The Joffrey is always amazing so I was happy to be assigned this show to review, but I have to admit I wasn’t totally thrilled – I’ve seen Nutcracker several times and I’m just a little bit over it.

Imagine, then, my delight as the curtain opens, not in the familiar opulent parlor; rather, we see ragged children grouped excitedly before posters of the 1893 Columbian World Exposition – a new background story! The Joffrey premiered Christopher Wheeldon’s(he,him)  new choreography six years ago; my companion had seen the new show but they’re a good friend and didn’t spoil it by telling me. I’m not going to be so considerate of you. Spoilers to Come!

It's Christmas Eve 1892, and families of the immigrant construction workers for the World’s Fair meet for revelry in one of their hovels. There they receive a surprise visit from The Great Impresario (Dylan Gutierrez(he,him)), magical designer of the Fair, with his lovable assistant Peter (Hyuma Kiyosawa(he,him)). Gifts are delivered to the children but Marie’s is missing! With a swirl of his red silk cloak, The Great Impresario produces her gift: a beautiful nutcracker.

The party winds down, but Marie (Yumi Kawasawa(she/her)) wakes at midnight to see her little brother Franz (Elliot King(he,him)) being kidnapped by Rodents of Unusual Size! The Nutcracker, now alive and lifesize, battles and defeats the Rat King.  This victory transforms him into the dashing Prince Peter. 

The Great Impresario sails up in a gondola, and the Queen of the Dream Fair (Jeraldin Mendoza(she,her)), resplendent in a gown of gold, grants Marie and the Prince permission to enter the Dream Fair. There, at the various pavilions, we see the familiar dances from countries around the world. 

This recreation changes the entire story of the Nutcracker in several important ways. One detail that’s always bothered me is ‘why is this rich little girl so excited about a nutcracker, of all things?  Surely she’s also received dolls, ice skates; a dozen other gifts’. But here, the Nutcracker is her only Christmas gift, and it comes from none other than The Great Impresario himself, and nowMarie’s excitement makes far more sense, yes? 

But the most important change is that THE NUTCRACKER is now a Chicago story! this version of NUTCRACKER won’t play in New York or Memphis or San Francisco; this is our very own NUTCRACKER, from our very own Joffrey Ballet Dance Company. How fabulous is that?! Thank you for this gift of a NUTCRACKER, choreographer Christopher Wheeldon and Assistant Jacqueline Barrett(she,her).

Jeraldine Mendoza and Dylan Gutierrez in Joffrey Ballet's 'The Nutctracker' at Lyric Opera House

There are a score of others to thank for this extravaganza, beginning, of course, with the company. NUTCRACKER is a great production for showcasing Joffrey’s many superb dancers. Victoria Jainani(she,her) once again performs the Arabian Dancer in her characteristic sinuous mode, partnered this year by Edson  Barbosa(he,him). And the final pas de deux with The Great Impresario and the Golden Queen is stunning on many levels; not the least of which is that Gutierrez, after two hours constantly onstage, still manages to make Mendoza float effortlessly.

I already spoke of choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, who was assisted by Story Adaptation Director Brian Selznick(he,him). Thanks, of course, to composer Piotr Ilyich Tchiakovsky and to the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Music Director Scott Speck, with Asst director Michael Moricz. Artistic Director Ajhley Wheater MBE(he,him)  orchestrated the talented production crew, including Staging by Nicholas Blanc(he,him), Adam Blyde(he,him) , and Suzanne Lopez(she,her), and Lighting Designer Natasha Katz(she,her). Katz et al created the staging in 2016 when this Chicago version opened at the Auditorium Theatre. Decisions had to be made about ‘downsizing’ the staging to accommodate the smaller stage at the Civic Opera House (a brilliant venue, by the way). I am charmed that Lighting Recreator Chris Maravich(he,him), with Projection Designer 59 Productions simply projected the “too large” lighting design onto the smaller stage, creating imagery above and to either side of the stage. It felt to me as if we were enclosed – embraced, even – by the entire production. This cozy and inclusive quality suits the new story perfectly. Assistants were Asst Scenic Design by Frank McCullough, Asst Lighting Design by Jon Goldman; and I have to give a shout-out here to 

Basil Twist designed the Puppetry and it can’t be easy for Tandem Otter Productions  to construct  a Nutcracker head that will withstand multiple tours in l’aire and cabriole! The children’s cast requires several directors (talk about herding cats!): Suzanne Lopez, Adam Blyde, Michael Smith, and Caitlin Meighan.

To fully credit THE NUTCRACKER I have to include the audience: scores of little girls – infant balletomanes – in their best Christmas dresses, seeing live ballet for the very first time. What could be more festive?

My heartfelt thanks to all for this enchanting spectacle, a splendid introduction to the 2022 Holiday Season.

Abortion and reproductive rights have been major issues throughout my life from the pre-Roe days to the calamitous post-Roe days I’d hoped never to see. I was really looking forward to seeing TITLE X.

