Displaying items by tag: Broadway in Chicago

“Jagged Little Pill,” Alanis Morisette’s 1995, 16X platinum album, with 33 million copies sold, is her declaration of the terms of her self-emancipation. Timelessly truthful and inspirational, it remains an emotional catalyst for generations of people.

The album is at the core of Broadway in Chicago’s “Jagged Little Pill,” which opened Wednesday for a limited run (through April 23) at the Nederlander Theatre in Chicago. Nominated for 15 Tony Awards in 2021 following a pandemic caesura, this long-awaited Broadway roadshow is unlike other jukebox musicals— “Tina” or “Donna Summer” or “Carole King”—in that it is not a biography of Morisette. And unlike Sarah Bareilles’ “Waitress,” or The Who’s rock opera “Tommy” (coming to Goodman this summer) “Jagged Little Pill” doesn’t follow an inherent album-based storyline.

Rather, it was the emotional inspiration for a show written by Tony and Academy Award winner Diablo Cody (Juno, Tully), lyrics and music from Morrisette hits such as “You Oughta Know,” “Head Over Feet,” “Hand In My Pocket,” and “Ironic”, as well as brand new songs written for the show.

Like the album it relates an internal emotional journey, not of Morrisette, but of an upper middle class American family—rich turf for drama, from Ibsen to Chekov to Williams. “All happy families are alike, but every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,” as Tolstoy notes, and we watch the Healy's go their own way from ostensibly happy to quite a mess. But never fear, this is a Broadway musical and they make their way back to the road to redemption to deserving standing ovations at the end.

Heidi Blickenstaff reprises her role from the Broadway production as the mother, Mary Jane Healy, with Lauren Chanel as her adoptive daughter Frankie, Chris Hoch as her husband Steve, and Dillon Klena as Frankie’s older brother Dillon. Blickenstaff has both the sensitivity to deliver Morrisette’s soulful sentiments, and the Broadway belt to go full throttle. Chanel is perfectly expressive of Morrisette’s range and when joined by her first love-interest, Jo (Jade McCleod) we have a duet providing great renditions of the album melodies, woven so beautifully to the storyline. Klena is also notable singing Morissette as older brother Nick as is Rishi Galani as Frankie’s other love interest.

One aspect of the production is particularly inventive: choreography by Beyoncé collaborator Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. With Morrisette’s sensitive reflective lyrics (in a vein with Natalie Merchant, Sarah McLachlan, or Jewel) Cherkaoui and director Diane Paulus (known for Sarah Bareilles’ “Waitress) created dance avatars who are visually similar to the actors, but dance at major numbers relieving the leads from having to hoof it big numbers in ways that would seem out of character or clash with the underlying material.

At the other extreme, the potential for this approach can also be seen in an intimate pas de deux in which Mary Jane Healy confronts her inner demons with her dance double, Jena VanElslande. It’s a tour de force.

Another show stopper for creativity is a scene at a pharmacy played forward, then later reprised in reverse, as Mary Jane examines her path to drug addicition, a family secret until it became an undeniable plague. The recount of her growing addicition to oxycontin, graduation to harder drugs, and the crisis and intervention that led to her recovery are very accurate. 

Highly recommended, “Jagged Little Pill” runs through April 23 at the James Nederlander Theatre in Chicago.

In 2023, “iconic” is a word often used hyperbolically. It is flippantly used to describe and categorize an incredible movie, a famous influencer clap back, a beautiful piece of fashion, or even used to describe a viral TikTok video. When we overuse or misuse a word enough it loses its meaning. In 2023 I submit we reclaim the word and apply it to those in life that truly exemplify to word, where all generations can come together and for a fleeting moment bask in the glow and apt use of the word. Because there is only one word that can describe the biopic of the often revered Queen of Rock and Roll, only one word that can encapsulate her lifetime, her career, and her legacy that will live in the new musical medium of her life. Tina Turner. Iconic.

Much like the artist’s life, TINA-The Tina Turner Musical is a hard-hitting, fast-paced, exhilarating rollercoaster chronically Tina Turner’s extraordinary life and career. Spanning from her childhood days in Nutbush, Tennessee, her early career as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, her turbulent marriage to Ike Turner, and her incredible comeback as a solo performer which has often been hailed as the greatest comeback in music history. 

