Displaying items by tag: Cadillac Palace Theatre

We all know him—the Jazz King—the legend who single-handedly transformed music with a trumpet, gravelly voice, and his big dazzling smile. Louis Armstrong is the man who made us and still makes us desire a Wonderful World. As soon as I heard of the new Broadway-bound musical, "A Wonderful World," would have a short (through October 29) pre-Broadway run at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, I canceled my original plans and jumped in a cab to Randolph Street.

There, as the blue clouds fade and the curtains part, you meet Louis Armstrong’s four wives who sing and dance as they tell you about their old Satchmo. The play quickly transitions you into Louis Armstrong’s humble beginnings in the South. You travel back in time to the early 1900s in a poor neighborhood in New Orleans, Louisiana. Armstrong sees his Jewish adoptive father, Mr. Karnofsky, with a cart full of miscellaneous items, and among them is an old trumpet. Louis begins to play and blows Karnofsky away. The show then takes you on his journey as he rises to his title as the “Jazz King.”

Before you know it, you’re whisked away into the prohibition era of the roaring 1920s in the Red Light District called “Storyville” in the heart of New Orleans. The Land of Sin is introduced to you by Armstrong’s first wife, Daisy Parker, who shows you the world of sex, booze, and jazz through dancing and singing. The costumes blew me away with glittery flapper dresses, pinstriped waistcoats, and flat caps.

You learn how Armstrong began his music career in a band called Fate Marable touring on a steamboat in the Mississippi River. At first, Armstrong’s voice was soft and not the voice we all know. This left me to wonder if they cast the wrong actor for the part. Then I quickly was surprised by a dramatic voice change and came to learn that Armstrong’s voice was damaged by his first jazz tour on the Sidney steamboat. The actor’s voice transition was remarkable. He nailed Louis’ warm raspy voice as if it was second nature to him.

The musical carries on as you watch Armstrong shuffle his way through four different wives, multiple skeezy managers, endless tours, and the challenges of racial inequality as a black man in the United States. The show takes you all over the map from New Orleans, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Queens, New York, with set designs embracing all parts of the United States.

Louis’ life story gets you tangled with mobsters, behind bars in jail, and in music clubs as he plays and sings jazz music. The show captivates you as you reach a critical point in history when the Little Rock Crisis unfolds and Armstrong watches African American children be verbally and physically abused by white Americans for attending desegregated schools.

In response to the chaos, the show breaks your heart with a solemn performance of Louis singing the famous Fats Waller song, “Black and Blue.” Louis Armstrong grows angry and finds himself in a difficult place that could potentially end his career as racial tensions rise. Leaving you to wonder how he will make it through as he balances his passion for jazz and his demand for justice.

Cadillac Palace Theatre is the perfect location for this musical. The theatre opened in Chicago in 1926, just four years after Louis Armstrong moved to Chicago to play jazz music with Joe “King” Oliver. The lobby of the theatre is very rich looking with large gold mirrors and white marble. Every seat was filled in the 2,300-seated auditorium.

The stage accommodates a multi-level set with a spiral staircase and decorative wrought iron railings adorning the stairs and balconies. You seamlessly travel from place to place as the set quickly transforms into a swanky jazz club, a jail cell, the bright lights of the Windy City, and a movie set in Hollywood. The variety of stage props including suitcases, band sets, sofas, and a large office desk quickly glide on and off stage in the blink of an eye.

You feel as though you have traveled back in time and see what it was like to live in America in the 1920s and experience each decade until the early 1970s. Thanks to Toni-Leslie James, the costume design accurately changes with each decade from the dropped waistlines and feathers of the 1920s to the full skirts and sportcoats in the 1950s. It’s also worth mentioning Cookie Jordan’s phenomenal wig and hair design that flows beautifully throughout the musical.

Directed by Christopher Renshaw and conceived by Renshaw and Andrew Delaplaine, "AWonderful World" is a hit musical that is an absolute must-see. The perfectly written storyline steadily moves you through Louis Armstrong’s life through song and dance as he pursues a wonderful world through blue notes, scatting, and sheer perseverance.

Out of the 26-member cast, the true star of the show, James Monroe Iglehart embodies Louis Armstrong. He nails every Louis Armstrong gesture and even has a similar smile. It’s almost as if he was resurrected and brought before our eyes with his magnetic charm, musical genius, and unforgettable voice.

