Chicago Theatre Review
Happiness Over Wealth
Holiday
Johnny Case, a self-made, 30-something Wall Street lawyer, met Julia Seton at a spiffy health spa in New York City. His visit to the holiday health facility was a gift from his friends for all his hard work and helping them with some fundraising. However, he never expected that a day of luxurious pampering would result in a romance and an engagement to this lovely young woman. What Johnny didn’t realize at the time was that Julia (who was using an assumed surname) was a member of the affluent and legendary Seton clan, one of the wealthiest families in New York City, if not all of America. He doesn’t discover Julia’s real identity until he visits her at the family’s ostentatious Upper Eastside mansion. But when Johnny meets the entire family, including, Edward Seton, the demanding patriarch of the clan, the situation begins to shift.
Read MoreSecond City is “Black and Highly Flavored” this February and March
The annual Black Excellence Review at the Second City is four years in and has become a great way to spend an evening in the dead of Chicago winter. In a time when light-heartedness has become a radical act, this year’s theme is JOY – while honoring Black artistry, humor, resilience, and community.
Mainstage alumni Julia Morales is the first woman of color to direct a Second City Black Excellence Revue, and she takes Second City’s tried and true formula of long and short-form sketches, musical numbers and improv games to a place with a vibrant, celebratory feel. One of the best aspects of Second City is that the performers always seem to be having a good time, and this show was no exception. Music Director Cesar Romero was particularly involved in this show, and the same could be said for him! He provided emotional tone and even punchlines with sound that felt organic and impromptu – hard to do with music. In one sketch, he was key for the Dance fight through decades of music that was impossible not to dance and sing to, right along with the cast.
As ever with comedy shows, one doesn’t want to give too much away, but my personal favorite sketches were often the ones that dealt with identity, or nostalgia. A repeated sketch was The Crits Family Show, a play on 80s and 90’s era sitcoms, that managed to stay sharp, funny and current while still giving memories of classics like Living Single, Family Matters, and even older shows like Good Times. Another fun one was Two Girls in a Taco Truck, which had a wild time with all of the many ways people can choose to identify – while staying appropriately raunchy.
Another sketch played with the experience of social awkwardness, and yet another with middle school girls celebrating Black History, but you know, Sexxxxay. Happily, outright silliness was a feature as well, like a sketch about a cat roommate and another involving missing pants that had the audience roaring.
The cast deftly jumped from role to role, keeping the momentum going and using their own, specific talents to great effect. E.J. Cameron channels a spot on professor of history, a crazy old man and a silly, forgetful waiter with such believability, I found myself looking for him in every scene. Jillian Ebanks’ warm smile and welcoming air lent a wholesomeness that wouldn’t seem likely, given the subject of some of the skits. Jason Tolliver has the air of a buttoned up businessman but then busts a dance move with such commitment and enthusiasm that all assumptions fly out the window. Tyler VanDuvall enters every role with a confidence and old-school charm that makes his forays into outright silliness even more entertaining than they would otherwise be. Lauren Walker has total command over her body, disappearing completely into her roles, but also, in a few scenes, using it like a musician would an instrument, or a clown, props. Finally, Kimberly Michelle Vaughn’s obvious formal dance training and total commitment to insanity is used to perfection in a scene about a dance audition.
In case there was any doubt that the cast was having at least as much fun as the audience, they played two more improv games at the end of the show. Their quick wit and good nature made for an interactive night. The audience, it seemed, was yet another cast member. If a night of culture, comedy and camaraderie sounds like a good time, Black and Highly Flavored is where to be.
Highly Recommended
Reviewed by Alina C. Hevia
Black and Highly Flavored runs February 5 – March 20, with performances on Thursdays and Fridays at 8pm in UP Comedy Club, located at 230 W North Ave, 3rd Floor of Piper’s Alley, Chicago. Tickets start at $39 and are available at The Second City Box Office, by phone at 312-337-3992, or online atwww.secondcity.com
Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.
Poor Little Rich Girl
Hedda Gabler
It’s always interesting and kind of fun to shake things up a bit, especially with a well-known play. When a time-honored drama is adapted and produced in a fresh, starkly different style, it earns our attention. But when the drama is a groundbreaking classic that’s stood the test of time, a brand new interpretation can be a little risky. If the writer is able to offer new insight into the original work by updating it, then it makes sense to craft a new adaptation. Otherwise, it seems like merely showing off.