TINA- The Tina Turner Musical follows a similar style to some other blockbuster bio picks and plays such as Rocket Man (Elton John) and Mamma Mia (Abba), though it blows all other musical biopics out of the water. Tina’s catalog is sequenced into a timeline to tell her life’s story; “Nutbush City Limits”, released in 1973, opens up Act One of the musical where we meet Tina, born Anne Mae Bullock, who sings too loud for her 1940’s choir, “River Deep Mountain High,” released in 1966, is performed in lockstep to her storyline as she records the track with Phil Spector at the height of her career with Ike Turner, and “I Don’t Wanna Fight,” released in 1993, closes Act One as Tina is making up her mind to leave Ike after 16 years of marital abuse. Tina Turner’s catalog is filled with soulful, emotional, and powerful songs that provide the soundtrack to her life.

The audience is guided through the decades of Tina’s life through seamless stage transitions and beautiful costume design. A shuttered wooden door and simple cloth dresses for the 1940s, the big hair and glittering sequence against a tinsled 1970s Vegas stage backdrop, a microphone and desk in Phil Spector’s studio, bigger hair, a synthesizer, and a denim jacket for the 1980s. 

Zurin Villanueva and Garrett Turner, and cast, in the Broadway tour of "Tina - The Tina Turner Musical" at Nederlander Theatre. Photo by MurphyMade / Handout.

TINA arrives to Chicago and the theater circuit at a pivotal moment. Recent years have been tumultuous for women from the Me Too movement and recent infringement on bodily autonomy. The iconic Turner herself lived through horrid abuse at the hands of a man, and that abuse is still pervasive today. Skinny trends are threatening to plague women and further rollback the body positivity movement. Millennial women are equally too young to have a voice and not old enough to sit at the table despite having children of our own.As we look for hope or simple escapism in 2023, we can draw inspiration from Tina Turner’s remarkable career. She overcame segregation and performed in the Jim Crow south, facing rampant and often unchecked racism, sexism, and physical abuse. Women in Tina’s life loved and supported her as best they could at a time when women had little to no power or belief in their stories. Tina Turner still battled racism during a European resurgence during her work with her Australian manager, Roger Davies, and battled ageism at 45 being told she’s over the hill.As the bevy of female Oscar winners this year will show, the narrative that women’s lives are over at a certain age is patriarchal  nonsense. Without the fighting supportive and uplifting strength of women, Tina Turner would not have prevailed in her career and the world would be all the more dim without her light.

TINA- The Tina Turner Musical is the broadway musical we need to get us out of our seats and singing as Proud as Mary. The musical runs through April 2nd at the James M Nederlander Theater (24 W Randolph St), tickets are available at Broadway In Chicago, get your tickets today before this show rolls on down the river.

The first movie I remember seeing in a movie theater was John Huston’s 80s film version of Annie — the one with Albert Finney as Daddy Warbucks and Carole Burnett as Miss Hanigan. Burnett’s drunken spinster entertained little me nearly as much as the film’s climax high atop the steel girders of a New York City bridge terrified me. The story revolves an orphan (Annie), an eternal optimist who tries to make the best of every situation while living in a poorly run orphanage (thanks to the loathsome Miss Hannigan) hoping that someday a nice family will take her in. Tough, clever and ever-persistent, Annie soon becomes an inspiration and a sign of hope to the other orphans. When millionaire Daddy Warbucks enters the picture, life for everyone quickly turns in a new direction.  

Annie first entered our hearts from Day One of its opening on Broadway in 1977. And all these decades and movie versions and various stage productions later, it’s the songs of this show that have still stuck with me. My youngest was a toddler when the latest film version was released a few years back, and she quickly became enamored of Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin’s songs, too—some of her first words were stammered while she danced to “It’s the Hard Knock Life.” So, we were both excited for the new production of the Tony Award-winning musical Annie at the Cadillac Palace Theatre. And, like so many Broadway in Chicago productions, this one does a stellar job of putting on a beloved show full of song after song after song that are, as the kids would say, real bangers. Skillfully directed by Jenn Thompson and wonderfully choreographed by Patricia Wilcox this production checks all the boxes and then some. And Director Jenn Thompson knows a thing or two about Annie having played the role of "Pepper" in the original Broadway prodution at age ten.

(L to R) Krista Curry, Nick Bernardi and Stefanie Londino in the National Tour of ANNIE. Photo Credit_ Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade

And, like so many productions of Annie, it’s the kids who make this one special. Emulating the lead character to near perfection, Ellie Pulsifer as Annie looks the part, and charms with the show’s opener, “Maybe” (a song I’ve lullabied my kids with for two decades), but like a pro she holds back until her first time through “Tomorrow”—did I mention this show is full of great songs? —when she lets loose, the applause matches her effort.