Julie Proudfood *she/her wrote TITLE X in 2020 in response to then-President Trump’s 2019 gag order. The Title X Family Planning Program, created in 1970, required family planning clinics to provide pregnant women with three nondirective counseling protocols: referral for adoption, for prenatal care, and for abortion services. Trump’s 2019 directive prohibited any clinics receiving federal funding (virtually all clinics, including Planned Parenthood) from presenting pregnant women with Option #3. 

As heinous as this directive was, Proudfoot clearly saw that it was neither sudden nor isolated, but part of (and not the end of) the steady disintegration of the women’s rights hard-won in the 1960’s and 70’s. Proudfood intended TITLE X to educate and motivate people to ‘fight, rally, organize, vote, and dismantle’ this ongoing far-right agenda to return women and nonbinary people to the place decreed for them by God: barefoot, pregnant, and kitchen-bound.

The format of TITLE X, co-directed by Proudfoot and Willow James *he/his (also Sound Designer) is intriguing. The entire cast of eight characters is played by two actors – Melanie McNulty *she/her and Kaitlyn Cheng *she/her – in alternating scenarios:  a 17-year-old in 1978 awaiting results of her pregnancy test; a religious lobbyist addressing Congress in 2019; a Right to Lifer-er in 1988 protesting in front of an abortion clinic.  

And there Proudfoot stops. Not the play; it continues through several more scenarios, but the scenarios stop directly concerning abortion: an asylum officer at the Mexican border, a woman who’s just won a sexual harassment suit against her boss (with all the attendant ignominy and anguish); a woman describing an argument with her (female) partner. The final scene does return to Rachel (from the first scene), now grown, expressing her joy at having decided to have the abortion; I appreciate this attention to the Right-to-Lifer’s assumption that women will be deranged with remorse for their decision to abort.

OK, they’re all women’s issues, all relevant, vital women’s issues, but the name of the play is TITLE X, not “Women’s Issues”. Disappointing – and a damned shame, as everyone’s work is absolutely stellar.  McNulty and Cheng are brilliant, slipping into disparate characters as easily as changing Jessica VanWinkle’s *she/her excellent costumes. Charlotte Lastrashe/her multi-tasks well as Set & Props Designer and Stage Manager. I’ve already praised Ben F. Locke’s *he/his casting. Lighting and Projections Designer Sam Stephen *th/th makes the most of their interesting role, using lights and projected images to further define each of the disparate characters.

In summary, TITLE X is an outstanding play, well-written, skillfully produced, and superbly acted. It is not, however, the Clarion Call to Action that I hoped for, and that we so desperately need.

As we left the theatre my companion said, “I’d give that an A- if I knew what the heck we just saw.” From the mouths of Friends!

THIS IS NOT A PIPE is a compilation of several genres packaged together into a 2-hour production. Each of these moieties are excellently performed, though I had trouble piecing it all together into a whole.

Ellyzabeth Adler^sh/h, Chicago Danztheatre’s Executive Artistic Director, with Assistant Director Hannah Blau^sh/h, choreographed and directed THIS IS NOT A PIPE; you can’t tell me “That Is Not Multi-Tasking!

The show begins with the all-female cast dressed in identical business suits and bowler hats – all but one, who floats about in a gauzy white 1920’s gown and enormous leghorn hat. Oh yeah, many of the actors don’t enter the stage on foot. The first half-dozen entrances are made slithering gracefully on the floor of the center aisle.

Oh, and by the way, nobody speaks. We’re nearly ten minutes into the show before one of the bowler hats says “Molly?”, followed by a lovely exhibition of … what?  Geometric dance? Gymnastic pirouettes? Balletic castelling? with various bowlers emitting infrequent yips of “Molly?” “Molly!”

The action is really launched when Dr. Freud (Jenise Sheppard^th/th) takes the stage in dapper [male] evening dress, wielding a cane (which, no doubt, Is Not A Cane) and reciting passages from the writings of her male doppleganger Sigmund. Sheppard has an awesome stage presence and held me transfixed. They play ‘Red Light/Green Light’ with the ensemble, pointing the cane and barking “Nein!”, at which the person selected freezes until the next dancer is “Nein!-ed”, while continuing their soliloquy of Freudian maxims, unsurprisingly dominated by the word ‘penis’.

The final quarter hour of the action I found beautiful to watch but just as difficult to reconcile with the other sections. Adler defines her mission as taking “the works of Sigmund Freud, Rene Magritte and the birth of modern psychology… apart to question identity, sexuality, womanhood and dream interpretation, while bringing some of Magritte’s images to life’. This is quite a diverse and arduous task, and I didn’t quite see it realized, though the production certainly achieves a dream-like quality throughout.

