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More jukebox than musical, Theo Ubique’s production of 8-Track: The Sounds of the ‘70s, conceived by Rick Seeber with musical arrangements by Michael Gribben, is a tribute to 70’s AM radio, performed by an ensemble of powerhouse vocalists, showcasing a range of tunes from Motown to the Bee Gees. There is no metal, punk, or hip-hop, but the range of pop sounds that provided the soundtrack for the decade is wide enough that, in the hands of the capable musicians who perform them in this lively rendition, there is something for everyone in the set-list. The actor/singers do a good job of creating distinct characters, but plumbing the depths of relationships or creating anything resembling a plot is an elusive quest when there are 50 songs to get through. Director/Choreographer Jamal Howard has done his best to pay tribute to the social movements of the 70’s, but this backdrop only makes one wish for a deeper dive; the production is more successful when the music guides the choreography and relationships are lighter. Music director/conductor/designer and keyboardist Jeremy Ramey keeps the tempos brisk and the harmonies tight, providing a musical setting that ensures one is not sucked into the morass of the more saccharin or outdated numbers. The cast is respectful of the material but does not allow their reverence to try to sell numbers whose expiration date is past—though they still have fun with them. Billed as a holiday production, this is a light-weight but entertaining option for people who loved even some of the music of the 70’s or those whose pop music education began in later decades and want a quick primer.

Performed by a stellar eight-person cast led by four lead singers, Jamal Howard’s production pays tribute to the social movements that defined the decade, especially the post-Stonewall gay rights movement. Several characters explore their sexual orientation, questioning and fearing their feelings of attraction until finally embracing them with the advent of disco at the end of the decade.  The Vietnam War was nearing its end at the beginning of the 70’s, but the draft was still claiming the lives of young men without the means of it, and the music and Howard, with assistant director/choreographer J Alan, honors those who were forced to take up arms. Feminists were starting to demand equality of pay and opportunities for women, which was reflected in the music of the time (Helen Reddy’s “I Am Woman” being a more obvious example), though there were plenty of songs that countered that narrative as well (the Commodore’s “Brick House” being a rousing but egregious example). In trying to bring these narratives into a musical without a book, Howard occasionally creates frustratingly mercurial relationships that leave one wanting some dialogue to flesh things out, but the historical framework offers insights into the decade that younger viewers will not have. Howard’s choreography is serviceable throughout, but shines when he draws on the dances of the time period.

The design elements also help transport the audience to the era. Mara Ishihara Zinky’s scenic design combines elements of wood-paneled basement and music club. Costume designer Jasmine Aurora Medina’s first act designs seem to be a year-by-year march through the Sears catalogue, though characters become more consistent as they “find themselves” and the disco looks are truly fabulous. Lighting designer Piper Kirchhofer brings a concert-like feel to the evening, relying on super-saturated colors to provide shifts in mood. Sound designer Stefanie M. Senior adds additional period context, and audio engineers Isaac Mandel and Max Cichon provide invaluable support.

The eight cast members all create distinct characters and bring both acting chops and vocal expertise to the experience. There is a lot of music, and the arrangements are complicated by the addition of voices to the core cast of four, but all the performers flawlessly execute the vocal journey and choreography. The four lead singers, Wesly Anthony Clergé, Mia Nevarez, Patrick O’Keefe and Jasmine Lacy Young all bring confidence and exuberance to their performances, capturing the emotions of their characters’ relationships and the songs that provide the vehicles. Jasmine Lacy Young brings soaring vocals to the anthem “I Am Woman,” and more meditative songs like “Just the Way You Are.” Wesly Anthony Clergé brings out the anger in “War” as the veteran who could not avoid the draft. Clergé’s well-modulated voice and ingratiating smile are a highlight of the show. Mia Nevarez, a relative newcomer, has a beautiful, smooth soprano that manages to make even “You Light Up My Life” rise above its schmalzy mediocrity. Navarez and Clergé join forces for a beautiful rendition of “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.” Patrick O’Keefe rounds out the quartet of principals; he ends up having to sell some of the less sturdy music of the decade and his character takes a while to come into his own, but he brings a nice longing to songs like “I’m Not in Love” and “Desperado.” The remaining members of the ensemble provide become love interests and swell the sounds of the music. Chamaya Moody distinguishes herself with her dance moves, but all the actors, Moody, Alli Atkenson, Matt Patrick and Roy Samra find ways to create characters that remain consistent while changing with the decade. The show is at its most joyful and fun when the eight-member ensemble joins together for “tracks” (the show is divided into eight of these, appropriately), including a raucous party in the first act, and a road trip and disco tribute in the second. With a versatile band consisting of Jeremy Ramey on keyboards, Perry Crowder on guitar, Egan Franke on bass and Carlos Mendoza on drums backing up the vocals and rocking out on their own, the production more than does justice to the artists that created the sounds of 70’s.

