Not too long ago, Rahm Emanuel and Jesús "Chuy" Garcia were running head to head in the 2015 Chicago Mayoral election. Many thought this was the opportunity to get someone new into the office that actually related to the quintessential Chicagoan who cared about our public schools, opposed red light cameras, and had a new perspective on things. Well, the people spoke and reelected Mayor Emanuel into office for another four years.
Whether you like Rahm or not, you must check out the musical “How to Run for Mayor”, which is part of the Chicago Musical Theatre Festival running until July 19th. The musical is about a recent college graduate, Kim, who looks high and low for a job. Her solution: become a viral sensation by running for mayor.
Of course her promises of what she would accomplish as mayor are unrealistic but is something that millennials are drawn to. She quickly gets thousands of views and hits the 12,500 signatures needed to be on the ballot due to her trusty campaign manager.
The play has an actor that looks eerily similar to Emanuel, just taller but does a great job at showing his arrogance.
As a political junkie, I appreciate that the play touched on our government system that is totally broken, the lack of interest in voting, and problems with candidates that have so much money and power that they are tough to push out of the office.
“How to Run for Mayor” features fine acting performances by Trent Eisfeller as Rahm, Steve Lords as Chief of Staff, Grace Palmer as Kim Capello and Ryan Semmelmayer as Charlie Martin.
This musical is a funny and cheeky perspective on elections today. Hurry and purchase tickets to the show playing at The Den Theatre at www.cmtf.org. Upcoming shows of “How to Run for Mayor” are held on July 10, 12, 15, and 18th and runs approximately 60 minutes. The Chicago Musical Theatre Festival features thirteen brand new plays and is sure to have something for everyone.
In Irish Theatre of Chicago’s newest production “The White Road”, performed at The Den Theatre in Wicker Park, we get exactly what we are hoping for – an intense adventure that pits man against nature at its most vicious form. Based on the true heroics of Irish-born polar explorer Ernest Shackleton, “The White Road” tells the story of yet another incredible undertaking where all hope lies solely in one’s will to survive.
Setting sail from South Georgia on December 5th, 1914, Shackleton’s Trans-Antarctica expedition triumphantly leaves shore aboard The Endurance with a crew of twenty-eight with the intent on crossing the Antarctica continent from one coast to the other by way of the South Pole. Hopes are high and excitement is in the air as the crew embarks on a journey never before accomplished.
Said Shackleton beforehand, "After the conquest of the South Pole by [Roald] Amundsen who, by a narrow margin of days only, was in advance of the British Expedition under [Robert Falcon] Scott, there remained but one great main object of Antarctic journeying - the crossing of the South Polar continent from sea to sea".
As history tells, it was a plight that was never meant to be.
Upon approaching Antarctica they are met with pack ice that surrounds their sea vessel threatening to sink it. Completely alone and hundreds of miles away from any form of civilization, this is where one of the greatest tales of survival begins.
In the two-hour-plus play, we meet a variety of characters that make up this memorable crew – and we like them all. From a nature photographer who keeps the camera rolling at all costs to life and limb, to an enthusiastic stowaway boy starved for adventure, to a whaler/banjo-plucker who lifts the men's spirits with song, we don’t just see a nameless crew, instead we really get to know a unique and diverse lot of individuals. Piven ensemble member Paul Dunckel’s performance of the fearless expedition leader makes Shackleton highly likeable, as the wise and self-sacrificing explorer. Dunckel leads this talented cast with the constitution and perseverance one would associate with an expedition leader, whereas he can convincingly make the tough decisions whilst his loyal troops still rally behind him.
Along with Dunckel, Irish Theatre Company ensemble members Kevin Theis and Matthew Isler are accompanied by Nicholas Bailey, Steve Herson, Neal Starbird, Michael McKeogh, Joseph Stearns, Stephen Walker and Gage Wallace, comprising this fine cast that generates a whirlwind of strong performances.
