Redtwist Closes an Excellent Season with a Classic

King Lear – Redtwist Theatre

Redtwist Theatre is closing out its 2018-19 season with a production of Shakespeare’s King Lear, the tragic tale of the king whose ego leads him to divide his kingdom between two of this three daughters because the third will not engage in the fawning and flattery her sisters do. Meanwhile, the illegitimate son of the Earl of Gloucester is plotting to get rid of his father and elder brother and take his father’s title, if not more, for himself.

They’ve Got the Beat

Head Over Heels – Kokandy Productions

Whoever would’ve imagined that a new, surprisingly entertaining musical comedy, based upon a lengthy 16th century poem by Sir Philip Sidney, conceived and fashioned into a script by Jeff Whitty, and adapted for the Broadway stage by James Magruder, would evolve into a toe-tapping jukebox musical? With a score adapted from the songs of popular 80’s girl band, The Go-Go’s, this perky show not only feels original but   groundbreaking. And, in many ways, it is. The musical follows in the footsteps of other unlikely tune-filled Broadway hits, such as “Spring Awakening” and “Hedwig and the Angry Inch.” Debuting in 2015 at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the show ran for a month in San Francisco; but its next stop was a dazzling 2018 Broadway production, which just closed this past January.

“One Flea Spare” with Connective Theatre Company

Connective Theatre Company has debuted on the Chicago storefront theatre scene with its inaugural production of One Flea Spare by Naomi Wallace. For this production, Connective Theatre Company has partnered with RefugeeOne (a local refugee resettlement organization) to raise awareness about refugee displacement. Co-directed by Brian Zane (who also treads the stage in this production) and Ashley Joy, the play takes place in 17th century London and unfurls over the course of 28 days. If this first show is indicative of the work to come from this company, then it’s a plague that I’ll gladly get infected by. 

Force Fed Food; Force Fed Beliefs

Hitler’s Tasters – North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie

The second in the lineup for North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie’s Feature Series Summer 2019 Season, “Hitler’s Tasters” runs from July 5th to July 14th. Written by Michelle Kholos Brooks, the show is a dark comedy inspired by true stories and directed by Sarah Norris. Four women take the stage as they are tasked with the stressful order of tasting Adolf Hitler’s food before he consumes it himself to make sure that it is safe and unpoisoned. After completing its run in Chicago, this production will travel to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August. This incisive look at how young women aren’t treated well in any age or country only runs for two weekends, so get your tickets NOW. 

When Barbarism Meets Technology

Wiesenthal – The True Story of Nazi-Hunter Simon Wiesenthal – North Shore Center for the Performing Arts

North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie has kicked off their Feature Series Summer 2019 Season with “Wiesenthal – The True Story of Nazi-Hunter Simon Wiesenthal.” Tom Dugan takes the stage in a tour de force performance with a production that exhibits uniformity in quality across the board: material, performance, stagecraft, and motivation. I am planting a seed in your mind that you should purchase tickets now because there are only performances June 27th through June 30th, and I will reiterate it later in case you have forgotten. 

The Internet is for Porn

GRINDR the Opera – Pride Films & Plays

The lights gradually dim and out of the hazy darkness steps GRINDR, a glittering, over-the-top personification of the popular hookup app that’s used by thousands of gay men everywhere. Seductively, this bewitching drag performer, bedecked throughout the 85-minute show in a variety of stunning wigs, gowns and heels, sings about the appeal of this iPhone function. A flamboyant narrator, she’s accompanied by two glittering gents (played with panache by Andrew Flynn and Brandon Krisko) who serve as backup. The diva introduces the audience to four very different men, all of whom share varying experiences with this dating app and inspire the stories that are played out in faux operatic style.

Ones and Zeroes

Ada and the Engine – The Artistic Home

Ada Lovelace has one of those life stories that, if it were fiction, would not sound credible. She is the daughter of the famous Romantic poet, Lord Byron, and she became as close to a professional mathematician as her era would allow, making vital contributions to the work of Charles Babbage and the first computing machines. She is credited with writing one of the earliest versions of a computer program, more than a century before computers would become commonplace. The Artistic Home’s new production, Ada and the Engine, centers on this remarkable woman.

A Touching, Tragic Tale

Hedwig and the Angry Inch – Theo Ubique

First of all be warned: This may not be an entertainment that will appeal to every taste. Audiences who attend this four-time, 2014 Tony Award-winning musical should be comfortable with in-your-face performances, deafening rock music, blinding concert lighting and 95 minutes of adult humor and a brazenly bold backstory. The theatergoer who considers Rodgers & Hammerstein or Lerner & Loewe to be the hallmarks of the American musical probably won’t love a show that’s this garish and loud. However, younger, less conservative audiences, as well as the many devotees of this cult musical, will find everything to love about Theo Ubique’s finale to their first season, now playing in Evanston through July 28.

Matchmaker, Matchmaker

Emma – Lifeline Theatre

In an age when social media has usurped our lives, it’s refreshing to visit a time whern people actually spoke to each other, and with eloquence, too. Like all her novels, Jane Austen’s 1815 novel is a comedy of manners set in Georgian-Regency England. The title character, however, is unlike any of Austen’s other heroines in that Emma is pretty, smart and rich, but also strong-minded, overindulged and rather full of herself. Because a woman’s goal and main occupation at that time focused on landing a good husband, Emma is also unlike her peers. While she fancies herself an accomplished matchmaker for other young women, Emma isn’t particularly interested in marriage herself. As one of the self-entitled, she finds meddling in other people’s lives more fun and fulfilling than minding her own business.

A Hidden Agenda

Four Places – The Den Theatre

Theatergoers who prefer their dramas as real and affecting as everyday life should run to see this extraordinary production, now in its final performances at the Den Theatre. Joel Drake  Johnson’s 80-minute one-act, which plays out in real time, speaks to every member of the audience, particularly those between the ages of 40 and 65 years. Smartly and perceptively directed by Lia Mortensen, a fine actor, herself, this production confirms that this artist’s talents extend both on and off the stage. She’s expertly guided her gifted, four member ensemble to breathe life into these characters, absolutely avoiding any false moves or artificial schmaltz. This, the Den Theatre’s return to producing their own plays and musicals, is a must-see.