If one has musical memories of the 70s, 8-Track: The Sounds of the ‘70s will provide a joyful trip to the past, with the talented cast breathing life into even the most moribund hits of the decade. If one is too young to recollect the times, many of the hits may still ring a bell, and the show will provide an energetic introduction to those that don’t. If you are looking for complex plots and characters, this is not your show, but director Jamal Howard and the exuberant ensemble have created a respectful but not too reverent time capsule that provides a nice break from the winter weather as well as a reminder that every decade has its own struggles and celebrations.

8-Track: The Sounds of the ‘70s runs through January 23 at Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre at 721 Howard Street, Evanston. Tickets are on sale at www.theo-u.com or 773-939-4101. Prices are Thurs. & Sun. $42 bar seats, $45 riser seats, $50 table seats; Fri & Sat: $46 bar seats, $49 riser seats, $54 table seats, except ticket prices for the New Year’s Eve show (including a champagne toast) are $70 for the show only. No performances Christmas week Thursday, December 23 through Sunday, December 26. Optional three course prix fixe dinners catered by Good To Go Jamaican Cuisine are available for $29.00 per person, per show. Dinner reservations must be placed one week in advance of the desired performance date. Theo Ubique will be requiring all audience members to be fully vaccinated from COVID-19 this season. Photo ID and proof of vaccination (photos or photocopies are acceptable) will be required at the door. (Starting one hour before curtain, all unsold seats will be released for $20.)

Dancing normally isn't my thing, but literature is. And "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is, surprisingly, a better candidate than most short stories for a dance interpretation. It starts as something quaint, recognizable, and spirals its way into madness: something dance and music can convey potently.

Gilman's feminist classic "The Yellow Wallpaper" brought much-needed light to the issue of women's mental health when it was published in 1892, and it still sheds light on this often misunderstood experience today.

The postpartum-suffering protagonist of this story wants to be heard, but her husband silences her at every turn — confining her to the house, isolating her from friends, even discouraging her from writing — leaving her anxiety and confusion nowhere to turn but inward. She starts seeing things in the yellow wallpaper of her bedroom. She sees a woman trapped behind bars, her own situation playing out in the wallpaper every night. By the end, she and her hallucination are one and the same. With no other outlet for her emotions, she's turned herself into something flat and silent, but weirdly free.

And to see this all acted out through dance is visceral and wonderful.

This joint production by Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble and RE Dance Group comprises of two shows: "The Attic Room" by RE Dance and "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Danztheatre. The choreography by Michael Estanich and Ellyzabeth Adler, respectively, is desperate and graceful, the characters losing control in one moment and suspiciously, blithely sedated the next. The dance incorporated into the story was emotive and seamless. As a dance dummy, these vague terms are the best I can use to describe it, but what I can say is it made me feel things.

What was an unreliable narrator on paper, too wrapped in her psychosis to describe herself objectively, is now right in front of us, slowly losing it and crying out for help. While "The Attic Room" is more abstract, both productions depict a slow undoing of a character's reality, and the helplessness and confinement of not understanding her own mind.

"The Attic Room" and "The Yellow Wallpaper" are playing November 19th & 20th at 8PM at 1650 W Foster Ave. Tickets at Danztheatre's website.

This is the third year that Strawdog Theatre Company is presenting its adaptation of Eric Kimmel’s children’s book Hershel and the Hannukah Goblins, but this is 2020 and a pandemic has forced the performance to go online. The outlines are still there: a traveling troupe of vaudevillian players fallen on hard times barters with an innkeeper for room and board, sharing a story for food. Hershel and the Hannukah Goblins is that story, about the wily grandfather of the troupe’s leader and his efforts to save Hannukah from the goblins who have taken over the old synagogue and who, for reasons unknown, hate Hannukah and blow out the candles and throw the latkes on the floor whenever anyone tries to celebrate the holiday. The cast is talented and energetic and give their all, interacting with the unseen virtual audience, but the absence of that audience casts a pall on the proceedings. The show is still a sweet reminder of the traditions of the season: the food, the lighting of the menorah, the dreidel, and, most importantly, the community and generosity that is celebrated. But without an audience of children to play along, the show struggles to take off. That said, Strawdog has done what they can to ensure that families (though not reviewers watching in their living rooms with blind cats in their laps) can create a fun and festive event with a little advance preparation. There are coloring pages that help tell Hershel’s story and there are moments when parents can guide their offspring to offer magic words or evaluate the quantity of gold required for a dreidel game. There is a song to guide the making of latkes, and songs to light each candle. If you are a parent of kids, especially those under 10, who wants to create a live living room experience, the ingredients are all available.

