Try to Remember When Everything Was Fantastick

The Fantasticks – Skokie Theatre

17,162 performances running over 42 years off-Broadway at a Greenwich Village Playhouse. It played from 1960 to 2002 and is listed in the Guiness Book of World Records for longest uninterrupted running play at the same theatre. As if that wasn’t enough, it was revived off-Broadway from 2006-2017. There are also approximately 250 new high school and community productions put on each year since its premiere. Obviously, this play has staying power. There must be a reason. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. 
This production, running from September 6 to October 6 at the legendary Skokie Theatre was a pleasure to observe. As anyone will assume (correctly), we have not been to a substantial amount of the thousands of performances enjoyed by so many over the decades. But still, we feel that this one should stand out for several reasons. 

“At the Wake of a Dead Drag Queen” with The Story Theatre

For their second season, The Story Theatre has opened  At the Wake of a Dead Drag Queen, written by Terry Guest, their current season’s resident playwright. You will be attending Courtney Berringers’ funeral, but with a twist. Before burying and laying her to rest, we must revisit the truths and the lies of Berringers’ life. Instead of a night of somber respect and lowered eyes with hands clasped in laps, it is a celebration of queerness, blackness, and identity told through traditional scenes as well as direct monologues and drag numbers and stagecraft.  Directed by Mickael Burke, this fascinating, captivating, and heart-wrenching examination of the concepts organic, inorganic, and the combination of both inspires the audience to evaluate the presence of these concepts in their own lives. 

A Midsummer Dream

Midsummer – Greenhouse Theater Center and Proxy Theatre

Helena is sitting at a bar in Edinburgh, Scotland, making her way through a bottle of wine, having just been stood up by her boyfriend. Bob is sitting in the same bar, reading Dostoevsky to cheer himself up. Both have just or are just about to celebrate their 35th birthday, and it’s left them in a foul mood. So they do what any rational pair would do when forced to contemplate difficult questions about their lives – they get very drunk and go to bed together.

Welcome to the Renaissance

Something Rotten – Marriott Theatre

Where do these talented actors get all this energy? This production, smartly directed by Scott Weinstein and choreographed within an inch of its life by the brilliant Alex Sanchez, is absolutely slap-happy and unstoppable. If the energy of this cast could be harnessed, these actor/singer/dancers could probably generate enough power to light up all of Lincolnshire. In other words, this impressive, brilliantly cast ensemble of triple-threats is astounding. Looking as if they’re having the time of their lives, these two-dozen generously gifted ensemble members unleash so much unbridled mirth and mayhem that theatergoers will wonder when they have time to breathe. Indeed, by intermission, the audience feels as if they need a shot of oxygen, simply from laughing so much. 

We’re All Alike

The Band’s Visit – Broadway in Chicago

Try to imagine this situation. You’ve traveled many miles, as part of a small musical ensemble, to play a concert in a remote, little town. There’s danger in the air because of the political tension and social unrest that’s occurred over decades. You’re limited in your command of the language and, because of your nationality, you’re looked upon with suspicion. Then you suddenly learn that, because of a miscommunication, you’re actually in the wrong town. To make matters worse, it’s a desert village from which there’s no bus for at least 24 hours. You and your band are tired, hungry and pretty irritable from a long day of travel and waiting around. Then you learn there’s not even a hotel where you can stay. What to do?

A Story of Class, Ethics and Romance

Howards End – Remy Bumppo

E.M. Forster’s 1910 literary classic is a sprawling novel about three English families from different social classes. Through this tale, we come to know the wealthy, capitalist Wilcox dynasty; the idealistic, intellectual upper middle class Schlegel sisters; and the ever struggling, financially impoverished lower class Leonard and Jacky Bast. Forster spun a dramatic story of social rank, morals and love. His novel offered an insightful portrait of England at the height of its imperial world influence, in the years just prior to World War I. He showed, through the lives of three diverse families, how fast progress was happening and shaping Edwardian England. Forster seemed to ask, in light of the sweeping changes taking place, who would eventually inherit England? Which class would ultimately define this powerful nation?

Work in Progress

Sons and Lovers – Greenhouse Theatre

It’s true that the very best writers use experiences from their own lives to inspire their writing. English author D.H. Lawrence, whose early twentieth century novels like Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Women in Love, Mr. Noon and The Rainbow shocked and entertained readers during this Age of Innocence. But it’s also true that his stories are all very intimately bound up with his own life. But none of his novels is more autobiographical than Sons and Lovers.

It’s a Woman’s World

Casa Valentina – Pride Films & Plays

As part of Pride Films & Plays’ exploration of all things gender related, we travel back to the Chevalier d’Eon Resort in the Catskill Mountains. It’s 1962, and a secret world is revealed to twenty-first century audiences that actually existed during those more innocent, post-war years. For at least one weekend during the late Spring, a group of happily married men with families, highly-respected in their chosen, white collar professions, gather together in this secluded Garden of Eden to express their alter-egos.

Lips Chicago

Having first opened in NYC over twenty years ago, Lips Drag Queen Show Place has traveled from New York City to San Diego to Fort Lauderdale to Atlanta and has finally arrived in Chicago. Lips Chicago is a drag dining experience located at 2229 S. Michigan Avenue and will undoubtedly become a mainstay for residents and tourists of Chicago. This particular venue hosts 8 shows starting on Wednesday of every week until Sunday evening, so take your pick! It’s a Russian roulette of top-notch-high-heel entertainment.