Monthly Archives: October 2022
Batman Begins
The Mark of Kane – City Lit
Bob Kane is a struggling, but fervently focused artist. Driven to succeed, and inspired the popularity of Superman, this young guy is passionate and persistent about making his mark in the world of comic strips. Willing to do whatever it takes, Bob’s eye is definitely on the prize and his ultimate goal is to become rich and famous. Bob’s doting parents have always raved about his talent to the point that this young man is certain he’s going to succeed as an artist. Failure just isn’t an option.
Read MoreBlue Heaven at Black Ensemble Theater
The Black Ensemble Theater always provides joyful and satisfying performances with astounding talented performers. I personally love their work and as a blues lover, this 90-minute performance of legendary blues artists is a perfect showcase of four great blues legends.
Brought to life by a cast of incredibly talented artists, the performance showcases how these greats turn their personal pain into soulful artistry. As they await entrance to Heaven, in God’s private Blues Club, Howlin’ Wolf (Lyle Miller), Muddy Waters (Dwight Neal), Big Mama Thornton (Miciah Lathan), Stevie Ray Vaughan (Billy Rude) and B.B. King (Aaron Reese Boseman) delight you with some of the best blues tunes with Black Ensemble musicians Adam Sherrod, Oscar Brown Jr., Mark Miller and Myron Cherry.
The performer’s wigs, and even their facial expressions, make the players resemble the musicians they portray. Mannish Boy, Born Under a Bad Sign, Everyday I Have the Blues, There Must Be a Better World Somewhere, Pride and Joy – all the selected songs are just beautifully performed.
They have risen!
The autobiographical dialogue helps to understand the tortured artist effect which results in pure musical magic for these iconic blues artists. Even if you are not a typical blues fan, this show is just plain good music and phenomenal performance. 24 songs, great vocal range and guitar playing, all satisfy the soul.
Highly recommend!
Reviewed by Judy Nathan
Exploring Morality, Sex and Power
Measure for Measure – Chicago Shakespeare Theatre
In this colorful and spicy adaptation of Shakespeare’s 1604 comedy, transplanted to 1950’s Havana, Cuba, we find one of theater’s earliest dramatization of women being given a voice of rebellion. Shakespeare gave Kate the opportunity to rail against men in “The Taming of the Shrew.” But female protestation against a male-dominated world, in which men think they have the right to manipulate and control women, is an inequity that’s been going on for centuries. Of course, the current Me Too Movement is the recent need to call attention to the double standards that often take place between genders. It’s a problem that was, and continues to be, so blatant everywhere, particularly in the entertainment industry. In one of Shakespeare’s last comedies, often dubbed a “problem play,” he presents a story that explores morality, sex, power, and the double standards that are so often present in leadership.
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Simmering Below the Surface
Swing State – Goodman Theatre
Rebecca Gilman’s incredibly riveting new drama, currently enjoying its much lauded World Premiere at the Goodman Theatre, solidifies this writer as one of our finest American playwrights. And with her recent move to rural Wisconsin, Ms Gilman’s last three plays have, not so coincidentally, take place in America’s Dairyland. Like “Soups, Stews and Casseroles” and “Twilight Bowl,” both of which were produced during the pre-pandemic years by the Goodman Theatre, “Swing State” takes another deep look at the country’s heartland. Rebecca Gilman shows how today, through four of her most engrossing characters to date, an individual’s personal and political lives seem to be tightly woven together. In addition, Ms Gilman has used the Covid-19 quarantine as an important plot point in her new play.
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After the Plague There’s Darkness
The Locusts – The Gift Theatre
In the Book of Exodus, the seventh plague of Moses was locusts. God told Moses to stretch out his hand over the land of the heartless Pharaoh, and locusts would swallow up every crop and all the fruit of the trees in Egypt. Afterwards, when all had been destroyed, there was darkness. In this World Premiere, written by Jennifer Rumberger, Layla, the Vero Beach Police Chief, calls to mind this event of retribution from the Bible. She’s musing about the random destruction in her town, inflicted upon so many young girls and their families, and caused by an unknown serial killer. It’s an apt metaphor when describing the effects that this savage murderer has had on the small Florida coastal community.
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A Scar That Won’t Heal
Buried Child – Ashton Rep
The late actor Sam Shepard was best known for his performances in films, such as “The Right Stuff,” “Steel Magnolias” and “Crimes of the Heart.” But an Obie Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for “Buried Child” launched his career as a playwright. The drama, which is bleak, poetic, filled with dark humor and populated by characters living on the outskirts of society, was a hit for the Steppenwolf Theatre in 1995. The following year, a Broadway revival went on to earn the production five Tony nominations, including Best Play. As AstonRep Theatre Company launches its 15th and final season, company member Derek Bertelsen directs a new production that feels fresh and au courant once again. His production, consumed by an overwhelming sense of dread, offers some stunning performances by a company of talented, experienced actors.
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Change May Be Good For You
Camelot – Music Theater Works
First, a word of warning: This is not your grandmother’s “Camelot.” For audiences planning to attend Music Theater Works’ current revival of the Lerner and Loewe classic, especially those of a certain age, you may be disappointed. Many of us remember the original 1960 Broadway production of the Richard Burton/Julie Andrews/Robert Goulet musical as a colorful fairy tale filled with pomp and pageantry, and featuring a large cast of supporting singers and dancers. After all, the show won four Tony Awards for a good reason, and the musical was brought to the silver screen seven years later in a splashy, wide-screen film version, with Richard Harris and Vanessa Redgrave in the leading roles. Now, for younger, contemporary theatergoers, who may not have a preconceived notion of how this musical should be presented, and who welcome a more current, cutting edge production, this new vision might offer a pleasant evening of enjoyment. But for most of Music Theater Works’ typical season ticket holders, who tend to be 40 or older, this new production just might disappoint.
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The Game is Afoot
Clue – Mercury Theatre
With the Autumn opening of this tantalizing, twisted comedic murder mystery, based upon the 1985 film, which was in turn based upon the popular Hasbro/Parker Brothers’ board game, Mercury Theater Chicago has a mega hit whodunit on its hands. I mean, this is a drop-dead, bonafide beauty of a black comedy. It’s guaranteed to produce thrills, chills, goosebumps and uncontrollable laughter for the entire 90 minutes of its uninterrupted mayhem.
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Alone and Trying to Survive
Refuge – Theo Ubique
A beautiful new production is playing at this much-loved, multi award-winning theatre, now beginning its 25th season. It’s the Midwest Premiere of a remarkable, multidisciplinary play with music, empathically drawing the audience into what it feels like to be an immigrant at the Mexico and Texas border. The production was co-created by Satya Jnani Chavez and Andrew Rosendorf. Originally the work was commissioned by Denver’s Curious Theatre Company for the Colorado New Play Festival. It’s a heartbreaking story about a vulnerable, fiercely determined Honduran teenager, all alone and trying to survive the harsh, inhospitable desert landscape. She’s in search of her mother and is filled with terror, hope and a sense of loss. The girl, like all the refugees before her, is just hoping to create a better life in America.
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Everyone Here is Sick
The Malignant Ampersands – A Red Orchid Theatre
Imagine meeting and spending 90 minutes with a family where every single person is sick. These folks are not just experiencing the discomfort of a cold or the flu, or even the more long-lasting serious effects of Covid-19. Everyone here is sick with some kind of life-threatening disease, quite likely a form of cancer. And there doesn’t seem to be any cure for these family members, much less a means of relief.
Read MoreRECOMMENDED SITES
