Displaying items by tag: Chicago

Where’s Plano? I’m not sure, but it’s a place some characters of the namesake play like to visit often. Perhaps Plano doesn’t even exist.

Presented as part of Steppenwolf’s LookOut Series and directed by Audrey Francis, this Will Arbery’s dark comedy is progressively more disturbing. All of its characters seem to be suffering: Genevieve (Ashley Neal), the outspoken artsy sister, is very unhappy but won’t say why. Her husband Steve (Andrew Cutler) has a split personality disorder, quite literally actually. Anne (Elizabeth Birnkrant) feels un-loved and worthless, and in her quiet desperation she fills her time with killing slugs in her apartment. Her husband John (Chris Acevedo) who is suffering from a “small feet curse” that runs in his family, is “probably gay”. And, according to her cruel sisters, he’s using Anne to get his green card. The youngest sister, Isabel (Amanda Fink), is in most pain because her mysterious illness is spiritual in nature. Which, naturally, makes her a saint. Not to mention that she has a “friend” (Faceless Ghost, played by Andrew Lund), who intermittently acts as her mate and her illness. But if you think the sisters are mad, you should see their mother, Mary (Janice O’Neil). This is no ordinary dysfunctional family, it’s a study in subclinical mental illness: not quite ill enough to seek help, but really, really unwell. Kind of like most of us.

Plano is staged with an admirable efficiency: great use of props (scenic design by Kristen Martino) and clever use of language, which helps to effortlessly span long durations of time and various spaces, bringing continuity to the events without having to change decorations or go through many props. Excellent acting and intimate space that’s First Floor Theater will leave you feeling like you’ve just visited with your own dysfunctional family. It’s funny, all right, but the underlying sadness subtly gets in the way, making Plano more “dark” than “comedy”.

Plano runs through March 28^th at Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theatre. www.FirstFloorTheater.com.

Kids these days…

I went into opening night of Gift Theatre’s production of Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman only knowing that my 16-year-old daughter was excited to be my date. “It’s dark, Dad,” she warned me. Boy, was she right. “But it’s amazing, Dad,” she also assured me. And boy, was she even righter on that count.

So, dark and amazing. The Pillowman is both of these. But what is it?

A buddy cop piece. A murder mystery. The touching tale of two brothers, each all the other has in the world. A warning from some dystopian dictatorship. A volume of grim, gruesome fairy tales. The Pillowman is all of these things, and more. Much more.

I haven’t enjoyed a play this much since Goodman’s Jeff-winning 2018 production of The Wolves. And that’s because — along with McDonagh’s masterful book, Laura Alcala Baker’s visionary direction, and Lauren Nichols and Courtney Winkelman’s dark, stark scenery, of course — the four actors who tell The Pillowman’s story (and its stories within the story) give what’s a pretty soulless premise a whole lot of soul. The four-person cast is The Pillowman’s beating, battered, bleeding, bloody heart.

A word of warning. This play is dark. And shocking. And violent. It’s about child murders. And even worse, childhood trauma. But even more shocking is, coming from the mouths of a couple of the characters, a word I’d figured was too taboo to have to hear in today’s world. The R Word. Of course, its use speaks volumes about the characters who use it. Even as it’s used to describe Jay Worthington’s Michal, a developmentally disabled fellow. Worthington, to his credit, plays Michal with incredible restraint and empathy, never using the character’s condition and lot in life for laughs. Whether climbing the walls or crawling the floor, whether admitting to the unthinkable or revealing unthinkable trauma, Worthington’s Michal draws the eye whenever he’s onstage — an incredible character, but just as incredible a performance.

Michal’s brother Katurian, the play’s main character, is a storyteller and tells this story to us, the audience. Tucked away in some future police interrogation room for the duration of the play, Katurian begins the show with a bag over his head, as in the dark as his audience — us — is. Martel Mannin’s face and expressions do the same heavy lifting that Michal’s physicality do, manufacturing suspense, shock, and sorrow — a lifetime of sorrow. And, along with inventive ways of illustrating Katurian’s twisted children’s tales, Mannin’s face and voice keep the audience enraptured as he tells one story after another, each designed again to suspend belief, to shock sensibilities, and to create a world of sorrow.

