Your Source For What's on Stage in the Chicago Area

Show or theatre
Show or theatre Search by date
Advanced Search

The Highest Rated Shows In Chicago

Here is a list of the top rated plays now running in the Chicago area based on what the current reviews are saying. To see all of the play reviews go to Review Round-Up.

Jersey Boys

Jersey Boys follows the fascinating evolution of four blue-collar kids who became one of the greatest successes in pop music history. Winner of Best Musical at both the Tony Awards and Olivier Awards, Jersey Boys takes you behind the music of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons to discover the secret of a 40-year friendship as the foursome work their way from the streets of New Jersey to the heights of stardom. Audiences will be thrilled with electrifying performances of chart-topping hits including "Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry," "Can't Take My Eyes Off You," "Dawn," and "My Eyes Adored You," which brought The Four Seasons the highest honor: induction into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.

Chicago Tribune- Highly Recommended
Daily Herald- Highly Recommended
Chicago Reader- Highly Recommended
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews- Highly Recommended
Chicago Stage and Screen- Highly Recommended
Around The Town Chicago- Highly Recommended
Chicago Theatre Review- Highly Recommended
Buzznews.net- Highly Recommended
Chicagoland Musical Theatre- Highly Recommended
PicksInSix- Highly Recommended
Life and Times- Highly Recommended
Broadway World- Highly Recommended
NewCity Chicago- Highly Recommended
Jersey Boys
The Music Man

Meredith Willson's six-time, Tony Award-winning musical comedy is a family-friendly story to be shared with every generation. Follow fast-talking traveling salesman, Harold Hill, as he cons the people of River City, Iowa, into buying instruments and uniforms for a band that he vows to organize - despite the fact that he doesn't know a trombone from a treble clef. His plans to skip town with the cash are foiled when he falls for Marian, the librarian. By turns wicked, funny, warm, romantic and touching, THE MUSIC MAN is family entertainment at its best.

Chicago Tribune- Highly Recommended
Chicago Reader- Highly Recommended
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews- Highly Recommended
Around The Town Chicago- Highly Recommended
Chicago Theatre Review- Highly Recommended
Buzznews.net- Highly Recommended
Chicagoland Musical Theatre- Highly Recommended
Chicago Theater and Arts- Highly Recommended
Chicago On Stage- Highly Recommended
Life and Times- Highly Recommended
Chicago Culture Authority- Highly Recommended
Splash Magazine- Highly Recommended
Broadway World- Highly Recommended
The Music Man
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical

Before she was the Carole King we know today, she was a young songwriter from Brooklyn trying to make a name for herself. Beautiful - The Carole King Musical tells the inspiring true story of King's remarkable rise to stardom as part of the hit songwriting team with her husband Gerry Goffin and going on to become one of the most successful singer, songwriter and musicians in popular music history. Her credits include songs such as "You've Got a Friend," "[You Make Me Feel Like] A Natural Woman," "It's Too Late," "I Feel the Earth Move," "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," "So Far Away," and many more. Along the way, she made more than beautiful music, she wrote THE SOUNDTRACK TO A GENERATION.

Daily Herald- Highly Recommended
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews- Highly Recommended
Around The Town Chicago- Highly Recommended
Chicago Theatre Review- Highly Recommended
Chicago On Stage- Highly Recommended
Chicago Culture Authority- Highly Recommended
Splash Magazine- Highly Recommended
Broadway World- Highly Recommended
NewCity Chicago- Highly Recommended
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
Purpose

For decades, the influential Jasper family has been a pillar of Black American Politics: civil rights leaders, pastors and congressmen. But like all families, there are cracks and secrets just under the surface. When the youngest son Nazareth returns home to Illinois with an uninvited friend in tow, the family is forced into a reckoning with itself, its faith and the legacies of Black radicalism. Rowdy, hilarious and filled with intrigue, Purpose is an epic family drama - a long-awaited world premiere from one of the country's most celebrated voices.

Chicago Tribune- Highly Recommended
Chicago Sun Times- Highly Recommended
Daily Herald- Highly Recommended
Chicago Reader- Highly Recommended
Talkin Broadway- Recommended
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews- Highly Recommended
Around The Town Chicago- Highly Recommended
Chicago Theatre Review- Highly Recommended
Buzznews.net- Highly Recommended
Third Coast Review- Recommended
PicksInSix- Highly Recommended
MaraTapp.org- Highly Recommended
Life and Times- Highly Recommended
Chicago Culture Authority- Highly Recommended
Splash Magazine- Highly Recommended
Broadway World- Highly Recommended
Purpose
Blue Man Group

Blue Man Group is best known for its award-winning theatrical productions which critics have described as "ground-breaking," "hilarious," "visually stunning" and "musically powerful." These performances feature three enigmatic bald and blue characters who take the audience through a multi-sensory experience that combines theatre, percussive music, art, science and vaudeville into a form of entertainment that is like nothing else.