Hershel and the Hannukah Goblins recalls the stories of Sholem Aleichem, with the title character tasked with outwitting an ever-more threatening gaggle of goblins to save Hannukah, which the town has not been able to celebrate since the goblins took up residence in the creepy, old synagogue. Director Spencer Ryan Diedrick has recruited a young, musically talented ensemble to tell the story, and even tries to recreate the live theater experience with a pre-show warm-up of songs and knock-knock jokes. All the actors take on multiple roles and perform from their own homes. Diedrick has ensured that props make their way smoothly from screen to screen, the action is fast-paced, and the cast connect as best as they can with their young spectators. The spritely songs by Jacob Combs, mostly performed live by the cast under the musical direction of Celia Villacres, are klezmer-based but with an appealing contemporary beat to make them accessible and danceable for audiences new to the genre. Even though the performance would not exist without the magic of technology, this is a decidedly low-tech adaptation, with actors employing masks, puppets, costume accessories, acoustic instruments and papier-mâché props to tell the story. Aly Amidei’s costumes are reminiscent of the early 19^th century, but also reflect the homespun aesthetic of the “traveling” company. The props by Manny Ortiz are bold and colorful and easy to manipulate onscreen. The masks and puppets that represent the goblins are a clever range of folded paper puppets to sock puppets to baroque papier-mâché masks which convey the ever-more-menacing goblins. No need to worry about frightening the children, though; these goblins are not the sharpest demons in the drawer and should not give even the youngest and most sensitive viewers any trouble sleeping.

The cast, led by Rebecca Keeshin (who also plays a mean ukulele) as Hershel, and including Julia Atkin, Sonia Goldberg, and Ian Minh, interact as best as Zoom will allow with each other and the audience. They quickly add costume pieces to take on different roles, share songs and jokes, and gleefully inhabit various goblins (or interact with different goblins, in the case of Keeshin). Their performances will no doubt encourage young people to talk to the screens in front of them.

Though the end of Hershel’s quest is never in doubt, any more than the players’ welcome into the community, Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins will provide a joyful diversion for families of young children willing to add some spirit at home. Despite the opportunities offered by moving the show online, Strawdog Theatre Company has opted for a stripped-down, old-fashioned children’s theater experience. If you have a young audience at home, and want to take them to the theater, clear some space in front of the screen and play along. Then they can color in the show-related pictures and help make latkes. It will take some effort at home, but the Hannukah show can be saved.

Hershel and the Hannukah Goblins will be performed live, online, through December 20, Saturdays and Sundays at 1pm and 4pm. Tickets are $25 - $30 and are available at www.strawdog.org.

It’s no secret that Chicago is in for some dark months ahead. But in every darkness there are flickers of light to be found. Throughout history, the Arts are those flickers of light, providing entertainment, levity, and much needed escapism from everyday struggles and strife. In today’s virus-that-shall-not-be-named world, movies, books, paintings and music all provide the much needed escapism and lightness. Now, theater in Chicago is following suit. Adapting to the new virtual and socially-distanced world, Steppenwolf Theater has created a virtual stage, Steppenwolf NOW, showcasing pieces written, acted, and produced during the pandemic. They have kicked off this season with a bright light in What is Left, Burns. 

The world premiere of What Is Left, Burns, the first of six works that are a part of Steppenwolf NOW virtual stage, was released for streaming this month. The play follows two poets separated by age and distance engaging in a video call rendezvous after fifteen years. Keith, a distinguished poet and professor of literature is moving towards retirement after a recent divorce from his wife. Ronnie, his younger former lover and mentee, has a New York Times bestselling book and a burgeoning career ahead of him. The two men wade through the connection they once had as they struggle with the desires that still bind them. Written by James Ijames and directed by Whitney White, the play was commissioned for the Steppenwolf virtual stage and features ensemble members K. Todd Freeman (Keith) and Jon Michael Hill (Ronnie).