In Katurian’s world, his cement holding cell, we also meet the two cops investigating a series of incidents seemingly copied straight from the pages of the fictional storyteller’s fictional stories. Gregory Fenner’s Ariel comes off at first as the prototype “bad cop” (I think one of the two even identifies him as such), threatening (and carrying out) acts of brutality, puffing on a vape, and stalking the concrete cube that is the play’s entire world. But look closer and it’s Fenner’s eyes that tell deeper stories that come to the fore as the play progresses. In Ariel’s eyes, ferocity morphs into fear.

But in a cast where each member could lay claim to being the MVP, my award goes to Cyd Blakewell. Her role, Detective Tupolski — it seems both from the play’s unchanged dialogue and a bit of internet perusing I did after the house lights came on — was written for a man. (Jeff Goldblum played the role in New York.) This is a physical (and violent) play, and Blakewell’s easy and subtle physicality looms throughout, even as others are applying electrodes and murdering children and climbing and crawling and crying and creating dark imaginary worlds, as she just pretends at being the “good cop.” (Full disclosure: when Blakewell first started her bit, my daughter turned to me and said, “It’s mom!” at the same time I turned to her and said “It’s your mom!” so maybe her performance hit close to home.) And it’s the story that Blakewell’s Tupolski tells near the end, using just a blackboard and a piece of white chalk, that was for me the best scene in a play full of contenders.

So if you’re up for a very dark evening of entertainment, you’ll be entertained. And if you can get past some pretty unsettling content in order to admire acting and storytelling at its finest, The Gift Theatre’s The Pillowman is for you, now through March 29.

It's been 24 hours since I enjoyed this play and I'm still reeling from the super intelligent "trance-formation" delivered with rapid fire accuracy by Robert Dubac's one man show Book of Moron. Dubac plays out the thought patterns of a man who has traumatically lost a portion of his memory and is trying to "remember what he has forgotten". Along the way he employs the inner voices of His Common Sense, His Voice of Reason, His Scruples, His Inner Moron, His Inner Child, His Inner Moron and His Inner Asshole. Dubac even throws in a little real stage magic to show the audience how his character finds his way to the Truth.

In Dubac's world, even The Truth is a multi-leveled thing and he begins opening the doors in his brain to The Illusion of Truth, The Truth and The Whole Truth and Nothing but The Truth.  Along the way, Dubac uses props like a box he climbs in and out of  to represent our thinking "inside the box" and demonstrates clearly how TV has dumbed down an entire population by bombarding us with 9th grade reading level clichés and factoids about the Kardashians. 

Dubac tackles Sex, Media, Politics, and other inflammatory subjects like abortion and the death sentence with humor by pointing out the inconsistencies in thinking behind each and possibly aggravating all the different groups. But he manages to bring it all together by turning a literal mirror on the audience and concluding that when all the other letters of the "Illusions" are erased from the blackboard of his mind all that is left is "US". 

Dubac points out the obvious thing we have all forgotten that we are people who all share the same heartbeat, the same planet who have much more in our minds that unite us than the "Illusions of Truth" we have been programmed to accept which divide us. 

Dubac is also the author of the one man show The Male Intellect, An Oxymoron? and told the audience he is developing a new show called Stand Up Jesus.

I was completely blown away by his total control of his complex, fast moving text AND his audience’s reactions for 90 straight minutes with no intermission that I went to purchase his DVD The Male Intellect, an Oxymoron? After the show, because that's a subject I really love to examine. 

Dubac welcomed a just few questions from the audience at the end of the show because it was a "union house and he needed to get out of the theater faster than usual" but after the show at his merch table I got to ask him my burning question - he brought up Jesus several times during the show and seemed to be working his way to a higher spiritual "Truth" in the show but never really reached it . So, I asked him "Do you believe in Jesus?" 

Without any hesitation at all he smiled broadly and said "Oh, I AM Jesus!" and I laughed and tapped him on the heart center and said without hesitation, "Me too!" 

The show was so full of provocative ideas delivered in such a way to disarm and inform us that it made me eager to see the process of his developing of his new piece, Stand Up Jesus which he will be workshopping at Zanies next Monday (March 2nd) and Tuesday (March 3rd) here in Chicago.  

Book of Moron was delivered in a way that reminded me of a much funnier version of the 1970's transformational group EST,  "It Is" , The Werner Erhard Training which over the course of 48 hours caused participants to rethink their entire belief systems in such a way as to free their minds from the belief systems that were holding them back. 

Dubac manages to do almost the same thing in a record breaking 90-minute show. 

