Author: Colin Douglas
Another Blast From Christmas Past
The Rip Nelson Holiday Quarantine Special – Hell in a Handbag
For those of us who’ve looked forward to the Fat Man in the Red Suit since the 1950’s, the Christmas season has always meant a myriad of televised holiday variety shows. Each TV special always starred some has-been comedian or washed-up movie star, ably supported by an array of popular, talented entertainers of the day. Playwright and iconic actor David Cerda has revived his fictional funnyman from a few years back. Rip Nelson, beautifully portrayed again by the luminous Ed Jones, returns for his third holiday TV special. This one, because of the pandemic, feels absolutely authentic because it’s being streamed to our television, tablet or computer screen. And the way Cerda has incorporated Covid-19 as part of the plot is clever and spot-on. The result is a professional and highly entertaining adult Christmas musical that’s another blast from the past.
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It’s the Final Countdown
Burning Bluebeard – The Ruffians and Porchlight Theatre
Sending in the clowns to tell this horrific, nearly forgotten incident from Chicago’s history, the Ruffians’ production is definitely not your typical Christmas entertainment. It’s a dark, expressionistic retelling of the events surrounding the fire that destroyed the Loop’s “absolutely fireproof” Iroquois Theatre. In fact, the only holiday element of the story is the December date during which the tragedy took place. But it’s a production that’s sometimes humorous and often quite beautiful in its poetic, dramatic presentation.
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A Scrooge for Today’s New Normal
Manuel Cinema’s Christmas Carol
Here we are, still in the depths of a worldwide pandemic that’s put a damper on our usual Christmas festivities and prohibited our typical social gatherings. The spread of the disease has demanded that, to protect ourselves and others, we continually wash our hands, keep six feet apart and wear surgical masks, when we’re out and about. The result is that the majority of us are remaining quarantined in our own homes. This is the new normal for this holiday season. But Manual Cinema, the creative theatrical/multimedia company that brought us their unique interpretation of “Frankenstein” at the Court Theatre, just a year ago, has devised a clever, imaginative, contemporary new version of the world’s favorite holiday story.
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The Return of a Holiday Fairy Tale
The Steadfast Tin Soldier – Lookingglass Theatre
For two seasons, Chicago’s highly-respected Lookingglass Theatre has presented Mary Zimmerman’s creative adaptation this charming, yet sad, holiday story, based upon the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale. This year, however, because of the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, a previously filmed, live streamed presentation is available for the month of December, to enjoy in the safety and comfort of our homes. Here’s a true theatrical treasure that’s perfect for the whole family, and a Christmas story that shouldn’t be missed.
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The Queen of Cabrini Green
Her Honor Jane Byrne – Lookingglass Theatre
Jane Byrne, the 50th Mayor of Chicago, left behind a large, impressive legacy of accomplishments. Despite her mayoral predecessor, Michael Bilandic, proclaiming in a memorandum that she was “a shrill, charging, vindictive person,” Jane Byrne won the Democratic bid to become the first female to hold that office. The Chicago Blizzard of 1979 that paralyzed the city only fueled the fire that Bilandic was an ineffective leader and helped elect Byrne. Labeling herself as a reformer, Jane Byrne became Mayor with 82% of the vote, the largest margin in Chicago history.
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Confessional Catharsis
Five Encounters on a Site Called Craigslist – Pride Films & Plays
Whenever theatergoers attend a production they know, deep down inside, that what they’re about to see is make-believe. The drama is made-up, the characters aren’t real but are being portrayed by actors who’ve memorized dialogue that a playwright has written. The story takes place in an mock setting that another theatre artist has designed and built, and it’s lit with artificial, colored stage lighting, created by yet another designer. Even the clothes that the characters wear have been carefully chosen or designed and built by another artist.
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Filled With Good Vibrations
In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play) – Idle Muse Theatre Company
Utilizing Edison’s 1880 discovery of electricity, Dr. Givings has created a machine to treat women’s “hysteria.” Relegated to the sitting room, to care for their new baby and answer the door, his young, lonely, inquisitive wife Catherine is understandably restless. She’s especially curious about what goes on in the next room, her husband’s operating theatre. The distracted doctor thinks that since he’s given his wife a comfortable home and a child, she has plenty to keep her busy and from meddling in his “dry, boring science.” But Dr. Givings is mistaken.
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Spicy, Homespun Humor
Steel Magnolias – BrightSide Theatre
In 1985, New York actor Robert Harling was devastated to learn of the sudden death of his beloved younger sister to kidney failure. Because of her Type 1 diabetes, Susan had been warned that having a child would likely be dangerous to her health. However, she ignored her physician’s advice, gave birth and died before her son reached school age.
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A Civil Rights Movement Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
The Healing – Black Ensemble Theater
Jackie Taylor, the amiable creative heart and soul of Chicago’s beloved Black Ensemble Theater, has declared 2020 as the company’s Season of Change. She opens with this original, ambitious musical battle cry, a movement against the injustice and bigotry that’s overtaking our country today, thanks to an administration that has set our country back 200 years. And this is just the beginning of Ms. Taylor’s aggressive theatrical approach in trying to helping combat the racism that’s reared its ugly head in America since the Orange Menace was elected.
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You Gotta Have Friends
Middletown – Apollo Theatre
Dan Clancy’s sweet, sometimes piquant drama is a 90-minute, readers theater production that’s guaranteed to touch the hearts of every audience member. It’s a particularly meaningful story for that large, growing group of theatergoers called Baby Boomers, patrons who are contemplating or already enjoying their retirement years. Because it’s so mysterious: one minute you’re 20, in the 70’s; the next moment, it seems, you’re 70, in the 20’s! This is a gentle story that deals beautifully with all the joys and sorrows of life. It tells the tale of two married couples, both of whom love their partners deeply, and who’ve been close companions for several decades. In the end, this emotionally compassionate production reminds us that, in order to get through the ups and downs of living, you gotta have friends.
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