The beauty of What is Left, Burns lies in its effortlessness. This seamless virtual stage plays out like any FaceTime chat, House Party, or any video conferencing app; two men, side by side on screen, their faces sometimes too close or angled oddly, moving casually about their homes, passing the phone from one hand to another while they chat. The play invited you into Keith and ROnnie’s chat, or like House Party, you simply virtually walked in. It could have been any of our friends’ or family’s conversation we were watching. It was simply two people connecting after a long time apart that initially draws you in. It’s then the subtleness of the social queues in their conversation that holds your attention; the compliments mistaken for criticism, the quickness to defense, the brush off with an odd joke or shrug. Beautifully acted, it was all so relatable yet fresh and inviting. What is it that burns between these two men?  Everything about the production demands and holds your attention until...it’s over. As quickly as it began. A short, relatable, and effortless escape from today. 

Associate Artistic Director Leelai Demoz summarizes this play best, sharing, “James Ijames has written this beautiful short play that feels like a complete experience... It feels so completely about the time we are living through now.” Coupled with stunning video and photography design by Lowell Thomas and Joel Moorman and set to an original soundtrack composed by Justin Ellington, this virtual production highlights the incredible talent, dedication and creativity of the ensemble cast and crews at Steppenwolf. Steppenwolf NOW Productions will be released throughout the year and members are able to stream all Steppenwolf NOW content through August 31, 2021.

When sitting in a darkened theater, the light shines brightest on the art of the production on stage. Virtual productions will prove to provide the same light in the darkness we might find ourselves in today. For viewing details, teasers, and more on What is Left, Burns, visit https://www.steppenwolf.org/whatisleftburns. Steppenwolf NOW is a new virtual programming stream featuring breakthrough stories written by America’s most talented voices. For upcoming productions, streaming, and membership details visit: https://www.steppenwolf.org/tickets--events/steppenwolf-now/.

Dan Clancy’s Middletown is a very true-to-life rollercoaster ride involving two couples that befriend each other in the prime of their lives and remain friends through their senior years. They have dinner every Friday night for thirty-three years and share everything with each other – the good and the bad. They lean on each other and, in many ways, become closer than family.

After a series of successful runs around the country over the past few years, Middletown now makes its temporary home in Chicago’s Apollo Theater in Lincoln Park. The mid-sized venue is a cozy home for the play to settle into for its month-long run. The show is different than most as it comes without a set or props and has the actors reading directly from scripts and writer Dan Clancy has his reasons for this. “I wanted to tell a relatable ‘every-person’s’ story in a direct and straightforward manner where human emotions are front and center – without bells, whistles, special effects, or props,’ says Clancy. “I wanted the show to speak for itself.” 

Adrian Zmed (left) and Donny Most in 'Middletown' at Apollo Theater Chicago through March 22nd

And his approach is very effective, perhaps thanks to the caliber of actors involved. In fact, we are given a powerhouse of talent in this show, each actor skillfully navigating their widely-ranged roles through calm waters and rough waves. Sandy Duncan is a sheer delight to watch as Peg as she pairs with Adrian Zmed, who deftly plays her husband, Tom. It’s clear the two love each other no matter what - through the good and bad times – and they meet plenty of challenges along the way that put their love to the test. Donny Most also delivers an outstanding performance as Don, while Kate Buddeke shines as his wife, Dotty. Even though the actors are delivering lines from a script, so convincing is the quartet, it isn’t long before one forgets they are even reading, and we are just lost in a tremendous relationship between two couples.

The shows starts with a bang as the actors charge into the stage area to a Bruce Springsteen song. An enthusiastic Duncan, Most, Buddeke and Zmed each greet the crowd before heading to their assigned locations. It is then Duncan briefly addresses the audience to prepare them for the show while pointing out, “I’m at the age where I’m not sure if I don’t remember something or if I never knew it in the first place.” 

Middletown is a unique theatre piece. The lack of on-stage distractions has theatre goers really focusing on its rich content, which is exactly Clancy’s intention. It also allows for us to grow more intimately with each character. The show has plenty of humorous moments, plenty of difficult moments and a handful of surprisingly heavy moments. Like I said earlier, it’s a rollercoaster ride. Says Donny Most in describing Middletown, “It’s really a wonderful play that takes you through so many different emotions. There is comedy and then there are very heartfelt moments and very dramatic moments in the play. I think it’s something so many people will relate to.” Most continues, “There is something for everybody. It will hit a chord within, and you’ll have a smile on your face, with that recognition, or the pang deep down where you feel the pain and the emotion. It’s that kind of a piece.”