Enjoying Book of Moron live feels much like slowing down your brain long enough to clean it with fizzy water and then hitting it with a pleasant jolt of electricity to get it started again. 

I highly recommend seeing this marvelous and fast paced show right now, especially for thinking people who have become brain weary and overwhelmed by the last few years of the "fake facts' mentality.

You can catch Robert Dubac’s Book of Moron at Broadway Playhouse through Sunday, March 1^st. for more show information click here or visit www.RobertDubac.com.  

There’s something about a good mystery that keeps us engrossed. Maybe it’s the colorful suspects, maybe it’s the dissecting of clues involved, maybe it’s our own morbid curiosity that comes with murder - after all isn’t Forensic Files still one of the most watched TV shows? We like the detective work, plain and simple – the search for motive and opportunity and the gathering of evidence. And we certainly like the thought that everyone in the room is a suspect, no matter how unlikely they might seem. There’s a reason that Shear Madness has been running for forty years and is now one of the longest running non-musical plays ever (the whodunnit The Mousetrap leads all stage productions with the longest ever run). Well, amateur detectives, get ready because there’s been another murder in Chicago and your help is needed to solve the case. Once a mainstay in Chicago from 1982 through 1999, Shear Madness has returned, this time making its temporary home at Mercury Theater.

Taking place inside Shear Madness, a Chicago salon, life seems normal for the most part until the landlady upstairs is brutally murdered – stabbed repeatedly with a pair of – guess what - shears. But fortunately, Detective Nick Rossetti (Joe Popp) has been working undercover and is on the scene and through a bit of interrogation and deducing we find that everyone has a motive. Suspicion runs rampant as accusations fly everywhere and it soon becomes clear – the audience will need to help in bringing the killer to justice.    

Like in any engaging whodunnit, Shear Madness gives us a handful of intriguing characters and though the play starts off a bit sluggish to the point where one asks themselves where the story could possibly be going, the excitement quickly accelerates once the murder occurs and its direction is no longer in question. After a few scenarios are tossed around onstage, Detective Rossetti asks the audience to participate as the cast reenacts everything that had happened prior to the murder with as much detail as possible. If something is amiss or does not match what had actually happened, theater goers are invited to call out the discrepancy to help the detective put the pieces together. We are then encouraged to toss out any theories we might have to Detective Rossetti during the intermission where he makes himself readily available, at the same time we prepare questions to ask the play’s characters once the second act begins. Yes, we get to interrogate the suspects.

Best put, Shear Madness is just plain old fun. It’s a hilarious show that gives us a chance to crime solve along with the detective, some of its funniest moments the participation between audience and cast. Also entertaining are the many references to Chicago and several jokes that have been updated to include todays politics and pop culture. Sure, some of the humor is dated. The show was created in 1980. But it works – and works well. Thanks to Warner Crocker’s well-piloted direction and a superb cast that works well together and can also seamlessly interact with the audience on the fly, we see that funny is funny no matter when it was written so long as it’s delivered well. And no one was off limits. Touching on famous personalities from Taylor Swift to Bill Clinton to Joe Biden to Rod Blagojevich to dot, dot, dot, the play certainly takes its share of swipes. And while some of its jokes might be geared to ruffle a few feathers, the audience clearly takes them as just that – jokes. Even in its more contrived moments where predictable humor is used, a laugh is usually found. In the end it’s a silly comedy, not a show to be taken seriously, and lord knows we could all use a laugh or two.

The show does get a boost from audience involvement and even some good-natured heckling, but it naturally relies heavily on its cast. Ed Kross is a sheer delight to watch as Tony Whitcomb, the flamboyant salon owner, both his well-timed innuendos and physical comedy garnering one laugh after another. Mary Robin Roth as Mrs. Schubert also has many scene stealing moments as does David Sajewich as “used antique dealer” Eddie Lawrence while Brittany D Parker’s Barbara DeMarco hits the mark, as well. Detective Rossetti’s partner Mikey Thomas is played well by Sam Woods to round out an overall solid cast. Joe Popp as Detective Nick Rossetti is perhaps the most noteworthy of the bunch, as his character is kind of the glue that holds everything together in this production. As theater goers bounce one question or theory off the detective (sometimes with spot on observations and often quite absurd), Popp impresses repeatedly never wavering from his character and never absent of a quick, often humorous, response.

Shear Madness is also a play that can be enjoyed more than once. The story has four possible outcomes based on how the audience votes, and even if one gets the same outcome twice, you can be sure the audience participation will differ each and every time.

