Displaying items by tag: musicals

Like the waves lapping along the shores of Lake Michigan, there is another wave that is hitting Chicago; a nostalgia wave. From high waisted jeans, bold neon colors, even scrunchies and side ponytails, the 1980s are riding high in Chicagoland. But it isn’t just Chicago. In the 2020s, the currents of the nostalgia wave have infiltrated every aspect of our culture from movie franchise remakes like Top Gun, to chart topping synthpop-new-wave hits like The Weekend’s Blinding Lights or Dua Lipa’s Love Again. And that same wave is riding high onto the theatre scene bringing a seminal cult classic film to life in the most spectacular way. Gen X and elder millennials buckle up and hold on tight, because we’re going Back to the Future – in musical form. And Back to the Future: The Musical has officially set its destination for Chicago in 2024.

Winner of the 2022 Olivier Award for Best New Musical, four WhatsOnStage Awards, including Best New Musical, and the Broadway World Award for Best New Musical, Back to the Future: The Musical is adapted for the stage by the iconic film’s creators Bob Gale (Back to the Future trilogy) and Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump) and directed by the Tony Award®-winner John Rando with original music by multi-Grammy® winners Alan Silvestri (Avengers: Endgame) and Glen Ballard (Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror”), alongside hit songs from the movie including “The Power of Love,” “Johnny B. Goode,” “Earth Angel,” and “Back in Time.”

When Marty McFly is accidentally transported back to 1955 in a time- traveling DeLorean invented by his friend, Dr. Emmett Brown, he accidentally changes the course of history. Before he can return to 1985, Marty must make sure his high school-aged parents fall in love in order to save his own existence. Now he’s in a race against time to fix the present, escape the past, and send himself... back to the future.

The most impressive aspects of this musical aren’t the songs or the familiar storyline but the sheer visual spectacle that is the DeLorean. Using an amalgamation of lights, sound, screens, and immersive and malleable stage designs, you follow the DeLorean has it travels through space and time, the sets seamlessly and breathtakingly transitioning from the 1985 to 1955 and back again. The clocktower scene alone had the audience sitting at the edge of their seats, wondering how the engineers, designers, choreographers, and illusionists pulled off such incredible feats. It was visually stunning and Broadway in Chicago never disappoints with its stage presentation and craft. 

For the nostalgic lovers of the movie, the classic storyline, witty one-liners, and your favorite characters are all here. For musical lovers, you’ll love the classic songs played throughout the play such as “The Power of Love” and “Johnny B Goode,” while tapping your toes to new musical numbers like “Gotta Start Somewhere,” “Pretty Baby,” “Something About That Boy.” For theatre lovers, Burke Swanson as George McFly and Zan Berube as Lorraine Baines, Marty’s parents, look identical to their film counterparts, down to the mannerisms, chemistry, and comedic timing, coupled with their vocal talents, you’ll be rooting for these two to get together faster at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance. Cartreze Tucker, who plays Goldie Wilson/Marvin Berry, steals the audience’s attention with his vocal range and prowess and Don Stephenson who plays the incomparable Doc Brown will have you rolling with laughter with his lingering zingers while he cleverly breaks the 4th wall.

Like any good Doc Brown invention however, Back to the Future: The Musical was a bit glitchy. Technical difficulties like mics cutting out to music being so loud it drowned out the musical talent, ensemble actors simply marking their movements versus performing all out, and some lead actors not hitting their marks at all (or their notes), the musical’s second night definitely had some issues as it got going. But once the plutonium was installed and the flux capacitor was engaged following the first few musical numbers, the musical hit the magic 88 and was able to right the space time continuum. Despite these early challenges, this musical is well worth the trip for the special effects and illusions alone.

Back to the Future is a cult classic that is bound to make many more revivals in future nostalgia waves. With Back to the Future: The Musical now making its national tour, this musical is sure to be a crowd favorite and hopefully replace some outdated or antiquated musicals like The Music Man and Hello Dolly (don’t come for me musical thespians! I said what I said).

Back to the Future: The Musical is now playing at Cadillac Palace Theatre (151 W Randolph St). Tickets are available at www.BroadwayinChicago.com. But just like the blip in time it only runs through Sept 1st so don’t miss your opportunity to ride the wave and go back to the future to experience this incredible show.