The story in itself is absorbing from beginning to end and its journey through life is sure to be relatable to most that see this play. Though it’s the story of Tom, Peg, Don and Dotty, it’s also the story of so many we know if not our own. Middletown is the story of friendship – the best kind - plain and simple.

Superbly directed by Seth Greenleaf, Clancy’s story hits its target on point and the special cast that has been assembled performs beautifully and truly connects with the show’s audience, making Middletown a masterfully delivered event to remember.

Highly recommended.

Middletown is being performed at The Apollo Theater Chicago through March 22^nd before taking on dates in Tampa Bay and Miami. For tickets and/or more information visit www.MiddletownPlay.com or www.ApolloChicago.com. 

To read our very entertaining interview with star Donny Most, click here.  

Where’s Plano? I’m not sure, but it’s a place some characters of the namesake play like to visit often. Perhaps Plano doesn’t even exist.

Presented as part of Steppenwolf’s LookOut Series and directed by Audrey Francis, this Will Arbery’s dark comedy is progressively more disturbing. All of its characters seem to be suffering: Genevieve (Ashley Neal), the outspoken artsy sister, is very unhappy but won’t say why. Her husband Steve (Andrew Cutler) has a split personality disorder, quite literally actually. Anne (Elizabeth Birnkrant) feels un-loved and worthless, and in her quiet desperation she fills her time with killing slugs in her apartment. Her husband John (Chris Acevedo) who is suffering from a “small feet curse” that runs in his family, is “probably gay”. And, according to her cruel sisters, he’s using Anne to get his green card. The youngest sister, Isabel (Amanda Fink), is in most pain because her mysterious illness is spiritual in nature. Which, naturally, makes her a saint. Not to mention that she has a “friend” (Faceless Ghost, played by Andrew Lund), who intermittently acts as her mate and her illness. But if you think the sisters are mad, you should see their mother, Mary (Janice O’Neil). This is no ordinary dysfunctional family, it’s a study in subclinical mental illness: not quite ill enough to seek help, but really, really unwell. Kind of like most of us.

Plano is staged with an admirable efficiency: great use of props (scenic design by Kristen Martino) and clever use of language, which helps to effortlessly span long durations of time and various spaces, bringing continuity to the events without having to change decorations or go through many props. Excellent acting and intimate space that’s First Floor Theater will leave you feeling like you’ve just visited with your own dysfunctional family. It’s funny, all right, but the underlying sadness subtly gets in the way, making Plano more “dark” than “comedy”.

Plano runs through March 28^th at Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theatre. www.FirstFloorTheater.com.

Kids these days…

I went into opening night of Gift Theatre’s production of Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman only knowing that my 16-year-old daughter was excited to be my date. “It’s dark, Dad,” she warned me. Boy, was she right. “But it’s amazing, Dad,” she also assured me. And boy, was she even righter on that count.

So, dark and amazing. The Pillowman is both of these. But what is it?

A buddy cop piece. A murder mystery. The touching tale of two brothers, each all the other has in the world. A warning from some dystopian dictatorship. A volume of grim, gruesome fairy tales. The Pillowman is all of these things, and more. Much more.

I haven’t enjoyed a play this much since Goodman’s Jeff-winning 2018 production of The Wolves. And that’s because — along with McDonagh’s masterful book, Laura Alcala Baker’s visionary direction, and Lauren Nichols and Courtney Winkelman’s dark, stark scenery, of course — the four actors who tell The Pillowman’s story (and its stories within the story) give what’s a pretty soulless premise a whole lot of soul. The four-person cast is The Pillowman’s beating, battered, bleeding, bloody heart.

A word of warning. This play is dark. And shocking. And violent. It’s about child murders. And even worse, childhood trauma. But even more shocking is, coming from the mouths of a couple of the characters, a word I’d figured was too taboo to have to hear in today’s world. The R Word. Of course, its use speaks volumes about the characters who use it. Even as it’s used to describe Jay Worthington’s Michal, a developmentally disabled fellow. Worthington, to his credit, plays Michal with incredible restraint and empathy, never using the character’s condition and lot in life for laughs. Whether climbing the walls or crawling the floor, whether admitting to the unthinkable or revealing unthinkable trauma, Worthington’s Michal draws the eye whenever he’s onstage — an incredible character, but just as incredible a performance.