I already said this, but it deserves saying again: every segment is superbly performed. Costumes are brilliantly designed, particularly as several quick changes occur onstage. Stripping is more than just taking off your clothes! but they pull it off, Sheppard and all twelve dancers: Angel Page Smigielski^th/th, Courtney Reid Harris^sh/h, Emma Parssi^sh/h, Julie Peterson^sh/h, Keila Hamed-Ramos^sh/h, Kristen Secrist^sh/h, Laura Sturm^sh/h, Lila Rubin^sh/h, Mary Iris Loncto^sh/h, Mia Hilt^sh/h, Morgan Van Dyne^th/th, and Wannapa P-Eubanks^sh/h.

Joshua Paul Weckesser^h/h and Joe Griffin^h/h do very well with light and sound design, especially given the technical constraints of the venue. Adler designs the set, with EC Brown^sh/h responsible for the original 2006 bird backdrop, Naomi Flores^sh/h for Rose Construction, and Matthew Gregory Hollis^h/h doing Photography. The remainder of the crew includes Managing Director Carly Davis^sh/h, Community Engagement Director Naomi Flores, and Gabrielle Foreman^sh/h as Stage Manager and Assistant Production Crew.

Kudos to all for a unique and very absorbing evening!

Through November 19^th, in the Auditorium at Ebenezer Lutheran Church, 1650 W. Foster Ave.

What did you do during the 2020 lockdown? Many people I know took on a special project – learning to bake bread, or writing a novel. Me, I took a literary antiracism journey. From the classics like Malcolm X, Bayard Rustin, WEB DuBois, and James Baldwin to more contemporary thinkers – TaNehisi Coates, Ibram X Kendi, Robin DiAngelo, Ijeoma Oluo – over the long months of lockdown I immersed myself in antiracism theory. The genre I (obviously) could not explore was theatre, and it’s gratifying to see so much antiracism woven through 2022-23 Chicago’s theatre season.

It absolutely blows me away that TROUBLE IN MIND, written by Alice Childress in 1955, incorporates all the concepts I read about modern Critical Race Theory. Dozens of the ideologies presented by these brilliant scholars – societal racism, privilege, internalized inferiority, white fragility, microaggressions – all these concepts are right there in TROUBLE IN MIND. Childress understood it all in 1955; she put it all out there in books and on stages, and nobody was listening. Takes my breath away.

Timeline Theatre, with their strong company, long experience, broad resources and culture of excellence, presents us with a superlative production of this incredible play. At the interval my companion and I were debating which was finer – the script, the acting, or the production – and at the final curtain we were still unable to single one out.

‘The play’s the thing … wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the King’, and TROUBLE IN MIND catches our consciences with a play-within-a-play, showing the actors, director and production assistant at the initial read-through of Chaos in Belleville, an anti-lynching Southern drama. Tim Decke h/h plays director Al Manners,  a domineering egomaniac who brags that they’re producing an authentic and far-reaching social commentary. Shariba Rivrsh/h is brilliant as Wiletta Mayer, the lead (in both plays), who offers unsolicited instruction to neophyte John Nevins (Vincent Jordanh/h) on how to ingratiate himself to the white director. Sheldon Forrester, wonderfully played by Kenneth D Johnson h/h, an old hand at being a Black actor in a White field and scorns Wiletta’s obsequious tactics. Tarine J Bradshawsh/h is Millie Davis, more concerned with physical appearances than with anyone’s behavior. White castmates Judy Sears (Jordan Ashley Griesh/h), Bill O’Wray (Guy Van Swearingenh/h) and grizzled stagehand Henry (Charles Stranskeyh/h) are foils against this Black-on-Black controversy. Adam Shalzih/h plays flunkey stage manager Eddie Fenton in the uncomfortable role of agreeing (mostly) with the Black actors but subject to Manners’ despotism.

The substance of TROUBLE IN MIND is Wiletta’s own antiracism journey. She begins by talking the ‘you gotta be what they want’ talk, but ultimately finds herself unable to walk that walk. Manners is arrogantly confident that with Chaos in Belleville he’s PRODUCING the last word in social commentary – thereby, of course, proving himself a superior antiracist [sic]. Wiletta, keenly aware of the bigotry between the lines she’s called upon to speak, is ever more impelled to challenge Manners’ vision and direction … and inevitably to challenge Manners himself.

As I said, TROUBLE IN MIND illustrates countless facets of racism, including police brutality, affirmative action, and intersectionality. Wiletta and Millie recognize the sexist agenda in Manners’ ‘darlings’ and ‘girls; they are keenly mindful of his ‘hands-on’ approach to directing pretty blonde Judy, the sole white woman. Sisterhood trumps color, and they cross racial lines to protect the girl from Manners’ predation.

Unsurprisingly, TROUBLE IN MIND was no more popular in 1950’s American theatre than are Wiletta’s critiques of Chaos in Belleville. We see multiple intersections between TROUBLE IN MIND, Chaos in Belleville, and Childress’ real life.

Raised during the Harlem Renaissance, Childress was a crony and peer of such luminaries as Sidney Poitier, Noble Sissle, Ethel Waters and Paul Robeson. She co-founded the  American Negro Theatre, and she left us a rich body of superb work, much of which languished unappreciated for decades. TROUBLE IN MIND, now justly considered one of the great plays of the 20th Century, waited 66 years to be produced on Broadway. An early attempt was abandoned when Childress refused to make changes that producers felt would make the work ‘more palatable’ – yet another ironic confluence.

