Friday, 09 November 2018 04:07
The Better Half: A rich, buttery, and zesty new production at Steppenwolf
Written by Kendall Royzen
As the house lights dimmed and the actors took to the stage, an odd play began to unfold at Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theater. Lights appeared to direct the actors where to go, the actors didn’t act as though they were acting, and perched on my corner aisle seat actresses raced by…
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Theatre in Review
The setting is a drought-stricken Midwest cattle town. Sheriff File (played by Denzel Tsopnang) and the town folk set the mood as they lament that “the earth is burning, crops is bad, and land is dry” in opening number “Another Hot Day” of BoHo Theatre’s presentation of 110 in The…
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Theatre in Review
Wednesday, 07 November 2018 10:25
The Last Session: a Very Musical and Very Personal Take on the AIDS Epidemic
Written by Bill Esler
Refuge Theatre Project likes to pick up what it calls under-appreciated musicals and put them on in non-traditional settings. They hit that mark with The Last Session, an off-off-Broadway musical from 1997 that ran for about 20 weeks off-Broadway. Set in a 1990s Los Angeles recording studio, this production takes…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Monday, 05 November 2018 18:19
A Storybook Siegfried Or James Earl Jones Takes Charlie Brown and Corporal Klinger on an Excellent Adventure to Where the Wild Things Are to slay a Dragon and Find the St. Pauli Girl
Written by William and Margaret Swain
Siegfried, the third installment of Richard Wagner’s monumental cycle, The Ring of the Niebelungen, opened in a comic-book fairy tale, if not quite mythical version this past Saturday evening to an enthusiastic full house at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. In the preceding two seasons, the prologue, Das Rheingold and…
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Theatre in Review
Monday, 05 November 2018 23:52
Review: ‘Siegfried’ at Lyric Opera of Chicago
Written by John Accrocco
Five hours is a long time to do anything. A five-hour German opera loosely based on incest can sound even longer when given the choice on a Saturday night. That said, Lyric Opera’s new production of Wagner’s ‘Siegfried’ feels anything but long. ‘Siegfried’ is the third installment in Wagner’s four-opera…
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Theatre in Review
Thursday, 01 November 2018 04:21
Russian radio never sounded so good - 'Radio Culture' at TUTA
Written by Ron Reis
This was an interesting production that oddly enough had very little to do with radio. ‘Radio Culture’ is a one act play with a somewhat unique concept where just one actor holds a speaking role. TUTA’s home theatre space (4670 N Manor in Chicago) is a small little place that…
Published in
Theatre in Review
What makes a life extraordinary? Is it the chance meetings with celebrities, surviving world war or is it all the love that surrounds us? ‘Lady in Denmark’ by Dael Orlandersmith makes its world premiere at Goodman Theatre under the direction of Victory Gardens’ Artistic Director, Chay Yew. Orlandersmith is known…
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Theatre in Review
I had high expectations for Cosmologies as I read the promotional material in preparation for attending the show’s opening at The Gift Theatre. The opening scene also gave me hope (briefly) as it was humorous and set the viewer up for the anticipated “existential absurdist comedy.” Instead the audience was…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Hello, Dolly! starring Betty BuckleyOriental Theatre thru November 17, 2018 Tony Award winning superstar Betty Buckley is featured in the title role of this revival of the 1964 Broadway musical Hello, Dolly! based on Thornton Wilder's 1955 play The Matchmaker. For theatre enthusiast, it’s a familiar story…and it’s so nice…
Published in
Theatre in Review
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Monday, 22 October 2018 02:54
Halloween was never so funny - 'The Golden Girls: Bea Afraid!'
Written by Ken Payne
Just in time for Halloween comes Hell in a Handbag’s The Golden Girls: Bea Afraid! The play’s name itself probably tips most off that audiences will be in for one helluva ride. Handbag found much success in the past couple of years creating their own hysterical episodes of The Golden…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Monday, 22 October 2018 23:38
Review: 'Private Peaceful' at Greenhouse Theater Center
Written by Earl Cochran
It’s 1916 in Great Britain when this story opens as 17-year-old Private Tommo Peaceful (played by Shane O’Regan) attempts to stay up all night to try to remember everything. There is a sense of urgency throughout the 80-minute monologue as Tommo flashes from present to past as his watch ticks…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Sunday, 21 October 2018 22:15
The Lonesome West - Dark Comedy From That Man Who Gave You Three Billboards Outside Billings
Written by Bill Esler
Martin McDonagh's The Lonesome West brings us Coleman and Valene Connor, two brothers fighting continuously over issues large and small: which brand of potato chips is better, who of the two do girls find more attractive, and who really owns their house. As the play opens, Coleman (Robert Tobin), the…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Sunday, 21 October 2018 00:02
Go! Go! Go to Idomeneo! - or - Thank the gods!
Written by William and Margaret Swain
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Idomeneo at the Lyric Opera of Chicago is opera as it should be, transcending all expectations. Don’t miss it! Indeed, we wonder why this uncommonly extraordinary performance did not open the Lyric Opera of Chicago season. Happily, after going dark for more than a week, forcing the…
Published in
Theatre in Review
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