A unique theatre experience that has the audience laughing as much as it has them guessing, Shear Madness breaks down the fourth wall and delivers two one-of-a-kind fun-filled hours.

Shear Madness is being performed at Mercury Theater through March 29^th. For tickets and/or more information visit www.MercuryTheaterChicago.com.           

Each season Joffrey Ballet Company presents a show comprised of works of various influential artists; this winter’s repertoire is a worldly combination of five works by four contemporary choreographers: British-born Christopher Wheeldon’s Commedia, Israeli choreographer Itzik Galili’s Mono Lisa and The Sofa, Chicago’s Stephanie Martinez’ Bliss!, and Chicago premiere of Justin Peck’s The Times Are Racing.

Opening the performance is Commedia (created in 2008), which takes us to the French-influenced 1920’s world of dance. For this piece, Christopher Wheeldon drew inspiration from Igor Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella Suite”, which was originally composed in 1920 for a ballet featuring harlequin costumes by Pablo Picasso. Commedia is the longest piece of the evening, with several scenes set to the beautiful, albeit occasionally disturbing, Stravinsky’s music. It starts out with a group dance (Sinfonia) which sets the tone for a gorgeously expressive and athletic ballet. Dancers are wearing very Picasso-ish black and white harlequinade costumes designed by Isabel Toledo, which also bring out the whimsical nature of Wheeldon’s choreography. This ballet is mesmerizing in its entirety. Pas des deux dances (such as Serenata by Brooke Linford and Yoshihisa Arai, and Gavotta by Gayeon Jung and Edson Barbosa) all have some hypnotic fluidity that takes one’s breath away. The ballet’s highly creative choreography is only matched by Joffrey dancers’ exquisite skills, resulting in a piece that is simply stunning.

After the first intermission, the next three pieces are united by a common theme of modern courtship. Mono Lisa and The Sofa, both choreographed by Itzik Galili, playfully explore the nature of romantic relationships. Mono Lisa, created in 2003, features the fabulous Victoria Jaiani and Stefan Goncalvez. He likes the girl; she plays hard to get – the old game of cat and mouse. Percussive sounds of an old typewriter set to a cool bit (original music by Itzik Galili and Thomas Hofs) create intensity, as in some futuristic tribal music.  Completed by the dancers’ precise moves and skilled acrobatics, Mono Lisa is decisively void of any romantic quality. This is further enhanced by the set design consisting of steel frames and bright lights.

 Galili’s second piece of the evening, The Sofa, has certain elements of a pantomime. The sofa on the stage becomes piece de resistance, where the couple fights for space and independence. The boy is a little aggressive towards his girl, but then he gets a taste of his own medicine in a comical gender-reversal twist half-way through the dance. Danced by Temur Suluashvili, Anna Gerberich and Fernando Duarte, it’s a fun and highly energetic piece set to music by Grammy Award-winner Tom Waits.

Included in the program is Chicago choreographer Stephanie Martinez’ ballet The Bliss! which she created for the Joffrey Ballet Company as a part of an Igor Stravinsky evening. For this piece, Martinez was inspired by Mildred and Robert Bliss who commissioned Stravinsky to compose Dumbarton Oak Concerto for their 30^th wedding anniversary. On stage there’re six handsome topless male dancers, possibly looking for a testosterone-fueled action. A pretty girl enters and a scene out of Michael Jackson’s video “The Way You Make Me Feel” immediately comes to mind. It’s a mating game, no doubt, full of flirt and seduction. A beautiful as well as an interesting piece whose many different flavors and textures develop as it moves through Stravinsky’s music.

The program concludes with The Times Are Racing, Justin Peck’s so called “sneaker ballet” for 20 dancers. Dancers wearing street clothes (costumes by Humberto Leon) including shirts with word-messages such as “defy”, “change”, “protest”, “shout”, and “fight”, move with purpose and grace. Set to the last four tracks of Dan Deacon’s album America, it’s a very youthful and explosive ballet, which draws its inspiration from a variety of dance styles. Featuring an incredibly expressive dancer Edson Barbosa, as a boy lost in the city, exploring and seeking, trying to learn and ultimately fit in.  

Through February 23rd

http://joffrey.org/

Raven Theater has a penchant for aptly timed revivals, and their production of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House is no exception. Published and set circa 1879 in Norway, the play offers a snapshot of domestic life at the time, reminding us how much progress has been made since then -- and warning us not repeat history.

