by Joe Cunniff

Following is a look at some of the best in what promises to be an outstanding month in Chicago theater and music.

GOODMAN THEATER: “Clyde’s,” set in a truck stop café, had audiences roaring with laughter throughout. Written by Lynn Nottage and directed by Kate Noriskey, the show featured hilarious performances, including that of understudy Danielle Davis, terrific in the title role. “Clyde’s” deserves to come back for a long run, and then go to Broadway.

Now Tony Award-winning director Robert Falls and Pulitzer Prize-nominated playwright Rebecca Gilman team up for “Swing State,” set in Wisconsin with four working-class characters. Gilman has a wonderful ear for everyday life in the Midwest, and her plays so often deliver a marvelous experience. Through November 13 at the Goodman, 170 N. Dearborn, goodmantheare.org. (312) 443-3800.

CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER: CST’s “The Notebook” received rave reviews for its cast and its music, and is set for Broadway.

Now “Measure for Measure,” The Bard’s remarkably up-to-date examination of corruption and hypocrisy, returns in director Henry Godinez’s 90-minute production, set in a sultry Havana nightclub in the 1950s, before Castro, and complete with pre-show mambo, bolero, and Afro-Cuban jazz. Through November 27 at 800 E. Grand on Navy Pier. www.chicagoshakes.com (312) 595-5600.

LYRIC OPERA: Lyric is scheduling more afternoon performances than ever. Verdi’s powerful “Don Carlos,” set in 16th century Spain and considered as one of the greatest of all operas, will be presented with an all-star cast Nov. 9 at 7 p.m.; Nov. 12 at 7:30; Nov. 17 at 2; Nov. 20 at 2; and Nov. 25 at 7.

Rossini’s rollicking comedy “Le Compte Ory,” starring tenor Lawrence Brownlee and soprano Kathryn Lewek, will be presented Nov. 13 at 2; Nov. 16 at 2; Nov. 8 at 7; Nov. 22 at 7; and Nov. 26 at 7:30.

Both operas will be conducted by Enrique Mazzola, only the third music director in Lyric’s history, after Bruno Bartoletti and Sir Andrew Davis. Mazzola,

born in Barcelona and raised in Milan, is internationally recnowned, especially as an expert in Verdi and in French operas.

SYMPHONY CENTER: Dancers from the famed Joffrey Ballet will take the stage along with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Harry Bicket, in music of Rameau, Mozart, Wagner, and Ravel Nov. 10 at 7:30 and Nov 11 and 12 at 8.

Highly praised conductor Manfred Honeck leads the CSO in Glinka, Auerbach and the Shostakovich Fifth Nov. 17 at 7:30; 19 at 8; and 20 at 3.

The famed Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra visits Chicago and plays Mahler’s mysterious and thrilling Symphony No. 7, “The Song of the Night,” Nov. 16 at 8. Conducting will be Kirill Petrenko, born to an Ukrainian father and a musicologist mother in a small town in Russia, and a superlative and very modest musician who does not give interviews.

MERCURY THEATER presents the fun-loving comedy “Clue,” based on the popular board game, through January 1 at 3745 N. Southport, www.mercurytheaterchicago.com. (773) 360-7635.

BROADWAY IN CHICAGO has two shows on the boards in Chicago in November. Disney’s spectacular musical “The Lion King” plays the Cadillac Palace Theater, 151 W. Randolph, through Jan. 14. And the ever-popular musical “Wicked,” called the “untold story of the witches of Oz,” plays the James M. Nederlander Theater at 24 W. Randolph through December 4.

INVICTUS THEATRE COMPANY, performing at the far-north Reginald Vaughan Theater at 1106 W. Thorndale, presents a modern-dress production of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” through Nov. 20. www.invictustheatreco.com. (773) 293-7117.

And that’s just some of the bounty November has to offer!

By Joseph Cunniff

Following is a look at some of the best upcoming Chicago theater and music:

BROADWAY IN CHICAGO: The perennial hit musical “Wicked,” billed as “the untold story of the witches of Oz,” flies into Chicago and plays the Nederlander Theater, 24 W. Randolph, now through Dec. 4. Visit broadway inchicago.com.

CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER presents “The Notebook,” the world premiere of the musical based on the hit novel about the enduring power of love. Through Nov. 16 at Chicago Shakespeare Theater at Navy Pier, 800 E. Grand.  CST will also begin their new production of “Measure for Measure,” set in Cuba, Oct.28. Visit chicagoshakes.com.