The other orphans had set the bar for Pulsifer already, their orphanage dormitory stomp “It’s the Hard Knock Life” and its reprise getting the audience excited from the beginning. My daughter and my beloved Molly shine here, played by Bronte Harrison, but the rest of the children are wonderful, too. They’re only matched when Addison, the rescue dog playing Sandy, arrives onstage. Sandy is trained by Tony Award Honoree William Berloni whose skillset was also utilized in A Christmas Story and Legally Blonde.

The adults in the show ain’t half bad, either. Like most national tour companies, they’re really, really good, and the large ensemble nicely populates Depression-era New York. Stefanie Londino as Miss Hannigan fills the Cadillac Palace Theatre with her voice during “Little Girls,” and shows great chemistry with Nick Bernardi’s Rooster, her ex-con brother, on my favorite, “Easy Street,” along with his squeaky moll, Lily, played by Krista Curry.

And Christopher Swan’s Daddy Warbucks is all heart — both for Annie and for his hometown, especially on “NYC,” a song that hasn’t made it into every production, but should, as it’s as good as the others I’ve already listed.

So, if you’re a fan of this beloved show, of its beloved characters, and of these beloved songs that have become Broadway standards, make your way to the Cadillac Palace Theatre for Annie, now through March 19th. For tickets and/or more show information, click here.

In the world before, when the availability of musical theater was just a given, just another one of life’s perks I took for granted, there was a show that hadn’t yet been available, at least not to me. I’d been perked up, waiting to see it since it became the next big thing in 2016 or 2017, waiting for the national tour to hit Chicago. Missing the brief 2019 stopover, I was all set for the 2020 production…

…now, here in 2022 or whenever it is, that production is finally here…

And yes, the current run of Dear Evan Hansen at the James M. Nederlander Theatre was worth the wait!

In the ensuing years, our whirlwind world’s made media and songs and moments come and go, and I’d totally forgotten about the show, about what I’d known about it before, about all the hype all those hype cycles ago. Which made me come into this production more in the dark than I think I ever have for a show. This was new, like if I’d walked into Broadway’s Music Box Theatre in 2016, before all the hype and the Tony awards and everything else, and I was just there to enjoy a really good musical. And this musical proved to be just that, thanks to a stellar cast and crew.

As the titular Evan, Anthony Norman transforms himself over the course of the show. At first, I wasn’t sure if his jitters were actual jitters or the character, even as he showed he could really sing. But Norman’s Evan really comes out of his shell, for better or for worse, as the story progresses. And what a voice—I’ve still got “For Forever” going through my head.

Because, despite the heavy subject material, and the light the show has shone on important issues, this show is less about its story than it is about the songs and the opportunities they give a cast of really skilled vocalists to sing them. And this cast sing the heck out of them.

The star of the show, for both me and my daughter, was Nikhil Saboo as Connor Murphy. Sullen and intimidating and scary in life, Saboo’s Connor as 21^st-century Jacob Marley is the exact opposite—providing a heavy show some of its lighter moments, especially when he leads Evan and a friend through the hilarious “Sincerely, Me.”

And Evan’s friends all get their moments, as well. Alaina Anderson’s Zoe Murphy transforms as the show goes on, much like Evan. And Pablo David Laucerica’s Jared and Micaela Lamas’ Alana bring both levity and humanity—both of them skilled character actors and both talented singers—as do John Hemphill and Lili Thomas as the Murphy parents.

But Coleen Sexton’s overworked and doing-her-best mother, Heidi Hansen, is perhaps the truest character, the heart of the play, looking in at others’ hurt while navigating her own, while navigating life. Maybe it’s me, as the dad there with his kid, but Sexton was the show’s heart and soul, and the show has a lot.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the show’s musicians, visible above and behind David Korins’ screentime set. Garret Healey leads the orchestra through all of these wonderful songs, including beautiful cello by Tahirah Whittington and great guitar work by Matt Brown and Eric Stockton.

When I wanted so badly to see Dear Evan Hansen all those years ago, I had no clue how long I’d wait to see it. But the waiting made seeing this current production, playing at the James M. Nederlander Theatre through December 31, all the sweeter.