Phone rings, door chimes, in comes Company! The new, gender-swapped revival, that is.

Known more for his fully scored, more epic musicals like Sweeney Todd and Into the Woods, Stephen Sondheim packs a big punch in this unconventional little musical about the dichotomy between single and married life — and it’s as fresh and funny in the 2020s as it was when it premiered in 1970.

Company is hilarious and moving in equal measure. It’s human and messy, yet gloriously refined through Sondheim’s music, lyrics, and storytelling.

Arguably the first musical surrounding a concept instead of a plot, Company opens a Pandora’s box exploring all the trade-offs between being married and being single. The songs and scenes detail the pros and cons of both marriage and bachelorhood, with everything tied together and grounded through the character of Bobbi — played with charisma and vulernability by Britney Coleman — the lone bachelorette in a sea of partnered-up friends, who’s about to turn 35 and is still waffling over what she wants out of life.

The North American Tour of COMPANY. Photo by Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade

In the 1970 version, Bobby is a bachelor. In this gender-swapped revival, which premiered in London’s West End in 2018 and on Broadway in 2021, Bobbi is a bachelorette. Both versions are entertaining, enlightening, and have insightful things to say about love. While the 1970 version was, undoubtedly, ahead of its time, the revival brings a modern touch — and a slight Alice in Wonderland flair — that connects the characters to today’s audiences.

The topic of, or should I say battle between, singledom versus settling down is endlessly mineable. Bobbi likes being single because it’s carefree. But after spending time with her married friends, she wonders if she’s missing out on something. Then again, after seeing her friends’ seemingly happy relationships hit rough patches, Bobbi appreciates again the merits of being single.

There’s a song at the top of the show called “Sorry/Grateful”, sung by Bobbi's married friend Harry, explaining how he views marriage. “You’re always sorry / You’re always grateful / You’re always wondering what might have been / Then she walks in”. It’s a wistful, reflective number that speaks to the dissatisfaction we’re apt to feel no matter what side of the fence we’re on.

Derrick Davis as Larry, Judy McLane as Joanne and Britney Coleman as Bobbie in the North American Tour of COMPANY. Photo by Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade

The ensemble is strong in this production. The characters of Bobbi’s married friends carry the show as much as Bobbi does. Their conversations and quips about relationships show the true, full, colorful spectrum of married life. The scenes of Bobbi chatting with her friends feel like one-act plays (and, in fact, they kind of are; Sondheim took one-act plays by playwright George Furth and partnered with him to create Company) and show the upsides, downsides, and ridiculous sides to partnering up with someone for life.

Some of the better-known songs include the frantic “Getting Married Today”, sung at breakneck speed by the hilarious Matt Rodin, while experiencing cold feet before his wedding; the instantly recognizable “Ladies Who Lunch”, the 11 o’clock number made famous by Elaine Stritch in the original Broadway production and sung with conviction by the fabulous Judy McLane on this tour; “Another Hundred People”, which serves as a love letter to the chaos of social life in New York City; and “Being Alive”, where everything Bobbi has learned throughout the musical is elegantly summarized.

Don't miss this clever, unique, and truly funny production of one of Sondheim's best.

Company is playing at the Cadillac Palace Theatre at 151 W Randolph St. through November 12, 2023. Tickets at the box office or at BroadwayinChicago.com.

Fall into the blazing ring of fire that is Johnny Cash’s scorching song catalogue at Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash at Drury Lane Theatre. Part biography, part music revue, and all entertainment, Ring of Fire will take you on a nostalgic, country music-filled journey through the life, times, and songs of American treasure Johnny Cash.

The original 2006 Broadway production of Ring of Fire lasted only 47 performances, likely because it was riding the coattails of the popularity of the 2005 Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line starring Joaquin Phoenix, and the Broadway musical treats the same story and songs more shallowly and lightly. Drury Lane Theatre brings back this production in a new context, in a new decade, maybe when we need and miss the country music icon more than ever.