Read MoreHeartbreaking and Hopeful
Mary Jane
Northlight Theatre’s play for the New Year is about caregiving, friendship and about the fragility of our lives. Evoking endless empathy, Pulitzer Prize-nominated playwright, Susan Herzog creates a powerful portrait of the helpless world for a single mother and her sick child. Both heartbreaking and hopeful, this 100-minute one-act luminously depicts the life of a parent whose life completely changes when she must suddenly center her entire world around a seriously ill infant. This moving drama is about a mother, her fragile little baby and the power of love. Herzog presents all manner of unimaginable complications and challenges that a caregiver must selflessly face. And through their network of generosity and solidarity her new, chosen family offers strength and care for both Mary Jane and baby Alex.
Read MoreThe Rhythm Is Gonna Get You
On Your Feet
Drury Lane’s first production of the New Year is a musical that’s exciting, often heartfelt and filled with pulsating, Latin-infused music and songs that everyone will recognize. The show offers two hours of comedy, drama and pure escape, where we can all enjoy and fall in love with Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine, all over again. It’s also a musical that had its tryout in Chicago, when it premiered back in 2015. This is the first local professional production for Chicagoland audiences and this new version offers some wise script changes, something that most reviewers suggested eleven years ago. But Drury Lane’s production is wonderful, overflowing with infectious rhythms that leave the audience pulsating with a desire to just “Get On Your Feet.” But a warning to every future theatergoer: “The Rhythm is Gonna Get You!”
Read MoreSalome at the Lyric Opera is an Unsettling Dream
In 1902, Richard Straus saw Oscar Wilde’s Salomé. He went home that night and wrote his opera. It debuted in Dresden just two years later. Audiences were immediately taken with the shocking, salacious story of a homicidally obsessed teenaged girl. One hundred and twenty years later, this dark, uncomfortable show is still packing houses.
Read MoreGender Bias and Racism
The Confederates
Throughout this mesmerizing, award-winning one-act by Dominique Morisseau (AIN’T TOO PROUD, SUNSET BABY, SKELETON CREW), now playing appropriately during Black History Month, we find that time is fluid. As the play unfolds, we discover ourselves immersed in two gripping stories that focus on gender bias and racism. And this riveting play, set both during the Civil War and in modern day Academia, often defies categorization by genre. In Ms. Morisseau’s play, there are equal elements of comedy and satire balanced by drama and pure surprise.
Read MoreBonded Over Birding
Birds of North America
Anna Ouyang Moench’s powerful one-act play is being given a beautiful production by A Red Orchid Theatre. This is a quietly sweet and reflective story about family relationships. It’s about two generations, a father and an adult daughter, who have bonded over birding through the years. Set in the backyard of John’s longtime, rural Maryland home, the leaves have turned color and, with each scene, time passes and the falling leaves accumulate on the lawn. As the years pass, Caitlyn and her father spend quality time together at home, searching for birds while also searching for a deeper appreciation and understanding of each another.
Read MorePatti LuPone Made the World Go Round
Matters of the Heart
After the frigid temperatures and an awful lot of snow, January in Chicago has thankfully come to a bone-chilling end. But in a magnificent, mellifluous concert performance that warmed the soul, thousands of Windy City music and theatre aficionados were treated by a special performance by the Queen of Broadway. The one and only Diva Divine, Ms. Patti LuPone took to the stage for almost two hours of melodious magic. And for that brief couple of hours, Patti LuPone cranked up the temperature with her astounding, almost acrobatic vocals, and for this audience, Made the World go Round.
Read MoreLunatics Have Taken Over the Asylum
Stereophonic
While listening to your favorite vinyl record album, have you ever wondered what it was like to write and record all that music? STEREOPHONIC is a play with music, written by playwright David Adjmi and featuring original songs by Will Butler. It detailed a fictional band’s recording of their second album, following the amazing popularity of their first record. On the heels of a critically acclaimed Off-Broadway run, Directed by Tony Award-winner Daniel Aukin, the play opened on Broadway in 2023. It went on to make theatre history by garnering the most Tony nominations ever for a play (13, in all) with five wins, including Best Play. And for that reason alone, theatergoers should drop everything and hurry to see this extraordinary production before it leaves Chicago.
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