I doubt I’m alone when I say that Jesus Christ Superstar is one of the greatest musical productions of all time. It’s easy to love. It has all the elements that make a potent stage experience from marvelous music to compelling leads to an engaging storyline to explosive dance numbers. When it was first staged fifty years ago, the brilliance of composer Andrew Lloyd Weber and the on-target lyrics of Time Rice coupled with the performances Ted Neeley (Jesus), Yvonne Elliman (Mary Magdalene) Carl Anderson (Judas) and a talented ensemble were nothing short of magical. The edgy production shot its way through the 1970’s with critical acclaim where it still packs theaters today with new generations of vocally gifted actors taking on the classic roles. The musical, which was first staged in 1971 was inspired by the 1970 album with Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan singing the part of Jesus.

As decades have since flown by so have the different variations of this staged phenomenon. And really, it's as simple as this – for a musical production of Jesus Christ Superstar to be successful – and memorable, the show must have a strong Jesus, Judas and Mary. The current touring production of Jesus Christ Superstar, which is in the midst of a two-week run at Chicago’s Cadillac Palace, has just that. Aaron LaVigne is a wonderful choice to fill the sandals of Jesus. His guitar-playing presence is warm while strong, his vocals gentle while powerful, peppered with impressive range. Omar Lopez-Cepero as Judas must have been an easy casting choice as he is one who cannot only belt with the best of them, but effectively takes us down the dark road travelled by Jesus’ skeptical right hand. Jenna Rubaii rounds out this trinity of talent with an amazing performance that theatregoers will long remember. The performances of these three carry the show with such ease and command that it’s talented ensemble can freely do their thing to make this an incredibly stunning production Jesus Christ Superstar fans will not want to miss.

The musical centers around the final days of Jesus that lead to his crucifixion. As his popularity rises with the large number of people who see him as the Messiah, enemies emerge from both church and state that want him out of the picture. This period deals with the many complexities and human emotions, that he may have experienced, but also focuses on Jesus’ complicated relationship with Judas and Mary.

The music is timeless, and the musicianship is nothing short of incredible thanks to an inspiring performance by LaVigne (especially, during his rendition of “Gethsemane” – Wow!), and a flurry of praise-worthy vocal performances including Rubaii’s show-stopping “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” and Lopez-Cepero’s “Damned for All Time”.  

Outside of its main characters and its energetic, well-choreographed ensemble, Jesus Christ Superstar also gets a boost with several other standout performances. Tommy Sherlock is outstanding as Pilate while Paul Louis Lessard dazzles in the always crowd favorite sequence of “King Herod’s Song”, a number where the colorful king mockingly tests Jesus’ restraint. Alvin Crawford as Caiaphas leads the disturbed Pharisees with booming authority. 

In all, this production, holds its own and then some while maintaining the integrity of the hit musical staged fifty years ago. With admirable direction by Timothy Sheader and brilliant choreography by Drew McOnie, this production is topped with a uniquely crafted set and a commanding orchestra that compliments so well the stage musicians scattered about.

But let’s get back to Jenna Rubaii. As a vital component to making this touring show the smash that it has been over the past few years, it takes a special someone to pull off the role of Mary to the extent where not only audience members are clearly captivated by each note she sings, but to also have the ability to fully immerse us into this loving, caring dynamic between herself and Jesus. Within the first couple bars of “Everything’s Alright” it was apparent this production really found something in Jenna Rubaii.

Jenna Rubaii in the North American Tour of 'Jesus Christ Superstar'. Photo by Matthew Murphy, Evan Zimmerman - MurphyMade.

After such a wonderful performance, we wanted to find out a bit more about Jenna and had the chance to toss a few questions her way.

Buzz Center Stage: It seems like the cast is really tight and works well together. What is the chemistry like off stage? 

Jenna Rubaii: We are like family. Most of us have been a part of this since 2019. We were brought into a show where the subject matter is really deep and challenging and the show itself is really demanding and requires an emotional presence - vocal and physical presence. Beyond that, I feel that we as a company are all really close because we know how important this piece is, how much weight it carries with it being the 50th anniversary. I think artistically, it already meant so much to every single one of us. But as you see in this production it is very much an ensemble piece. And the mob mentality… and I’m thinking that everyone being a part of that just amplifies the importance that every single person feels. And I think that off stage, as artists and individuals, that’s an important weight to carry. So, I think that we as human beings, we’ve been so supportive of each other on and off stage. And because of what we have gone through together- Covid - this show was really the only constant in our lives for the past three years and has made us even stronger. I think, I hope, that is clear to the audience. We had that unique experience of going through that really challenging time and the subject matter really amplifies that a bit.

Buzz Center Stage: The work of Andrew Llyod Webber is timeless…. Since you mentioned the mob mentality in this production, how do you think Jesus Chris Superstar is still relevant today - with everything that has been going on…  Is this show still as relevant? 