Erik Hellman, Roy James Brown, Ron E Rains, Elleon Dobias, Michael Potter. Photo by Brett Beiner

The modest hour and 45 minute run time consists mostly of music, impressively played live by the six-person cast and band, which was one of the biggest highlights for me. Ron E. Rains portrays an older Cash, narrating the story and exchanging meaningful glances with the younger Johnny, played by Michael D. Potter, as he goes through life making music, headlines, and mistakes. 

Using Cash’s songs, small costume and set changes, and short bits of dialogue, the show takes you through Johnny Cash’s life, from his childhood growing up on a farm, to hitting it big in the country music scene, to his drug addiction, to meeting his soulmate June Carter. 

Aja Wiltshire, Michael Potter. Photo by Brett Beiner

The only complaint I could see one having about the show – and maybe why it didn’t last long on Broadway – is how briskly it skims over the rich life story of Johnny Cash. It feels more like a musical review than a traditional musical. It’s even reminiscent of a similar musical, Million Dollar Quartet, about a recording session at Sun Studios with Cash, Elvis, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis that had a home in Chicago for many years in the early 2000s. If you like the music, you’ll be happy. But if you want a more traditional musical with plot and character-driven songs, this may not be the show for you.

Johnny Cash fans will love hearing both hits and deeper cuts from the Cash catalogue, like “Big River”, “Straight As in Love”, “Cry Cry Cry”, “Hey Porter”, “I Still Miss Someone”, “Five Feet High”, “Daddy Sang Bass”, “Get Rhythm”, “Folsom Prison Blues”, and dozens more. Female voices also shine with Aja Wiltshire as a brassy and sassy June Carter and Elleon Dobias as Cash’s heartbroken first wife Viv.

Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash is playing at Drury Lane Theatre through October 22, 2023. Tickets can be purchased on their website.

Murder, intrigue, and Angela Lansbury: the three universally acknowledged truths that make up a great mystery story. Hell in a Handbag's production of Murder, ReWrote: The Musical Parody at the Den Theatre is the perfect cross-section of drag show and musical. Expect to laugh, cackle, restrain yourself from singing along, and make an immediate tribute to the incomparable Angela Lansbury as you’re reminded of what an icon graced our screens and stages for the better part of a century.

Musical theatre references and camp abound alongside the talented singing and comedic performances. Whether or not you’re a fan of Murder, She Wrote the television show, you’re bound to be entertained outside of all context at Murder, ReWrote: The Musical Parody.

(Left to right) Britain Gebhardt, Grant Drager, David Cerda and Caroline Kidwell in Hell in a Handbag Productions’ world premiere of Murder, ReWrote. Photo by Rick Aguilar Studios.

In The Den Theatre’s Murder, ReWrote, our favorite comedically reimagined mystery novelist Bessica Feltcher (Jessica Fletcher, in the real ‘80s/'90s TV show) has a harrowing case on her hands: that of a rich hieresses's daughter found dead in the living room of the family mansion.

Who could have done it? Her mother? The maid? Bessica’s hapless nephew Grady? It’s like watching a game of Clue play out in real time, only way funnier.

Britain Gebhardt channels Lansbury in voice, looks, and persona as acclaimed mystery author and amateur detective Bessica Jeatrice Feltcher, aka BJ. The hobbyist slueth finds herself at the center of a whodunit murder mystery leaving everyone wondering, “Who killed Christina??”

The rest of the cast is hilarious and committed to their roles as well, from Grant Drager as Bessica’s goofy nephew Grady to David Cerda's haughty, RuPaul-esque portrayal of heiress June Crayfish.

(Left to right) Mark Bartishell, Caroline Kidwell, Britain Gebhardt, Daniel Hurstand, Cathy Reyes McNamara in Hell in a Handbag Productions’ world premiere of Murder, ReWrote. Photo by Rick Aguilar Studios.

Hell in a Handbag Productions goes all out in this production, from the creative and unexpected ways they adapt a television series to the stage, the thoughtful references to Lansbury’s other work sprinkled throughout, and the loving insults they lob at the corniness of the original TV show.

