Chicago Theatre Review

Monthly Archives: June 2019

When Barbarism Meets Technology

June 27, 2019 Comments Off on When Barbarism Meets Technology

Wiesenthal – The True Story of Nazi-Hunter Simon Wiesenthal – North Shore Center for the Performing Arts

North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie has kicked off their Feature Series Summer 2019 Season with “Wiesenthal – The True Story of Nazi-Hunter Simon Wiesenthal.” Tom Dugan takes the stage in a tour de force performance with a production that exhibits uniformity in quality across the board: material, performance, stagecraft, and motivation. I am planting a seed in your mind that you should purchase tickets now because there are only performances June 27th through June 30th, and I will reiterate it later in case you have forgotten. 

Read More

The Internet is for Porn

June 27, 2019 Comments Off on The Internet is for Porn

GRINDR the Opera – Pride Films & Plays

The lights gradually dim and out of the hazy darkness steps GRINDR, a glittering, over-the-top personification of the popular hookup app that’s used by thousands of gay men everywhere. Seductively, this bewitching drag performer, bedecked throughout the 85-minute show in a variety of stunning wigs, gowns and heels, sings about the appeal of this iPhone function. A flamboyant narrator, she’s accompanied by two glittering gents (played with panache by Andrew Flynn and Brandon Krisko) who serve as backup. The diva introduces the audience to four very different men, all of whom share varying experiences with this dating app and inspire the stories that are played out in faux operatic style.

Read More

Ones and Zeroes

June 25, 2019 Comments Off on Ones and Zeroes

Ada and the Engine – The Artistic Home

Ada Lovelace has one of those life stories that, if it were fiction, would not sound credible. She is the daughter of the famous Romantic poet, Lord Byron, and she became as close to a professional mathematician as her era would allow, making vital contributions to the work of Charles Babbage and the first computing machines. She is credited with writing one of the earliest versions of a computer program, more than a century before computers would become commonplace. The Artistic Home’s new production, Ada and the Engine, centers on this remarkable woman.

Read More

A Touching, Tragic Tale

June 24, 2019 Comments Off on A Touching, Tragic Tale

Hedwig and the Angry Inch – Theo Ubique

First of all be warned: This may not be an entertainment that will appeal to every taste. Audiences who attend this four-time, 2014 Tony Award-winning musical should be comfortable with in-your-face performances, deafening rock music, blinding concert lighting and 95 minutes of adult humor and a brazenly bold backstory. The theatergoer who considers Rodgers & Hammerstein or Lerner & Loewe to be the hallmarks of the American musical probably won’t love a show that’s this garish and loud. However, younger, less conservative audiences, as well as the many devotees of this cult musical, will find everything to love about Theo Ubique’s finale to their first season, now playing in Evanston through July 28.

Read More

Matchmaker, Matchmaker

June 23, 2019 Comments Off on Matchmaker, Matchmaker

Emma – Lifeline Theatre

In an age when social media has usurped our lives, it’s refreshing to visit a time whern people actually spoke to each other, and with eloquence, too. Like all her novels, Jane Austen’s 1815 novel is a comedy of manners set in Georgian-Regency England. The title character, however, is unlike any of Austen’s other heroines in that Emma is pretty, smart and rich, but also strong-minded, overindulged and rather full of herself. Because a woman’s goal and main occupation at that time focused on landing a good husband, Emma is also unlike her peers. While she fancies herself an accomplished matchmaker for other young women, Emma isn’t particularly interested in marriage herself. As one of the self-entitled, she finds meddling in other people’s lives more fun and fulfilling than minding her own business.

Read More

A Hidden Agenda

June 21, 2019 Comments Off on A Hidden Agenda

Four Places – The Den Theatre

Theatergoers who prefer their dramas as real and affecting as everyday life should run to see this extraordinary production, now in its final performances at the Den Theatre. Joel Drake  Johnson’s 80-minute one-act, which plays out in real time, speaks to every member of the audience, particularly those between the ages of 40 and 65 years. Smartly and perceptively directed by Lia Mortensen, a fine actor, herself, this production confirms that this artist’s talents extend both on and off the stage. She’s expertly guided her gifted, four member ensemble to breathe life into these characters, absolutely avoiding any false moves or artificial schmaltz. This, the Den Theatre’s return to producing their own plays and musicals, is a must-see.

Read More

The Rat Race

June 17, 2019 Comments Off on The Rat Race

Human Resource(s) – Theatre Evolve

Theatre Evolve’s second season premieres with a new play, Human Resource(s) by Sara Means. The focus of the show is on a team of sales reps who are told by their boss that whichever members brings in the most sales at the end of the quarter will get a promotion and whoever gets the least will be fired. Human nature being what it is, the three quickly devolve first into increased bickering and jealousy, and finally outright attacking each other, each hoping to win, or least be saved from the chopping block.

Read More

Fishing for Clues

June 16, 2019 Comments Off on Fishing for Clues

The River – BoHo Theatre

In responding to Jez Butterworth’s play, and attempting to review this production, it becomes increasingly clear that this is a slippery critter to grasp. First of all, a writer won’t want to give away too much about this moody, poetic one-act. There’s the feeling of suspense and mystery here, perhaps even something akin to a ghost story, that shouldn’t be spoiled for future audiences. But then, and here’s the conundrum that there’s not much plot or character development available for the theatergoer to even grab onto. We find ourselves fishing for clues to help explain exactly what is going on in this unnerving psychodrama.

Read More

Our Loved Ones Live On in Memories

June 15, 2019 Comments Off on Our Loved Ones Live On in Memories

If I Forget – Victory Gardens

In the Jewish religion, quite simply put, there is no heaven or hell. The spirit of a loved one who’s passed away remains as long as he’s being remembered by the living. But, asks Joey, the youngest character in this moving drama, what happens when there’s no one left who still remembers them? What if we forget?

Read More

Racism, Homophobia and a Happy Ending

June 13, 2019 Comments Off on Racism, Homophobia and a Happy Ending

Sweet Texas Reckoning – Artemisia Theatre

The word that keeps coming to mind, while watching Traci Godfrey’s story about a family reunion in Texas, is “cliched.” The hour-and-forty-five minutes spent with these four characters offers glimmers of brilliance but ultimately feels like a special Pride Month movie on the Lifetime Channel. Had this dramedy been written by a playwright who could offer some honest, new insights into what makes people tick, especially in small, conservative towns, it would’ve been a far more honest portrayal. There’s a germ of a good idea here. But, in the hands of Horton Foote, Preston Jones or Tennessee Williams, this story wouldn’t be nearly as banal and stereotyped.

Read More