Playing It the Company Way

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying – Music Theater Works

The bouncy overture winds down, the curtain rises and we find a young man in coveralls descending from above. J. Pierrepont Finch, an ambitious young window washer, is discovered reading Shepherd Mead’s tongue-in-cheek instructional book of the same name, while dangling from scaffolding above Madison Avenue. Narrated for this production by NPR news quiz host, Peter Sagal, the book progresses chapter-by-chapter, charting the recommended course for Ponty’s rise to power in the business world. Now, bear in mind that this how-to manual, a 1952 best-seller by Shepherd Mead, subtitled “The Dastard’s Guide to Fame and Fortune,” was written as a parody of the popular self-help books of that era. Between this book’s unfailing advice and Finch’s pluck and pizzazz, this likable kid is undoubtedly destined to rise to the top…or is he?

“Ms. Blakk For President” at Steppenwolf Theatre Company

Ms. Black for President – Steppenwolf Theatre

Steppenwolf has kicked off the early summer with a one-of-a-kind theatrical experience, Ms. Blakk for President, which brings the audience along Ms. Blakk’s run for United States President, an endeavor that started as an attempt to bring awareness to the AIDS crisis and queer issues and make it to the floor of the Democratic National Convention. Marketed as play, party, and campaign rally, the entire evening includes a pre-show party, art-displays, historical timelines, and a one-hour and forty minute long play that introduced the audience to Ms. Joan Jett Blakk, the drag name of Terence Alan Smith. Tina Landau directed while also co-writing the script with Tarell Alvin McCraney, who portrays the title character.  

The Monsters Within Us

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein – Lookingglass Theatre Company

This magnificent new production, suitably housed within Chicago’s Gothic-inspired Water Tower Pumping Station, is the most recent of four Windy City adaptations of Mary Shelley’s classic horror story. The novel, which just celebrated its 200th anniversary, has been read, reinvented and enjoyed for generations. Each theatrical variation has been unique, offering Chicago audiences a quartet of compelling, valid retellings of this impressive literary classic, the work of a young writer who had not yet turned 20 when it was created. As with Court Theatre’s 2018 production, Lookingglass’ beguiling original adaptation begins with, and continually returns to its source, reminding us how Mary Shelley came to write her remarkable story. But, more than that, this production focuses on the monsters that lie within each of us.

Yearning for Fame and Fortune

Queen of the Mist – Firebrand Theatre

Tired of living from hand to mouth, 63-year-old Anna Edson Taylor decided that, in an early twentieth century world dominated by men, she would be the one woman who’d achieve celebrity and fortune with a single unconventional act. Mrs. Taylor desperately wanted celebrity and her own piece of the pie. She yearned for her share of fame and fortune, while also striking a blow for feminism. Convinced that with careful scientific research she could become the first person to successfully go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. After hiring Frank Russell, a smooth-talking, wheeler-dealer of a manager and promoter, she carefully researched and drew up detailed plans for a barrel-like vehicle that would allow her to safely take the fateful plunge.

A Tight Knit Family

Falsettos – Broadway in Chicago

You’ll need a deep intake of oxygen before the opening number of this manic, accelerated musical. Why? Because you’ll be left breathless by the waves of emotion rolling in, and that’s only by the end of Act I. Then, get ready for the stirring roller coaster ride that’s Act II. This show packs more levels of the human condition into its first hour than in any other play in recent memory. It’s peopled with seven multilayered, unflinchingly realistic characters who are always dissatisfied with their lives, for various reasons. The musical is tightly packed with 37 songs, a number of finely choreographed interludes, a countless amount of scene changes and a tsunami of emotions.

Somewhere in Time

Bloomsday – Remy Bumppo Theatre Company

Steven Dietz may be one of the most-produced playwrights in America, simply because he’s written so many comedies, dramas and literary adaptations. In this 2015 romantic drama, he bends the concepts of time and space to weave an interesting tale of the road not taken, or a riff on the one true love who got away. In its Chicago debut, under the astute direction of JR Sullivan, a cast of four, talented actors, led by the luminous Annabel Armour, breathe life into this play. It’s story of Robbie/Robert, an American tourist visiting Ireland, and Caithleen/Cait, a guide employed to take fascinated travelers around the James Joyce’s Dublin, specifically to the various locations from his 1922 literary masterpiece, Ulysses.

Rooh: A delicious journey through Indian food

Don’t walk, run to Chicago’s newest restaurant Rooh in the busy and exciting restaurant district on Randolph Street. But you may have to wait a bit for a reservation. And I can tell you it is well worth the wait. 

Light Years Away

Take Me – Strawdog Theatre Company

Shelley works in a call center for a less than great telephone company. She used to be an architect, but following a plane crash that leaves her husband in a coma and the disappearance of her son, the task of punting people’s complaints is all she can handle. In her search for stability and meaning, she stumbles into a group of people who say they have been abducted by aliens, and that those aliens want her to build an amusement park in Roswell, New Mexico.