Reviews Category
A Magical Cirque Christmas
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas with the help of Magic Space Entertainment and the new Magical Cirque Christmas playing at the CIBC Theatre.
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The Obligatory Holiday Special
The Golden Girls: The Lost Episodes
Thank you for being a friend! Not only is the familiar opening lyric of “The Golden Girls” theme song, it’s exactly how a certain reviewer felt while watching this brand-new, world premiere holiday installment of these long-running parodies. It was like returning home to reunite with my favorite granny, aunties and sisters. I mean, wasn’t it only yesterday that multitalented David Cerda, artistic director, actor and playwright extraordinaire, began presenting his bold, bawdy and beautifully produced pastiches of this beloved television sitcom? It sure feels that way and I’m so thankful and happy to experience yet another, much-welcome installment of Mr. Cerda’s audacious adult humor.
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New Meaning for Today’s Holiday Season
Manual Cinema’s Christmas Carol
Manual Cinema first presented their unique, multimedia version of “A Christmas Carol” in 2020. It was a production that audiences paid-to-view on their computer screens, via Zoom. Two years ago, when the country was in the depths of a worldwide pandemic shutdown, all live theatrical productions were cancelled. This really put a damper on all our usual Christmas festivities. As a result, every social event and holiday gathering was prohibited.
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If Music Be the Food of Love
Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley
In Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” Orsino proclaims that “If music be the food of love, play on…” Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon might have been inspired by this quotation for their third, and reportedly final, installment of their Christmas at Pemberley trilogy. Music does, indeed, play an important role in this delightful, romantic story. As in each of their previous plays (“Miss Bennet” and “The Wickhams”) the two playwrights imagine a Christmastime in 1815 that follows the characters of Jane Austen’s classic novel, Pride and Prejudice. For fans of the English writer’s novels about romance and the lives of the late 18th century landed gentry, this latest world premiere will certainly enchant and entertain.
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A Gay Holiday Panto
Jack Off the Beanstalk
It’s the holidays once again and time to don our gay apparel. PrideArts, whose rainbow colors are always on display, is especially bright and sparkling this season because of a festive, new American premiere production. This gay holiday panto, performed in the English theatrical tradition, is true to its roots. Here is a familiar, but much-exaggerated, fairy tale that truly stresses the word, “Fairy.”
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A Festive Night to Remember
A Christmas Carol
This year’s production of Chicago’s favorite holiday classic, Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” is marked by several remarkable reasons to celebrate. First, unbelievably this marks the Goodman’s 45th annual production of the Theatre’s most popular show. Second, at a splashy pre-show reception opening night, Susan V. Booth was welcomed officially as the Theatre’s new, dynamic artistic director. She’s the Goodman’s well-deserved first female to helm this position, taking over the job held for 35 years by the visionary Robert Falls.
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No Man is a Failure Who Has Friends
It’s a Wonderful Life: Live in Chicago!
It’s hard to believe that this is American Blues Theater’s 21st annual production of Frank Capra’s beloved Christmas classic. The black and white film has endured since 1946 as one of the world’s favorite holiday stories. The Theater Company has presented its radio productions all over Chicago, from the Lakeview neighborhood to Lincoln Park, and now in Wicker Park. Hopefully (knock on wood), after so many seasons of itinerant presentations, next year will see this glorious, heartwarming story presented in American Blues’ own space.
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Going Backward Instead of Forwards
Title X
Created back in 1970, Title X (Ten) was developed to provide women with three options they could choose from, regarding their own bodies and their personal health. If a woman found that she was pregnant, she could seek referrals for adoption services for her unborn child; she could make a decision for prenatal care services; or she could seek referral for an abortion.
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Finding the Perfect Man
Mosque4Mosque
Playwright Omar Abbas Salem’s story is a tale about home. It’s about three generations of an immigrant Syrian, living in the Chicago suburbs, each filled with angst and personal drama. Their collective story is filled with a lot of very funny adult humor, as well. Ibrahim is the central character of this two-act comedy/drama, now enjoying its World Premiere at the Den Theatre, in their intimate Bookspan venue. Salem’s play is about relationships and making mature, well-thought choices in life…and the consequences for giving in to witless, self-centered decisions that affect more than one individual.
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A Feast for the Eye and Ear
The Sound of Music
Like me, over the past ten years ardent theatergoers in Chicagoland have undoubtedly experienced at least one or more production of this, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s beloved musical. It seems like we’ve recently been over-saturated by this show. It’s understandable, because the musical is a popular, heartwarming, captivating and tuneful story that’s perfect family entertainment, especially around the holidays. The play also carries a deeply moving, heartfelt message. But I’m here to tell you that even if you’ve seen this musical a dozen times in the past, you have never experienced the grandeur, power and majesty of this story in the way that Paramount Theatre is currently presenting it.
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