The music and lyrics by George Howe and Ed Rutherford, along with the direction from Anthony Whitaker, make this musical parody a sparkling one. You can feel the love and attention to detail that went into every joke, reference, and visual gag, showing that this creative team genuinely loves its source material. You can only make fun of something lovingly – and cleverly – if you admire it and respect its merit in the first place.

Murder, ReWrote: The Musical Parody is playing at the Den Theatre through September 16, 2023. Tickets can be bought at the box office at 1331 N Milwaukee Ave or on their website.

*Extended through September 18th

There is a lot of bad content out there, particularly regarding family programming. Any parent forced to endure an hour of Cocomelon will tell you, not every show is a banger or cult classic in the making. When modern programming fails, it is nice to know we can reach into the past and find good, reliable programming in the classics. For us, those classics are Rugrats, The Simpsons, Powerpuff Girls, Fraggle Rock, and of course School House Rock. When we learned that another classic, even more vintage, had a musical, we knew we had to check it out. With 2023 being the year of 'what was old is new again,' we ventured to the Northern burbs to see You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.

Based on the beloved Charles Schulz comic strip, the 1967 musical features Charlie Brown and the Peanuts bunch as they explore life's great questions: playing baseball, struggling with homework, singing songs, swooning over their crushes, and celebrating the joy of friendship.

We were so hopeful for this play and curious about the comic strip in musical form. There were most certainly a few standout moments such as the song "Suppertime" performed by Snoopy and "Beethoven Day" performed by Schroeder, but overall, the songs and music were quite forgettable; no one would be caught singing a song from this musical at an audition.

Much like the comic strip and small vignettes on DVD, the play did not really have a plot or a story arc. What motivates the characters? What is the climax or problem of the story? If this Charlie Brown person claims he has no talent and nothing to offer, and throughout the play we see him live up to that expectation, what is the point of watching him or the people in his life? One could reach for a plot in that Charlie Brown is a good man simply because he is so ordinary that it makes those around him stand out even more, even though they aren't particularly fascinating. We could even venture that he's a good man because he truly does no evil, only sort of floats around innocently, keeping to his own. he does good by doing nothing and allowing his friends to be themselves (even at his own detriment). 

The musical was short and sweet, just under an hour run time with over 20 songs. It's a small cast and simple design, and the Lincolnshire Marriot 360 Theatre ensured you saw every minute of the play from any angle. The only real redeeming quality of the show is that children loved it. In its simplicity and sweetness, it found its niche with the children in the audience whose faces lit up when Snoopy started to talk and when Linus sang a ballad to his blanket. Maybe our brains crave more action and drama than Charlie Brown would deliver (he is rather unextraordinary after all), or maybe Charlie Brown doesn't resonate like it did in the 60s and 70s, but nevertheless, it does have some lasting power, reaching out across generations to bring Boomers and Gen Alpha together for a brief moment out of lives. And maybe, just maybe, that was the real purpose of this musical.

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown is playing at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire and runs through April 1st. Grab the kids and grands and secure your tickets today. 

If you love Rent, you’ll really like tick, tick…BOOM! If you don’t like Rent, you’ll probably still really like tick, tick…BOOM!, because what’s not to like about a great story and a talented cast? If you’ve ever struggled, strived, or attempted to create anything — or even just faced existential crises about getting older — tick, tick...BOOM! is relatable, funny, and heart-wrenching.

It's a musical about artists, for artists (and artist appreciators). It's a love letter to the process, the devasting lows and the ecstatic highs. It's sometimes even a love letter to Stephen Sondheim, who actually mentored the musical's late composer Jonathan Larson and saw great promise in him. (It's also an Oscar-nominated film directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda and starring Andrew Garfield on Netflix. Highly recommend.)

Most importantly, the music is fantastic.

And BoHo’s Theatre’s all trans and gender nonconforming production directed by BoHo Artistic Associate Bo Frazier would’ve made Jonathan Larson proud — it lets a diverse, talented-packed cast shine and captures both the humor and horror of the creative process in equal measure.

