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Frank Sennett

@franksennatra

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Author of SHADOW STATE, named Best New Novel by a Chicagoan in the Chicago Reader’s 2023 Best of Chicago awards. Editor of Chicago Culture Authority.

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The Midwest premiere of Tom Stoppard’s final masterwork, Leopoldstadt, directed at Writers Theatre by his longtime collaborator, Carey Perloff, may be the best production of any play in Chicago this year.

https://chicagocultureauthority.com/2026/06/15/writers-theatre-delivers-an-unmissable-production-of-tom-stoppards-epic-leopoldstadt/ by @franksennatra

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3 months ago

My review of the North American premiere of Brokeback Mountain at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, the tragic love story of two men in an impossible situation they can't manage to quit:

https://chicagocultureauthority.com/2026/06/06/brokeback-mountain-scales-the-heights-of-forbidden-love-at-chicago-shakes/ by @franksennatra

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4 months ago

Thank you to everyone who came to @bookcellarchicago last night and helped make the launch of I DID NOT KILL MY HUSBAND so much fun!

@franksennatra led a terrific discussion that went so far beyond the usual how-did-you-do-it. (Write the book, that is, not kill anyone’s husband.)

Only a few signed copies left! taken in The Book Cellar by @franksennatra

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7 months ago

The return of the Royal Shakespeare Company to Chicago Shakes is cause for celebration as they kick off the North American tour of Hamnet in Chicago. Though William Shakespeare is integral to the story, one that only exists because he became history’s most celebrated playwright, the spotlight here belongs to his wife, Agnes Shakespeare.

This is a story that centers fierce maternal love and the indescribable anguish of losing a child. Kemi-Bo Jacobs inhabits Agnes fully, sustaining an intense performance of such raw emotional power that one begins to worry about the toll it might take on her. This, folks, is acting with a capital everything.

https://chicagocultureauthority.com/2026/02/14/a-mothers-love-and-anguish-drive-hamnet-to-stunning-emotional-heights-at-chicago-shakes/ by @franksennatra

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7 months ago

Like a lot of Gen Xers, I read The Outsiders in school when I was a kid. When I heard there was a musical in the works based on S.E. Hinton’s gritty YA novel a few years back, I was perplexed. A play along the lines of the 1983 Francis Coppola film adaptation? Sure. But a musical? I realized how dumb I was at the opening of The Outsiders at Broadway in Chicago’s Cadillac Palace Theatre Wednesday night. Executed as a slick combination of Grease and West Side Story, this saga pitting outcast teens against their affluent classmates in late-60s Tulsa proves a natural for the musical stage.

It doesn’t hurt that Nolan White, who stars as the soulful greaser Ponyboy Curtis, has a This Boy’s Life-era Leo DiCaprio vibe.

https://chicagocultureauthority.com/2026/02/13/the-outsiders-delivers-tuneful-teen-turmoil-at-the-cadillac-palace/ by @franksennatra

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8 months ago

I asked David Byrne today about what draws him to creative projects like Theater of the Mind, which he’s bringing to Chicago with the Goodman Theatre. taken in Chicago Loop by @franksennatra

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a year ago

Why would a theater called Chicago Shakespeare produce a play based on a horror film franchise? The audience at Thursday’s opening of Paranormal Activity got a definitive answer: This taut and terrifying show gives you the willies, maybe even the shakes.

Review:

https://chicagocultureauthority.com/2025/10/17/with-paranormal-activity-chicago-shakes-serves-up-a-fright-feast/ by @franksennatra

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a year ago

Took my daughter and her friend to @sfgreat_america and had a blast at Fright Fest and Oktoberfest. Read on for our haunted house reviews.

https://chicagocultureauthority.com/2025/10/07/delightful-fright-fest-2025-brings-more-thrilling-chills-to-six-flags-great-america/ by @franksennatra

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a year ago

The David Lee Roth concert last night at the Hard Rock Casino in Gary, Indiana, was 21 and over, because letting in anyone younger would constitute child abuse.

I’d heard Dave’s voice was rough, so I was prepared. Even so, wow. He needs to stop reaching for the high notes. Most of the low ones, too.

https://chicagocultureauthority.com/2025/08/20/david-lee-roth-has-a-hard-time-rocking-at-the-hard-rock-casino-in-gary/ by @franksennatra

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a year ago

Any fan of uplifting sports biopics–think 42 and A League of Their Own–will find much to love in Billie Jean, Lauren Gunderson’s world-premiere play about tennis legend Billie Jean King now on court at Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

Billie Jean is a feel-good story in a decidedly feel-bad time, anchored by Chilina Kennedy’s winning portrayal of an icon who never met a societal barrier she couldn’t smash through. Truly, the only thing that could slow King down was age and a balky knee, but not before she secured 39 Grand Slam titles and quite literally changed the world.

My review:

https://chicagocultureauthority.com/2025/07/26/theres-a-lot-to-love-for-fans-of-sport-and-human-progress-in-billie-jean-at-chicago-shakes/ by @franksennatra

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a year ago

The world premiere of Always Something There, an 80s jukebox musical at Marriott Theatre, delivers a raucous good time updating Peggy Sue Got Married with a potent girl-power twist.

Heidi Kettenring, giving Amanda Peet here, is Samantha Craig, a corporate road warrior who gets a high-school do-over. Christina Priestner nails teen Samantha in her professional debut.

Review: https://chicagocultureauthority.com/2025/06/27/always-something-there-has-got-the-gen-x-high-school-beat-at-the-marriott/ by @franksennatra

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a year ago

New Popemobile is in early this year. by @franksennatra

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a year ago