Making this play even more entertaining is the way the set is used to put us aboard The Endurance smack dab in the middle of the frozen, glacier-filled waters. Sound effects are strategically used in tandem with projections to successfully create storm effects while creative choreography takes us on a deadly hike through icy mountains.
This is one of those true incredible adventure stories that are long forgotten by most that, thanks to storytellers like The Irish Theatre of Chicago, we now get to experience and share in the surprisingly unbelievable depth of human spirit brought on by fantastic circumstances.
I should note that though this is a wonderful story taken from the pages of early 20th century history, if you are thinking of bring a young adult, be aware that there is a scene containing as a crew member streaks across the deck of the ship.
Fittingly directed by ensemble member Robert Kauzlaric and written by Karen Tarjan, the world premiere run of “The White Road” is being performed at The Den Theatre through June 13th. For tickets and/or more information visit www.irishtheatreofchicago.org.
As Samuel Beckett once stated, "Nothing is funnier than unhappiness, I grant you that. ... Yes, yes, it's the most comical thing in the world. And we laugh, we laugh, with a will, in the beginning. But it's always the same thing. Yes, it's like the funny story we have heard too often, we still find it funny, but we don't laugh anymore.” Unhappiness and the complete surrender to misery is found aplenty in Beckett’s Endgame now being performed at The Den Theatre and though humor can be found in the dialogue and in the mundane actions of its characters, we can’t help being overwhelmed by the story’s hopelessness.
The set is almost too good – the interior of a nightmarish, dilapidated house complete with a water-stained ceiling, worn, dirt-filled walls that are peeling, boarded up windows and bottles of urine lined up in the rear of the living room. The characters are as dilapidated and bizarre as the house. It is a dwelling of utter neglect – something you might imagine that has gone terribly wrong in the B.J. Gigglesnort hotel or perhaps a home you might expect the family from Texas Chainsaw massacre to live in. Director Halena Kays explains, “Our design team is full of long-time collaborators who will create an absurdist landscape that will involve and heighten the audience’s experience with this classic.” Not only is the set visually lush in itself but the theatre is decorated with hanging lighted picture boxes, a seating area that closer resembles a birthday party and carnival-like assortments scattered throughout the floor.
This one act, four character tragicomedy stars Kurt Ehrmann as the aging “Hamm” who is blind and cannot use his legs. He is bound to a makeshift wheelchair comprised of a beat up sitting chair atop a wooden cart with wheels that he obsessively insists be placed in the center of the room. He whistles for his caregiver “Clov” (Brian Shaw) to whom he barks one order after another and in his despair of existence is always asking if it is time for his next painkiller. “Clov” too is broken down, a creature of compulsive routine. When asked by “Hamm”, who recognizes the verbal abuse he so often dishes out, why he doesn’t leave, “Clov’s” response is simply “Where would I go?” It’s hopelessness at its best.
Ehrmann skillfully rips into one soliloquy after the next with rampant passion and we laugh at his anguish yet are haunted by his words at the same time. “Hamm” often speaks with his parents who appear from two garbage cans while “Clov” uses a kaleidoscope to check the on goings by the sea through a small, exposed portion of window that he can only access by hobbling awkwardly up his stepladder. In all, we see a frightening story of two decrepit men who have completely lost touch with anything normal about life who are trapped with each other and feed on pain and bleakness. And, in true Beckett fashion, we somehow find humor in that.
The Hypocrites production of Endgame is playing at The Den Theatre in Wicker Park through April 4th. For tickets and/or more information visit www.the-hypocrites.com.
*Photo - (left to right) Kurt Ehrmann, Brian Shaw and Donna McGough in The Hypocrites production of ENDGAME by Samuel Beckett, directed by Halena Kays. Photo by Evan Hanover.
