The Rhythm is Gonna Get You

Djembe! – Apollo Theater

Djembe! is an energetic and joyous performance with the audience participating in musical theater and a journey through the history of rhythm.  A djembe drum on every seat allows you to play with the performers, creating a unique musical experience.  From West African roots to spirituals, rock, pop, rap, bebop – whatever the genre – the rhythm is gonna get you.  Making music together creates community and lifts us up.  Certainly, Rashada Dawan’s inspiring vocals and dance, along with master djembe drummer Fode Lavia Camera, Broadway talent Ben Hope and an ensemble of multifaceted musicians make for an uplifting and satisfying evening.  I especially loved the Balafon performance.  Whether you are new to the drum or an addicted drum circler, this show is highly recommended.  Rhythm is universal.  Rhythm is healing.  Rhythm creates connection.  Drum On!  This is an uplifting and wonderful show.

Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Judy Nathan

Presented through June 9 at the Apollo Theater  2540 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago

Tickets may be purchased through www.apollochicago.com.

For information about this and other shows visit www.theatreinchicago.com

A Life-Affirming Sensation

Lottery Day – Goodman Theatre

In Ike Holter’s final chapter of his Rightlynd Saga, the seventh of a series of plays set in contemporary Chicago’ 51st ward, several characters from the playwright’s previous six dramas reunite for a raucous celebration. It’s a big, bawdy bash for many of Mallory’s best friends, held in her tastefully landscaped backyard, one of the last single-family homes in the quickly gentrifying Rightlynd neighborhood. This evening will be a chance for everyone to come together, perhaps for one final time. Mallory has planned an evening of barbecue, booze and boogieing on down; but she also has a secret which will inspire a legendary treasure hunt, along with some soul searching revelations, all for her besties.

Just Another Day

Utility – Interrobang Theatre

Amber and her family live in a small town in East Texas. Like many families, they are perpetually just short of making ends meet. Amber works two jobs but is still always trying to pay off last month’s bills. The play finds her trying to balance providing a life for her children that she wants them to have, while deciding if she should give her well-intentioned, but less than competent, husband another chance.

Family Resemblance

Iron Kisses – Theatre Above the Law

I think everyone remembers where they were the first time they hear their parents’ words coming out of their own mouths. It eventually happens to us all. Some turn of phrase we associate with them, maybe some well-worn piece of advice or the thing your parents said to you that you swore you would never say to your kids, will fall out of your mouth with exactly their cadence and intonation. It almost feels like they were speaking through you, as if it weren’t really your voice. Theatre Above the Law’s new production of Iron Kisses takes the phenomenon to new heights by casting a pair of actors as siblings, but also casting both siblings at various times as both of their parents.

No Strings Attached

Pinocchio – House Theatre

Although there have been many versions and incarnations of Carlo Collodi’s 1883 children’s novel, The Adventures of Pinocchio, probably the most familiar is the groundbreaking 1940 animated version by the Walt Disney Studios. Because of this full-length cartoon, everyone’s pretty familiar with the story. They know about the lonely woodcarver named Geppetto who creates a little wooden puppet who eventually becomes a real boy. Audiences remember Jiminy Cricket, the cunning Fox and Cat, the evil puppeteer Stromboli, Lampwick, Pleasure Island and Monstro the whale. And, of course, they remember the beautiful Blue Fairy and how “When You Wish Upon a Star” made everything end happily ever after.

A Children’s Tale of Loss and Recovery

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane – Filament Theatre

Filament Theatre, the little Portage Park center for children and family entertainment and education, is known for its exciting, incredibly inventive productions of kid’s stories. But this magnificently moving adaptation of Kate DiCamillo’s 2006 children’s novel about self-discovery may be the company’s finest production in a long line of great theatre.

A Solo Performance That Dazzles

The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey – American Blues Theater

When this unique mystery story begins, New Jersey Detective Chuck DeSantis gets word from his receptionist that a lady and her teenage daughter have been waiting to see him. When the two women burst into the gumshoe’s office, DeSantis learns from Ellen Hertle that Leonard, her 14-year-old adopted nephew, has been missing for almost 24 hours. When Ellen breaks down, Phoebe, her teenaged daughter, continues providing DeSantis with details about the boy.

Comic, Come-Hither Campiness

Cruel Intentions – Broadway in Chicago

If theatergoers are looking for high art, they should probably search elsewhere. Filled with camp comedy, come-hither characters and sexy setups, this jukebox musical by Jordan Ross, Lindsey Rosin and Roger Kumble is based on Kumble’s own popular 1999 movie. In fact, the musical replicates the hit film, while also parodying it. Kumble’s screenplay was a clever, contemporary adaptation of the 1782 French novel, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, which was adapted into a play by Christopher Hampton.