Jenna: Absolutely. People are always looking for a leader. Someone with some sense of direction. Someone to look to. Something to look to. Obviously, you get that with Jesus. But we have also talked about how much community is too much community? Communities are always bringing people together, but what happens when there is too much of that, it can be destructive as well. So hopefully that point gets across in our production. And obviously with the climate of everything around the world, this piece really stands true no matter if you are religious or not. 

Buzz Center Stage: About yourself… How did you start out? And can you share how your journey as an artist took you to your role in an international production of Jesus Christ Superstar? 

Jenna: I grew up in Clearwater, Florida. When I was six years old, I auditioned for an all girls song and dance troupe. It was kind of like Glee meets the Mickey Mouse Club. From six years old to eighteen - for twelve years of my life - I had the unique opportunity to perform about 30 shows a year for different corporate conventions, events, we even sang for two presidents. In my hometown, there is a lot of spring training, so I sang the National Anthem all the time for sporting events. I grew up wanting to be a pop star - and we could use handheld mics in this show. It was really fun. I didn’t get into theater until after high school. Then I decided to go to the University of Miami for college - the school for theater. After school, I immediately ended up booking the national and international tour of Green Day’s American Idiot. And I actually have a picture and need to do a side-by-side screenshot because we performed at the Cadillac Palace about 9 years ago. It’s fun to revisit some of the places that you have already been on tour. So, I did American Idiot and then I booked another show that took me abroad for a while. So, I've done a handful of tours. And I ended up booking Groundhog Day and made my Broadway debut with that. And something else that is a fun little mention is that my first introduction to musical theater was performing in the children’s chorus of Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat - when that touring company came through my hometown. So, I’ve come full circle with Andrew Lloyd Webber - different biblical musicals. 

Buzz Center Stage: Wow. So, the stage is no stranger to you. You have lived much of your life on the stage. You mentioned the holding of the microphone in this production - this was an interesting choice for the show because little mic pieces are always used these days. But I didn’t miss it. I loved that they had certain characters holding the mic. It presented way more authority and more of a rock atmosphere. And I loved that touch by the director.

Jenna: Thanks! It is definitely an avenue of power. When somebody has the mic it’s an action of “this is my time, this is my story.” Of course, I think the most obvious choice for that is they wanted to bring the rock concert element to it. Everyone has opinions about the mic stands the microphones, but I feel that without them it would just feel like another theatrical piece. Whereas this blends the rock show vibe into the production. 

Buzz Center Stage: Were you a fan of the show before you were cast? 

Jenna: Of course! To be honest, I only knew the Mary material and I wasn’t super familiar with the rest of the show. But my dad is a huge fan and knows every single lyric to the show. I grew up listening to “I Don’t Know How to Love Him”. Of course, you don’t realize how much the show has impacted people. The show is 50 years strong. There was a time at the beginning of the tour when I started reading comments on Facebook and I realized just how many people were saying “this is my favorite show of all time. This is my favorite music”. And that is really when it hit me on how important a show like this is. 

And you don’t really get the opportunity to do that kind of stuff all the time. It’s really special. 

Buzz Center Stage: I’m sure your dad was thrilled when you got the role. 

Jenna: Yes! He’s been to the show many, many times. 

Buzz Center Stage: Yvonne Elliman, who plays Mary Magdalene in the original production, was she an influence? Did you try to interpret the role in your own way? How did you attack the role? 

Jenna: I try very hard to not watch or listen to other productions because I don’t want to feel like I’m copying anybody. Also, in this particular, the way Timothy (Sheader), our director, approached this production - he very much did not want us to play with any idea of who these people were. He did not want us to put a hat on it and say, “this is what I think Jesus is like,” or “this is what I think Mary is like.” So, we really approached it by bringing ourselves the piece. That made it really exciting as a performer because you don’t really get tired of the piece. But it’s also really challenging because you are being asked to bring yourself - however you are - to the table authentically every single night. And that is difficult because you still have to get the same story across and have the same intentions with the song, but you are not the same person every day. It was a very organic “bring yourself” approach. It’s a weird challenge and in a strange way makes it easier because I’m not trying to be someone else. I’m simply being me trying to convey the intent behind the song. 

Buzz Center Stage: I felt your performance was absolutely stunning. I really enjoyed your voice and your take on Mary. 

Jenna: Thank you! I really appreciate that! 