Broadway In Chicago announced today that HAMILTON will return to Chicago for a multi-week engagement beginning March 4, 2026 through April 26,…
An electrifying evening of artistic fusion unfolded at the Auditorium Theatre as Hiplet Ballerinas, the professional company of the Chicago…
We are inside the Pompeii Club. From everything Charity has told us, the club is the place to be, and…
With AI and other technological advancements continuing to change the landscape of how we work and interact with one another,…
Riots of laughter greeted the City Lit Theater world premiere of “R.U.R. [Rossum’s Universal Robots]” Wait. Could this be the…
Paramount Theatre’s smash hit Million Dollar Quartet, a “roof-rattling…rapturous celebration of early rock ‘n’ roll” (Daily Herald), won’t stop rockin’ anytime…
See Chicago Dance, the dance industry's nonprofit service organization celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2025, is proud to announce organizations…
Broadway In Chicago announced today that individual tickets for Disney’s The Lion King, are now on sale to the public. Tickets ranging…
I’ll just say it - Cats is going to blow your mind. Now running at the Paramount Theatre, this spectacular…
“Galileo” written in 1938 by German playwright Bertolt Brecht, tells the straightforward story of the 17th century physicist and astronomer’s…
The adage goes that you can’t choose your family but you can choose your friends. Throughout our lives, we meet…
Hell in a Handbag Productions is pleased to conclude its 2024/25 Season with the world premiere of QUEEN FOR A DAY written by…
If our day-to-day lives were a collective color, it would probably be the color blue. Whether you are feeling blue,…
Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the nation's premier ensemble theater company, is pleased to present Noah Diaz's whimsical, wild, unpredictable and deeply moving Chicago…
A fool and their money are soon parted as the old expression goes, but what do you do when that…
Broadway In Chicago is thrilled to announce that HADESTOWN, the winner of eight 2019 Tony Awards® including Best New Musical and the…
Definition Theatre is proud to present the world premiere of Black Bone, a bold new satire by Chicago playwright Tina Fakhrid-Deen…
Stories that explore the emotional lives of men—especially Black men—are still far too rare on the American stage. Outside the…
Chicago Opera Theater (COT), Chicago’s foremost producer of new and rarely staged operas, proudly presents the world premiere of She Who Dared by…
Something extraordinary happens on a street in Huntsville, Alabama. Mr. Woods (Keith Randolph Smith), a hard-working Black man in the…
The Den Theatre today announced upcoming June 2025 shows at the theatre's Wicker Park stages at 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., including "Anatomy…
I reviewed TITUS ANDRONICUS in mid-February, so I was eager to see the sequel! In TITUS, Shakespeare tells the story…
BrightSide Theatre, Naperville’s professional theatre company, has announced the cast for the final show of its 13th season – the…
Eight Chicago artists from diverse backgrounds and disciplines have spent the last eight months in residence at the Chicago Puppet…
“Spring Awakenings,” now playing at Chicago’s Greenhouse Theater Center, is not the Tony-winning 2006 Broadway musical “Spring Awakening,” but an…
Rosemont's Parkway Bank Park entertainment district (5501 Park Place, Rosemont) will turn up the volume this summer with the return of its…
Lisa Sanaye Dring’s play “Kairos,” which just opened at The Edge Off Broadway theater, is one of the most thought-provoking…
It was a night of celebration, reflection, and breathtaking talent at the Civic Opera House. Fifty years of song echoed…
Court Theatre’s world premiere of Berlin, adapted by Mickle Maher from Jason Lutes’ monumental graphic novel, is a breathtaking achievement.…
Chicago's Rivendell Theatre Ensemble continues to celebrate its 30th Anniversary season with the World Premiere co-production of Keiko Green's GORGEOUS, directed by Kirsten Fitzgerald. The co-production…
Does your theatre company want to connect with Buzz Center Stage or would you like to reach out and say "hello"? Message us through facebook or shoot us an email at info@buzzcenterstage.com.
*This disclaimer informs readers that the views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to Buzz Center Stage. Buzz Center Stage is a non-profit, volunteer-based platform that enables, and encourages, staff members to post their own honest thoughts on a particular production.