Nora is a happy wife with a loving husband, three children, and a comfortable home. Everything seems grand, until the cracks start to show in the veneer of their supposed domestic happiness.

Husband Torvald, smiling, makes passive-aggressive comments to his wife about her spending habits, even though she's merely purchased some Christmas gifts for the children. Nora, of course, is not allowed to work to earn her own money either. In other words, money is a catch-22 for Nora, and for Torvald's it's a way to assert dominance. He spends most of his time holed up in his study, occasionally checking in on his wife and making sure she knows her place, calling her gentle pet names like "songbird" and his "doll."

Little does Torvald know or even deign to imagine that Nora has hopes, fears, opinions, and secrets of her own that she works to hide from him. In this house, she knows it is not her place to be her own person; that is the husband's job. She is meant to decorate, care for the children alongside the nanny they already hire to care for the children, tend to her husband, and dance well at parties.

Nora is not even allowed to open the household mailbox, to which only Torvald has a key, yet another way for him to keep her under his thumb. The locked mailbox serves as a tangible symbol of the world, life, and opportunities that Nora can't access due to her position and gender. For all intents and purposes, she's a prisoner in her own domestic life, requiring permission from the warden, her husband, for anything she may need or want.

There's satisfaction in watching Nora realize over the course of the play what kind of man her husband really is, and actress Amira Danan deftly conveyed this transformation from bright and cheery to wise and wary. Whether or not she escapes her prison I'll leave a mystery. But I will leave you with the fun fact that this play caused significant controversy when it went into production in 1879.

According to playwright Ibsen at the time A Doll's House was written, "a woman isn't allowed to be herself in modern society." While that, thankfully, has changed, it should be pointed out that it was not so long ago Ibsen said this -- less than 150 years -- and to see this dynamic of the controlling husband and stifled wife play out onstage serves as a stark reminder of how far we've come, and where not to go again.

A Doll's House is playing through March 22 at Raven Theatre at 6157 N Clark St. Tickets and schedule here. 

"Life's a god damned laugh riot," writes Mart Crowley in his 1968 play "The Boys in the Band". Windy City Playhouse revives the iconic play under the direction of Carl Menninger. This is the first revival in Chicago in over twenty years. "The Boys in the Band" just ended a successful Tony Awarded run on Broadway in 2018. The film remake produced by Ryan Murphy is scheduled to premiere on Netflix later this year. 

Mart Crowley's play was a pivotal moment for LGBT representation when it opened off-Broadway in the late 60s. A play about five gay men throwing a birthday party for their friend struck a chord with both straight and gay audiences. It was a window into the previously taboo urban gay lifestyle complete with frank sexual references and queer vernacular. Crowley's observations about aging and love cover universal ground that many in their 30s and 40s can relate to. 

Windy City Playhouse's production is an immersive experience. A chic set by William Boles serves as both the seating and the performance space. Patrons are invited to the party snacks and are offered drinks throughout the two-hour show. This quirky touch adds to the fun of the first half of the play. The main character Michael (Jackson Evans) is hosting and one by one he receives his guests and bit by bit their life stories are revealed in searingly funny dialogue. The ensemble cast has great chemistry and the party environment is contagious fun. 

As the drinks flow and Michael's straight college roommate arrives, the play takes a decidedly darker tone. Similar to an Albee play, the witty banter ratchets up to cutting insults. The party is in Harold's (Sam Bell Gutwitz) honor but Michael has other ideas and initiates a demoralizing game. The battle for dominance between the two characters is uneasy and authentic. Gurwitz commands the stage in brief but withering lines. Jackson Evans makes Michael a sympathetic character even as he lobs outdated, racially insensitive insults at Bernhard (Denzel Tsopnang).

Despite 50 years of LGBT progress, the themes of aging, substance abuse and self-acceptance explored by Crowley feel as relevant today as ever. The world is much more accepting now than it was in 1968, but it's because of plays like "The Boys in the Band". Some aspects transcend sexual orientation while others are very specific to gay life. The play serves to humanize what people at the time thought of as perversion. "Boys in the Band" helped further a growing movement that would later open the door for more plays, novels and movies to tell LGBT stories in the mainstream. 

At Windy City Playhouse. 3014 W Irving Park Road. 773-327-3778

*Extended through May 17th!

