Chicago Theatre Review

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What Could Be Better?

April 22, 2024 Comments Off on What Could Be Better?

Baby

Three diverse couples, all living in a fictional university town and a different sector of that collegiate community, become united in this musical by, and about, pregnancy and childbirth. But as delightful as they are, the diversity of the six characters seems like a purposeful, cross-section of all the coupled, heterosexual members of society. In addition, there’s three very disparate conclusions to these couples’ individual pregnancies. As one couple sings, “What Could Be Better?”

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One Inch From Terrific

April 21, 2024 Comments Off on One Inch From Terrific

Brooklyn Laundry

At the top of this one-act, a perky, attractive young woman named Fran drops off a bag of soiled bedclothes at her local laundromat/dry cleaners. The lady who usually greets her has the day off, but Owen, the owner of a modest three-store laundromat empire, welcomes her instead. Fran paces around, her mind clearly occupied with much more than dry cleaning, and the cheerfully optimistic Owen picks up on this. The amiable laundromat manager is, true to his character, masking his own hurts and heartbreaks. However, Owen choses to look at the positives in life. He observes that Fran reminds him of the fiancee who left him a couple years ago, a woman he describes as being smart, pretty and “one inch from terrific.” Despite gently chiding her for being so gloomy, Owen flirts with Fran and asks her out to dinner.

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The curtain rises on Bramble Arts Loft

April 20, 2024 Comments Off on The curtain rises on Bramble Arts Loft

On Saturday, April 6, 2024, the new Bramble Arts Loft officially opened, on the second floor of the old Capital Garage building on Clark Street. Their stated mission is: “to create powerful new theatre that both nourishes and challenges our community to explore the question of what it is to be Human. By fostering an Artist-first culture that inspires hope and innovation, we strive to be a leading voice in this emerging era of American Theatre.”

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A Musical Fable of Broadway

April 20, 2024 Comments Off on A Musical Fable of Broadway

Guys and Dolls

More I Cannot Wish You. No, really! This perfect, professional production is a beautiful Bushel and a Peck of playfulness. Sue Me, if I’m not speaking the truth! If I Were a Bell I’d ring out the great news! They say that everything old is new again and Drury Lane’s resplendent revival of this “Musical Fable of Broadway” is proof positive of this old proverb. So please, do not miss this phenomenal production or, much like the marvelous Miss Adelaide, you’ll be Lamenting it for 14 years.

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An American Musical Classic

April 18, 2024 Comments Off on An American Musical Classic

The Music Man

Meredith Willson’s very first musical, and his magnum opus, is undeniably one of the best-loved classics of the American musical stage. As one of the most perfectly written of all musicals, it doesn’t simply feature a few main characters backed up by a chorus of nameless, dancing singers who only appear during the big musical numbers. Each and every character in this show is unique individual with his own personality and backstory. And that alone makes this show very special, both as an actor and as a theatergoer.

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Old-Fashioned Theater Meets Modern Themes in Beyond the Garden Gate.

April 15, 2024 Comments Off on Old-Fashioned Theater Meets Modern Themes in Beyond the Garden Gate.

On April 12, 2024, The Imposters Theatre Company debuted their new production, BEYOND THE GARDEN GATE, written by Mallory Swisher and directed by Stefan Rosen.

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Composer, Instructor and Pianist

April 14, 2024 Comments Off on Composer, Instructor and Pianist

Monsieur Chopin, A Play with Music

It’s Paris, March 4, 1848, and class is in session. Sit comfortably and get ready for your masterclass music lesson provided by a gifted composer, instructor and piano virtuoso. For the next two hours, Frederic Chopin will offer a fascinating education in the creation and performance of his own classical music. However, lest you think that this class might be boring and too scholarly for the average audience member to appreciate, nothing could be further from what you’re about to experience.

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Change Partners and Dance

April 9, 2024 Comments Off on Change Partners and Dance

Cock

There was a popular song written by Irving Berlin in 1938 for the musical film, “Carefree.” It was sung by Fred Astaire and entitled “Change Partners and Dance.” The song referred to the indecision of dancer Ginger Rogers to accept a marriage proposal and she eventually ends up with Astaire. This Oscar-nominated ballad could also be used as the theme song for this bold battle of the sexes, now playing in a brilliant production on Chicago’s North Side.  

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Confusion and Absurdity

April 8, 2024 Comments Off on Confusion and Absurdity

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead

Sent for by Claudius to discover the reason for his nephew’s madness, Hamlet’s two childhood friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, find themselves in a world of confusion and absurdity. They’ve been told to find Hamlet, their childhood friend, and figure out what’s bothering him. The young men run into a troupe of actors who are playing roles in a production of HAMLET. A line between reality and theatricality merge and separate and, while there’s no real plot in this 90-minute performance, there’s a score of images that come and go throughout. Tom Stoppard’s fascinating and perplexing one-act explores free will, how fate plays a role in everyone’s lives and the inevitability of death that comes to each of us.

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Welcome to the Jungle

April 5, 2024 Comments Off on Welcome to the Jungle

The Choir of Man

Step into the Apollo Theater and you’ll suddenly be conveyed across the Atlantic to a British pub called The Jungle. The stage has been totally transformed into a comfy locale that blends immersive theatre with a more traditional form of musical. Walking through the doors, theatergoers will immediately meet nine of the pub’s most faithfully devoted regulars who spend their nonworking hours telling jokes and stories, comforting each other, and downing beer and the occasional shot. The genuine bonhomie emanating from this amiable group of guys creates a family of choice, a “Choir of Man,” that extends all the way into the audience. Opening with the rousing Axl Rose hit, “Welcome to the Jungle,” the fun and festivities commences from the moment that the doors open.

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