This musical had the daunting task of creating music and sound that would closely resonate with the sound of Ambassador Satch’s musical perfection. I feel that it’s safe to say, that this show answered that call with a talented live jazz ensemble and Annastasia Victory’s and Michael O. Mitchell’s flawless music direction. Every cast member sang beautifully and hit every note with perfection. And as they sang they danced away in rhythmic dances around the stage.

There are a variety of dance styles like the Fox Trot and the Boogie-woogie. Each move was on point and added that razzle dazzle we all crave in a musical.
Despite some of the hardships the characters face in the musical, the show lightens it up with some comedic flare. I found myself and the crowd laughing often with some suggestive jokes and witty clap backs. At one point, Louis Armstrong’s character breaks the fourth wall and asks for the audience’s participation in singing one of his famous songs.

The opening show ended with a standing ovation and loud cheering from the crowd. Many people had Big Dipper smiles on their faces and were sharing their amazement at the performance. One crowd member, Ashley Josey said, “I literally could not stop watching. It was so inspirational.” Outside the theatre, my heart felt warm as I watched one audience member dancing and scatting his way across the crosswalk. I gotta say, I think even Pops would be proud of this wonderful, wonderful show.

‘A Wonderful World’ produced by Vanessa Williams opened on Friday, October 13th, and will run until October 29, 2023. Showtimes are 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. The runtime is 2 hours and 40 minutes with a brief intermission. Tickets range from $11 to $101 depending on seats. Located at the Cadillac Palace Theatre in downtown Chicago at 151 W Randolph Street, drinks and snacks offered at concessions and can be brought into the auditorium. There are also a few items for sale at the merch station including a mug, t-shirt, pin, and more.
Tickets are available for purchase at https://www.louisarmstrongmusical.com/

The above phrase has become a regular one spoken in my home and in the homes of friends in the village of Skokie, first as an inside joke and now as a communal mantra. A mantra of togetherness. A mantra of character. A mantra of love.

That same mantra kept playing in my mind as the Bartlett Sher-directed touring production of Bock and Harnick’s timeless Fiddler on the Roof created a village on the stage of the Cadillac Palace Theatre. Sure, the sets carried us back to turn of the century Eastern Europe. And sure, those beloved songs and that well-known story transport us to the village of Anatekva. But it’s the people who populate that shtetl — and the talented actors of this production who portray them — that bring the village to life.

From the get-go, the face and voice of the village is Yehezkel Lazarov’s Tevye. An Israeli actor and director, Lazarov brings a similar old-world grit and charm to the character that Topol did in the film version. He’s funny and personable, sure, but also tired and wistful and, perhaps, a bit broken as he lays out his life to his audience and his G-d. My favorite number from Fiddler, and the one I most connect with as a father and as someone in a profession that isn’t as profitable as those held by my peers, is “If I Were a Rich Man,” and Lazarov nails it, hitting the humorous notes and the cantorial ones, as well. But beyond his skill at singing and dancing on a Broadway stage, it’s Lazarov’s ability to flesh out Tevye and bring him to life that did it for me.

Tevye’s daughters, played by Mel Weyn (Tzeitel), Ruthy Froch (Hodel), and Natalie Powers (Chava), are the other standouts. Again, as the father and mother of daughters, my wife and I were all too familiar with the complex mix of side-eye glances, huffiness, and adoration that Tevye’s girls show him. Weyn, Froch, and Powers nail it when it comes to portraying a family. And they nail it, too, musically. Particularly when the trio takes on “Matchmaker, Matchmaker,” their voices blend and their harmonies soar as if they actually are siblings singing together.

The other main roles are adequately filled, as well. Carol Beaugard, as said matchmaker Yente, is a hoot. Maite Uzal effectively plays Tevye’s foil, his acerbic, realistic, and ultimately loving wife, Golde. Jesse Weil, Ryne Nardecchia, and Joshua Logan Alexander all do well as Tevye’s daughters’ suitors.

But it’s the rest of the folks in the cast — the ensemble and the musicians — who really make the village. The bottle dance at the wedding that ends Act I is, for sure, a main highlight. But the village of folks that make up the busyness and beauty behind each of the show’s big numbers is what grabs the eyes and hearts of the audience. Whether it’s the bustling Anatekva of “Tradition,” the drunken Jews and Gentiles who come together if only for a moment in “To Life,” or the specters that haunt “Tevye’s Dream,” the ensemble shines throughout. So, too, does the orchestra, conducted and coordinated by Michael Uselmann and John Mezzio, fill the big shoes that Fiddler’s musical legacy requires. Ionut Cosarca on violin strings us along from the pit, just as and spirited Paul Morland does in his role as the titular Fiddler.

