Items filtered by date: November 2007

January 25th is now Palmer House, A Hilton Hotel and Magic Parlour Day in Chicago as so declared by Mayor Rahm Emanuel in a statement last week. The day is named so for good reason. An idea that took shape in 2011 has now become one of Chicago’s great attractions as Magician Dennis Watkins has been hosting sold out events ever since. In fact, last Friday marked Watkins 1,000th show (most being sold out) – an astounding achievement for any entertainer in Chicago.

Chicago has a rich history in Magic. From early 20th century magician/illusionist Harry Blackstone Sr. (a.k.a. The Great Blackstone), to Harlan Tarbell, who created a magic correspondence course in 1928, Chicago was once home for many magic clubs. We had Jack Gwynne in the 1950's and, of course, Marshall Brodien, who started out as a carnival barker for a circus freak show also made an impression. Before gaining mass popularity as Wizzo Wizard on The Bozo show, Brodien was an accomplished hypnotist. He also created every beginner’s favorite teaching tool in the 1970’s – T.V. Magic Cards along with several magic kits (yes, I had one). Even while retired, Brodien assisted in creating illusions for the likes of David Copperfield and Lance Burton. Yes, Magic was certainly a popular pastime in our fair city throughout the early-mid 1900’s and was kept alive thanks to magician stars like Brodien through the early 1980’s.

Then, unless you were visiting Las Vegas, magic got quiet for awhile.

New magic personalities Criss Angel and David Blaine helped in bringing magic back on a nationwide level in the early 2000’s, but, outside of an occasion magic show, magic didn’t have much of a presence in Chicago. There just weren’t many places to catch a quality magic act. But that changed just after 2010 thanks to a benefit appearance that House Theatre of Chicago that featured ensemble member Dennis Watkins. Watkins, now considered by many to be the best magician in Chicago – and some will even argue he’s the best in the country, wowed his audience with close up magic that evening. The House Theatre then produced a show called ‘The Magic Parlour’ on a limited basis, which featured 3rd generation magician Dennis Watkins. The show was a smash, selling out performance after performance after it became a weekly event. But it was after a sold-out New Year’s Eve performance at The Palmer House Hilton Hotel that a deal was struck that would put Chicago back on the magic map. Since, Watkins has performed ‘The Magic Parlour’ regularly at the classic Chicago hotel to which it has now become a staple in Chicago entertainment – a sought after attraction that people from all over the world attend.

Watkins magic is special. During his show, he talks of picking up the craft as a seven-year-old boy from his grandfather, an accomplished magician who also owned a local magic shop. Specializing in close-up magic, Watkins prefers to amaze his audience with in-your-face sleight of hand rather than with grand illusions. This creates a much more intimate experience - and one that demands much more skill from the magician. Watkins performs his own unique tricks that only those who have attended ‘The Magic Parlour’ could ever claim to have seen, and he also puts his own spin on classic tricks that have wowed through the ages. He is a magician but is also a skilled entertainer. Watkin’s banter with each intimate audience flows nicely and includes much humor. His ability to make every attendee feel comfortable and included is a great part of the fun. But make no mistake about it – it is his ability to perform magic at such a high level that separates him from the pack.

It is with much confidence that I can predict ‘The Magic Parlour’ will have another celebration in seven or so years as they hit another milestone with their 2,000th show. Dennis Watkins is as good as it gets, and the historic Palmer House Hilton creates the perfect ambience for such a magic act.

Dennis Watkins is one of the greats of our time.

Cheers! Here’s to another 1,000 shows!

Walking in as curtain time neared for Photograph 51, the towering set took my breath away: a backdrop nearly three-stories tall, built of a latticework of delicately framed, vertical windowpanes with spiral staircases swirling down at each end, to meet a floor of foot-square hexagonal tiles.

Heavy quarter-sawn oak laboratory tables and cabinets filled the setting, a research lab that would play a pivotal role in the discovery of the structure of DNA molecules. As the play commenced, illumination flowed down the pillars of the window panels and along the irregular channels at the edges of the tile, creating an electrifying vision - mimicking the hexagon shape of those DNA molecules.

