It has long been the practice that theatrical critics remain silent during the early, developmental stages of a new theatrical work, not printing a word, positive or negative, until an official opening has occurred. But Hedy Weiss, critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, recently broke this unspoken-but-understood rule when she reviewed eight works-in-progress at a 30-year-old theater company called Theater Building Chicago, an organization dedicated to the development of original musicals.
For 13 years Theater Building Chicago has presented a weekend-long festival of musicals in progress, called Stages. In the early years, critics were explicitly asked not to review the unfinished products. Recently, however, it seems that this request has been anything but explicit.
