Catching a Wave

Wipeout

Three feisty, independent women-of-a-certain-age are bobbing around on surfboards in the Pacific Ocean, just off the coast of Santa Cruz. Why? Well, Claudia has arranged something special and unique to share with her two closest friends on her birthday. It’s an event that all three ladies have always fantasized about, so why not? You see, at 60-something they’re about to take their first surfing lessons! Joining Claudia are her lifelong friends Wynn and Margaret, who’s been nicknamed “Gary.” As we meet the ladies they’re casually floating in the water, hoping to catch a wave, while awaiting the arrival of Blaze, their hunky young surfing instructor.

What a Feeling!

The Time Machine: A Tribute to the ’80’s

The joyful music of the 1980’s was vast, vibrant and valiant. So many different song styles were embodied by the talents of hundreds of groundbreaking singers and musicians. It must’ve been a daunting task for Daryl D. Brooks, BET playwright and director, to decide which of the multitude of great songs and performers from the ’80’s to include in this retrospective revue. But theatergoers who take this musical and historical journey through the Decade of Decadence at Black Ensemble Theater will be rewarded with two-and-a-half hours of total reminiscence and rapture. All I can is, “What a Feeling!”

Writing to Shake Off My Cares

The Diary of Anne Frank

When the audience enters the second floor of the Greenhouse Theater Center, they’ll find a huge display of materials that provide a background that will enhance the audience’s enjoyment and understanding of this new production. Arrive early enough to be able to learn more about WWII in Europe and the rise of the notorious Nazi Party. A prolific playwright and multi award-winning writer, Wendy Kesselman’s one-act adaptation of “The Diary of Anne Frank” is making its Chicago premiere in Lincoln Park. First produced last season at Nashville Children’s Theatre, this 75-minute version is designed to introduce to families the true story of a very brave, real young girl, her family and friends. Bringing this 13-year-old to life puts a face on the horrors of the nightmare called the Holocaust. The fascinating exhibit, on loan from the Anne Frank Center, provides a wealth of additional information that will make this presentation even more poignant.

Hellooo Poppets!

Mrs. Doubtfire

Back in 1993, one of the best-loved and highest-grossing films of the year was “Mrs. Doubtfire.” This hilarious cross-dressing comedy/drama was directed by Chris Columbus, and starred Robin Williams in one of his greatest and most memorable roles. Based upon Alias Madame Doubtfire, a 1987 novel by Anne Fine, Williams played Daniel Hillard, a struggling actor and voice artist who’s devoted to his three children. 

A Pair of Star-Crossed Lovers

Shakespeare’s R&J

In the late 1990’s, Joe Calarco faced the daunting assignment of directing a production of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” for New York’s Splinter Group. He balked at this task and then hit upon an idea. He decided to write his own adaptation of the play, setting the two-hour production at a strict Catholic boys school. The idea came from the fact that in Shakespeare’s day, only male actors were permitted to perform in theaters. Calarco’s production became a huge hit. It won the 1999 Lucille Lortel Award and its popularity proclaimed the production as the longest running Big Apple version of the Bard’s classic love story. Of all Calarco’s plays, “Shakespeare’s R&J” has been the favorite with audiences in both the US and the UK.

Parisian Magician Alexandra Duvivier debuts ‘Extraordinaire!

Second generation magician Alexandra Duvivier has debuted her new show, “Extraordinaire!” At Chicago’s Rhapsody Theater. 

A Whimsical, Wonderful Winter Treat

James and the Giant Peach

Poor little James Henry Trotter. One day he suddenly becomes an orphan after his parents are unexpectedly devoured by a rhinoceros that escaped from the London Zoo. His only living relatives are the mean and mercenary Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker, who reluctantly take James in, but treat him as their slave. They  physically and emotionally abuse the sweet little boy from dawn till dusk, until one special day. A strange, but friendly Magician happens by the garden. He gives James a book of spells and helps him mix up a potion. Unfortunately the little boy spills it onto a nearby peach tree. But this accident will propel James into a myriad of wonderful adventures. 

Family Is Everything

The Reclamation of Madison Hemings

Two middle-aged African-American men journey to Monticello in 1866. It’s mid-November and turning cold. Winter is coming to the mountainous region. The Civil War is over but, despite the Emancipation of Slavery, Black men and women still aren’t being treated as equal citizens of the United States. They don’t have the same rights as their White neighbors and still bear the scars caused by the trauma of slavery.

A Top-Notch “Topdog”

On my very first business trip to New York City, in my early 20s, I was fortunate enough to be the victim of a classic three-card monte sidewalk card-shuffling scam that cost me 20 bucks and a much-anticipated stop at Grey’s Papaya for lunch.  Why “fortunate”?  Because it taught me a few very valuable lessons: Con artists have already figured out all of the possible angles, and not one of those angles ever includes you, the mark; the hand is always faster than the eye; greed and overconfidence (the source of the prefix “con” in the phrase “con artist”) will cause you to lose, at the very least, a hot dog and papaya juice lunch and, at the very most, your life savings; and the guy in the crowd who just “won” 100 bucks before your turn is the “shill,” a friend, or a cousin, or a brother, of the card thrower himself.

A Magical Mozart in Miniature

The Matchbox Magic Flute

Imagine a timeless fairy tale featuring a handsome prince, a beautiful princess who’s been kidnapped by an evil high priest and guarded by a demon. Picture the princess’ temperamental, magical mother, the queen. Visualize a lonely, but funny, character who’s part-man, part-bird, three of the queen’s fairy-like ladies who offer their assistance whenever it’s needed, all kinds of enchanted animals and a magical flute. These are the elements that producer, director and writer Mary Zimmerman joyfully worked with in her most recent production, an adaptation of the 1791 opera, “The Magic Flute.” In essence, it’s a magical Mozart opera made miniature.