So, to see a new take on a classic this holiday season, and to see a cast of skilled creatives make the village this classic takes, head to the Cadillac Palace Theatre from now until January 6 for Fiddler on the Roof.

When Schönberg and Boublil’s Miss Saigon made its original run in the early 90s, I missed it — too far away to catch a traveling performance, and too young to have seen or even afforded to see it. And back then, I was way too young to have really understood the big, Important (with a capital I) issues the musical raised, or which were raised by its very being. Sure, I knew many of the show’s songs, from the ubiquitous double-CD soundtrack that seemed to exist in the music collection of nearly every person I knew. But like they say, that Miss Saigon was wasted on the young.

So given the chance to see the current touring production currently playing at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, I sat down not so young, but ready to finally see the show I thought I’d known all those years. And while it was every bit the spectacle I imagined, my experience — and the experiences our world has had — added even more substance and complexity to an already substantial and complex tale.

First, the spectacle. Many of the touring productions coming through Chicago are great but feel pared down compared to shows that would stay for extended periods. Perhaps it’s also the style of recent shows, as well, to be economical and sparse when it comes to stage design. But that’s not the case with this Miss Saigon.

The sets dazzle, with red-light signs flashing, American flags waving, Ho Chi Minh glaring, and chopper blades throbbing. The costumes, too, transport you, to brothels catering to America GIs, huts housing the Vietnamese whose land they’ve overrun, and embassy gates closed to some.

The ensemble dazzles, as well, making the cast seem even larger than it is. Whether it’s said servicemen out for a bit of R&R or the women whose lot in life is to provide it, whether it’s postwar Communist soldiers marching in file, or postwar American men looking to provide for the children fathered half a world away, the cast fills all the roles the show requires, and they fill them well.

The ensemble really earns its pay during the showstopper near the end when Red Concepcion’s pimp, The Engineer, champions that elusive “American Dream” — high-stepping and singing as The Engineer preens and prances. Concepcion’s Engineer takes on even more meaning than perhaps he would have 25 years ago, as the fast-talking, macho-walking archetype who’ll use others — particularly those less powerful than himself — is one fully come to life. So, too, do some of his lines hit hard, especially the added bit about “Cocaine, shotguns, and prayer—hallelujah!” being the American dream, of then or now. But whether portraying the awfulness of yesteryear or that which we now face, Concepcion steals the show.

That’s not to say the rest of the cast isn’t wonderful. Starting the second act, J. Daughtry’s John changes from a typical young Marine at war to a man who’s been changed by the things he saw and did while there. Leading a men’s chorus in “Bui Doi,” a song about the children fathered by American soldiers and “born in strife,” Daughtry’s voice rises above the chorus and the moving pictures of children projected behind him, reaching for the rafters even as it laments the lows of humanity’s inhumanity.

Anthony Festa, as John’s fellow Marine Chris, also subverts the macho American infantryman one would expect. Whether it’s the touching “Wedding Ceremony” he shares with Kim (hauntingly chorused by the female ensemble members into something like a hymn) or his duet with her on “Last Night of the World,” a “song played on a solo saxophone, a crazy sound, a lonely sound,” he cries “a cry that tells us love goes on and on.”

But it is Emily Bautista as Kim whose cry is the loudest, the loveliest, and goes on and on across the Cadillac’s stage. Bautista brings both vulnerability and strength to a role that in lesser hands might very well be engulfed by such a grand staging. From singing to and with Chris of the sun and moon, to telling the son she had with him that “I’d Give My Life for You,” Kim’s life is the focus, from her entrance to her exit.

And everything in between is what will surely take the breath away and break the hearts of anyone in attendance of this production of Miss Saigon, a production that not only shines a light on an unfortunate international moment of the past, but on the continued problems with humanity and inhumanity with which our world still struggles.

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.)

While I’d yet to see Beautiful: The Carole King Musical since it premiered to much acclaim (and a U.S. tour) a couple years ago, I entered the Cadillac Palace Theatre for its latest Chicago debut a lifelong Carole King fanboy. I knew her songs. I knew her story. But for a couple hours on Wednesday night, the cast of this latest touring production made me feel like I knew her.

