| Good frosty afternoon. Alas, "Little Bear Ridge Road" (first seen at Steppenwolf Theatre) has announced that it's closing on Broadway on Dec. 21. Incredibly, a show with only three actors and a setting consisting of one couch reportedly costs $500,000 a
week to run. Truly a sobering example of how costs are out of control on Broadway. I got to chat this past week with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh about
"The Phantom of the Opera" (and a few other things that are in my notebook for the future). The new tour opened Saturday night in the Loop and it's still the biggest night out in town. Daniel Lopez as Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny and Jordan Lee Gilbert as Christine Daaé in the national tour of “The Phantom of the Opera” at Cadillac Palace Theatre. (Matthew Murphy) Meghan Hilty took the weekend off from
"Death Becomes Her" on Broadway to do her Christmas show at Steppenwolf. For Dolly Parton fans, "Hard Candy Christmas" was the highlight, but Hilty was a charmer through and through. Up next in the seasonal cabaret world is Anthony Rapp (the original star of
"Rent") at Lookingglass this weekend; Rapp will also include performances by several local singers. Ian McKellen is coming to Chicago at the end of January. The famed British actor (who has not worked here for 40 years) will be donating his time to Chicago Shakespeare Theater
and performing his "One Knight Only' show on Jan. 30. McKellen also will present a free performance of the show for some 600 students and teachers. “One Knight Only” is described as McKellen “sharing his illustrious 60-year career and reprising some of his most iconic roles." British actor Ian McKellen speaks at a special “Shakespearean Breakfast” by the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Foyle Foundation at Middle Temple Hall
in London on November 12, 2025. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP) I donned a hard hat to take a look at the new TimeLine Theatre in Uptown last week. The building is, I think, bigger than many people realize (the new space is quite a bit larger than the one at Lookingglass,
for example), and it comes with terrific visibility both from Broadway and the CTA's Red Line. Expect a vertical sign coming soon and making a nice fit with the signage on the (sadly unrestored) Uptown Theatre and the Aragon Ballroom. Plans call for a bar
to be open nightly and welcoming to those going to a show or not. Perhaps this will become the theater hangout that Chicago has lacked for so long. Either way, TimeLine certainly will face the increased expectations that come from such a splendiferous new building. It's set to open early in the summer. Longtime Chicago actor and writer Paul Slade Smith is joining the Broadway cast of
"Ragtime" in January in the role of Grandfather. And Porchlight Music Theatre has announced the cast of its concert-style staging of
"Follies." Have a great week! See you at the theater. — Chris Jones, chief theater critic Deborah Hay and Mark Bedard as Beatrice and Benedick in “Much Ado About Nothing” in
Chicago Shakespeare’s Courtyard Theater on Navy Pier. (Kyle Flubacker) Our current list of Chris Jones Recommends: “Jekyll & Hyde” through Dec. 21 by Kokandy Productions at Chopin Theatre; “Diary of a Black Illusionist” in an open run on Wednesdays at Chicago Magic Lounge; “White Christmas” through Dec. 29 at Paramount Theatre in Aurora; “Sister Act” through Jan. 11, 2026, at Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace; “Much Ado About Nothing” through Dec. 21 at Chicago Shakespeare Theater; “Urinetown” through Jan. 4 at Theo Ubique Theatre in Evanston; “The Phantom of the Opera” through Feb. 11 at the Cadillac Palace Theatre; “Gaslight” through Jan. 4 at Northlight Theatre in Skokie. | 
