Reviews Category
When You Call Me That, Smile
The Virginian – City Lit Theatre
In 1902, American author Owen Wister’s novel about life on a cattle ranch became what would later be considered the first fictional western ever written. Wister’s short stories had appeared serialized in Harper’s Magazine and the Saturday Evening Post. When collected together they were soon adapted into his groundbreaking novel. Wister’s book not only became a bestseller, it would eventually inspire a whole new genre of literature and open the door for many more authors of westerns, such as Zane Grey and Louis L’Amour.
Read More
Gleefully Unhinged Performances Abound
The Moors – A Red Orchid Theatre
The prolific playwright and fiction writer, Jen Silverman has, in her 2017 play entitled “The Moors,” crafted a clever and very funny feminist one-act comedy. Set in the upland area of northeastern Yorkshire, the play both mirrors and parodies the lives and writings of those 19th century British wunderkinds, the Bronte sisters. Set in an apparently Escher-like manor house, where each room of the mansion is identical to the next one, two sisters, their maids, and a mastiff named Mastiff, survive the English wilderness, somewhere out on the titular Moors. This black comedy is also kind of an homage to the Theatre of the Absurd of Ionesco.
Read More
It’s All In the Music
Promises, Promises in Concert – BrightSide Theatre
As might be expected of a concert version of a show, it’s the music that drives this excellent production. And in this respect, Artistic Director Jeffrey Cass has chosen wisely for his second offering in BrightSide’s recital series (his first concert presentation was “Nine”). Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s perky and assertively rhythmic score is the reason audiences should flock to BrightSide Theatre where they’ll enjoy a production that pulsates with joy. The excellent script, written by comedy genius Neil Simon, is strong and very funny. The story, although perhaps a bit dated for 21st century audiences, will delight with its bizarre plot and quirky characters. But it’s all in the music, which is everything here. The opening night audience couldn’t refrain from tapping their feet, snapping their fingers, bobbing their heads and sometimes singing along with these bouncy and beautiful songs.
Read More
A Reimagined and Modernized Classic
Oklahoma! – Broadway in Chicago
To devoted theatergoers, there’s nothing quite so thrilling as seeing a work of art that both moves you and is filled with beautiful, carefully-crafted songs being perfectly played and sung. A case in point: audience members hearing those first strains of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin,’” simply, but skillfully, strummed on an acoustic guitar, and sublimely sung with heartfelt emotion by Sean Grandillo, as cowboy, Curly McLain. It sets the tone for this stripped-down, contemporary version of this classic musical. Besides entertaining us, and because less is certainly more in this National Tour, this musical production might even remind audiences of what has been missing in other fuller, more gussied-up productions of the show.
Read More
The Island Calls
Mary Rose – Black Button Eyes Productions
A lonely military Chaplain asks for a tour of a dark, drafty English mansion in Sussex. It’s rumored that the home is haunted by the ghost of a young woman. The caretaker of the now-abandoned estate is the grim, elderly housekeeper, Mrs. Otery. When the Chaplain asks if she might offer him a cup of tea she agrees, but very reluctantly leaves him alone in the drawing room. Before she goes, Mrs. Otery warns the young man to not touch anything, particularly the ornate, wooden door that’s the focal point of the room. Of course he disobeys her orders and suddenly a strange young woman appears out of the misty recesses of the chamber. She is Mary Rose, whose eerie story she then relates to the Chaplain.
Read More
Born To Boogie
Billy Elliot – Music Theater Works
Based upon A.J. Cronin’s The Stars Look Down, “Billy Elliot” began life as a 2000 English film. It tells the story of a motherless boy from a working class background who discovers, purely by accident, that he was born with a gift for ballet. Set during the 1984-85 UK miners’ strike in Northeast England, amidst Maggie Thatcher’s turbulent reign as Britain’s Iron Lady Prime Minister, Billy and his family struggle to survive. His father and brother slave away down in the mines, barely scraping together enough to make ends meet. The boy attends school, helps care for his elderly, often befuddled grandmother and, once a week, pays for boxing lessons at the local hall. When he accidentally wanders into the abrasive Mrs. Wilkinson’s ballet class a light begins to shine. Billy suddenly discovers a hidden talent and his unknown passion for dance.
Read More
A Pursuit of the American Dream
Dishwasher Dreams – Writers Theatre
Every so often a story comes along that really makes you feel deeply and think about who you are and how you got to that place in life. Alaudin Ullah, an actor and stand-up comic, whose parents immigrated to America from Bangladesh in the early 20th century, is currently performing his one-man show at Writers Theatre. And Mr. Ullah’s very touching, often humorous performance, is such a story.
Read More
Someone’s Murdered Charles Haversham!
The Play That Goes Wrong – Broadway in Chicago
Anyone who’s ever performed in or worked on a play, or even sat in the audience of a production, knows that in theatre, from time to time, anything that CAN go wrong—WILL go wrong. Theatre is rife with unforeseen possibilities. Lines can be dropped, the set might create a problem, a prop may be misplaced, a light or sound cue could malfunction, a costume might rip, and so on. The three clever Brits who penned this hysterical farce know of what they write. They’ve incorporated into this mock murder melodrama every conceivable boo boo and blunder that’s ever challenged the cast of a play. The result is two hours of unstoppable mayhem and riotous laughter. Remember, as you’re watching this insanity, that just when you think it can’t get any funnier, another unbelievable incident is going to top what you’ve just witnessed.
Read More
A Modern Twist on an Old Fairy Tale
Pretty Woman: The Musical – Broadway in Chicago
Garry Marshall had always envisioned his 1990 hit romantic comedy as a musical. He’d actually been writing the script for a theatrical version at the time of his death. Producer Paula Wagner promised Marshall that work would continue on his dream project, and she kept her word. Returning to Chicago, where the musical had its 2018 pre-Broadway tryout, the Windy City is fondly embracing the show that went on to play over 400 performances in NYC, as well as around the world. The musical also won several Broadway.com Audience awards a year later.
Read More
Memories Are Made of This
8-Track: The Sounds of the ’70’s
All I can say is, “Everything is Beautiful” during this 80-minute blast from the past, now playing throughout most of January at Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre. The electrifying sounds of the 1970’s, filled with all those pleasantly pulsating rhythms and brilliant, tightly-blended harmonies, is currently filling this revered Evanston venue with unbridled joy. I defy anyone to remain serene and motionless while sitting through this marvelous production. Every audience member will be bopping their heads, snapping their fingers, tapping their feet, clapping their hands and singing along throughout this enchanting musical revue.
Read MoreRECOMMENDED SITES
