This play by Tony award-winning playwright Jonathan Spector, set in Berkeley, Calif., premiered in 2018. The show has been described as “satirizing a progressive and inclusive private school’s five-member board, and the way they ordinarily pride themselves, but are disrupted by a mumps outbreak that forces them to grapple with the contentious issue of mandatory vaccines.”  

Playing Jan. 31 through March 1 in a Timeline Theatre Company production at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place, 175 E. Chestnut. Learn more at broadwayinchicago.com/shows/eureka-day. 

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Now, last but by no means least, two experts on their fields: 

*As always, there must be applause for Scott Speck. He has been the superb Music Director and Principal Conductor for the Joffrey Ballet since 2010, the Artistic Director of the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra, the author of three books (Classical Music for Dummies, Opera for Dummies, and Ballet for Dummies). Born in Boston, Speck’s original Ukrainian Jewish family name was Spivak, meaning “singer.” 

Speck will conduct the Lyric Opera Orchestra for the Joffrey’s “American Icons” program featuring works by four classic choreographers: Robert Joffrey, Gerald Arpino, Glen Tetley, and Martha Graham. 

Runs Feb. 19 through March 1 at the Lyric Opera Chicago, 20 N. Wacker. Learn more at joffrey.org/americanicons. 

Then, when the weather warms up, Speck will conduct Eugene Onegin—Tchaikovsky’s famed opera about unrequited love and regret. The work is choreographed by Yuri Possokhov and composed by Ilya Demutsky. 

Runs June 4 through 14 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, 20 N. Wacker. Learn more at joffrey.org/performances. 

*Also note the master Chicago-born photographer Todd Rosenberg whose photos of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra capture the motion of its musicians and conductors to the point where you can almost hear the music that was being played. 

Hedy Weiss, a longtime Chicago arts critic, was the Theater and Dance Critic for  

the Chicago Sun-Times from 1984 to 2018, and currently writes for WTTW-  

TV’s website and contributes to the Chicago Tonight program.