Production of TROUBLE IN MIND definitively meets Timeline’s high standards. Mica Cole is Executive Director; Artistic Director PJ Powers calls OJ Parson “Director extraordinaire”. In the program Powers quotes from the eponymous lyrics:

Trouble in mind, I’m blue

But I won’t be blue always,

‘cause the sun’s gonna shine

In my backdoor someday

Caitlin McLeodsh/h is Scenic designer; Christine Pascualsh/h and Megan E Pirtlesh/h design costumes and hair, respectively. Brandon Wardelh/h creates terrific effects with light design, augmented by Christopher Krizh/h Music and Sound. Miranda Andersonsh/h is Stage Manager; Gianni Carcagnoh/h is Production Assistant and Covid Compliance Officer. Martine Kei Green-Rogerssh/h is Dramaturg, with Assistant Deron S. Williams h/h. Dina Spoerlsh/h is Dramaturgical Display Designer – which I believe makes her responsible for the wonderful historic exhibits and portraits in the lobby … thank you!  My thanks to all of you for this amazing production.

*Extended through December 18th

I’m not a devotee of the comedic genre and wouldn’t ordinarily choose this show. But I am a devotee – and a fervent one! – of Babes with Blades. With PLAID AS HELL the Babes, as always, bring it off. Written by Cat McCaysh/h and directed by Christina Casano/h, PLAID AS HELL takes four friends on their annual camping weekend to a remote cabin in the big woods of Wisconsin. But don’t be misled –  this is not Little House in the Big Woods! Laura might do OK in this gang, but Ma would definitely look askance.

The central character Cass (Reagan Jamessh/h) is hoping to promote her new girlfriend Jessica (Ashley Yatessh/h) with her old friends Kelly (Alice Wush/h) and lifelong BFF Emilie (Cayla Jonessh/h). Alas for Cass! not only does Emilie choose this weekend to disclose her longtime love for Cass, a serial killer has eluded the local police! Well, not technically a serial killer, Kelly annotates; this guy’s only killed two women, and to be serial you need three. 

Art is so educational innit?

PLAID AS HELL is a lighthearted frolic, pretty much devoid of anything approaching social significance.  It’s just fun, making no pretense of being anything but slightly-raunchy entertainment. In this it succeeds heartily.

The acting is first-rate, particularly in the occasional silent bits. There’s definitely a lot going on inside each woman’s head!  Cass is engrossed in her emissarial mission, Jess is intimidated at being an interloper cloistered with this close knit clique, Emilie is teetering between bereaved and begrudging, and Kelly is bummed at being plunked in the middle of this foolish fray.

But they’re all making a valiant effort and, abetted by beer, they’re just starting to have fun when the radio Interrupts Regular Programming with a Special Announcement: a murderer may be loose in the woods. And so it goes from there, through all the lurches and twists of the horror genre, with queer notes tossed in for spice.

The set designed by Erin Gautille sh/h is simple, easily converted from indoors to out- with a couple of shoves. Costumes (Jennifer Mohrsh/h) are a bit more elaborate; for four dykes in the woods, they change clothes nearly as much as in As the World Turns! Meg X McGrath th/th manages ba-jillions of props, from a 12-pack of Pabst to a four-foot-long ax. Fight and Intimacy Director Maureen Yasko sh/h, with Assistant Kate Lass sh/h, have plenty of opportunities to display the fighting and fornicating finesse we expect from the Babes with Blades. The production crew as a whole -- Devon Hayakawa Any (Assistant Director), Anna Schultz-Breef sh/h (Lighting Design), Line Bower th/th (Technical Director), Faith Roush sh/h (Production Manager), Roxie Kooi sh/h (Stage Manager), and Tab Mocherman th/th (Covid Compliance Officer) – works together seamlessly.

Quintessential queer ribaldry, PLAID AS HELL is Babes with Blades at their peerless prurient prime!

RENT opens with three slides projected one-by-one onto a billowing curtain:

rent noun

a payment made periodically by a tenant to a landlord in return for the use of a building 

rent verb [past tense of rend]

to tear apart, split, or divide an object or community

rent noun

a musical production that’s delighted audiences for 25 years!

The show continues as a home movie, jerky and inexpert, until the curtain is drawn back to reveal the entire ensemble performing “Rent” – and, as they say, ‘The crowd goes wild!’

Director Adrian Abel Azevedoh/h uses this sort of projection devices cleverly throughout the show, a very effective innovation that adds a quality of … well … boheme to the entire production.

