Here's my annual celebration of the 10 best shows of 2024 on Chicago stages. These shows ran the gamut of human emotion and were found in Chicago area theaters large and small. Some were by seasoned professionals. A few of them were relative newcomers. All were unforgettable.
While our separate annual list of the best theater shows is limited to shows created in Chicago, this celebration of great acting includes performances in any show that has run in the area in the past year — including those produced locally, and those that tour, tryout or Visit from far away.
Without further ado, in alphabetical order:
Alana Arenas in “Purpose” (Steppenwolf Theater Company): As “Purpose” prepares to move to Broadway in the spring, other names in the cast of playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s brilliant drama about a dysfunctional Chicago family are likely to receive more attention . But I suspect audiences in New York won't be prepared for the ferocity that Arenas brings to the role of Morgan, the angry wife of the scion of Jesse Jackson Jr.'s clan-based political dynasty. It takes a while for Morgan to appear, but once she comes down the stairs, eyes blazing and guns roaring, the show is never the same. It's a transformative role for a member of the Steppenwolf Theater Company.
Cyd Blakewell in “Obliteration” (Gift Theater): Blakewell has a quirky, down-to-earth personality on stage, and that's reflected in the roles this longtime Chicago actress has performed over the years. But in playwright Andrew Hinderaker's brilliant play “Blur,” Blakewell plays an aspiring comedian who seeks a mentor in a sarcastic comedian played by Michael Patrick Thornton. As her character told the jokes, the audience was never sure whether these were entirely fictional monologues or (given how well all the participants knew each other) perhaps partly Blackwell's own confession. This was an amazing, quiet show with tremendous courage and more mystery than jokes.
Amanda Drinkall in “A Streetcar Named Desire” (Paramount Theater): Tennessee Williams' fragile Blanche DuBois is a beast of a role, with clichés and traps lurking on every street corner. But at Paramount's Little Copley Theater in Aurora, Drinkall, long one of Chicago's great actresses, presented one of dramatic literature's most famous characters as a woman who made irrevocable choices, took on her artificial persona as a means of survival, and has now pledged By following it. Her self-created personality to the grave, if necessary. Here, it was not so much that Blanche was making choices as that she had no alternative but to follow the path there from her beginnings. An amazing piece of acting.
Jesse Fisher in “Everything's Awesome” (Book Theater): It's never easy for an artist to hold the stage in a solo show. But Fisher, returning home after a year on Broadway, not only told stories in this beautiful piece about finding and appreciating life's little pleasures, but she was so warm and engaging that she convinced Glencoe audiences (some clearly reluctant) to become part of the offer. Vulnerable and confident, Fisher gently pushed her character's point of view, winning people over with every new reason to enjoy life.
Megan Hilty in “Death Becomes Her” (Cadillac Palace Theater): Funny, twisted, messy and deliciously desperate are all fair descriptions of Hilty’s hilarious performance in “Death Becomes Her,” a Broadway musical that premiered in Chicago early this year. A truly likable Broadway star, Hilty portrayed Madeleine, the heroine of this silly musical comedy, in ways that made her all the more hilarious because Hilty made herself so vulnerable when she fought her rival, as played by her partner in crime, Jennifer Simard. Hilty is a skilled farce performer, far more adept at physical comedy than most of her peers, but she's also a likable and slightly intimidating diva. Perfect for this show.
Steven Shellhardt in “Falsettos” (Court Theater with Timeline Theater): When you watch a busy, hugely talented actor for years, you find yourself dividing his work into two categories: performances in which he does what he's told, and he does it. It's good, and shows where their heart and soul are completely in sync with their personality. The role of Marvin in William Finn and James Lapine's musical “Falsettos” seemed to fall into the latter category for Schilhardt and I do not doubt for a moment that this wise actor brought every inch of his complex life path to the role. But there was also a real sweetness that was never more evident than when Schilhardt sang “What More Can I Say?” Cool, sure, but also with the wisdom of experience.
Kristin Sherrill in “Mamma Mia!” (Nederlander Theater): There's talk of reviving “Mamma Mia” on Broadway! And it would be a shame if anyone other than Cheryl played the lead role of Donna, once a dynamo, now a middle-aged bar owner with several ex-lovers and an overly curious daughter with ABBA on the brain. A one-time Chicago performer with credits large and small, Cheryl blew the roof off the Nederlander Theater with her powerful voice during the final national tour appearance here last May. I've seen at least 14 Donnas, God help me, and Cheryl is the Donna of all Donnas, more interesting as an actress than the incarnations of ABBA tearing her apart in London. Winner Takes All has never been more relevant.
Namir Smallwood in “Primary Trust” (Goodman Theater): Playing a neurotypical character like the hero of Ebony Booth’s sweet, poetic play is never easy. But Smallwood seemed to feel Kenneth to his core as he conjured an extraordinary life in an ordinary town without the slightest condescension. This was among the most immersive performances I have witnessed all year, and as is often the case with works of such detail and commitment, the audience was visibly moved. Smallwood didn't make his man more important than the cards life dealt him, but he brought him back to life in ways that made him representative of us all.
Michael Shannon in “Turret” (Red Orchid Theater): Not everyone understood this Levi Holloway play, a baffling dystopian thriller with a deep psychological subtext, but everyone understood that a GOAT Chicago actor was back in town doing what he cared about. Transform and present his signature blend of warmth and coolness, mysterious complexity and old-school simplicity. Shannon took to the Chopin stage, playing the father figure you'd surely have to be strong to want. This is not the first time Shannon has dissected masculinity by showing us a man whose honest feelings are so stifled by his lack of the language of love that he comes across as a kind of benign monster. Talk about complex work.
Larry Yando in “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” (Nederlander Theater): Yando gave up the role of the sly Scrooge at the Goodman Theater and moved across the street to the Nederlander Theater this year, where he played the Snape, Dumbledore and Old One trilogy. Amos Diggory in the New Road's production of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.” Talk about a triple threat. Yando found deep truths in these three characters as if he was revealing different sides of himself. It turns out that doing Charles Dickens for all these years was the best training for a JK Rowling show. Yando has never been better or released more facts to live in one night.
Honorable Mentions: Jack Paul in “Falsettos” at the Cort Theatre; Daniel Brecker in “Doomsday” at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater; Christian Patterson in “Pericles” produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company of Chicago Shakespeare; Harry Lennix in “Purpose” in Steppenwolf; Andrew McNaughton in “Young Frankenstein” at the Mercury Theater in Chicago; Laurie Metcalf in Steppenwolf's “Little Bear Ridge Road”; Sawyer Smith in “The Little Mermaid” at Drury Lane Theatre; Micah Stock at “Little Bear Ridge Road” in Steppenwolf; magician Siegfried Tepper in the Magic Parlor; Adisa Williams in “The Devil in the Turns” at Second City.
And also the incomparable Kevin in “Annie” presented by Madison Square Garden Entertainment.
Chris Jones is the Tribune's critic.
cjones5@chicagotribune.com