Buzz Center Stage: Ok, final question. Jesus Christ Superstar is a big deal, especially to someone like me who puts it in the top musicals of all time - What are you thinking for after this? What are your aspirations beyond Mary? 

Jenna: Oh gosh! It is a big question. I think, and I think I can speak for most of my cast members too, that this show really fulfilled me in an artistic and personal way that I hope I can continue to do more art like this. The production feels more like an art piece than a theater piece. I always want to be part of something that is thought provoking – that is really human - really brings an aspect of humanity to the table. And something that is new. I would love to be able to work on a new musical. Something with a lot of meat in it - complex and interesting. And I think that is what most of us really want to be a part of. Something that challenges you in that way and fulfills you in that way and that can also translate to audiences and make them think too. So, nothing specific, but that is what I hope to put out into the universe. But the goal is to find something that is challenging for you, exciting for you, and that fulfills you in whatever way you personally need. Everyone has their own artistic journey.

Buzz Center Stage: That sounds great. Well said. You really seem to seek out challenges. And you have accepted and met the challenge in this production as Mary. The audience can just feel it - that you aren’t just up there doing the show, but that there is a passion within you projected throughout the house

Jenna: Thank you. 

Buzz Center Stage: Thank you for talking! 

*Running through July 31^st, this is a well-crafted, must-see musical production that longtime fans and Jesus Christ newbies are sure to cherish. For tickets and/or more info click 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.

It’s hard to cheer and yell with a mask on. But that I did right along with the entire crowd at “Paradise Square,” as Joaquina Kalukango delivered a shatteringly powerful show-stopper, “Let It Burn,” holding the audience in her thrall for every second.

This was the best but not the only great moment in “Paradise Square,” which opened its five-week, pre-Broadway run November 2 at the Nederlander Theater and officially opens November 17. It’s the relatively unknown tale of the Five Points District in New York City, the tough section that is portrayed circa 1846 in “Gangs of New York.”

Set during the Civil War in 1863, “Paradise Square” tells of the Black community of free-born men and women who lived in harmony with Irish immigrants, intermarrying, and singing and dancing together. The score draws on the music of Stephen Foster, who had lived and worked in the Five Points. 

But as the Civil War rages on, the Union declares an unprecedented military draft, affecting only white working men. Blacks were exempted from the draft because they were not  considered citizens. Wealthy people could hire substitutes. The immigrants resisted, and eventually turned on their Black neighbors to vent their rage, leading to the infamous New York Draft Riots of July 1863. This is not glossed over in "Paradise Square" but is the main plot point. 

Kalukango plays the central role of Nelly O’Brien, proprietor of the saloon in which the action takes place. Her Irish immigrant husband is Willy O'Brien (Matt Bogart); her sister-in-law Annie O’Brien (Chilina Kennedy) also works in the saloon, though her husband is a preacher, Reverend Samuel Jacob Lewis (Nathaniel Stampley).

Kalukango is the dramatic anchor throughout the show, but it is her transcendant performance of "Let It Burn" that also serves as the climax of the plot, and its denoument. We’re talking Jennifer-Hudson-in-Dream-Girls calber, perhaps even better. Really!

Other spectacular moments include the performance of A.J. Shively as newly arrived Irish immigrant Owen Duigan. Shively is a sensational singer and dancer. Each time his lilting, filigreed tenor launched into “Why Should I Die in Springtime,” tears welled in my eyes. 

Chilina Kennedy gives us an Annie that is a firebrand and a spark plug. The beauty of her soprano is a perfect complement to Kalukango’s powerful mezzo-soprano. When the two sing a duet, it is sublime.

But this is even more a show about dance. Featuring choreography by Bill T. Jones, it shows off many dance styles, emphasizing Irish step-dancing and Black American Juba, as well as tap dancing, believed to have originated in Five Points. Jones’s choreography greets us as soon as the curtain rises in an opening scene in which the preacher blesses departing soldiers, two wraiths do what might be described as a liturgical dance.

Jones also crafts the visual representations of the Underground Railroad, which in this show is given parity with Ellis Island as a point of entry for Black immigrants from the South. "Paradise Square" breaks new ground in its full embrace of the Black journey as a part of all of our stories in the formation of America.

Produced by Garth Drabinsky, “Paradise Square” is directed by Tony Award nominee Moisés Kaufman and a book by Christina Anderson Marcus Gardley, Craig Lucas and Larry Kirwan. The production features the “re-imagined” songs of Stephen Foster and original compositions, with a score by Jason Howland, Nathan Tyson, Masi Asare, and Kirwan.

