Saturday, 03 June 2017 19:21
"King Liz" Shows It's Not Always Good to be King
Written by Kimberly Katz
From the minute I stepped into Windy City Playhouse’s colorful, elegant the stage area designed by Courtney O’Neill with fantastic lights and sounds by Thomas Dixon, I knew I was in for a treat. King Liz is named for the beautiful, sexy and high-powered sports agent Liz Rico played superbly…
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Theatre in Review
A small theatre resides on the most unlikely of streets in Chicago. Just steps from the Howard Red Line stop sits the Factory theatre, with only fifty seats in its small storefront property, this little powerhouse has produced original work for nearly 25 years. Adding to its catalog of work…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tuesday, 30 May 2017 13:37
Einstein’s Angry Relations Dominates the Action in Relativity
Written by Bill Esler
The storyline in Relativity is a supposed to be a mystery. The great physicist and mathematical theoretician Albert Einstein fathered a daughter, Liserl, out of wedlock in Switzerland with Mileva Marić– but all mentions of her disappear after the age of two. What happened to her? Several theories have been…
Published in
Theatre in Review
The 90s really must be back because this is the second show about Tonya Harding and Nancy Karigan to debut in Chicago in the past year. American Theater Company's telling is a new play called "T" by Dan Aibel. "T" is a ninety-minute retelling of the infamous 1994 incident from…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Monday, 22 May 2017 11:19
"The River Bride" is a thought provoking, stunningly raw and romantic production for all ages
Written by Kimberly Katz
With an all Latino/Latina cast, Marisela Treviño Orta's 2014 one-act is brought to life with magic and wonder. The River Bride, set in a South American village along the murky and mysterious Amazon River is a romantic and touching production, which, thanks to director Rinska Carrasco-Prestinary and ingenious props created …
Published in
Theatre in Review
Sunday, 21 May 2017 20:26
Things can get very quirky in The My Way Residential
Written by Vika Lvova
Willa is too old to live alone in her flat, and she has “accidents”. That’s why her well-meaning daughter brings her to a suburban London nursing home, “just to try it out”. Originally from Galway, Willa (convincingly played by Belinda Bremner) starts an unlikely friendship with a good-natured 24-year-old nursing…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tuesday, 23 May 2017 01:16
Harvey is a theatrical confection with a warm and fuzzy heart
Written by Bill Esler
Court Theatre’s production of Harvey tells the fable of Elwood P. Dowd. Played wonderfully by Timothy Edward Kane, Dowd is an independently wealthy bachelor whose immense warmth and engaging demeanor earns him friendship readily with everyone. This includes the 6’ 3½” tall white rabbit, Harvey, who for most of the…
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Theatre in Review
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Saturday, 20 May 2017 12:45
How Josephine Baker Earned Superstardom to Become the Black Pearl
Written by Bill Esler
Josephine Baker leapt from the Harlem Renaissance via the Paris Folies Bergère to become a global phenomenon, the first black international superstar. Consider this: Baker’s fame was so great in her day among African-Americans, that Coretta King immediately appealed to her to guide the U.S. Civil Rights Movement in the…
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Theatre in Review
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Thursday, 11 May 2017 05:30
Refugee Struggles To Maintain His Identity in Powerful Objects in the Mirror
Written by Bill Esler
Objects in the Mirror, an outstanding play having its premier at Goodman Theatre, will soon have you wanting to know more about its author, Charles Smith, a Chicago playwright. Starring Daniel Kyri as Shedrick Yarkpai, this play springs from the true story of the real life Yarkpai, a refugee who…
Published in
Theatre in Review
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Friday, 12 May 2017 15:52
This One Man Show Is really About Every Man and Woman
Written by Bill Esler
It was a third-grade history lesson on civil rights and Rosa Parks that spawned Brian Quijada’s one man show, “Where Did We Sit on the Bus?” Blacks were in the back, whites up front. What about Mexican-Americans like him? “You weren’t around,” his teacher answered. With that hook Quijada draws…
Published in
Theatre in Review
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Wednesday, 10 May 2017 14:37
Theatre at the Center's Cabaret "Perfectly Marvelous"
Written by Ken Payne
It’s the wild 1930’s in Berlin and it’s anything goes at the Kit Kat Klub where an impish Emcee feasts on making the haunt as alluring as possible to its guests. He loves the boys, he loves the girls and he loves the orchestra. Headliner Sally Bowles leads the cabaret…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Saturday, 06 May 2017 14:54
Marriott Theatre's "She Loves Me" Will Make You Take a Chance on Love, Too!
Written by Kimberly Katz
Try to remember a time before the Internet, before dating sites, before personal ads and instant cameras and you will eventually discover the age-old path of finding love and dating for men and women called "Lonely Hearts Clubs". In Marriott Theatre’s “She Loves Me", a musical with a book by…
Published in
Theatre in Review
There was so much energy when I went into The Den Theatre, which I will rightfully chalk up to Haven Theatre Company’s infectious vibe. Upon entering, patrons were greeted with ear plugs before being thrust into a cloud of fog, as though attending a rock show. Curious, yet anxious, the…
Published in
Theatre in Review
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