Chicago Theatre Review
The Strength of Surrender
Thompson Street Opera Company and Pride Films & Plays – When Adonis Calls
An important contributor to Chicago’s deliciously rambunctiously storefront opera scene, Thompson Street Opera, which focuses on the works of living composers, has given Chicago an important production of When Adonis Calls. A tight, yet leisurely, ninety minutes of opera that leaps from the score of composer Clint Borzoni set to the sexy, philosophical meanderings of “The Naked Poet” Gavin Geoffrey Dillard as curated and shaped by director/choreographer/librettist wunderkind John De Los Santos, the piece is scored for two baritones, two male dancers, a string quartet, and percussion, a heady and distinctive bouquet that the creators use to full benefit.
Read MoreAn LGBTQ Holiday Tradition for All
Barney the Elf – Pride Films and Plays
There seems to be an increase in holiday plays and musicals that feature an elf as the main character. First, we have the snarky, darkly humorous “Santaland Diaries.” Then there’s the big, splashy, tuneful “Elf, the Musical,” about Buddy, the Elf. “Rudolph the Red Nosed (and Red Hosed) Reindeer” both feature an elf in a main role. But another play with music, that’s become a Chicago holiday tradition, has another elfin North Pole citizen as its leading man.
Read MoreA Visual and Auditory Spectacle
A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Chicago Shakespeare Theatre
Shakespeare’s fantasy comedy is no doubt familiar to most theatre goers. The comedy weaves together three stories: a quarrel between the king and queen of the fairies, four young Athenian lovers trying to sort out their affections and a group of six rustic actors rehearsing a play for the Duke’s wedding day. All of these plots play out primarily in the forest under a full moon, and ultimately become connected through the marriage between Theseus, the Duke of Athens, and his lovely bride-to-be, Hippolyta. Of course, complications arise and provide the basis for this comedy.
Read MoreDigga, Digga, Digga
Fantastic Mr. Fox–by Emerald City Theatre
Digga, Digga, Digga
Roald Dahl’s beloved 1970 children’s novel about a family of foxes was adapted for the stage by David Wood and first presented in England about eighteen years ago. Emerald City Theatre, continuing their partnership with Victory Gardens, opens a new, 22nd season with this play at the Biograph Theatre.
Read MoreLiberté. Égalité. Sororité?
The Revolutionists – Strawdog Theatre
The Revolutionists is a fictionalized account of four women from the French Revolution: Olympe de Gouges, a real playwright, Charlotte Corday, the woman famous for assassinating Jean-Paul Marat, Marianne Angelle, a fictional amalgamation of the women who fought for freedom in Haiti against the hypocrisy of the French Revolution (which claimed freedom for all men… except the ones who maintained the lucrative sugar plantations) and, of course, Marie Antoinette, the ill-fated former Queen of France. The play imagines de Gouges facing a wicked case of writer’s block as the other three come to her for help with their stories. Madame de Gouges wants the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen to include women. Corday wants to stop the bloody pen of Marat and is looking for the final words she will speak as she faces the guillotine for her forthcoming crime. Angelle wants help spreading the story of the injustice crushing her people in Haiti. Marie Antoinette just wants to be the center of attention for as long as possible. The four women’s stories intersect and overlap as they all attempt to survive the revolution while pushing it where they want it to go.
Read MoreBaring It All for Bucks
The Full Monty–by Theo Unique
Baring It All for Bucks
The sad state of how unemployment impacts the life of the average Joe provides the conflict in many recent stories. Whether set in Sheffield, England, where the original film takes place, or Buffalo, NY, the setting for this musical version, joblessness not only results in poverty, but causes depression and issues of self-respect.
Read MoreA Terrifying Ghost Story
The Woman in Black–at the Royal George Theatre
A Terrifying Ghost Story
Onto a nearly empty stage walks Arthur Kipps, an elderly English gentleman, holding a bound script in his shaking hands.
Read MoreReindeer Games and Jazz Hands
SnowGirls—The Musical–by Hell in a Handbag
Reindeer Games and Jazz Hands
Derek Van Barham’s high-stepping holiday parody of the erotic cult film, “Showgirls,” with spritely music by David Cerda, follows the career of a pretty, if somewhat naive and overly ambitious reindeer named Snowmi Malone (nicely played by HiaH newcomer, Harper Leander).
Read MoreNo Elf on a Shelf
The Santaland Diaries–at the Goodman Theatre
No Elf on the Shelf
Not everyone looks upon the holiday season with the same unbridled joy and delight as movies, musicals and television specials would have you believe is in everyone’s hearts. Even that crabby old Victorian curmudgeon, Ebenezer Scrooge, eventually found Christmas to be a season of joy and renewal. But ask someone who’s worked in the public sector during the holidays, especially in retail or hospitality, and suffered the indignities and downright rudeness of people at their worst, and you will understand how some folks look at Christmas in an entirely different light.
Read MoreMurder at Haversham Manor
The Play That Goes Wrong–at the Oriental Palace Theatre
Murder at Haversham Manor
Two warnings accompany this review. The first is to bring along an oxygen tank when you attend this show, because you’re going to laugh until you hyperventilate. This is, without any doubt, the funniest comedy, with more laughs per minute, than any other play, since “Noises Off.”
Read MoreRECOMMENDED SITES
