Don’t Feed the Plant!

Little Shop of Horrors

I naively thought that there wasn’t anyone, certainly any theatergoer in the area, who hadn’t seen this unusual, uniquely enjoyable play. However, as I listened to comments from my fellow audience members around me, I found I was wrong. Having seen this curious comic rock horror musical so many times that I know all the lines and lyrics, I found myself envying those who were experiencing this weirdly wonderful show for the first time, here at the Paramount Theatre.

How Can Humans Do Better?

Cat’s Cradle

There aren’t enough expletives of praise in the English language to express the magnificence of this incredible, two-hour production of Kurt Vonnegut’s 1963 classic. The famed American writer, known for a large canon of stories (Welcome to the Monkey House), plays (Happy Birthday, Wanda June) and wryly satirical novels (including Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions), wove elements of science fiction and fantasy into his stories to highlight the horrors and ironies of living in the 20th century. All of his books, like Cat’s Cradle, are marked by a a fatalistic viewpoint while still embracing humanistic beliefs. In this play Vonnegut seems to be continually asking, “How can humans do better?”

The Music of Johnny Cash

Ring of Fire

We have all experienced our own highs and lows throughout life. It’s safe to say that no one has sailed through the years without their share of sorrow and hardship, hopefully balanced by more joyful opportunities and happier times. The Man in Black, better known to his many fans as American Country-Western singer Johnny Cash, documented the ups and downs of life through his soulful music. 

The Four-Color Trilogy, Part Two

The Innocence of Seduction

Once, in the 21st century, there lived an ultra conservative, but arrogantly stupid man who possessed a modicum of power in the state he governed. However, this man longed for even more authority and strict control over his people—in fact, all his country’s people. He tried to become its leader. In attempting to win over the other unimaginative right-wingers, this narrow-minded man began a campaign to limit what could be taught in schools. But even worse than that, he began banning all the children’s books that didn’t meet his personal criteria and moral standards. Not only were hundreds of books removed from school curricula and libraries, they were often even burned.   

A Brightly Shining Moon

I experienced a sinking feeling during the first fifteen minutes or so of Moon at the Bottom of the Ocean, the new play by Bryn Magnus from the Curious Theatre Branch, now playing at Chicago Dramatists.  The situation seemed dated and frayed at the edges: A scraggly bearded, deeply neurotic urban schlub named Paul (Jeffrey Bivens) who fancies himself a “literary novelist” but never seems to finish the novel he claims to be working on hires a detective to stalk a far more successful fellow writer who’s just won a MacArthur fellowship (aka the “Genius Grant”) in order to learn the “secret” of his prize-winning prose.