Chicago Tribune- Highly Recommended
Chicago Sun Times- Recommended
Chicago Reader- Highly Recommended
Windy City Times- Highly Recommended
Centerstage- Highly Recommended
Chicago Stage Review- Highly Recommended
Stage and Cinema- Highly Recommended
ChicagoCritic- Highly Recommended
Chicago Stage and Screen- Highly Recommended
Around The Town Chicago- Highly Recommended
Chicago Theatre Review- Recommended
The Fourth Walsh- Highly Recommended
Chicago Theater Beat- Highly Recommended
Third Coast Review- Recommended
Chicago On Stage- Highly Recommended
Picture This Post- Highly Recommended
Blue Man Group
Monsieur Chopin

Days after the February 1848 revolution, Fryderyk Chopin is teaching a piano lesson in Paris. Set in the Polish pianist-composer's intimate salon, Chopin shares with his students secrets about the piano and secrets about himself-as well as playing some of his most beautiful and enduring compositions. In a tour de force performance, the beloved virtuoso actor/pianist, Hershey Felder brings to life the romantic story and music of the man once called the "Poet of the Piano."

Daily Herald- Recommended
Chicago Reader- Recommended
Around The Town Chicago- Highly Recommended
WTTW- Highly Recommended
Chicago Theatre Review- Highly Recommended
Buzznews.net- Highly Recommended
Chicago Theater and Arts- Highly Recommended
Life and Times- Highly Recommended
Evanston Roundtable- Highly Recommended
Splash Magazine- Highly Recommended
Monsieur Chopin
The Choir Of Man

Welcome to The Choir of Man, the best pub in the world. It’s a party. It’s a concert. It’s a theater experience unlike any you’ve had before. Featuring pop, classic rock, folk melodies, and pub anthems, The Choir of Man has something for everyone. A cast of nine (extra)ordinary and multi-talented guys combines hair-raising harmonies, foot-stomping singalongs, world-class tap dance, and poetic meditations on the power of community in this riotously enjoyable homage to that popular gathering place—your favorite local pub. With a real working bar on stage, come ready to drink in the excitement. Raise a glass with us! Cheers!

Chicago Tribune- Recommended
Chicago Sun Times- Recommended
Chicago Reader- Highly Recommended
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews- Highly Recommended
Chicago Stage and Screen- Highly Recommended
Around The Town Chicago- Highly Recommended
Chicago Theatre Review- Highly Recommended
Chicago Culture Authority- Recommended
City Pleasures- Highly Recommended
Splash Magazine- Highly Recommended
Broadway World- Highly Recommended
NewCity Chicago- Highly Recommended
The Choir Of Man
The S Paradox

Babes With Blades Theatre at Factory Theater

In a distant future, the United States has undergone sweeping reform: guns are banned, healthcare is free and numerous tax and economic bills have helped lessen the division of classes and pulled millions out of poverty. Sloane is a young woman who has been tapped by a watchdog intelligence agency called the CRC, led by the odd, yet charming William Hale. As Sloane triumphantly, and a little drunkenly, leaves a warehouse after signing her contract, she is stopped by a mysterious woman who says she has come back in time to stop Sloane from making the biggest mistake of her life.

Chicago Reader- Highly Recommended
Around The Town Chicago- Highly Recommended
Buzznews.net- Highly Recommended
Life and Times- Recommended
The S Paradox
Joe Turner's Come and Gone

On the heels of Gem of the Ocean (2022), expert August Wilson interpreter Chuck Smith revives the second work in the Pulitzer Prize winner's famed cycle-one of his best-loved, most compelling plays. Herald Loomis searches the country with his young daughter to find his estranged wife. But first, he must regain a sense of his own heritage and identity in this story of spiritual and emotional resurrection.

Chicago Tribune- Highly Recommended
Chicago Sun Times- Highly Recommended
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews- Highly Recommended
Around The Town Chicago- Highly Recommended
Chicago Theatre Review- Highly Recommended
Rescripted- Somewhat Recommended
Buzznews.net- Highly Recommended
Third Coast Review- Highly Recommended
PicksInSix- Highly Recommended
MaraTapp.org- Highly Recommended
Chicago Culture Authority- Highly Recommended
Broadway World- Highly Recommended
NewCity Chicago- Somewhat Recommended
Joe Turner's Come and Gone
Hamlet

Red Theater at The Edge Off-Broadway

Shakespeare’s classic tragedy in an intimate, in-the-round setting. Ashley Fox leads a knockout cast in a production that invites audiences to get up close and personal with their ghosts.