Larson’s most well-known and influential musical is 1996’s Rent, but he had another musical in the works when he tragically passed. Tick, tick…BOOM! is a semi-autobiographical, rock/pop musical about a young composer named Jon, who’s living the starving artist life in New York City in the early '90s and trying to get his show off the ground. (Can you smell the Rent? Thematic similarities abound: putting all your eggs in your own creative basket over everything else, roughing it in NYC, struggling with the idea of working to get by vs. working for creative fulfillment, staying true to your passions vs. the perceived soul-sucking of "selling out"... like Rent, there are even voicemails from concerned parents.)

I like to think of tick, tick...BOOM! as baby Rent, and an even more acute story, zeroed in on one man, one artist, his journey to make a difference and be heard, and the few people close to him that accompany him on the way.

BoHo Theatre's Alec Phan plays protagonist Jon as engaging and sweet — he's someone you'd want to be friends with, someone you'd root for. In fact, his friends in the show do. His girlfriend Susan, played with charm by Luke Halpern, and good friend Michael, played with nuance by Crystal Claros, encourage him to see his creative endeavors through, even as they take on boring, corporate jobs and move to the suburbs. It's like they've pinned their hopes on Jon too, like maybe they weren't able to make it, but they believe Jon can.

And, with the retrospect knowledge of Jonathan Larson's musical theatre success, we too wholeheartedly root for Jon and respect his integrity as an artist.

Each of the three cast members has extraordinary singing and acting talent, but the highlights for me were the songs that feature all three performers. The opening number "30/90" where Jon laments turning 30 in the year 1990 (and all that he'd hoped to have already accomplished by this point) and the closing song "Louder Than Words" build to choruses with three-part harmonies and uptempo rock piano — Billy Joel could never —that showcase this powerful blend of voices.

Some other fun ones to look up on Spotify: "Therapy", "Sugar", and "Green Green Dress".

Besides the catchy music, the main thing that drew me to Rent as a teenager was its representative cast. It's not just about one type of person, but a bouquet of different types of people, of different races, different sexualities — the first Broadway musical where the LGBT characters outnumbered the heteronormative characters. While the original iteration of tick, tick...BOOM! featured cisgendered characters and actors, this genderfluid production combines the spirit of both of Larson's creations, giving equal voice to a spectrum of humans and normalizing the marginalized.

One thing’s for certain: Jonathan Larson would’ve loved this production.

Tick, tick…BOOM! is playing at The Edge Theatre at 5451 North Broadway from January 19 through February 5, 2023. Tickets and information here.

You’d think that a 1956 musical about a man who doesn’t like women all that much and the woman who lets him refine and control her wouldn’t hold up in 2022 (especially in light of the recent Roe v. Wade reversal which gives women far less control over their bodies and lives), but surprisingly for that very reason, it does.

Lerner and Lowe’s classic stage musical My Fair Lady — based on the 1913 George Bernard Shaw play Pygmalion — tells the story of Eliza Doolittle, a young flower seller with a thick Cockney accent that all but requires subtitles, and Henry Higgins, an exacting phonetics scholar obsessed with the English language and its various dialects. When he proposes that he could make coarse, street urchin Eliza passable as a duchess within six months, Eliza is intrigued. She shows up at his home asking for speech lessons so she can learn to speak “more genteel” and get hired at a proper flower shop. Thus begins the fraught relationship between Eliza and Henry, their days filled with vowel exercises and an inordinate amount of yelling.

Laird Mackintoshas Professor Henry Higgins andShereen Ahmedas Eliza Doolittle in The LincolnCenter Theater Production of Lerner & Loewe’s My Fair Lady

This 2022 tour of the 2018 Broadway revival features a well-rounded cast, a fantastic orchestra, and gorgeous, lush sets and costumes. Shereen Ahmed in the title role is beautiful, endearing, and sympathetic as Eliza; she’s easy to root for. And she’s done an impressive job mastering Eliza’s uncouth Cockney as well as her polished English accent that first breaks through in the song “The Rain in Spain Stays Mainly in the Plain”. Her counterpart Henry Higgins, played by Laird Mackintosh, is often infuriating with his condescension but reveals enough vulnerability to show he’s capable of being changed by Eliza as much as she is by him.