GOODMAN THEATER presents Lynn Nottage’s hilarious comedy “Clyde’s,” set in a truck stop café and centering on a desire to create the perfect sandwich. Extended through Oct. 9 at the Goodman, 150 N. Dearborn.

Goodman also presents the outstanding playwright Rebecca Gilman’s “Swing State,” directed by Robert Falls, Oct.7-Nov. 13. Goodmantheater.com

WINDY CITY PLAYHOUSE presents the immersive drama “Southern Gothic,” set in a 1960s home with four couples celebrating a birthday. Through Nov. 30 at Petterino’s lower level, 150 N. Dearborn (entrance to the theater is on Randolph. Windycityplayhouse.com.

KOKANDY PRODUCTIONS presents Stephen Sondheim’s grisly classic “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” now through Nov. 6 at Chopin Theater, 1543 W. Division. Kokandyproductions.com.

MERCURY THEATER presents “Clue,” based on the popular board game, Oct. 13-Jan. 1 at the Mercury Theater, 3745 N. Southport. mercurytheaterchicago.com.

INVICTUS THEATER presents a modern-dress production of Shakespeare’s classic “Julius Caesar” Oct.20-Nov. 20. Invictus Theater, 1106 W. Thorndale.invictustheatreco.com.

MUSIC THEATER WORKS presents Lerner and Loewe’s evergreen musical “Camelot” Oct. 20-Nov.13 at North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie. musictheaterworks.com.

BLACK ENSEMBLE THEATER presents “Blue Heaven,” in which blues legends Howlin’ Wolf, Big Momma Thornton, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and Muddy Waters reminisce while waiting for B.B. King. Oct.22-Nov. 27 at Black Ensemble Theater, 4450 N. Clark. Blackensembletheater.org.

WRITER’S THEATER presents “Tiger Style!,”a comedy about two squabbling Asian-American siblings now through Oct. 30 at Writer’s Theater, 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe. Visit writersheatre.org.

REMY-BUMPPO THEATER presents “Routes,” which looks through the eyes of immigrants, refugees, and children in conflict with the law as they try to get help. Oct. 12-Nov. 30. RemyBumppo.org.

LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO presents Verdi’s thrilling “Ernani,” featuring five of today’s top Verdi voices and led by Lyric’s outstanding new Music Director Enrique Mazzola at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 1.

Lyric presents the ever-popular “Fiddler on the Roof” Oct. 2 at 2 p.m., and Oct. 6 and 7 at 7 p.m. lyricopera.org.

CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: The world-famous ensemble will be led by the renowned Riccardo Muti, in his last year as Music Director, in a program including the stirring Mussorgsky-Ravel “Pictures at an Exhibition” Oct. 6 at 7:30 and Oct. 7 and 8 at 8 p.m.

CIVIC ORCHESTRA OF CHICAGO, the prestigious training orchestra of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, presents their first free concert of the season as Ken-David Masur, son of the famed conductor Kurt Masur, leads of program of Richard Strauss’s “Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks,” “Tower” by Jamaican-born composer Eleanor Alberga, and concluding with the Brahms Third Symphony. Oct.17 at 8. Visit cso.org.

JAZZ SHOWCASE: Since 1947, Chicago’s home for the best in jazz presents bass-baritone jazz singer Devon Sandridge Oct. 6 through 9. In the Dearborn and Polk Building, the big red-brick building with the clock tower, which is the oldest standing former train station in Chicago. The Showcase is on the Plymouth Court side of the building, at 806 S. Plymouth Court. (312) 362-0234. jazzshowcase.com.

By Joseph Cunniff 

Following is a look both forward and back to some of the best in Chicago music and theater. 

LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO begins their new season with Verdi’s thrilling “Ernani,” conducted by Enrique Mazzola and with five of today’s top Verdi voices. “Ernani” plays just 5 times: at 7 p.m. September 9 and 16, at 2 p.m. September 21 and 25, and at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 1. 

The ever-popular “Fiddler on the Roof” plays Sept. 17-October 7. Call (312) 827-5600 or visit lyricopera.org. 

CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: Riccardo Muti begins his final season as CSO Music Director by leading the U.S, premiere of “Solemn Pledge” by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor; the Brahms Piano Concerto No.1 with Yefim Bronfman; and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 2, inspired by Ukrainian folk themes. Sept. 22 and 25. For a complete schedule visit cso.org.  

CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER: In their beautiful setting on Navy Pier, CST is presenting the World Premiere of “The Notebook: A New Musical,” based on the best-selling novel that became the successful movie. Sept.6-Oct.16. https://www.chicagoshakes.com. 