It’s interesting to view the world through the lens of an early 20th century Italian opera composer. When “Madama Butterfly” by Puccini premiered in Milan in 1904 it was met with abysmal reviews. Audiences clamored that he had recycled music from his previous hit “La Boheme” which seems like the least of this opera’s problematic themes by today’s standards. After some quick revisions, “Madama Butterfly” emerged as one of the most recognizable operas in the world. Lyric Opera kicks off 2020 with a thrilling revival. 

“Madama Butterfly” is itself an adaptation of an 1898 short story by John Luther Long. Puccini worked with librettist Luigi Illica to bring this tragic semi-true story to the stage. The beloved opera has since been adapted many times since, mostly notably as “Miss Saigon”.  Puccini’s opera tells the story of a teenage girl who marries an American naval officer on a tour of duty in Japan. To him it’s a fake marriage so that he may sleep with her. To her, it’s true love. Predictably, the naval officer Pinkerton (Brandon Jovanovich) abandons her and she is left with a naïve hope that he will return to her. Despite other offers of marriage, Butterfly clings to the fantasy of Pinkerton while her maid Suzuki (Deborah Nansteel) shields her from a bitter reality. 

The opera was originally written in two acts, but audiences were left confused and disappointed. Puccini split the second act in two and inserted a hauntingly beautiful entr’act. Is this the best Puccini opera? Probably not. Where it excels at drama, it somewhat falters in the catchy melodies traditionally expected of Puccini. Afterall, it is Puccini whom we have to thank for influencing some of the best modern musical theatre composers like Andrew Lloyd Webber and Boublil/Schonberg. 

Lyric’s gorgeous revival directed by Louisa Muller seems understated. A subdued orchestra puts the spotlight on the cast, who more than delivers. Lyric stage favorite Ana Maria Martinez and Deborah Nansteel give two powerhouse performances. Martinez has a sung the role many times in her storied career and Lyric’s current production should be considered a real treat. 

Puccini and Illica’s perception are that Americans take what “fortunes” they want around the world with little regard to those they hurt. Puccini even goes so far as to sample the American national anthem many times throughout the opera. It’s deployed at such opportune moments that it would be impossible to read as flattery. Though, Puccini’s problematic orientalism in many of his operas often makes patrons bristle at unintentional stereotyping of Asian culture. While some of the themes of “Madama Butterfly” make modern audiences uncomfortable, what can’t be denied is that Puccini gave us some of the most accessible and entertaining operas ever composed. “Madama Butterfly” despite its flaws achieves what good theatre should. It grabs us by the heartstrings with an enchanting score and a compelling script. 

Through March 8th at Lyric Opera Chicago. 20 N Upper Wacker Drive. (312) 827-5600

I have seen Riverdance productions in the past and have always enjoyed them, but the Riverdance 25th Anniversary Show, currently being performed at Cadillac Place Theatre, really ramped up the production value and left me breathless. With new soundtrack additions by original composer Bill Whelan, and amazing 3D projections in the background by producer Moya Doherty and director John McColgan, this new touring production inspires and delights the eye from beginning to end.

Of course, the dancing is spectacular and with numbers that merge several dance forms like American tap and Flamenco, the artform of Celtic Riverdance proves that this form of dance is just as demanding if not more so than other traditional forms of dance. 

I had forgotten that many of the dancers also sing, their voices and harmonies exquisite and uplifting. Several lead vocal performances mesmerized the audience whether a solo sung or the entire ensemble joining in song. 

But as beautiful as the singing and visuals, Riverdance is about wowing its audience with its rapid-fire movement, intricate footwork and choreographed tapping that can at times be thunderous. Every dancer was fantastic. The two main dancer leads, Maggie Darlington and Jason O’Neil, had great chemistry while other prominent performers Gianna Petracic, Will Bryant, Patrick O’Mahony and Jason O’Neil continuously dazzled with one stunning performance after another.

The loosely based plotline allows for the romantic imagination to place its own meanings and personal inspiration about love and family and travel to and from one's homeland in many of the numbers. 

New technology employed on the ever changing lights and backdrops makes for a hypnotic and colorful experience that theater goers will find exciting and refreshing as one is challenged to watch the magnificent footwork of the dancers as the lush scenery rolls into and out of the stage area flawlessly.

