Monthly Archives: May 2021
A Tour-de-force of Illusion
The Magic Parlor — Palmer House
Until it’s safe for the historic Palmer House Hilton Hotel to reopen its doors again, and it’s safe to return to live performances, Master Magician Dennis Watkins will be performing his shows live on Zoom. His appreciative audiences come from every age group and from all over the world. Each performance is slightly different because of the makeup of his audience and the choices and manipulations created by his interactive viewers. And that’s what makes this viral production so unusual and spectacular: Mr. Watkins has only so much control over his magic show; it’s primarily how each audience member reacts to his tour-de-force of illusion that makes each show so unique and memorable.
Read More
The Guest That Wouldn’t Leave
Jeffrey — Pride Arts
Before there was Covid-19 there was the AIDS epidemic. The virus infected thousands of gay men and women and decimated homosexual communities all over the world. However, there will be those watching this staged reading who weren’t even born until after this particular plague had been brought under control. Most young people won’t understand the full horror of this disease. The complications from AIDS sickened and eventually took the lives of so many innocent victims. But, without having lived through this era, some younger audiences won’t appreciate the bleak existence that a gay man tiptoed through, between 1981 and the mid-to-late 1990’s.
Read More
Best Friends Forever
W.o.W – Theatre Above the Law
W.o.W. is the story of a pair of best friends at three different points in their lives: young teenagers getting ready for a party, young adults facing their first grown up decisions, and adults dealing with their consequences. The common thread is that each point the play finds them, they are all hiding out in a bathroom. The setting makes a certain about of sense. It is both obviously very private, but a place anyone who has gossiped with a friend at the mirror knows, a place where you can be open and vulnerable, too.
Read More
A Hand Reaching Out in the Darkness
The Sound Inside – Goodman Theatre
Just as a cool glass of water slakes our thirst on a hot summer day, the Goodman Theatre has returned, quenching a need that audiences may have forgotten was missing. One of Chicago’s best-loved theatres has returned with a polished, new, live production. And it’s not simply a streamed version of an old presentation: it’s all-new and first-rate. In the premiere of Goodman’s series of live, televised productions, we have three great, new scripts brought to life in fully-produced, live-acted presentations. After more than a year, audiences are finally going to be able to replenish their souls and intellects with another superior Goodman production.
Read More
Slam Dunk the Junk
Goods – Artemisia Theatre
In the not-so-distant future, the world that playwright Lauren Ferebee paints is a pretty dismal place. Climate change and pollution have grown out of control. There’s practically no land left on earth because the oceans have flooded most of the coastal cities, air temperatures are unpredictable and the planet is overrun with trash and litter. Refugee arrivals are still a problem and there doesn’t seem to be any solution. It’s 2100 and Marla and Sam, two interplanetary astronaut employees, are returning from their latest mission. They’re garbage collectors, whose job it is to slam dunk the junk from earth and deposit it somewhere in outer space.
Read More
Gay Youth and Conservative Religion
Southern Baptist Sissies – PrideArts
Sadly, the Covid-19 pandemic continues to put a damper on everyone’s lives, forcing people to stay safe inside their homes, instead of going out for any reason. But smart, creative theatres have found a way to keep presenting their work to interested audiences. Chicago’s PrideArts, for example, has been offering a series of staged play readings as one-night-only viral productions. By special permission, I attended the final dress rehearsal, in order to review this viral production before the actual performance. Joe Hudson, who appeared in Bailiwick Repertory’s 2002 fully-staged production, directs this live Zoom presentation, featuring a cast of eight very talented actors.
Read MoreRECOMMENDED SITES