BROADWAY IN CHICAGO  presents “Anastasia,” the musical about the missing princess of the Romanov empire. Sept. 20-25 at the CBIC Theater, 18 W. Monroe. They are also presenting the popular “Wicked,” the Stephen Schwartz musical about an untold backstory of the witches of Oz. Sept. 28-Dec. 4 at the Nederlander Theater, 24 W. Randolph. Broadwayinchicago.com. 

GOODMAN THEATER presents “Clyde’s,” Lynn Nottage’s comedy centering on a quest to create the perfect sandwich. Through Oct. 9 at Goodman, 150 N. Dearborn.goodmantheatre.com 

STEPPENWOLF THEATER presents The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washinton” Sept.1-Oct. Oct 9 at Steppenwolf, 1650 N. Halsted, (312) 335-1650. Steppenwolf.org. 

WRITER’S THEATER presents the comedy “Tiger Style!” Sept. 29-Oct.30 at Writer’s Theater, 325 Tudor, Glencoe. Writerstheatre.org 

WINDY CITY PLAYHOUSE presents “Southern Gothic,” its immersive play in a full-scale 1960s home where four couples celebrate a birthday. Through Nov. 30 at Petterino’s lower level, 150 N. Dearborn (theater entrance on Randolph). Windycityplayhouse.com. 

NORTHLIGHT THEATER presents “The Garbologists,” the comedy with an old-school sanitation worker and an Ivy League-educated gut in the cab of a garbage truck. Sept. 1-Oct. 2 at the North Shore Center, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie. Northlight.org. 

BLACK ENSEMBLE THEATER presents “My Brother Langston,” about the great poet and civil rights leader, with music from the Harlen Renaissance, through Sept.18. 4450 N. Clark. Blackensemble.org. 

TIMELINE THEATER has extended their hit political comedy “Campaigns, Inc.” through Sept. 25. 615 W. Wellington. (773) 281-8463. Timelinetheater.com. 

LIFELINE THEATER presents “Miss Holmes Returns,” based on the stories of Arthur Conan Doyle, through Oct. 16. (773) 761-4477. Lifelinetheatr.com. 

CITY LIT THEATER presents Noel Coward’s comedy “Hay Fever” through Oct. 9. City Lit Theater, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr.citylit.org. 

VIOLET SKY THEATER, one of Chicago’s newest theater groups, scored a big success with Tennessee Williams’s “Summer and Smoke,” with excellent acting throughout. They’re planning Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” next. At Invictus Theater, 1105 W. Thorndale. www.violetskytheater.com. 

IMMEERSIVE MONET: You can surround yourself with gorgeous paintings by Monet, Renoir, Cassatt, Degas, and more, along with thrilling French music, in “Immersive Monet and the Impressionists” through September 25 at Lighthouse ArtSpace Chicago, 108 W. Germania Place. Across the street from the Chicago History Museum at Clark and North. Visit immersivemonet.com. 

GRANT PARK MUSIC FESTIVAL RECAP:  The final five programs of the summer featured some remarkable concerts. Carlos Kalmar led the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra in a fascinating “Andromede” by the French composer Augusta Holmes, who should be played more often; a darkly dramatic Ravel Concerto for the Left Hand with soloist Andreas Haefliger; and an energized, dramatic “Symphonie fantastique by Berlioz. 

Kalmar led a sparkling program of Libby Larsen’s lovely “Deep Summer Music”; a knockout Flite Concerto by Christopher Theofanidis, featuring virtuoso flutist Marina Piccinini; and a stirring Symphony in D by Cesar Franck, honoring the bicentenary of his birth (1822-2022). 

Violinist Christian Tetzlaff was the sensational soloist in the Shostakovich Violin Concerto No. 1, compared to which the rest of the program, the “Dona Nobis Pacem” of Ralph Vaughan Williams, struck this listener as dull. 

Kalmar’s program including the winning “Fairy Tale” by Josef Suk (the son-in-law of Dvorak) and a suite from Tchaikovsky’s “The Sleeping Beauty” was most melodic and enjoyable, made more so by the “Festival HD” on the Pritzker Pavilion’s giant screen. 

The season’s closing program, Haydn’s “The Creation,” was a success for the Grant Park Chorus, prepared by Michael Black, and the soloists, soprano Maeve Hoglund, tenor Duke Kim, and bass Douglas Williams. 