If you’ve never seen My Fair Lady onstage or the 1964 film starring Audrey Hepburn, you’re still likely to recognize one or two of its songs. “On the Street Where You Live” has been ubiquitously covered, and “I Could Have Danced All Night” is easily the musical’s most recognizable song. Other notable numbers include “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly”, “Get Me to the Church on Time”, and “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face”. There really isn’t a bad song in the show. 

Throughout the production, there’s some subtle birdcage imagery: First, we see that one of Eliza’s few prized possessions is an empty birdcage, and second, the elaborate set for a ballroom scene where Eliza first makes her debut as a high-society lady showcases outlines of peacocks outside of empty birdcages. As Henry suggests at the start of the story, Eliza’s lower-class dialect has held her back in life, trapped her where she is. She’s a woman of wit, charm, beauty, and street smarts, but 1913 London society can’t look past her unpolished appearance or hear past her unrefined, loose-voweled accent. Learning to speak “properly” sets her free, opening her up to worlds she never would have been allowed into before.

Kevin Pariseauas Colonel Pickering,Laird Mackintoshas Professor Henry Higgins andShereenAhmedas Eliza Doolittle in The Lincoln Center Theater Production of Lerner & Loewe’s My Fair Lady

Though Henry’s lessons enrich Eliza’s life, his treatment of her, especially in the first half of the show, is undeniably harsh. In fact, he seems to have a problem with women as a whole. In one of his songs, “I’m an Ordinary Man”, he rants about women’s fickleness and sentimentality, repeating the line, “I will never let a woman in my life”.  I wasn’t sure how audiences would react to this song or the character of Henry Higgins in 2022. 

But as I said, My Fair Lady surprisingly holds up. Because we view the story through a different lens now. In the 50s, they likely laughed with the man and his exasperation with an insufferable woman, and in 2022, we laugh at the man’s outdated ideals — not to mention the woman’s exasperation with the insufferable man.

My Fair Lady is playing at the Cadillac Palace Theatre at 151 W Randolph St. through July 10, 2022. Tickets are available at BroadwayInChicago.com or by entering the daily ticket lottery.

The Wizard of Oz is fun for all ages — this is as true today as it was in 1939. While there is a special kind of magic exclusive to the film due to the phenomenal cast as well as the strong nostalgia surrounding it, there is another kind of magic exclusive to seeing the musical live onstage.

A cherished family musical, this is the perfect show to bring kids to; with the upbeat musical numbers, colorful cast and sets, and lovable characters, they’re sure to be entertained. The classic songs by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg include "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," "If I Only Had a Brain," "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead," and more, almost all featuring peppy dance numbers with lively choreography by Amy McCleary.

With direction by Dean Sabon, who previously created the national tours of Fiddler on the Roof and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, this version of The Wizard of Oz brings new elements to a beloved classic.

One of the coolest things about this production is the use of a giant screen to serve as the various backgrounds, as opposed to elaborate set pieces for backdrop. This was utilized impressively during the twister scene when Dorothy and Toto seek shelter in Aunt Em and Uncle Henry’s house, among other scenes, having a 3-D effect that was exciting to watch. Throughout, the production uses a fun combination of traditional theatre sets and tech-y special effects.

The Wizard of Oz is playing at the Chicago Theatre through May 20th. Tickets on Ticketmaster.

“South Pacific” is a timeless Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical full of wonderful romance and social commentary about racism that is important for young and old to experience today and I was thoroughly impressed with Drury Lane’s warm, happy, romantic interpretation of the classic show. It is the latest of shows to run at the theatre and perhaps the best I can remember in recent history.

Taking place on a South Pacific island during World War II, the plot revolves around Ensign Nellie Forbush, an American nurse, who falls in love with a French plantation owner, who is middle-aged and quite a bit older than her. It is when she discovers Emile de Becque’s children from his late, Asian wife, that she struggles with her own prejudices. As the island hosts American naval troops, nurses and its own natives, another love story develops between the handsome, young Lieutenant Joseph Cable and a beautiful Tonkinese woman, Liat. But he, too, fears the social costs.

Each and every voice in this production is outstanding. Robert Cuccioli as Emile de Becque really played the role nicely with a good sense of humor and his vocal numbers soared with great feeling and the experience of a seasoned pro bringing the entire audience under the spell of new and intoxicating island romance. Cuccioli has a wonderful, rich operatic voice and is very likable in the role, leaving us little doubt to his ability as a talented vocalist with his final, powerful note of “Emile’s Terrace” to close out Act I.

