A new year has dawned and Chicago’s energetic new theater season will keep your winter chill away. Here’s a quick look at 10 of the most intriguing shows opening between now and the end of March, listed in alphabetical order. I’ve not yet seen these shows, of course, so I always offer the caveat that some may not live up to expectations — but the odds are good!
It hardly needs stating that there are many more than 10 productions on offer. Chicago theaters always do a poor job of managing their calendars; the vast majority of major new shows open in a 10-day period at the end of January, allowing for rehearsals to start only this week. That’s frustrating, given the heavy demand in early January, although the first month of the year does host benefit appearances at Chicago Shakespeare Theater by both Suzy Eddie Izzard (Jan. 16-17) and Ian McKellen (Jan. 30).
There really is much to look forward to throughout 2026, including new theaters for Northlight Theatre in Evanston and for Steep Theatre and TimeLine Theatre in Chicago. “Hamilton” is returning to Loop this winter; the Trump-Kennedy Center’s loss is our gain.
But this business always is about what is on the stage, and the next few weeks always are a great time to see a Chicago show.
“The Dance of Death”
The great Irish playwright Conor McPherson (“Shining City,” “The Seafarer”) adapts August Strindberg’s famously dark and sardonic drama from 1900 about a man and his wife who despise and try to sabotage each other. This version was first seen locally at Writers Theatre in Glencoe around a dozen years ago; in reviewing that long-ago production, I described “Dance of Death” as “an impassioned, fever dream of an apocalyptic play.” Yasen Peyankov directs a notable cast for this new Steppenwolf production that includes Cliff Chamberlain, Kathryn Erbe and Steppenwolf co-founder Jeff Perry.
Jan. 29 to March 22 at Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St.; 312-335-1650 and www.steppenwolf.org
“Dear Evan Hansen”
This musical about a struggling but empathetic high schooler with a book by Steven Levenson and score by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul truly has a cult following. Although the national tour of the original Broadway production has played Chicago more than once, the Paramount Theatre in Aurora won the rights (over several competitors) to the first locally staged production. The rising director Jessica Fisch is at the helm in the historic venue, known for its high-quality production values and large orchestra. I, for one, am ready to see a fresh production of this title.
Feb. 4 to March 22 at Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora; 630-896-6666 and www.paramountaurora.com
“Eureka Day”
In another collaboration with the presenter Broadway in Chicago, the nonprofit Chicago company TimeLine Theatre stages the first Chicago-area production of this comedy by Jonathan Spector poking fun at liberal, pseudo-progressive elites mostly mismanaging their Montessori school. I previously reviewed the Broadway production directed by Anna D. Shapiro and called the show “amusingly observed, sharply penned and generally well-performed play with character types who will be all too familiar to anyone who has (or had) kids in such an exhausting kind of private school.” Lili-Anne Brown directs this new local staging with a Chicago cast.
Jan. 13 to Feb. 22 at Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place, 175 E. Chestnut St.; www.broadwayinchicago.com.
“Hamnet”
Given the success of the recent film adaptation of the novel by Maggie O’Farrell, speculating how the loss of his real-life child influenced William Shakespeare’s writing of “Hamlet,” I suspect this would have been quite a hot ticket at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, even without the prestige of a Royal Shakespeare Company production. Lolita Chakrabarti (“Hymn,” “Life of Pi”) was the adaptor of the stage version. I don’t envy everyone involved having to compete with such an extraordinary film, but then the novel was also the reason for its success and informs the stage version, too.
Feb. 10 to March 8 at Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier, 800 E. Grand Ave.; 312-595-5600 and www.chicagoshakes.com
“Holiday”
One of the highest profile shows of the winter, Philip Barry’s classic romantic comedy “Holiday” will be helmed by Robert Falls, marking his return to the Goodman Theatre after his exit as artistic director some two years ago. This 1928 play (which was twice adapted for film) has itself been adapted by the late, great playwright Richard Greenberg, making this an especially poignant show, given that it will be a twice-posthumous posthumous work. The show already has a soupçon of Broadway buzz, albeit most likely with the addition of some bold-faced names to the cast.
