Weirdly hyperbolic quotes about Chicago theater in non-Chicago media

“While Toronto has long considered itself ‘Broadway North,’ it is now outshone by a burgeoning ‘Broadway West.’” —Richard Ouzounian, Toronto Star, 2004

“While New York, with its suffocating commercialism, seems increasingly hidebound, it is to Chicago that the true theatregoer now avidly looks.”—Michael Billington, The Guardian, 2004

“I’ve seen plenty of first-rate shows in Chicago, but to take in two revivals as good as these in a single day is more than worth the vexation of flying in and out of O’Hare Airport.”—Terry Teachout, Wall Street Journal, 2007, referencing Passion at Chicago Shakespeare Theater and Aristocrats at Strawdog Theatre Company

“In some ways the city’s small-theater scene is more robust than Off Broadway.”—Charles Isherwood, The New York Times, 2009