There are some weaknesses in "Paradise Square." As might be expected with four hands scripting and five composers involved, we have a story that is everything and the kitchen sink, plus music and dance. The music is continuous and at times, soaring. But much of it is undistinguished. The second half is refreshingly direct, and regardless of its shortcomings, "Paradise Square" is not to be missed. 

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Though I loved her music and her voice, I knew little about the celebrated Queen of Disco, Donna Summer - before seeing the Broadway in Chicago show about her. Summer: The Donna Summer Musical tells it all, an engaging narrative spiced with the diva’s great music, beautifully performed.

Musically, Donna Summer was distinctive from other techno-driven disco singers when she burst on the scene in the late 1970s. Her music had a spirit to it, an emotional depth, a poignancy suggesting a trapped soul yearning to escape and express itself.

In Summer the stage musical at the Nederlander in Chicago, her songs are set against the arc of her life. Three singers play her at various points: Alex Hairston is the younger Disco Donna; Dan’yelle Williamson is the older Diva Donna; and Olivia Elease Hardy, “Duckling Donna,” plays scenes earlier in her life. 

Donna Summer wrote or co-authored many of her hits. Not every song is sung in total (though many are) - but we hear enough of each one to be satisfying, and to advance the action. Of course not all her hits would fit in the show - which is one hour and forty minutes with no intermission.

We hear the incomparable "McArthur Park" cover - the first release that fulfilled her ambition to be more than a just disco queen. We hear “She Works Hard for the Money” and learn it was the completion of a contract obligation as she left her old studio for a better agreement.

Reared in Boston, third of seven children in a close-knit, nurturant family, she was the irrepressible performer, the ham, always putting together shows with her sisters performing and her family as audience.

As a teenager, she cut school to audition for a new musical, Hair - and was cast in the Munich production. (Her first single was "Aquarius," was recorded in German.) She found her way into another German recording studio on the strength of a demo track - where she was later discovered by another recording studio on the strength of a demo song, “Love to Love You.” From there she entered the wild ride of the pop star career - but Summer kept a level head. 

As the show recounts it,  "Love to Love You" got her branded as a “Disco Queen,” a label she resisted at first. She always wanted to be a full-range vocalist. But the gates to fame and fortune beckoned, and she walked through them. 

We follow her home life - two husbands, both German, the second one Bruce Sudano, a bass player who fathered two of her three daughters. Played by Steven Grant Douglas, his duet with Alex Hairston as Disco Donna dancing within his guitar strap to "Heaven Knows" is a delight. 

This show is not a typical jukebox musical. Unlike Carole King, Tina Turner or Cher, the inspiration for Summer on stage passed away (from cancer, at age 44, in 2012.) Instead of a living legend, she is now legendary. And Summer the Donna Summer Musical at Broadway in Chicago will give you an appreciation of her life, well lived, through her songs, well sung. It runs through Feb. 23 at the Nederlander

Two kinds of people are loving the Broadway musical roadshow Waitress: fans of Sara Bareilles, the multi-platinum singer-songwriter who created the songs and lyrics; and fans of the 2007 Sundance sleeper hit film, Waitress.

That right there is a big built-in audience, and Broadway in Chicago is drawing them in to the Cadillac Palace Theatre – perhaps many of them new to live stage.

In this vibrant, energy-packed show, Desi Oakley plays Jenna, a young woman in a small town, who faces an unwanted pregnancy, trapped with an extremely abusive husband in a loveless marriage (for her, anyway), while working as a diner waitress at Joe's Diner & Pie Shop. (Jenna was played by Keri Russell in the film.)

Jenna’s specialty is pies, and these will be the key for one day to run her own shop – the successful resolution of the story in the film and a made-to-order happy ending for a Broadway show. The staff and customers of the diner provide the de rigueur corps of sidekicks, supporting characters, and chorus of singers and dancers. The sidekick trio largely makes the show work: Charity Angel Dawson is Becky, the tough waitress with a heart of gold; Lenne Klingaman play the ditzy waitress Becky; and Ryan Dunkin is Cal, the diner cook who looks like a tough biker but is really a pushover.

The show is lively and colorful, and avoids veering into the extremes of “manufactured musical” (like Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville) or jukebox show (The Cher Musical) – largely on the basis of Sara Bareilles’ excellence as a songwriter. The emphasis by Bareilles also seems to be on how the mother-to-daughter relationship transmits strength, values and aspirations - the baking is a metaphor for all those life values a mother hands off to her daughter. 

