Saturday, 27 February 2016 19:43
Neo-Futurists' Pop Waits: Electrifying As It Is Stimulating
Written by Ken Payne
Pop Waits, currently being performed at the Neo-Futurarium, is a smart and innovative production that takes audience members on a journey into the psyche of rock stars Iggy Pop and Tom Waits. Co-created by Molly Brennan and Malic White, the two are also featured in this well-written play/musical, each giving…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tuesday, 23 February 2016 19:17
Hilariously Stupefying - Marc Salem's Mind Over Chicago
Written by Ken Payne
Kinesics. As defined in the programs that are handed out at Marc Salem’s Mind Over Chicago, kinesics is a systematic study of the relationship between nonlinguistic body motions (such as blushes, shrugs, or eye movement) and communication. In other words, Marc Salem knows when you are lying despite what might…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Monday, 15 February 2016 17:38
Far from Heaven: When Does Marriage Meet A Dead End?
Written by Kimberly Katz
This excellent stage production of the 2013 musical Far from Heaven was based on Todd Haynes‘ 2002 motion picture of the same name. Far from Heaven is set in 1957 Hartford, Connecticut, well before the advent of the sexual revolution. Cathy Whitaker played by Summer Naomi Smart discovers that her…
Published in
Theatre in Review
It's hard to make popcorn look unappetizing, but "The Flick" succeeds. Annie Baker's Pulitzer Prize winning play, begs the question, are you actually friends with the people you work with? Under the direction of Dexter Bullard, The Steppenwolf Theatre confronts this challenging new play. The play begins in the dark…
Published in
Theatre in Review
What happens when a 1970s dance diva goes into hiding as a nun in a neighborhood parish, you might ask? Well, let’s just say she definitely makes an impact. After Delores witnesses a murder by her boyfriend (a gangster who is married), the sassy disco queen is thrust into a…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Wednesday, 17 February 2016 23:00
In the Story Behind ‘The Butler,’ Alonzo Fields Gets His Due, ‘Looking Over the Presidents Shoulder’
Written by Bill Esler
Key to the craft of an actor is learning the lines. In a 70-minute solo show where the star talks non-stop, that's a lot to learn, let alone deliver convincingly, and compellingly. Going well beyond that accomplishment, Manny Buckley is due accolades for his performance in American Blues Theater's "Looking…
Published in
Theatre in Review
How do you categorize a musical that is part comedy, part drama, and part burlesque? The answer is: you don't need you. Like Kander and Ebb's later popular Broadway hit Chicago, Cabaret uses flashy and often funny nightclub performance as a device to embellish and expound upon the more serious…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Sunday, 07 February 2016 19:56
Gender-bending Shakespeare actually returns to the Bard's roots
Written by Bill Esler
How much sex and booze can a Shakespeare staging stand? A lot, it turns out, as "Fifty Shades of Shakespeare" showed at its opening Feb. 5. And it proves again that Shakespeare is so good a playwright that his language, and stage dynamics, cannot be denied - even with Juliette…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Saturday, 06 February 2016 16:00
Mary-Arrchie's American Buffalo A Fitting Sendoff
Written by Ken Payne
After thirty years of bringing Chicagoans some of the city’s finest theatre, Mary-Arrchie will be closing their doors after its current and final production, American Buffalo. In this sharply written piece by David Mamet, Mary-Arrchie co-founder and jack of all trades Richard Cotovsky is joined by Stephen Walker and Rudy…
Published in
Theatre in Review
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Sunday, 31 January 2016 18:16
Straining for Sincerity: Mothers and Sons misses on all fronts
Written by Kendall Royzen
Truth should be at the heart of every good drama piece. Truth, honesty, a bit of realism, something that makes the audience connect with the story, or the characters. Terrence McNally's Mothers and Sons playing at Northlight Theatre in Skokie attempts to reach a truthful depth, but leaves audiences shrugging…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Christian Gray and Jim McCance pair up once again for another Jeeves adventure, this time in Margaret Raether’s latest adaption from the stories of P.G. Wodehouse “Jeeves At Sea”. Gray, who was simply tremendous in his last First Folio appearance in “The Madness of Edgar Allen Poe”, this time plays…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Thursday, 28 January 2016 23:52
Vices Overcome Virtues, Just Barely, in Neil LaBute's One-act Wonders
Written by Bill Esler
Playwright Neil LaBute earned a bad boy reputation early on, putting the spotlight on the extremely politically incorrect, while challenging audiences - and critics - along the way. In Vices & Virtues, his newest effort running at Profiles Theater, LaBute also stretches the performance format, queuing up twelve one-act 'playlets,'…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tuesday, 26 January 2016 23:04
A Virtuosic Turn as Louis Armstrong in Satchmo at the Waldorf
Written by Bill Esler
Riveting. Arresting. Barry Shabaka Henley's performance as Louis Armstrong in Court Theatre's one-man-show Satchmo at the Waldorf is surely one of the great stage performances delivered in Chicago - or anywhere, for that matter. Lone actors on stage can be dry - and we were only mildly curious about the…
Published in
Theatre in Review
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