Jan. 31 to March 1 in the Goodman’s Albert Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St.; 312-443-3800 and www.goodmantheatre.org
“Morning, Noon and Night”
Leslie Ann Sheppard, Christina Gorman and Adam Schulmerich are the Shattered Globe Theatre ensemble members in the Chicago premiere of a well-received familial dramedy by the Boston playwright Kirsten Greenidge that explores life in the post-pandemic era as well as the dystopian aspects of the digital takeover that shows no sign of abating. AmBer Montgomery directs. Relatively few plays have explored the lingering trauma of the COVID-19 times; this, apparently, is one that does.
Feb. 13 to March 28 at Theater Wit, 1229 W Belmont Ave.; 773-975-8150 and www.sgtheatre.org
“Salome”
The Scottish director David McVicar was the creative mind behind Lyric Opera’s stunning “Medea” this fall; this winter, his production of this long-controversial (and occasionally banned) one-act opera by Richard Strauss, a blend of Biblical themes with erotic imagery and obsessive characters (not to mention the famed “Dance of the Seven Veils”), arrives in Chicago. The libretto is Hedwig Lachmann’s German translation of the 1891 French play of that name by Oscar Wilde, as edited by the composer. McVicar’s gory staging caused quite a stir at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden in 2008. At Lyric, the debuting Jennifer Holloway will sing the title role with Brandon Jovanovich as Herod.
Jan. 25 to Feb. 14 at Lyric Opera of Chicago, 20 N. Wacker Drive; 312-827-5600 and lyricopera.org
“Stereophonic”
The first national tour of this extraordinary play by David Adjmi, a fictionalized take on the drama surrounding Fleetwood Mac’s obsessive and brilliant behavior inside the recording studio, is one of the best new plays of the past decade. It makes for a truly extraordinary piece of theater when married with a hyper-naturalist production from the phenomenal director Daniel Aukin. David Zinn’s mind-blowing set, which is being re-created for the road, is itself worth the price of admission. I reviewed the Broadway production last year and called the show “a three-hour dissection of ego, insecurity and the messy, messed-up gorgeousness of the creative process.” Alas, the amazing original cast is not touring, but one hopes the new road crew will at least come close.
Jan. 27 to Feb. 8 at the CIBC Theatre, 18 W. Monroe St.; www.broadwayinchicago.com
“Theater of the Mind”
With the name of the polymath David Byrne as something of an insurance policy, the Goodman makes its first foray into the trendy world of high-concept, off-site, immersive theater that attempts to remove the figurative wall between artist and spectator. Devised by the famed veteran musician and Mala Gaonkar, “Theater of the Mind” debuted at the Denver Center in 2022 and was often described there as something of a journey inside Byrne’s head, albeit with the intention of allowing audience members to apply Byrne’s formative experiences to their own lives. The show has timed entries and offers small groups a journey through what essentially is an art installation.
March 11 to May 31 in the Reid Murdoch Building, 333 North LaSalle St.; 312-443-3800 and www.goodmantheatre.org
“White Rooster”
Matthew C. Yee, a writer-actor-musician with an interest in mythologically based stories, is one of the Chicago theater’s most interesting talents and after a too-quiet fall and winter, Lookingglass Theatre returns to production with a premiering piece penned by Yee that is billed as a familial drama, probing life, death and the rituals that accompany them both. Within that penumbra, Yee has transposed Chinese folklore into the Americana setting that compels much of Yee’s boundary-crossing work.
March 5 to April 12 at Lookingglass Theatre in Water Tower Water Works, 163 E. Pearson St.; 312-337-0665 and www.lookingglasstheatre.org
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
cjones5@chicagotribune.com