Chicago Theatre Review

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You’re in the Band

November 7, 2017 Comments Off on You’re in the Band
School of Rock – Broadway in Chicago
 
 
 
In 2003, and for many years thereafter, “School of Rock,” starring Jack Black and a classroom of musically talented kids, was the most popular, highest grossing comedy film of all time (until “Pitch Perfect 2,” two years ago). The movie came to the attention of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Soon thereafter the iconic British composer acquired theatre rights and work began on Webber’s newest musical. Julian Fellowes, known for writing such popular television series as “Downton Abbey,” the script for the Oscar-winning film, “Gosford Park,” as well as the libretto for the theatrical musical “Mary Poppins,” was asked to adapt Mike White’s cinematic screenplay. Webber, best known for his soaring, romantic scores for such theatrical classics as “Phantom of the Opera” and “Evita,” returns here to his earlier roots, so prominent in rock musicals like “Jesus Christ Superstar.” This time around, Webber worked with his “Love Never Dies” lyricist, Glenn Slater (“Sister Act,” “The Little Mermaid”), developing a fleshed-out score for the theatrical treatment that also featured several of the rock songs from the film. 
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A JOB WELL DONE

November 7, 2017 Comments Off on A JOB WELL DONE
J.B. – City Lit Theatre
 
Please allow me to step back in time for just a moment. We are heading back to the 5th century B.C. The main playwrights of the day include Euripides and Sophocles on the Greek Tragedy side. Aristophanes headed the Comedy side. These three men wrote over 240 plays. Each and every role was played by a man. The parts of women were played by younger men or boys.
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Football and Phantoms

November 4, 2017 Comments Off on Football and Phantoms

Welcome to Jesus – American Theatre Company 

 

Sound, shadows and sudden shocks of light spin a tension-filled tale that combines ghosts and

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Something From a Dream

November 4, 2017 Comments Off on Something From a Dream

The Bridges of Madison County – Brightside Theatre

 

When life feels so confining that it’s like being in a prison cell, and suddenly an opportunity presents

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Seize the Day

November 2, 2017 Comments Off on Seize the Day

Newsies – Marriott Lincolnshire

 

Disney’s 2012 stage adaptation of their 1992 cult movie musical unexpectedly took Broadway by storm. The musical earned Tony and Drama Desk Awards for its

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Voodoo and Medea Combine

November 1, 2017 Comments Off on Voodoo and Medea Combine

Marie Christine – Boho Theatre 

 

BoHo Theatre is fast becoming one of the finest, most respected companies in Chicago. With every

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Pulchritude and a Second Chance

November 1, 2017 Comments Off on Pulchritude and a Second Chance

Akeelah and the Bee – Adventure Stage

A precocious 11-year-old girl named Akeelah Anderson lives on Chicago’s rough, gritty South Side.

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Memorializing a Tragedy

November 1, 2017 2 Comments

Upstairs: A Musical History – One-Eyed Puppy Productions

 

On June 24, 1973, which also happened to be the final day of Gay Pride Week in the Big Easy, as well as the fourth anniversary of the riots and uprising at the

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Good Vibrations

October 27, 2017 Comments Off on Good Vibrations

In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play) – Timeline Theatre 

 

Playwright Sarah Ruhl, one of America’s finest contemporary playwrights, is known for devising

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Give It Up, Greek Style

October 26, 2017 Comments Off on Give It Up, Greek Style

Lysistrata Jones – Refuge Theatre Project

 

As they say, Everything old is new again. A comedy written in Ancient Greece in 411 B.C. by the classical playwright Aristophanes has found a new

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