Displaying items by tag: Changing Channels

Chicago theatre is firing on all cylinders right now, and this weekend lines up three productions that each showcase a different facet of the city’s creative muscle. Whether you’re in the mood for a riotous farce built on precision timing, a beloved mega‑musical delivered with full‑company sweep, or a sharp, literary comedy that only City Lit would dare to stage, you truly can’t go wrong. Each one stands on its own as a worthy night out, and any single pick will give you a taste of what Chicago theatre does best: craft, imagination, emotional punch, and a fearless sense of play.

The Play the Goes Wrong at Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, Arlington Heights

Few comedies promise laughter as reliably as The Play That Goes Wrong, and Metropolis throws itself into the chaos with real delight. This production revels in tightly calibrated mayhem—the kind where doors refuse to cooperate, props rebel at the worst possible moment, and actors push forward with a kind of heroic, straight‑faced determination that only makes the disaster funnier. The result is a joyful, precision‑engineered mess that the audience gets to savor from start to finish.

Why it’s a strong pick this weekend

• A perfect pressure‑release valve - high‑energy, no‑thought‑required escapism after a long week.
• The intimacy of Metropolis amplifies the comedy - every pratfall, mishap, and collapsing moment lands up close.
• A crowd‑pleaser for any group - theatre lovers, casual attendees, and pure comedy fans all get something out of it.

Music Theatre Works’ Cats at North Shore Center for the Performing Arts

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats returns to Chicagoland with real sweep, and Music Theater Works gives it the kind of lush, full‑hearted staging that reminds you exactly why this musical became a global phenomenon. The choreography is athletic and fluid, the vocals land with clarity and warmth, and the production embraces the dreamlike, ritualistic world of the Jellicles without hesitation. It’s a show that works best when it leans into its own mythology, and this staging does just that - inviting the audience into a shimmering, nocturnal universe rather than standing outside it.

Why it’s a strong pick this weekend

• A rare large‑scale musical delivered with real sweep in an unexpectedly intimate setting - it’s not often you find this level of production value outside the downtown theatre district, and even rarer to experience it up close in the cozy North Theatre at the North Shore Center.
• “Memory” is delivered with emotional precision and is as memorable as it gets   - the kind of performance that earns its reputation as one of musical theatre’s great ballads.
• The North Shore Center elevates the experience - excellent acoustics and clean sightlines in the North Theatre make the show feel immersive, expansive, and visually rich.

Changing Channels at City Lit Theatre

City Lit’s newest offering is a sharp, genre‑bending piece that toys with narrative, identity, and the stories we cling to. Changing Channels shifts tone with the ease of a remote flipping through late‑night TV - comic one moment, unexpectedly poignant the next, then slipping into something surreal and incisively observed. It’s a play that rewards an attentive audience without ever feeling heavy, and City Lit’s trademark literary touch gives the whole production a crisp, intelligent edge that lingers after the lights come up.

Why it’s a must‑see this weekend

• It’s a fresh, original work in a city that thrives on new voices.
• The script’s structural playfulness makes it a conversation starter.
• City Lit’s intimate staging lets the humor and emotional beats land with precision.

This week’s 32C lineup offers a full spectrum of Chicago theatre:

• The Play That Goes Wrong offers pure, high‑energy escapism—perfect if you want to laugh until your face hurts.

• Cats delivers spectacle, nostalgia, and musical athleticism on a scale rarely seen outside downtown.
• Changing Channels gives you smart, inventive storytelling with City Lit’s signature literary edge.

It’s a weekend built for variety - laugh hard, feel deeply, think a little, and remember why Chicago remains one of the most vibrant theatre cities in the country.

The year is 1952. Television is rapidly gaining popularity over radio, to the delight of some and the disgust of others. Senator Joseph McCarthy has just been re-elected and is accusing hundreds of people of having connections to the Communist Party, provoking a nationwide climate of paranoid hysteria. Thousands of people, particularly in the mass media, are being blacklisted and expelled from their jobs. One would think (hope!) the lessons of this Red Scare might relieve us of government overreach and of accusations due to differing ideologies … sadly, not so much, as attested to by Stephen Colbert.

CHANGING CHANNELS opens in a backstage dressing room at the DuMont Television Network, a dressing room tenanted by Maggie Carlin (Kat Evans) for her popular comedy show. Kat Evans as Maggie Carlin and Orion Lay-Sleeper as her comedic partner Eddie Gilroy are both absolutely terrific. I don’t generally like comedy; a television laugh track is like fingernails on a blackboard to me, but as CHANGING CHANNELS takes place on the set of a comedy TV show, some jokes are inevitable. Happily, they are truly good jokes. We all know the sound of an audience trying to laugh cos they know it’s expected, as opposed to honestly breaking up over a droll line delivered skillfully, and in CHANGING CHANNELS even I was LOL! And later when the script turned serious, Evans and Lay-Sleeper both demonstrated superior range.

Skyler Tipton played Maggie’s husband Peter Bell, a truly stellar spouse, unswerving in his devotion and succor (I love using the word ‘succor’ – it’s like getting away with talking dirty). Andrew Pappas plays the handyman Kenny, a role that might have been a bit part but turns out to be pivotal. It’s not easy to flesh out a character from only a handful of appearances and lines, but Pappas succeeds in making Kenny real, a person whom one might like to have around.

Eddie’s lawyer, misfortunately (albeit appropriately) named Bullets, is played by Johnny Moran. The lawyer arrives bearing tidings of great joy – a breakthrough advance for Maggie and Eddie’s show! Next, however, he has to deliver the caveat: in order to accept the promotion they must sign a document that amounts to a loyalty pledge. Here is the crux around which the story turns: refusal to sign is not so much what anyone wants to do; it’s being expected to sign that rankles.

The set, designed by Joe Larkin, was inspired. The entire show takes place in Maggie’s backstage dressing room, giving the performance a pleasing sense of intimacy – Maggie can make all her many costume changes right onstage behind the big dress/costume rack – it is, after all, her dressing room! The wall is hung with posters showing some of Maggie and Eddie’s performances, and I was delighted to see on the coffee table a vintage copy of True Confessions – brilliant prop, Meg X McGrath! Emily McConnell’s costumes were spot on, totally in sync with the characters and the period, as well as a shining testament to Chicago’s resale shops! Lighting by Liz Cooper and Sound by Petter Wahlbeck combined to form an effective vintage milieu. And the overall smooth production is a testament to Stage Manager Tseela Sokolin-Maimon’s skill.

Why did I like CHANGING CHANNELS so much, given my dislike of comedy theatre? Well, CHANGING CHANNELS isn’t truly a comedy show – the comic repartee is because the characters are comediennes. The play itself, while very funny at times, is actually political commentary, and the raillery serves to lighten and brighten what might otherwise have been a heavy-handed delivery of the message. To my mind this serves to make the message more powerful as well as more accessible.

Edmund Burke said:” The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men [sic] to do nothing.” Hear hear!

CHANGING CHANNELS plays at City Lit Theatre, 1020 W Bryn Mawr Ave, through April 12

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

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