Thursday, 07 January 2016 19:30
Young Sophisticates Emerge as Real Playwrights
Written by Bill Esler
Crowdsourcing theater may be having its moment, as 500 script submissions competed for three slots in an evening of one-acts on the cozy stage at the Chicago Dramatists theater. Never mind this is the annual Pegasus Players high school competition. What they have wrought this time around is a delightful…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Wednesday, 30 December 2015 15:12
If You Ever Loved Dancing You GOTTA See "Gotta Dance"!
Written by Kimberly Katz
"Gotta Dance" is a partly fictional partly true story based on the 2008 documentary film by Dori Bernestein about the New Jersey Nets and the basketball team’s efforts to boost flagging attendance by creating the first-ever hip-hop halftime dance team comprised only of those 60 and older. Georgia Engel, best…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Friday, 18 December 2015 12:15
"Domesticated" The Play that Refuses to be Domesticated, Brilliantly Written, Funny and Feminist
Written by Kimberly Katz
Bruce Norris, also a member of the Steppenwolf ensemble, wrote and directed this very funny, fast moving play about a gynecologist turned politician, Bill Pulver, who ends up putting a young prostitute into a coma during rough sex play. The play opens at a press conference as the news hits…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Here is a theater event that is so rich you cannot be disappointed. Anyone who attends Dynamite Divas: A Tribute to Women in Soul will be richly rewarded by the experience. In fact, it is so good, I would say run, don't walk, to the Black Ensemble theater to see…
Published in
Theatre in Review
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Monday, 21 December 2015 20:49
Apollo Chorus Delivers in Up-Tempo Handel's Messiah
Written by Bill Esler
The Apollo Chorus has been performing Handel's Messiah since 1879 and they have it nailed. Singing through the 53 Bible passages Handel set to a Baroque score 250 years ago, it becomes quickly clear - three numbers in - as the choir sings its first part, who owns this performance:…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tagged under
Tuesday, 08 December 2015 08:18
"Christmas Dearest" Is Laugh Out Loud Holiday Fun
Written by Kimberly Katz
I've seen Hell in a Handbag’s production of “Christmas Dearest” before and the dazzling funny and yet touching show has now officially become part of my true Holiday tradition. The reason being is that it takes the classic tale "A Christmas Carol" and throws some six-inch, size 11 heeled, f*ck…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Monday, 07 December 2015 22:24
The Nutcracker Captures the Magic of the Holiday Season
Written by Michelle Reidy
There is no better way to get in the holiday spirit than with the classic Christmas ballet, the Nutcracker. Twenty-eight years after Robert Joffrey’s original production, this is the final year that the Joffrey Ballet will perform this Nutcracker (2016 brings us the world premier of Christopher Wheeldon’s Nutcracker!). Even…
Published in
Theatre in Review
In a cramped police station in Southern France, a handful of men argue about why they were picked up for questioning. During the Nazi occupation of France in WWII, Germany left Vichy to be governed by France. This didn't exempt the zone from mass deportation of Jews living on false…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Wednesday, 02 December 2015 22:09
Review: Beautiful "The Carole King Musical" at Oriental Theatre
Written by John Accrocco
Everyone's mom has a copy of "Tapestry," and by now the songs are almost as familiar as the Star Bangled Banner. What many may not know is that composer Carole King and lyricist Gerry Goffin literally shaped the sound of early rock 'n roll with their songs made popular by…
Published in
Theatre in Review
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Tuesday, 24 November 2015 21:38
"Burning Bluebeard" Has Become Rich Holiday Tradition in Chicago
Written by Kimberly Katz
Chicagoans' love for historical dramas and our ghost and gangster bus tours are very popular here, so it is not surprising that this very well written and performed ensemble play about the very real, tragic Iroquois Theater fire in 1903 that killed over six hundred people packed in for an…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Thursday, 26 November 2015 00:42
Even Arquette's Funny Can't Save Sherlock Holmes
Written by Kimberly Katz
Broadway in Chicago and producers Starvox Entertainment and June Entertainment present “Sherlock Holmes”, starring the often very funny David Arquette in the title role that is based on the shrewd detective in the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle mystery novels. Now, I like David Arquette, I think he’s a talented comedic…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tuesday, 24 November 2015 20:46
"That's Weird Grandma: The Holiday Special" Brings Big Holiday Laughs
Written by Eden Diez
Check out the Barrel of Monkeys on a first date, see if your date has a sense of humor. Take your 4th grader and laugh over ice cream after the show. Drag the whole office to the Neo-Futurist Theater and forget about the overwhelming stress for an hour, then return…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Use the bathroom before you take your seat at Theater Wit for Joe Mantello’s stage adaptation of David Sedaris’ now-classic holiday essay, Santaland Diaries. Trust me. The show runs one hour 20 minutes without an intermission. But more to the point, you will laugh your jingle bells off! Mitchell Fain…
Published in
Theatre in Review
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