But first, those songs. The audience, young and old, knew them all. The older ones, the ones who’d been there the first time around, giggled with nostalgia. And the rest of us – who know them from parents, from oldies radio, from YouTube, from simply being alive – were every bit as thrilled. From John Michael Dias’ mugging Neil Sedaka singing “Oh Carol” on national TV to his former high school flame, Carole Klein, to the ensemble’s medley of Brill Building tunes love-potioning and splish-splashing and yakkity-yakking, we were all Boomer kids taken back to a not-simpler time.

The real standouts of this jukebox time machine were two vocal quartets. Playing the parts of The Shirelles, Little Eva and her backing singers, and Janelle Woods and her own group, McKynleigh Alden Abraham, Traci Elaine Lee, Marla Louissaint, and Alexis Tidwell were magic as they brought classic takes on King’s “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” and “One Fine Day.” The dresses, the elegant moves, the wedding chapel harmonies, and those songs. Wow. They were only equaled by their male counterparts – Josh Dawson, Jay McKenzie, Avery Smith, and Kristopher Stanley Ward – whose coiffed hairdos, satin suits, and smooth moves as The Drifters made it look so easy as they doo-wopped and stepped to “Some Kind of Wonderful” and “Up on the Roof.” But Ms. King’s songs weren’t the only ones on display. While The Drifters did a nifty walk down Weil and Mann’s “On Broadway,” the rival songwriting duo’s “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” was retaken from Tom Cruise’s boozy Top Gun barroom ballad by Matt Faucher and Dias again as The Righteous Brothers. Faucher’s baritone filled the Cadillac, and Dias’ high harmonies brought it home. Again, wow. Wish I’d been there the first time around, but this cast showed off their chops while paying quite a tribute to the classic songs and their songwriters who the story’s about.

And about that story. Again, as a fan, I knew the outline: NYC kids slave away in a Times Square hit-making sweatshop, soundtrack a generation, and one of them makes it big herself later on. But the main cast fleshed out the story’s characters. They took them from characters to people. James Clow’s gum-chewing, contract-signing Don Kushner was intimidating but encouraging. Sarah Goecke’s witty, Cole-Porter-wannabe wordsmith, Cynthia Weil, was a woman ahead of her time. Jacob Heimer’s neurotic lady’s man, Barry Mann, made you root for him. And Andrew Brewer’s smoldering but sensitive Gerry Goffin made you swoon, even as you knew the dirty dog was sneaking around on his Carole.

And Carole. Oh, Carole. As Neil Sedaka sang, “there will never be another.” And throughout the show, lead Sarah Bockel not only proved Sedaka right, giving us Carole King’s look and playing and voice, she gave us Carole Klein, the person. Many talented performers could probably approximate King’s hair or her vocals. But Bockel went beyond that, giving us the perky and precocious 16-year-old writing those hits and falling for that hunk. She gave us the broken but devoted young mother finding out not just who she’s married to – Bockel and Brewer’s chemistry was very sweet and seemed very real – but who she herself is. And she gave us that self, finally confident to write her own words, to tell her own story, to sing it loud, for a crowd, for us. And that story, of a woman claiming her soul from the lost and found and using it to give voice to not just a generation, but many generations to come, was what wowed the Cadillac’s crowd the most. The voices will make you applaud. The songs will make you nostalgic. But the story this cast and their show tell of this natural woman, this national treasure, will make you feel. It made me feel.

For more show information visit www.broadwayinchicago.com.

As I entered the Cadillac Palace Theatre – originally the Orpheum Circuit’s lavish vaudeville flagship before keeping up with the times to become a golden age movie palace – the simple, classy screen that hung over the stage gave me hope for the evening’s entertainment. There was the show’s title and logo, red and white on a bright blue backing, all nostalgia, all sheen, all promise of a combination of the silver screen, of classic composition, of live theatrical talent. I could hardly wait for the screen to rise and the show to start.

But first, in full disclosure, I’ve never watched the movie straight through. Sure, I’ve seen the whole thing in fits and starts and bits and pieces through the years (married, as I am, to one of its biggest fangirls). But I’m more of a fan of the rock and rollers – the Little Richards, the Orbisons, the Chucks and Jerry Lees and Buddies with something a little randier and a little rowdier and a little more real – who came along and did away with the post-war schmaltz. What I mean is, while I appreciate, no, adore, earlier Hollywood musicals like The Wizard of Oz or even Berlin’s Easter Parade, as well as later ones like The Music Man, I have no real sentimental attachment to Bing and Rosemary. I figured I’d be an objective audience, a fresh set of eyes and ears for this production.