Michal’s brother Katurian, the play’s main character, is a storyteller and tells this story to us, the audience. Tucked away in some future police interrogation room for the duration of the play, Katurian begins the show with a bag over his head, as in the dark as his audience — us — is. Martel Mannin’s face and expressions do the same heavy lifting that Michal’s physicality do, manufacturing suspense, shock, and sorrow — a lifetime of sorrow. And, along with inventive ways of illustrating Katurian’s twisted children’s tales, Mannin’s face and voice keep the audience enraptured as he tells one story after another, each designed again to suspend belief, to shock sensibilities, and to create a world of sorrow.

In Katurian’s world, his cement holding cell, we also meet the two cops investigating a series of incidents seemingly copied straight from the pages of the fictional storyteller’s fictional stories. Gregory Fenner’s Ariel comes off at first as the prototype “bad cop” (I think one of the two even identifies him as such), threatening (and carrying out) acts of brutality, puffing on a vape, and stalking the concrete cube that is the play’s entire world. But look closer and it’s Fenner’s eyes that tell deeper stories that come to the fore as the play progresses. In Ariel’s eyes, ferocity morphs into fear.

But in a cast where each member could lay claim to being the MVP, my award goes to Cyd Blakewell. Her role, Detective Tupolski — it seems both from the play’s unchanged dialogue and a bit of internet perusing I did after the house lights came on — was written for a man. (Jeff Goldblum played the role in New York.) This is a physical (and violent) play, and Blakewell’s easy and subtle physicality looms throughout, even as others are applying electrodes and murdering children and climbing and crawling and crying and creating dark imaginary worlds, as she just pretends at being the “good cop.” (Full disclosure: when Blakewell first started her bit, my daughter turned to me and said, “It’s mom!” at the same time I turned to her and said “It’s your mom!” so maybe her performance hit close to home.) And it’s the story that Blakewell’s Tupolski tells near the end, using just a blackboard and a piece of white chalk, that was for me the best scene in a play full of contenders.

So if you’re up for a very dark evening of entertainment, you’ll be entertained. And if you can get past some pretty unsettling content in order to admire acting and storytelling at its finest, The Gift Theatre’s The Pillowman is for you, now through March 29.

It's been 24 hours since I enjoyed this play and I'm still reeling from the super intelligent "trance-formation" delivered with rapid fire accuracy by Robert Dubac's one man show Book of Moron. Dubac plays out the thought patterns of a man who has traumatically lost a portion of his memory and is trying to "remember what he has forgotten". Along the way he employs the inner voices of His Common Sense, His Voice of Reason, His Scruples, His Inner Moron, His Inner Child, His Inner Moron and His Inner Asshole. Dubac even throws in a little real stage magic to show the audience how his character finds his way to the Truth.

In Dubac's world, even The Truth is a multi-leveled thing and he begins opening the doors in his brain to The Illusion of Truth, The Truth and The Whole Truth and Nothing but The Truth.  Along the way, Dubac uses props like a box he climbs in and out of  to represent our thinking "inside the box" and demonstrates clearly how TV has dumbed down an entire population by bombarding us with 9th grade reading level clichés and factoids about the Kardashians. 

Dubac tackles Sex, Media, Politics, and other inflammatory subjects like abortion and the death sentence with humor by pointing out the inconsistencies in thinking behind each and possibly aggravating all the different groups. But he manages to bring it all together by turning a literal mirror on the audience and concluding that when all the other letters of the "Illusions" are erased from the blackboard of his mind all that is left is "US". 

Dubac points out the obvious thing we have all forgotten that we are people who all share the same heartbeat, the same planet who have much more in our minds that unite us than the "Illusions of Truth" we have been programmed to accept which divide us. 

Dubac is also the author of the one man show The Male Intellect, An Oxymoron? and told the audience he is developing a new show called Stand Up Jesus.

I was completely blown away by his total control of his complex, fast moving text AND his audience’s reactions for 90 straight minutes with no intermission that I went to purchase his DVD The Male Intellect, an Oxymoron? After the show, because that's a subject I really love to examine. 

Dubac welcomed a just few questions from the audience at the end of the show because it was a "union house and he needed to get out of the theater faster than usual" but after the show at his merch table I got to ask him my burning question - he brought up Jesus several times during the show and seemed to be working his way to a higher spiritual "Truth" in the show but never really reached it . So, I asked him "Do you believe in Jesus?" 

Without any hesitation at all he smiled broadly and said "Oh, I AM Jesus!" and I laughed and tapped him on the heart center and said without hesitation, "Me too!" 

The show was so full of provocative ideas delivered in such a way to disarm and inform us that it made me eager to see the process of his developing of his new piece, Stand Up Jesus which he will be workshopping at Zanies next Monday (March 2nd) and Tuesday (March 3rd) here in Chicago.  

