Author: Colin Douglas
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.
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Dear Friend
She Loves Me – BrightSide Theatre
In BrightSide Theatre’s spectacular 10th season opener, a most highly-anticipated production take the stage in Naperville. It’s a theatrical marriage made in heaven of what many consider to be the charmingly written musical ever. The story is romantic and beautifully told; the characters are all likable or at least relatable; and the score is absolutely delightful. Add to this BrightSide’s excellent cast and a terrific artistic team, plus the ideal intimate venue for this sweet, old-fashioned story, and you have a production truly guaranteed to charm even the most cynical audience member.
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Children of Eden
A Concert Presentation
Stephen Schwartz is an American Tony and Grammy Award-winning lyricist and composer. His stellar, new National Touring production of “Wicked” just recently set down once again in Chicago for an extended stay, and the musical continues to dazzle and delight young and old alike. Schwartz created such other fabulous theatrical musicals as “Godspell,” “Pippin,” “The Baker’s Wife”and a musical version of “Studs Terkel’s Working.” On film, Stephen Schwartz is represented by his soundtrack for movies like “Pocahontas,” “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “The Prince of Egypt” and “Enchanted.”
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Layer By Layer
Stew – Shattered Globe Theatre
Once, whenever a play told the story of a family, it was set in the living room or, in past decades, perhaps the parlor. But now we find more examples of what’s lovingly referred to as a “kitchen sink drama.” This room has become the heart of the home because, not only does warmth and sustenance begin in the kitchen, but the room often becomes the gathering place for everyone to talk about their lives, while noshing on whatever food is available. Zora Howard’s comic drama, which was a Pulitzer Prize Finalist, is set “some time ago, but not too long ago” in the cookhouse of the Tucker family. And while the titular meal is being prepared, layer is built upon layer, so the main character instructs us; and in this story we also learn much about the three generations of women in this household, layer by layer.
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An Often Confusing Journey
Marys Seacole – An Often Confusing Journey
In Griffin Theatre Company’s new production that opens its 33rd season, the audience should heed a word of advice. In order to fully appreciate and understand what they’re about to experience, patrons should take time, before the play begins, to read the lengthy article, written by Dr. Kristina Huang, that’s included inside the program. It explains in “Who Was Mary Seacole,” that she was a Victorian Jamaican medical practitioner and adventurer. Armed with this abbreviated knowledge about Mary Seacole will definitely help the audience comprehend this bizarre, often confusing time-traveling journey.
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History Keeps Repeating Itself
1919 – Steppenwolf Theatre Company
An exciting, incredibly moving performance piece is being played out on North Halsted for audiences, both young and old. It’s 90 minutes of nonlinear storytelling, based upon Eve L. Ewing’s poetry collection relating a horrific Chicago tragedy, one of many from the Windy City’s history. Dr. Ewing, an award-winning Chicago writer and scholar has, through her powerful words and earnest emotion, detailed the facts concerning the murder of Eugene Williams. In 1919, he was an innocent young Black teenager who was just trying to cool off in Lake Michigan on a hot summer day. Adapted by prolific Chicago playwright J. Nicole Brooks, this performance piece digs back into the city’s past to demonstrate how history, sadly, keeps repeating itself.
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Time To Change Their Stripes
Tiger Style – Writers Theatre
Jennifer and Albert are both Harvard-educated Chinese-American siblings who suddenly feel that their lives are falling apart. Jennifer is a high-strung, highly-regarded doctor, who also happens to be gifted, classically-trained pianist. Albert is a nerdy pushover, a highly-paid computer software techie, who was forced to master the cello as a kid.Their problems come to a head when Reggie, Jennifer’s live-in, loser boyfriend, an air-headed surfer dude, suddenly dumps her. Then Albert looks around and realizes that his annoying slacker co-worker, nicknamed Russ the Bus, has been using him, taking credit for all his hard work and has been unjustly given a raise and a promotion of authority over Albert.
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