The show began and these eyes and ears weren’t impressed. The sets were bright and looked the part – the scene with the song “Snow” on a train car was beautiful, a real mid-century-modern knockout – but they weren’t the 1950's real thing. The actors, too, were talented and pleasant as they played their parts, but they weren’t Bing or Rosemary or Danny or Vera. Nobody could be.

So, as the first act progressed, I remained unimpressed. The story (and the music, and the sets, and the cast) were fine, but the show needed some charisma, it needed some pizazz, it needed something.

Where that something did come up was when the show added tunes by Berlin that weren’t in the movie. These songs hadn’t been staked out by the film’s icons, and the current production’s cast wasn’t forced to approximate the ideal they’d set. They were fresher. They gave this cast room to show their talents, to show themselves, and not just takes on someone else. An example was “Falling Out of Love Can Be Fun.” Throughout the night, the female lead, Kerry Conte, had Rosemary Clooney’s shoes to fill, a task I did not envy. But during this number, she fit right into an Andrews-esque trio, her vocals polished, her moves authentic. The lead singer in said number, Karen Ziemba’s Martha, stood out not just here, but in her own featured piece earlier that also strayed from the film and added to the show. Other standouts included: young Makayla Joy Connolly, who had a fine feature of her own; Kristyn Pope, who lit up the stage as recurring Rita and part of the ensemble; and Conrad John Schuck, whose General Waverly/Innkeeper Hank was equal parts Patton and grandpa.

And as I said, while the first act dragged, the second act moved at a much better pace, better utilized the cast, and ended the night with some holiday cheer (spoiler alert: the show is called White Christmas). So if it’s an exact reproduction of the Technicolor glow and the old-microphone glisten of the film you’re after, stay in and watch it on TV. But if you’re just looking for a feel-good family jumpstart to the holiday season, then this might be the show to see.

White Christmas is being performed at Cadillac Palace Theatre through December 3^rd. For more show information visit www.broadwayinchicago.com.

Here comes the feel-good show that both adults and kids will enjoy. Based on the 2003 movie by the same name starring Jack Black, School of Rock-The Musical is featuring music from the movie, as well as an original score by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Glenn Slater.

If you have not seen the movie (shame on you), here’s the basic plot: Dewey Finn, a desperately broke musician who lives on his best friend’s couch, gets an opportunity to pose as a substitute teacher at a posh $50,000/year tuition prep school, where well-to-do kids aim for “Harvard, or at least Cornell”. Unbeknownst to the school staff or the parents, Dewey jump-starts kids’ rebellious stage by organizing his class into a band and teaching them to play rock instead of learning math and history. In the process he builds kids’ self-esteem, gets them to forget about the troubles at home (yep, rich kids have problems too), and turns them into rock stars. Dewey falls in love with a beautiful, albeit uptight, school principal and gets her to reconnect with her inner rocker chick, and the parents change their minds on education.

Multitalented cast includes Broadway veterans Rob Coletti who is absolutely fabulous as Dewey, Lexie Dorsett Sharp (a cartoonishly entertaining Rosalie), very capable Matt Bittner as Ned, and Emily Borromeo (as hilariously played Patty), to name just a few. A slew of adorable, not to mention quite accomplished, kids will melt your heart and win you over without even trying. Ava Brigliawho, who plays Summer, already has a few shows under her belt (Matilda the Musical, and Gypsy), and Gilberto Moretti-Hamilton (Freddy, a New-York native, had been named “Musician of the year 2017” by the Boys Club of NYC; he plays drums (in the show), as well as piano, bass, xylophone and percussion. For most of the remaining young actors, School of Rock – The Musical is their debut. These kids are so cool, and they play their instruments live in every show!

This high energy production is moved along by the dynamic ever-changing set (scenic and costume design by Anna Louizos, lighting design by Natasha Katz) that moves seamlessly between Dewey’s apartment, school’s different rooms and the rock band stage. Great music hits are born in the kids’ classroom, and everyone wants to jump up and down to “Stick It To The Man”.

School of Rock- The Musical premiered on December 2015, and was nominated for four 2016 Tony awards, including Best Musical, Best score (Lloyd Webber and Slater), best Book (Fellowes). It also won the 2017 Oliver award for Outstanding Achievement in Music.

School of Rock – The Musical will play at the beautiful Cadillac Palace Theatre for a limited three-week engagement November 1-19, 2017. For more show information visit www.broadwayinchicago.com.