FAVORITES OF THE SEASON: For this listener, they included the recently mentioned Berlioz “Symphonie fantastique” and the Franck Symphony in D, both conducted by Kalmar, and the earlier in the season Benjamin Britten “Spring Symphony,” led by Christopher Bell. 

FAVORITE SOLO PERFORMANCES: Violinist Tetzlaff in the Shostakovich wins first prize. Second is a three-way tie among pianist Simon Trpceski for the Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2; Andreas Haefliger for the Ravel Piano Concerto for the Left Hand; and the recently mentioned flutist Marina Piccinini, who when took the stage wearing a stunning silver gown, caused my friend Phyllis to remark “She LOOKS like a flute.”  

All told, a wonderful season, with often fine weather. 

By Joseph Cunniff

Following is a look both forward and back to some of the best Chicagoland music and theater.

RAVINIA: The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is back for their annual residency, and August highlights should include James Conlon leading the CSO and star soloists in Mozart’s operas “Don Giovanni” Aug. 11 and 13, and “La Clemenza di Tito” Aug. 12 and 14.

There will also be Stephen Sondheim programs Aug. 7 and 27. Visit RAVINIA.ORG.

GOODMAN THEATER scored a critical and audience success with the one-woman show “Where We Belong,” written by and starring Madline Sayet and directed by Mei Ann Teo.  Goodman is gearing up for the new season beginning in the fall. Details in our next column.

AMERICAN BLUES THEATER hit a home run with a smashing performance of August Wilson’s “Fences,” directed by Monty Cole. There were fabulous performances, and nary a weak link in the cast of Kamal Angelo Bolden, Shanesia Davis, Ajax Dontavius, Martel Manning, William Anthony Sebastian Rose II, Riley Wells, and Manny Buckley. Congratulations!

GRANT PARK MUSIC FESTIVAL: One of Chicago’s grandest summer traditions, the festival runs every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday mid-June through mid-August.

Looking back since out last column, some of the highlights have included a Wednesday evening program when Dutch violinist Simone Lamsma and the orchestra brought to life the 1945 Violin Concerto by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Often based on 1930s movie scores that he composed, the performance showed his major influence on film composers of today as well as revealing him again as a composer who should be played more often.

Conductor David Danzmayr then led a forthright and impassioned reading of the Brahms Symphony No. 1.

With Principal Conductor Carlos Kalmar out for a few days with a mild case of Covid, Chorus Director Christopher Bell led the Grant Park Symphony Chorus, the Anima-Glen Ellyn Children’s Chorus, and soloists in a performance of Benjamin Britten’s rarely played “Spring Symphony” that proved a highlight of the season to date.

“Cirque Goes to Hollywood” saw the circus performers of Troupe Vertigo join the orchestra, conducted by cross-genre expert Sarah Hicks. This writer loved hearing the films scores, especially those Lalo Schifrin (“Mission Impossible”), Ennio Morricone (“Cinema Paradiso”), and Leonard Bernstein (“On the Town”,) but, to express what I’m sure will be a minority opinion, I would much prefer to hear the orchestra play the music unaccompanied by patrons “woo-hooing” the circus acts.

“Lights On Broadway, with the sparkling work of soloists Capathia Jenkins Sam Simahk, and conductor Kimberly Grigsby, spotlighted shows that won the Pulitzer Prize for Music and Theater. Selections from Richard Rodgers’s “South Pacific,” Marvin Hamlisch’s “A Chorus Line,” and George Gerhwin’s “Of Thee I Sing” were among the highlights.

Los Angeles composer Billy Child was on-hand to take bows for his Violin Concerto No. 2, with violin virtuoso Rachel Barton Pine as the committed, energized soloist. Then conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya used clear gestures to lead a forceful Beethoven “Eroica” Symphony.

The festival made a strong case for the music of the unjustly overlooked French composer Louise Ferrenc with her Overture No. 1 (1834); star clarinetist Afendi Yusuf played a splendid Mozart Clarinet Concerto, and Dvorak’s melody-filled Symphony No. 8 received a strong performance in a concert led by young Jonathan Heyward.

Veteran conductor Markus Stenz, who has held important musical posts throughout the world, led a fine program including “Darker America” by the Dean of Afro-American Composers William Grant Still; a dreamy Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 with soloist Simon Trpceski;  and an exciting Bartok “Concerto for Orchestra.”

The festival continues through August 20 on Wednesdays at 6:30 and Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30. Visit GPMF.ORG. In our next column we will have more notes on the festival along with my annual choices for Best of the Season.