Playwright Jonathan Larson h/h, inspired by Giacomo Puccini’s opera La Boheme, wrote the music, lyrics, and book for RENT in the early 1990s; it premiered on Broadway in 1996. Despite some anachronisms (answering machines?!), RENT withstands the test of time. Over 25 years it has become a cultural phenomenon, and its core agenda – homelessness, gentrification, community – remains fresh today. Fresh, yes, and pervasive on 2022 stages – it takes an outstanding production to make these ubiquitous themes stand out. Fortunately, Porchlight Music Theatre delivers.

The cast is superb. Both cast and production crew are extensive, so I’ll refer the reader to the webpage for details I may inadvertently omit. Outstanding in the cast are the main characters, beginning with Mark Cohen (David Morelandh/h) and Roger Davis (Shraga D. Wasserman th/th), with Maureen Johnson (Lucy Godínezsh/h) playing opposite Joanne Jefferson (Teressa LaGambash/h). The pairing of Tom Collins (Eric Lewish/h) and Angel Dumott Schunard (Josh Pablo Szaboh/th) has incredible chemistry, and Benjamin “Benny” Coffin III (Abraham Shawh/h) is a perfect mustache-twirling villian, particularly in his treatment of Mimi Marquez (Alix Rhodesh/h).

Laura Savage’ssh/h choreography uses the ensemble -- TJ Tappsh/h (dance captain), Bridget Adams-Kingsh/h, Naphtali Curryh/h, Leah Davissh/h, Chris Khoshabah/h, Nik Kmiecikh/h, and Brennan Urbi h/th -- creatively throughout, particularly when in backing lead singers. Rather than leave the ensemble simply standing behind the leads, Azevedo applies Savage’s choreography to stage interesting little sub-scenes behind the primary action. This couldn’t be done without a wonderful set featuring multiple levels and niches by Scenic Designer Ann Davissh/h, and lighting design (Maggie Fullilove-Nugentsh/h, Josiah Croegaerth/h) that accentuates the multiple creative groupings.

Dr. Michael McBrideh/h directs and conducts the music performed by guitars Jakob Levi Walshth/th and Cesar Romeroh/h, with Marcel Bomfimh/h on bass and Lior Shragg playing drumsh/h. Gregory Graham h/h (costume designer); Rowan Doe th/th (properties designer); Kirsten Baityth/th (intimacy designer);  Deborah Blumenthalsh/h (dramaturg); Frankie Leo Bennetth/h (producing artistic associate); Alex Rhyanh/h (production & operations director), and Michael Weberh/h (Artistic Director) complete the superb production crew.

So … what else is terrific in RENT? Godínez’s Over the Moon is simply adorable, and she shines again in Take Me or Leave Me with her and LaGamba battling for the microphone. Szabo’s Angel totally won my heart (I’m a sucker for a man in eyeliner!), and I choked up over Lewis’ reprise of I’ll Cover You. The huge smiling picture of Angel sent me back in time: I was a psychiatric resident at Rush during those pre-HAART, pre-testing days of AZT and terror. My familiarity with the Plague caught some anachronisms in the script that others might not see, but that’s really a measure of just how iconic and robust RENT is.

But enough about me!  Speaking of Eric Lewis, he, Godínez (Maureen), and Wasserman (Roger) stand out as extraordinary vocalists. Whether in solo or with other singers, these three voices dominate. That’s not necessarily a positive, as they can overshadow their castmates at times. Like Cassie in A CHORUS LINE, a performer that’s conspicuously better than the others can be a little awkward. That’s the kind of problem you sort of want to have, but still …. Similarly, the love story between Wasserman and Rhode (Mimi) would have played just fine but for its variance with the enchanting chemistry between Collins and Angel; again, the extraordinary can make the excellent appear ordinary.

There were a couple of production snafus: the curtain didn’t pull smoothly, and there were occasional mic issues, but these are clearly opening-night glitches and will be ironed out as the run continues.

I have to acknowledge here that I feel secure in offering these critiques specifically because the show is so terrific! I noticed these snags, but none detract from the charm, the artistry, the glamor that is RENT.

*extended through December 11th

You know that breathless moment of silence after the curtain falls and before the applause begins? That moment doesn’t happen often, and it always indicates a truly extraordinary performance. That silence occurred Sunday night as the stage of AMERICAN SON at Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre went black: we all sat stunned for just a moment before erupting into a standing ovation.     

AMERICAN SON was written by Christopher Demos-Brown in 2018 but in today, post-George Floyd et al, it’s even more relevant and impactful. The plot is simple: a bi-racial teenager has had some sort of run-in with the police. His parents, separated only a few weeks, meet at the police station seeking information about their child. In this charged atmosphere the estranged couple confront the dissolution of their marriage and the challenges of raising a biracial son in a privileged community.

Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre Artistic Director Tim Rhoze directs AMERICAN SON with compassion and finesse. The theatre has no actual curtain, giving us ample time to examine the set designed by Rhoze with Technical Director Evan Sposato.  Nondescript institutional furniture is rigidly arranged against a striking backdrop of abstract graphics painted in grey tones with ominous splashes of red.  Huge enigmatic faces have a distinct tribal vibe, infusing every word and movement with racial significance.   