Chicago Reader- Highly Recommended
Chicago Theatre Review- Highly Recommended
Buzznews.net- Highly Recommended
Third Coast Review- Recommended
Chicago On Stage- Highly Recommended
Life and Times- Recommended
Hamlet
The Time Machine - A Tribute to the '80s

What would a Senior in High School born in 2006 know about the music of the 80's? Derrick Taylor knows absolutely nothing about that decade of music but he is about to find out when his music teacher challenges him to research the music of the 80's and compare it to the musical culture of today. Derrick is forced to go to his eccentric inventor Uncle Mike to help him discover what he calls 'old folks music.' However, with artists like Prince, Sheila E, Madonna, Keith Sweat and many, many more, He quickly learns that the music of the 80's was and is phenomenal. Join Derrick as he enters the portal to the past and discovers what great music is all about!

Chicago Tribune- Recommended
Chicago Reader- Highly Recommended
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews- Highly Recommended
Around The Town Chicago- Highly Recommended
Chicago Theatre Review- Highly Recommended
Buzznews.net- Recommended
City Pleasures- Highly Recommended
NewCity Chicago- Recommended
The Time Machine - A Tribute to the '80s
Oh, The Places You'll Glow!

Step into a dimension of kaleidoscopic hilarity with The Second City e.t.c's 47th Revue Oh, The Places You'll Glow! Our incandescent ensemble leads the journey through a luminous wonderland of wit and satire where they weigh the politics of a one-night stand, explore an unconventional school for troubled youth, and find out who REALLY runs hell. A laugh riot spectacle of sound and fury resplendent with color; Oh, The Places You'll Glow! is sure to illuminate your heart.

Chicago Tribune- Highly Recommended
Chicago Sun Times- Highly Recommended
Chicago Reader- Recommended
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews- Recommended
Around The Town Chicago- Recommended
Chicago Theatre Review- Highly Recommended
Chicago On Stage- Highly Recommended
Life and Times- Highly Recommended
Chicago Culture Authority- Highly Recommended
NewCity Chicago- Recommended
Oh, The Places You'll Glow!
The Unfair Advantage

Introducing The Unfair Advantage, an intimate, unique, and unprecedented hour-long theatrical event running in Chicago for a limited time this spring. Join Harry in an audience of just 35 people as he reveals - step by step - how magicians, card cheaters, and mentalists fool the world.

Chicago Tribune- Highly Recommended
Chicago Reader- Recommended
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews- Recommended
Around The Town Chicago- Highly Recommended
Chicago Culture Authority- Highly Recommended
The Unfair Advantage
Don't Quit Your Daydream

Come see The Second City Mainstage's brand-new 111th Revue, newly titled Don't Quit Your Daydream. This is the most exciting time to see a show on our stages. The cast is fresh, new material is worked into the show every night, and your laughter in the audience helps shape the final show!

Chicago Tribune- Highly Recommended
Chicago Sun Times- Recommended
Chicago Reader- Recommended
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews- Recommended
Around The Town Chicago- Highly Recommended
Buzznews.net- Highly Recommended
The Fourth Walsh- Highly Recommended
Picture This Post- Recommended
NewCity Chicago- Highly Recommended
Don't Quit Your Daydream
Guys and Dolls

Step into the dazzling lights of 1950s New York City with Guys and Dolls. This enduring tale of romance, risk, and unforgettable rhythm follows the improbable love story of high-rolling gambler Sky Masterson and mission doll Sarah Brown, along with the comedic relationship of the ever-patient Miss Adelaide and craps game organizer Nathan Detroit. Guys and Dolls takes you into the golden age of Broadway with wit, charm, and plenty of heart with vibrant characters and unforgettable songs like “Luck Be a Lady” and “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat.”

Chicago Tribune- Somewhat Recommended
Chicago Sun Times- Recommended
Daily Herald- Highly Recommended
Chicago Reader- Highly Recommended
Talkin Broadway- Highly Recommended
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews- Recommended
Around The Town Chicago- Recommended
Chicago Theatre Review- Highly Recommended
Chicagoland Musical Theatre- Highly Recommended
PicksInSix- Highly Recommended
Life and Times- Highly Recommended
Chicago Culture Authority- Somewhat Recommended
City Pleasures- Highly Recommended
WDCB- Highly Recommended
Splash Magazine- Recommended
Broadway World- Highly Recommended
NewCity Chicago- Highly Recommended
Guys and Dolls

To see the reviews of all plays go to Review Round-Up.