Bareilles’ music is generally not the kind you would associate with a Broadway show - which requires big dance numbers, and sufficient belting to the rafters to telegraph the story to the audience. But Bareilles does provide these numbers, as well the dance sequences (though most are done by seated members of the troupe in Joe's Diner & Pie House). We also get the humorous interludes, duets, and the familiar “advice” song styles, such as “Take It From an Old Man” by the wise old man Joe (Larry Marshall).

The more delicate and emotionally expressive style of Bareilles dominates the second act, with small settings away from Joes Pie Diner – making it really like two plays, Act II bringing us the emotional angst and catharsis – as Jenna finally asserts herself and leaves her horrid husband Earl (Nick Bailey is both a hunk and a dastardly bastard) that we associate with the film. (Interestingly, the film's writer and director also played a supporting role in the movie, the role of Dawn. 

Waitress runs through July 22 at the Cadillac Palace Theatre. You can't go wrong if you see it, especially if you area fan of Sara Bareilles.

On Your Feet! is the compelling rags to riches tale of Emilio Estefan and Gloria Fajardo Estefan’s odyssey - from dreaming Cuban immigrants, to stars who brought a fresh Latin flavor to the American song book.

It’s also a love story, and a musical journey. It wasn’t painless, either. And the story line – they flee the island as the Communists rise to power, they fight against great resistance by recording studios to allow them to cross over to general audiences - provides sufficient grist for a dramatic mill that makes this much more than a juke box musical.

The Estefans’ music, popularized through their band, the Miami Sound Machine, in the 1980’s, may be less a fixture of our contemporary music scene – Shakira, from Columbia, is now better known as a Latin music star and alone has sold more albums than Gloria. But without question the Estefans’ songs are embedded in our collective culture.

At first, producers refused to release their music outside the traditional Latin markets, thinking it couldn't sell to "ordinary" Americans. In the show, Emilio goes nose to nose with the record label executive, telling him, “This is the face of an American!”, a line that won healthy applause from the Cadillac Theatre audience.

The Estafans resorted to guerrilla marketing, bringing records directly to dance clubs and pop stations, and performing for free at bar mitzvas and a Shriners convention. The strategy worked, launching the 1985 hit, “Conga,” to the top of the charts While nowadays YouTube, Vimeo and Facebook would do the trick.

To tell their story, the two developed On Your Feet! With its creative team and the rich vein of Gloria Estefan’s music, On Your Feet! made for a likely slam dunk, and indeed it is. The road show is directed by Jerry Mitchell – he won a Tony for Kinky Boots - with choreography by Sergio Trujillo (you saw his work in Jersey Boys). And the book is Alexander Dinelaris, who received an Academy Award for the movie Birdman (about a Broadway play, by the way).

Excitement comes from the moment the curtain rises on the big orchestra, which plays from back stage. The scene soon moves to Miami’s Little Havana, where the dutiful young Gloria Estefan is doing laundry, and singing traditional songs. In fact, the varieties of music - from renditions of street songs, to a fully orchestrated and choreographed night club act from pre-revolution Havana (starring Gloria’s mother, played with panache by Nancy Triotin - shades of Chita Rivera!) - enrich this show musically.

The quality and precision of the choreography is also worth noting. These highly expressive yet disciplined dancers are among the best I have seen in any musical, anywhere.

In addition to featuring the best-of songs (“Rhythm is Gonna Get You,” “Conga,” “Get On Your Feet,” “Don’t Want To Lose You Now,” “1-2-3” and “Coming Out of the Dark”) the Estefan’s added some new transitional pieces for the show. Some familiar greats, such as “Words Get In the Way,” aren’t included in the show.

The drama crescendos when a severe bus accident nearly paralyzes Gloria, and her struggle to recover. In a fresh approach, Emilio (Mauricio Martinez) solos on, “I Don’t Want to Lose You Now,” one of Gloria’s most beautiful singles. It is a real showcase for Martinez, Mexico’s telenovela heart throb, who commands the stage and dominates his scenes. It also turns out he can dance really well.

While Gloria Estefan’s lovely contralto can’t be matched, she is said to have hand selected Christie Prades to play her character for this road show. Prades delivers a great performance both in song and dance, and she is a good actress to boot.

On Your Feet! originated here in Chicago in 2015 before making its celebrated Broadway run, and then returning to a road tour across the country and around the world. (It opened again in Chicago at the Cadillac Palace Theatre on March 23 and runs through April 8.)