It's a small cast and all four actors are superb. Michael Manocchio brings a sense of uncertainty and vulnerability to the role of Officer Larkin, whose unenviable task it is to placate the parents with meager scraps of sketchy information.  The mom describes him as ‘a low-level flunkey who’s not too bright”.  His subconscious racism is transparent to us, as in his fumbling attempt to bond with the father by “speaking badge to badge” while sweating it out until the all-knowing Detective Stokes turns up. 

Detective Stokes, impeccably played by Darren Jones, finally arrives, positively bristling with authority but without much additional information. Though he maintains his rigid professional preeminence with the frantic parents, occasional glimpses of well-concealed humanity unavoidably break through.

The central characters are the parents, Scott (Darren Andrews) and Kendra (Alexandra Moorman). Andrews plays Scott as the prototypical affluent White Male, reeking of privilege and self-importance. Scott believes his marriage proves he’s unprejudiced, but his subliminal racism inevitably breaks through with words like ‘uppity’. Yet Andrews’ treatment of Scott’s vulnerable moments are equally credible and satisfying. There is a lovely scene where Scott and Kendra review the issues they agree on – Thelonious Monk and sex, basically. Scott is not likeable, but we can’t help being moved as he tenderly recalls the happiest day of both their lives: the day their son was born.   

I saw Alexandra Moorman a month ago in What to Send Up When It Comes Down” at Lookingglass. She was phenomenal there, but as Kendra she purely took my breath away. At several points, starting with the first five minutes of the play, Moorman is alone, and fills the stage with her consummate presence. She maintains this aspect throughout, managing to enrich the other performances without eclipsing them. I noted this same quality in What to Send Up: a troupe production, but Moorman’s genius can’t help but show.  Her light will penetrate any bushel … and besides, she’s gorgeous! 

The production crew is vital in creating such an awesome production. Director Tim Rhoze and Technical Director Evan Sposator both double as co-Set Designers. Name coincidence is good for David Goodman-Edburg and David Goode as Lighting and Sound Designers, respectively. Bria Walker is Dramaturg, Production Stage Manager is Barbara Reeder, and Lynn Baber costumes the characters with penetrating character discernment.

I don’t often add VERY to my rating, but AMERICAN SON is VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Nan Giordano, Giordano Dance Chicago’s Artistic Director and daughter of founder Gus Giordano, credits its devoted Board of Directors for GDC’s survival through ‘the dark years’ of the pandemic: “Beauty, Energy, Unity and Community are abundant.” Lockdown lifted just in time for the company’s 60^th anniversary show, fittingly named CATCH THE LIGHT.

The show begins with “Giordano Moves”, originally choreographed in 2005 by Gus Giordano and reconstructed in 2022 by Nan Giordano and Cesar G. Salinas. I’m intrigued by the use of 13 dancers – an odd number, yet the stage and action are perfectly balanced throughout. “Giordano Moves” features the essence of the classic Giordano technique, energized by active pelvis and precise, unconventional shoulder placement, with powerful jumps and turns.  The dance acts as a translation from the language of jazz music into the lexicon of the human body.

“commonthread”, choreographed in 2009 by Autumn Eckman, has a ritualistic feel to it, enhanced by Kam Hobb’s masterful light design. “commonthread” begins with five dancers huddled about a pulsating red light, like aboriginals crouching around a fire. As the music evolves the dancers unspool yet retain the primitive undercurrent. My companion (who studied dance growing up in Siberia) envisioned druids performing ancient rites in a primeval forest.

“Impulse”, created in 2006 by Tony Powell and reconstructed 2022 by Cesar G. Salinas, is a stirring yet unsettling experience. The dancers appear to be naked in flesh-colored leotards. Their angular and acrobatic movements are complemented by the music, which includes Ethos Percussion Group and Kodo Drummers of Japan. My mind kept conjuring words like abrasive, harsh, dehumanizing, even gruesome.  A performance that invokes such descriptors yet remains totally captivating is rare indeed.  

At the interval I asked a little girl (8 or 9, perhaps?) for her thoughts; she said, “They don’t have words like a play does, but they speak to us.”

“Groove, in formed” was created in 2019 by Peter Chu. Mr. Chu says, “[music & dance] connects humans at a profound level … rhythms can heal and bring communities together during times of sadness, grief, love, and joy”. The dance begins with a saxophone keening as half the dancers lug the others about: inanimate objects, to be positioned and postured like marionettes until a syncopated percussion returns them to life. “Groove, in formed” includes an exquisite male/male pas de deux. I’m partial to male/male pairings in art and performance – I wish the Olympic figure skating included male/male partner skaters: only imagine how fabulous if both skaters could perform lifts and throws! 

Or maybe I just like seeing boys with boys. Any road ….

We are treated to a world premiere of “lub-dub”, choreographed by Cesar G. Salinas, former GDC dancer and newly appointed Associate Artistic Director. The artist conceived the dance as representative of ‘the normal rhythms of the heart on auscultation’, which was my immediate association as well. The spectacular lighting illuminates the swirling skirts of the dancer’s red waistcoats – like the traffic of red corpuscles, unifying through the driving rhythms.