Book of Moron was delivered in a way that reminded me of a much funnier version of the 1970's transformational group EST,  "It Is" , The Werner Erhard Training which over the course of 48 hours caused participants to rethink their entire belief systems in such a way as to free their minds from the belief systems that were holding them back. 

Dubac manages to do almost the same thing in a record breaking 90-minute show. 

Enjoying Book of Moron live feels much like slowing down your brain long enough to clean it with fizzy water and then hitting it with a pleasant jolt of electricity to get it started again. 

I highly recommend seeing this marvelous and fast paced show right now, especially for thinking people who have become brain weary and overwhelmed by the last few years of the "fake facts' mentality.

You can catch Robert Dubac’s Book of Moron at Broadway Playhouse through Sunday, March 1^st. for more show information click here or visit www.RobertDubac.com.  

There’s something about a good mystery that keeps us engrossed. Maybe it’s the colorful suspects, maybe it’s the dissecting of clues involved, maybe it’s our own morbid curiosity that comes with murder - after all isn’t Forensic Files still one of the most watched TV shows? We like the detective work, plain and simple – the search for motive and opportunity and the gathering of evidence. And we certainly like the thought that everyone in the room is a suspect, no matter how unlikely they might seem. There’s a reason that Shear Madness has been running for forty years and is now one of the longest running non-musical plays ever (the whodunnit The Mousetrap leads all stage productions with the longest ever run). Well, amateur detectives, get ready because there’s been another murder in Chicago and your help is needed to solve the case. Once a mainstay in Chicago from 1982 through 1999, Shear Madness has returned, this time making its temporary home at Mercury Theater.

Taking place inside Shear Madness, a Chicago salon, life seems normal for the most part until the landlady upstairs is brutally murdered – stabbed repeatedly with a pair of – guess what - shears. But fortunately, Detective Nick Rossetti (Joe Popp) has been working undercover and is on the scene and through a bit of interrogation and deducing we find that everyone has a motive. Suspicion runs rampant as accusations fly everywhere and it soon becomes clear – the audience will need to help in bringing the killer to justice.    

Like in any engaging whodunnit, Shear Madness gives us a handful of intriguing characters and though the play starts off a bit sluggish to the point where one asks themselves where the story could possibly be going, the excitement quickly accelerates once the murder occurs and its direction is no longer in question. After a few scenarios are tossed around onstage, Detective Rossetti asks the audience to participate as the cast reenacts everything that had happened prior to the murder with as much detail as possible. If something is amiss or does not match what had actually happened, theater goers are invited to call out the discrepancy to help the detective put the pieces together. We are then encouraged to toss out any theories we might have to Detective Rossetti during the intermission where he makes himself readily available, at the same time we prepare questions to ask the play’s characters once the second act begins. Yes, we get to interrogate the suspects.

Best put, Shear Madness is just plain old fun. It’s a hilarious show that gives us a chance to crime solve along with the detective, some of its funniest moments the participation between audience and cast. Also entertaining are the many references to Chicago and several jokes that have been updated to include todays politics and pop culture. Sure, some of the humor is dated. The show was created in 1980. But it works – and works well. Thanks to Warner Crocker’s well-piloted direction and a superb cast that works well together and can also seamlessly interact with the audience on the fly, we see that funny is funny no matter when it was written so long as it’s delivered well. And no one was off limits. Touching on famous personalities from Taylor Swift to Bill Clinton to Joe Biden to Rod Blagojevich to dot, dot, dot, the play certainly takes its share of swipes. And while some of its jokes might be geared to ruffle a few feathers, the audience clearly takes them as just that – jokes. Even in its more contrived moments where predictable humor is used, a laugh is usually found. In the end it’s a silly comedy, not a show to be taken seriously, and lord knows we could all use a laugh or two.

The show does get a boost from audience involvement and even some good-natured heckling, but it naturally relies heavily on its cast. Ed Kross is a sheer delight to watch as Tony Whitcomb, the flamboyant salon owner, both his well-timed innuendos and physical comedy garnering one laugh after another. Mary Robin Roth as Mrs. Schubert also has many scene stealing moments as does David Sajewich as “used antique dealer” Eddie Lawrence while Brittany D Parker’s Barbara DeMarco hits the mark, as well. Detective Rossetti’s partner Mikey Thomas is played well by Sam Woods to round out an overall solid cast. Joe Popp as Detective Nick Rossetti is perhaps the most noteworthy of the bunch, as his character is kind of the glue that holds everything together in this production. As theater goers bounce one question or theory off the detective (sometimes with spot on observations and often quite absurd), Popp impresses repeatedly never wavering from his character and never absent of a quick, often humorous, response.