Riverdance has come a long way since its beginning when it was just a seven-minute dance piece as an interval act in the 1994 Eurosong Dance Contest. The feedback from this captivating dance segment, a synthesis of Irish and International performance art, was tremendous, and the show creators knew they had something big. Soon after, the music show was developed into a full-length production in 1995 and box office records were broken and Riverdance has never looked back selling out shows all around the world. Riverdance brings us a unique dance form that requires and incredible amount of skill and can be roaring one moment and gracefully flowing in the next - and audiences just can’t get enough.    

I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend this new 25th Anniversary production of the Grammy winning and highly acclaimed show Riverdance for audiences of all ages who wish to spend a lively and uplifting night at the theater and leave feeling entertained and refreshed - especially during these gloomy Winter months!  

Riverdance is currently staged at Cadillac Palace Theatre through February 9th. For more info visit www.broadwayinchicago.com or www.riverdance.com.

When Tracy Letts wrote ‘Bug’ in 1995, it was an age when, yes, though conspiracy theories existed, they haven’t yet run nearly as rampant as the have since the September 11th, 2001 takedown of the mighty World Trade Center buildings in New York. Today we live in a world where conspiracies take form on a daily basis - and certainly the advances of information availability via the Internet over the past couple decades has played a big part in it.  ‘Bug’ reminds us that paranoia is nothing new and that going down rabbit holes can lead to ultimate disaster for some. But who’s to say one’s paranoia isn’t warranted – that there is some truth behind it? Perhaps partial truths lead to more truths or perhaps they become exaggerated. Or perhaps there was never any truth at all.

In Steppenwolf’s ‘Bug’ there are certainly leading moments of volleying back and forth on whether a truth exists or if paranoia-fed delusions have created a personal horror movie. 

Set in Oklahoma, we find a waitress, Agnes White (Carrie Coon) living in a roadside motel. She uses hard drugs and alcohol to get through most days and fears the return of her ex-husband, Jerry Goss, who was recently paroled from prison where he was incarcerated for armed robbery charges. While more and more paranoid with every silent phone call she receives that Jerry is near, she opens her door to a low-key drifter, Peter Evans (Namir Smallwood). He seems gentle enough. The two indulge in small talk and smoking crack and his company becomes a comfort to her. They are both lonely and she takes him in, hardly knowing him at all. Not long after a love affair begins, and then…he sees bugs…and more bugs…and then come the bites. The story quickly becomes a creepy thrill-ride filled with suspicion and government conspiracies, even touching on Bilderberg meetings, population control and the Oklahoma bombing, a tragedy that struck a particular chord with the playwright who was born and raised in the same state. It is a story about fear and trust. It is also, as Lett’s himself describes it, “a love story.”

Written to be staged in smaller theaters for a more intimate audience, Steppenwolf takes on the challenge of creating a larger production and, thanks to brilliant direction from David Cromer, who Letts calls the “greatest living director,” the theatre company pulls it off without a hitch. The play is up close and personal enough to really resonate while giving us a grand set that still puts every audience member inside the seedy motel room. Letts, a Pulitzer Prize for Drama winner, also shares his excitement of a larger venue. “’Bug’ has primarily been done in really small spaces, normally in theaters of 100 seats or fewer, so to see it in our theater with the caliber of our actors and David Cromer directing…I can’t wait,” says Letts.      

Ensemble member Carrie Coon, who previously tore it up in Steppenwolf’s ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf?’ and was nominated for a Tony for the same role on Broadway, shows us once again why she is considered a top-caliber stage actor. Her portrayal of Agnes is nothing short of breathtaking. Coon courageously navigates this bold role with harsh demands and leaves us with a performance that is haunting and memorable but most of all real. Fellow ensemble member Namir Smallwood is also superb is his take of Peter Evans and watching him is as compelling as is gets in this thriller. So convincing is Smallwood, I could have sworn I was getting bug bites just watching him. Together, the two are a force. In addition to the dynamism of the play’s two leads, the show gets strong support from Jennifer Engstrom as R.C., Steve Key as Jerry Goss and Randall Arney as Dr. Sweet.

Though a psychological thriller, the play is not without well-placed humor. It’s got a little of everything. ‘Bug’ is just a damn good show from its suspenseful opening scene to its climactic ending. The tension throughout builds at a steady pace, keeping us in the dark just enough to continually thirst for its next moment.

Highly recommended.

‘Bug’ is being performed at Steppenwolf Theatre through March 15th. For tickets and/or more information, visit www.steppenwolf.org.