The final piece, “Soul”, was choreographed in 2018 by Ray Leeper in honor of Chicago philanthropist Candace Jordan. Always a crowd-pleaser, three well-known and beloved songs make for a spectacular ending. Imagination, by Gladys Knight and the Pips, features dancers in abbreviated black formalwear with sapphire bowties on the males and cummerbunds on the girls. At the end of the song the dancers all seem to drop to the ground, which I interpret as homage to the shooting deaths that are wreaking such havoc. In Al Green’s Can’t Get Next to You, various one duos play mating games onstage. And the finale, Tina Turner singing Proud Mary, brought the entire house to its feet. The standing ovation persisted through one curtain call after another; when the ensemble finally left the stage it was only to reappear dancing through the aisles. What a celebration!

Giordano Dance Chicago has done far more than simply survive the pandemic – it has used “the dark years” as a springboard, returning to the stage with all its elegance and vitality not simply revived but enriched.

Nan Giordano Artistic Director   

Michael McSraw Executive Director

ENSEMBLE: Brittany Brown, Joseph Cyranski, Ashley Downs, Ryan Galloway, Rosario Guillen, Amanda Hickey, Adam Houston, Emma Kempson, Sasha Lazarus, Zachary Morris, Skyler Newcom, Katie Rafferty, Fernando Rodriguez, Eduardo Zambrana

Playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury titled the play ‘Marys’ Seacole to emphasize its depiction of multiple Marys.  Jerrell L. Henderson and Hannah Todd direct the collective Marys in kaleidoscopic vignettes at breakneck pace.

Mary Jane Seacole was a British-Jamaican nurse. At the outbreak of the Crimean War she applied to the British War Office for work with the casualties. When her request was denied, she traveled independently to Balaklava and, using salvaged driftwood, packing cases, and iron sheets, set up the "British Hotel" behind the lines, where she provided nutritious food and “comfortable quarters for sick and convalescent officers”. 

Seacole came from a tradition of Jamaican and West African “doctresses”, who mastered folk medicine by treating fellow slaves on sugar plantations. These Creole doctresses prioritized hygiene decades before Florence Nightingale adopted it. From them Seacole learned to employ hygiene, ventilation, warmth, hydration, rest, nutrition and empathy.   

MARYS SEACOLE opens with Stephanie Mattos (Mary) standing imperiously in a spotlight. After a perfectly-timed silence she declares, "I am a Creole, and have good Scots blood coursing through my veins." Seacole was equally proud of her black ancestry: "I have a few shades of deeper brown upon my skin which shows me related – and I am proud of the relationship – to those poor mortals whom you once held enslaved, and whose bodies America still owns.” 

MARYS SEACOLE seesaws across continents and over time to diverse high points of Seacole’s life. The frenzied vacillation of time and space can be disorienting, time-traveling at breakneck speed between the Kingston of her childhood, the British Hotel in the Crimea, and the menial work in her old age. Accompanying Mattos on this odyssey are Duppy Mary (RJW Mays), Mamie (Mackenzie Williams), May (Jesi Mullins), Miriam (Izzie Jones) and Merry (India Whiteside).

What strikes me most forcefully in MARYS SEACOLE is the racism. When Seacole applied for a position with Florence Nightingale, the Lady with the Lamp wrote, "I had the greatest difficulty in repelling Mrs. Seacole's advances, and in preventing association between her and my nurses (absolutely out of the question!)... Mrs. Seacole introduces much kindness - also much drunkenness and improper conduct".  

Seacole disingenuously observes, "Was it possible that American prejudices against colour had some root here? Did these ladies shrink from accepting my aid because my blood flowed beneath a somewhat duskier skin than theirs?" A lodger at the British Hotel describes Seacole as "an old dame of a jovial appearance, but a few shades darker than the white lily" – this from one of her supporters!

Joe Johnson’s stark set, strategically lit by Matt Sharp with Assistant Karen Wallace, allows the characters to dominate. Costumes by Anne Wooden are fabulously period, and Ivy Treccani doesn’t clutter the production with unnecessary Properties. Fight Choreographer Jesi Mullins (who also plays May) is particularly excellent in the dustup during the final scenes. Dialect Coach Adam Goldstein does almost too good a job: the Jamaican patois is so authentic I occasionally had trouble understanding! William Massolia (Artistic Director), L.J. Luthringer (Sound), Matthew R Chase (Production), Anna Walker (Stage), and Danny Halminiak (Technical Director) collaborate to forge a seamless whole of the mercurial chronicle.

The traditional role of Woman as Healer is overshadowed throughout by the even-more-traditional aspect of racism. Mary Seacole was largely forgotten for nearly a century; when in 2016 she was honored with a statue at St Thomas’ London Hospital, controversy arose from those fixated on Florence Nightingale’s legacy.  Salman Rushdie cites Seacole as an example of ‘hidden’ black history: "See, here is Mary Seacole, who did as much in the Crimea as another magic-lamping lady, but, being dark, could scarcely be seen for the flame of Florence's candle." 