Samantha Hill as the down to earth “hick” “Ensign Nellie Forbush” is a pleasure to watch. Hill also has a gifted voice and her enthusiastic, good natured portrayal of Nellie falling in love with De Becque during “(I’m in Love with) A Wonderful Guy” was exactly the type of joyful, naïve, and honest portrayal of true love and excitement that the play needs to counter the heavy nature of the tragedy of war.

The musical, well-directed by Victor Malana Maog, also includes perhaps one of the strongest supporting casts in any production of “South Pacific” I have ever seen. Yvonne Strumecki is absolutely stunning as “Bloody Mary”.  Strumecki’s vocals are rich and impressive and she is able to both hit the high notes and get the laughs in this role, which can be heavy handed if not approached just the way she did, with more warmth than anger. Strumecki’s voice is simply beautiful during my favorite song from the show, “Bali Hai,” and both desperate and wry during “Happy Talk,” as she tries to talk the Lt. Joseph Cable into staying with her beautiful native daughter, Liat.

As Lieutenant Joseph Cable, Austin Colby stuns the audience with his rendition of “Younger then Springtime,” his voice angelic and finely finessed – literally a show stopping moment.

In this well-cast classic, the ensemble of nurses and soldiers and officers are excellent singers and dancers - really drawing laughs from the audience and getting them involved during the adorable numbers “There is Nothing Like a Dame” and “I'm In Love with a Wonderful Guy”. Matt Crowle as Luther Billis is exceptional, displaying flawless comic timing, perhaps harnessing a bit from the school Art Carney.

The set design is a delicious tropical island with low hanging palm trees that rotate around the stage per scene, soft pools of light breaking through the leaves, really placing the audience in the Southern Pacific. The set was a delight to behold and immediately places the entire audience right in the middle of the warm, steamy heat and action from the moment the play switched from the impressive interior of de Becque’s ritzy home.

Overall, the cast is superb and meshes incredibly well with each other while the orchestra provides us with a dreamy soundtrack that along with the imaginative set, puts us in a tropical paradise.
“South Pacific” is almost in a category by itself. Few other musicals actually open with the leads falling in love at first sight to magical, unmatched quintessential lyrics like:

Some enchanted evening
When you find your true love,
When you feel her call you
Across a crowded room,
Then fly to her side,
And make her your own
Or all through your life you
May dream all alone
                                            
I highly recommend seeing Drury Lane’s production of “South Pacific” for the many wonderful vocal performances of spectacular songs like “Some Enchanted Evening”, “Bali Hai” and “Younger than Springtime” and also for the wonderfully warm, inviting and joyful interpretation of this enduring classic about true love.

“South Pacific” is being performed at Drury Lane through June 17th. For more show information visit www.DruryLaneTheatre.com.

Unlike the preamble to the constitution, you – the people – won't find any established justice or domestic tranquility in Trump's America. Enter the Anti-Trump Musical.

Last Saturday, Flying Elephant Productions premiered We the People, a new musical featuring a cast of six singing original songs with music and lyrics by Leo Schwartz and book by Sean Chandler. In a little over an hour, the show revisits the Democratic and Republication national conventions, election night 2016, the immediate morning after, and the dawning chaos of what it means to live under a President Trump.

The musical serves as a warning of sorts, but it is too little too late. If anything, it would likely inspire people to vote in the midterm elections, and just VOTE in general so we don't wind up in this "unpresidented" (to use a term from our current president) situation again.

Part of me wanted the show to be harsher on Trump, but I can see where too abrasive of an approach would potentially turn people off. Another part of me wanted it to be funnier, because what's more of a joke than a highly unqualified reality television star becoming one of the most powerful politicians on the planet? But the reality of that is truly frightening far more than funny. The songs convey anger, and yes, some humor, but what the show does best is present the facts and give intelligent, level-headed commentary – something our country is in vast shortage of these days.

We the People is playing at Stage 773 at 1225 W Belmont Ave through February 10th.