Author: Colin Douglas
Melancholy With a Few Laughs
Blues in the Night – Porchlight Music Theater
Because it’s the birthplace of the Blues and the longtime home of Jazz, this musical revue is, quite naturally, set in Southside Chicago, at a rundown hotel during the Great Depression. The show is the 1980, Tony-nominated creation of TV and film director, Sheldon Epps. Although there’s no dialogue to connect the songs, the musical selections seem to kind of blend into a sketchy story set in this Windy City boardinghouse. Never given actual names, the main characters are simply called The Lady from the Road, The Woman of the World and The Girl with a Date. Together with The Man in the Saloon and with frequent appearances by The Dancing Man (a character created especially for this production), the fragmented plot centers on the women’s relationships with the same repugnant Romeo.
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The Most Beautiful Sound I Ever Heard…
West Side Story – Marriott Theatre
Back in the 1950’s when newspapers were just beginning to cover the tragic stories of teenage gangs killing each other while waging turf wars, a new show would evolve from these events that would forever change the face of the American Musical. Noteworthy, too, was that this new theatrical form resulted from a collaboration between artistic geniuses Arthur Laurents (book), Leonard Bernstein (score), Jerome Robbins (direction and choreography) and a new kid on the Broadway block named Stephen Sondheim (lyrics).
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A Son’s First Hero
Queen of the Night – Victory Gardens Theater
In travis tate’s one-act dramedy, having its Chicago premiere at Victory Gardens Theater, the audience feels as if they’re listening in on a conversation that’s occurred between fathers and sons for decades. It’s not new. A father and his son try to reconnect while on a weekend camping trip at a Texas state park. Ty, the twenty-something son, is flamboyantly gay. Stephen, his dad, is divorced from Ty’s mother, and she’s about to remarry. Although we don’t see him, Ty also has an older brother who, we’re told, feels similarly disconnected from his father. For three nights and days they camp out in the woods, where the birds, bugs and bears roam freely, and the two men try to finally come together.
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Endless Deja Vu
Groundhog Day: The Musical
Each year, Phil Conners, a cynical, arrogant, womanizing television weatherman from Pittsburg, is assigned to cover the annual Groundhog Day celebration in the rural town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Cocky Mr. Conners views this assignment as being beneath his journalistic talent. However, once again he reluctantly accompanies his cameraman, Larry, and Rita Hanson, his lovely new producer, to the small hamlet, whose only claim to fame is a meteorologically clairvoyant rodent. From the start, things don’t go very well…and they continue to grow worse.
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Unstoppable Girl Power and Talent
Women of Soul With a Special Tribute to Aretha Franklin – Mercury Theater
You probably think it’s electricity, but there’s actually so much Girl Power and unstoppable musical talent and energy on the stage, it’s lighting the marquee above the Mercury Theater. For the next several weeks, this company of eight dazzling divas, along with one gifted guy, are taking their audiences on a melodic trip down memory lane. The songs never stop and the portrayals of these famous soulful women are incredibly accurate and magical.
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High Flying Adored
Evita – Drury Lane Theatre
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s pop/rock opera is a spectacular work of art, no matter where it’s produced. The musical has been entertaining and emotionally affecting audiences around the world since its 1978 West End opening. That first English production followed the success of a concept record album two years earlier. The show became an unprecedented hit and was awarded London’s Lawrence Olivier Award for Best Musical. Then “Evita” opened on Broadway the next year, where it became the very first British musical to win the Tony Award for Best Musical, along with six others, as well as a whole raft of additional accolades and honors. I’ve been fortunate to have seen many of these earlier productions, including a stellar 2013 National Tour that was fantastic.
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You Can’t Stop the Beat!
Hairspray – Broadway in Chicago
“The Nicest Kids in Town” are teasing their hair, singing and dancing up a storm and striking a blow for equal rights in the latest production from Broadway in Chicago. It’s a bang-up, non-stop, rock ’n rolling Tony Award-winning musical that makes audiences want to get up and dance in the aisles. This National Tour is masterfully directed by Matt Lenz with almost nonstop, high-octane choreography, originally by the enormously talented Jerry Mitchell, and recreated here by Michele Lynch. This non-Equity production thoroughly entertains, while capturing all the spirit and social relevance of Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan’s script, which was adapted from the campy1988 John Waters film.
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Journey to Freedom
Gem of the Ocean – Goodman Theatre
What an exciting and theatrically perfect way to kick off Black History Month! Pulitzer Prize-winner, August Wilson, is the revered playwright, known for his ten-play body of work that’s been called the “Pittsburg Cycle” or the “Century Cycle.” The reasons are obvious: Every play is set in Pittsburg and each of the dramas represent a different decade of the twentieth century. The cycle begins with this play, which is set in 1904, and is now having an auspicious revival at the theatre where it originally premiered. Wilson attempted to chart the African-American Experience in America as times changed and the country continued to evolve, from the Emancipation of Slavery through to the Civil Rights Movement. The Goodman’s new production is a magnificent ethereal journey to freedom for its diverse characters, and a powerful experience that audiences will never forget.
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An Overload of Angst
Fireflies – Northlight Theatre
Charles is a renowned Southern preacher whose heartfelt, powerful prowess as an inspirational speaker is unsurpassed. He travels everywhere delivering speeches and eulogies to bring hope and encouragement to his audiences and congregations. However, it’s Olivia, Charles’ dutiful, stay-at-home wife, who actually writes all of his orations and sermons and painstakingly coaches him on his delivery. On the surface they make a great team, but there’s something very wrong beneath the surface of their seemingly perfect relationship.
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Cruelties of Our Shameful Past
Relentless – TimeLine Theatre
The pandemic has changed our lives for the foreseeable future, and restrictions have loosened up a bit. We’re allowed to gather in groups once more but we have to show proof that we’re fully vaccinated and wear a mask that covers both our nose and mouth. These measures help protect both ourselves and others from possible exposure to Covid. But, thankfully, the opportunity to attend a live play or musical in person has returned. Why do we enjoy going to the theatre so much? The reasons are many, but it usually boils down to a desire to get together and share entertainment and/or be enlightened in some way.
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