My befuddlement with the peripatetic narrative is eclipsed only by my appreciation of a masterwork superbly executed.

MARYS SEACOLE is performed by Griffin Theatre Company at the Raven Theatre

THE WIZARDS explores the convoluted synergy of racism and urban gentrification. From the Oregon Black Laws and the more widely prevalent Sundown Laws, America has used statutory exclusion to uphold and reinforce segregation. Chicago remains the most segregated city in America; even the heinous redlining that propelled development of the Ida B Wells [sic!] Housing Project was not enough for some: 

. . . it should have been located north of Oakwood and west of Indiana to keep the colored influence as far as possible from further encroaching on park and lake water frontage.

In the 1950’s, people living in the areas gobbled up by expansion of the University of Illinois Circle campus – largely Mexican immigrants – were bulldozed into the Pilsen neighborhood established in the 1840’s by Eastern European immigrants. Unlike many neighborhoods, Pilsen welcomed its new neighbors, and Latinos gradually became the area’s primary ethnicity. This legacy of solidarity continues today with the APO Cultural Center hosting Ricardo Gamboa’s THE WIZARDS.

The story shows Amado (Ricardo Gamboa) and Sam (Sean JW Paris), a Brown/Black genderqueer couple, moving into Pilsen after surviving a Trump-election-spurred hatecrime in Manhattan. In their new home they find an Ouija board, which Amado (a self-professed witch) insists on using. The board conjures the spirits of The Wizards, a 70’s Motown cover band: Nato (Luis A Mora), Serafin (Eliseo Real), Lalo (Elijah Ruiz), and Javi (Alvaro Noel Padilla Jr.). Freddy Mauricio steps in as Donato, Wakanda, and Sonny, and Daniela Martinez plays the dual roles of Lorena and Nurse Rosie.

As Amado and Sam receive frequent (and increasingly uninvited!) visits from The Wizards, they learn much about the band’s lives, loves, and … but no, no spoilers. Suffice it to say there’s lots more to the story, including a second hate crime perpetrated by Dan (Sam Sage), Steve (Joe Bushell) and Mike (Felipe Carrasco).  The quality of the acting is terrific throughout. I was drawn particularly to Sean JW Paris (Sam) and Alvaro Noel Padilla Jr (Javi), but that’s just me. All the actors are truly talented, particularly Ricardo Gamboa, who wrote, produced, and stars in THE WIZARDS

Audience seating is made cozy by scattering cocktail tables among the chairs. The ‘stage’, showing Sam & Amado’s apartment, is at the center, and the action occurs everywhere: in the center, up and down the aisles, on a gallery above us, and in various nooks and crannies of the room. Incredibly, this chaotic arrangement works, thanks to Director Katrina Dion, Stage Manager Anastar Alvarez (with their Assistants Sebastian Olayo and Gina Montalvo, respectively), Muralist Eduardo Lopez, and Scenic Designer Eleanor Kahn. Lighting is always a challenge in such locales but was well managed by Lighting Designer Conchita Avitia, Assistant Josiah Croegaert, and Master Electrician Quinn Chisenhall. Kyle McDermott (Technical Director) and Ellie Terrell (Props Designer) meet the challenge of action occurring simultaneously in 2017 and the 1970’s; Dramaturg Yasmin Zacaria Mikhaiel and Sound Designer Bran Moorhead keep the slang and the swing in their proper place/times, and Fight/Intimacy Choreographers Greg Geffrard and Sheryl Williams guide the smashing and the smooching.

I have a couple of critiques. First and foremost, THE WIZARDS would benefit greatly from some loving abbreviation. The play ran for fully 3 hours – with an intermission, yes, but that’s longer than The Return of the King, which even I, a fervent Tolkein-ite, found a mite lengthy. Some storylines and characters are left dangling: Nurse Rosie in Act 2 adds depth, but Lorena is superfluous – I didn’t learn (and don’t particularly care) what became of her. And wuzzup with Sam’s mom? The one mention of her is dramatic, then we hear no more from or about her. Contrariwise, some aspects could, I think, be more fully examined. Sam is African American – but why? I would have liked to see more exploration into the unique elements of Black/Brown relationships. Also, I think more could be made of how Amado’s PTSD from the hate crime informs later developments and decisions (can’t help it — I’m a shrink!).

In conclusion, THE WIZARDS is a timely and essential look at the real-life obstacles faced by all marginalized people, be they black, brown, LGBTQ+, or anyone else the White Supremacist system has chosen to ‘other’. THE WIZARDS also scores a stark line across the decades, reminding us that far, far too little has really, truly changed.

Presented by CLATA (The Chicago Latino Theater Alliance), THE WIZARDS is being performed at APO Cultural Center through November 19th.