Shear Madness is also a play that can be enjoyed more than once. The story has four possible outcomes based on how the audience votes, and even if one gets the same outcome twice, you can be sure the audience participation will differ each and every time.

A unique theatre experience that has the audience laughing as much as it has them guessing, Shear Madness breaks down the fourth wall and delivers two one-of-a-kind fun-filled hours.

Shear Madness is being performed at Mercury Theater through March 29^th. For tickets and/or more information visit www.MercuryTheaterChicago.com.           

Each season Joffrey Ballet Company presents a show comprised of works of various influential artists; this winter’s repertoire is a worldly combination of five works by four contemporary choreographers: British-born Christopher Wheeldon’s Commedia, Israeli choreographer Itzik Galili’s Mono Lisa and The Sofa, Chicago’s Stephanie Martinez’ Bliss!, and Chicago premiere of Justin Peck’s The Times Are Racing.

Opening the performance is Commedia (created in 2008), which takes us to the French-influenced 1920’s world of dance. For this piece, Christopher Wheeldon drew inspiration from Igor Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella Suite”, which was originally composed in 1920 for a ballet featuring harlequin costumes by Pablo Picasso. Commedia is the longest piece of the evening, with several scenes set to the beautiful, albeit occasionally disturbing, Stravinsky’s music. It starts out with a group dance (Sinfonia) which sets the tone for a gorgeously expressive and athletic ballet. Dancers are wearing very Picasso-ish black and white harlequinade costumes designed by Isabel Toledo, which also bring out the whimsical nature of Wheeldon’s choreography. This ballet is mesmerizing in its entirety. Pas des deux dances (such as Serenata by Brooke Linford and Yoshihisa Arai, and Gavotta by Gayeon Jung and Edson Barbosa) all have some hypnotic fluidity that takes one’s breath away. The ballet’s highly creative choreography is only matched by Joffrey dancers’ exquisite skills, resulting in a piece that is simply stunning.

After the first intermission, the next three pieces are united by a common theme of modern courtship. Mono Lisa and The Sofa, both choreographed by Itzik Galili, playfully explore the nature of romantic relationships. Mono Lisa, created in 2003, features the fabulous Victoria Jaiani and Stefan Goncalvez. He likes the girl; she plays hard to get – the old game of cat and mouse. Percussive sounds of an old typewriter set to a cool bit (original music by Itzik Galili and Thomas Hofs) create intensity, as in some futuristic tribal music.  Completed by the dancers’ precise moves and skilled acrobatics, Mono Lisa is decisively void of any romantic quality. This is further enhanced by the set design consisting of steel frames and bright lights.

 Galili’s second piece of the evening, The Sofa, has certain elements of a pantomime. The sofa on the stage becomes piece de resistance, where the couple fights for space and independence. The boy is a little aggressive towards his girl, but then he gets a taste of his own medicine in a comical gender-reversal twist half-way through the dance. Danced by Temur Suluashvili, Anna Gerberich and Fernando Duarte, it’s a fun and highly energetic piece set to music by Grammy Award-winner Tom Waits.

Included in the program is Chicago choreographer Stephanie Martinez’ ballet The Bliss! which she created for the Joffrey Ballet Company as a part of an Igor Stravinsky evening. For this piece, Martinez was inspired by Mildred and Robert Bliss who commissioned Stravinsky to compose Dumbarton Oak Concerto for their 30^th wedding anniversary. On stage there’re six handsome topless male dancers, possibly looking for a testosterone-fueled action. A pretty girl enters and a scene out of Michael Jackson’s video “The Way You Make Me Feel” immediately comes to mind. It’s a mating game, no doubt, full of flirt and seduction. A beautiful as well as an interesting piece whose many different flavors and textures develop as it moves through Stravinsky’s music.

The program concludes with The Times Are Racing, Justin Peck’s so called “sneaker ballet” for 20 dancers. Dancers wearing street clothes (costumes by Humberto Leon) including shirts with word-messages such as “defy”, “change”, “protest”, “shout”, and “fight”, move with purpose and grace. Set to the last four tracks of Dan Deacon’s album America, it’s a very youthful and explosive ballet, which draws its inspiration from a variety of dance styles. Featuring an incredibly expressive dancer Edson Barbosa, as a boy lost in the city, exploring and seeking, trying to learn and ultimately fit in.  

Through February 23rd

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