Strains of an evocative original score swelled as the action began in the laboratories of King’s College in London - the site of crucial research that led to the now familiar double helix structure of DNA molecules described by University of Cambridge researchers (and eventual Nobel laureates) James Watson and Francis Crick.

This play tells of unsung research heroine in that saga, Rosalind Franklin (played excellently by Chaon Cross), a chemist whose X-ray crystallography photographs (Photograph 51 was the big one) that provided a visual key unlocking the riddle of how DNA molecules were structured.

Watson (Alex Goodrich) and Crick (Nicholas Harazin) went on to Nobel glory, as did Franklin’s research partner Maurice Wilkins (played by Nathan Hosner), while Franklin’s pivotal role was largely forgotten. That is, until Watson’s outrageously misogynist portrayal of her in Double Helix, his autobiography. As the rare creature of her day, a woman research scientist, Franklin suffered the critiques of male peers that are familiar - she wasn't feminine enough, was hard to get along with, made the least of herself in dress and style. Needless to say,  these were taken more seriously in the 1950s. 

"Why collaborate with someone who's hard to get along with," as one of Franklin's peers puts it. Nonetheless, in this retelling of the story, Franklin asserted herself, insisting she be accorded equal respect, and resisting attempts to subordinate her research to her male lab partner, Maurice Wilkins.

"Dr. Wilkins, I will not be anyone's assistant," Franklin tells him, and she insists he refer to her as Dr. Franklin. 

Watson’s characterization of Franklin in Double Helix was widely criticized. Harvard, where Watson was teaching, refused to publish it.
Watson’s reputation and career has also been devastated by his advancement of theories that there is a link between race and intelligence.

Having lost his income, he became the only Nobel prize winner who to sell his award. U of C, which sustains the Court Theatre, may be trying to get on the right side of the issue by presenting Franklin’s story on stage – though it might want to revisit the distinguished alumni award it made to Watson in 2007. 

Would that the play measured up to such worthy goals, and the promise of its sets by Arnel Sancianco (scenic design), Keith Parham (lighting) Jeffrey Levin (sound). Instead, we have a show with great acting and production values – it reminds me of a Netflix pilot film – but with a story line, yet only a wandering plotline.

Plays need a drama to succeed, and instead we are given a timeline. All very interesting, to be sure, but not gripping.
As a result, instead of Franklin being the star of her own story, she is a supporting character. The closest thing we have to a protagonist is her partner Wilkens, who secretly carried a torch for her. That these scientists are such a nerdy bunch must have made it all the more difficult for playwright Anna Ziegler to develop the work. It was a success in London starring Nicole Kidman. The University of Chicago lent its academic bona fides and knowledge base to Court Theater’s production, and that greatly enriches the show.

There are moments, to be sure, including a wonderful soliloquy on the loneliness of a scientist's pursuit of knowledge. Likewise, the tortured moments of Wilkins, who struggled to recognize and express his feelings for Franklin.

We have a wonderful theatrical spectacle, and the direction by Vanessa Stalling made the most of Photograph 51, “mining Ziegler’s text for all its thematic complexities,” as artistic director Charles Newell puts it. Watson & Crick’s discovery in 1953 of the double helix changed history, and our view of ourselves as humans. The knowledge of DNA’s role – and the potential for engineering new directions using it – is the basis for a world of change in arts and sciences.

Photograph 51 is an illuminating story, and we are fortunate it is being told so beautifully - and perhaps that is enough to recommend it. The show runs through February 17 at Court Theatre.

*Now playing through February 23, 2019

Just imagine if you could be a fly on the wall during that infamous night when four legendary stars of rock and roll - Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis got together for one epic night at Sun Studios. That historic meeting had the young stars playing a variety of songs together while they shared their private sorrows and triumphs. Put it all together and you have the long-lasting recipe for success of the hit show "Million Dollar Quartet". Marriott Theatre is currently hosting the hit musical that actually plays more like a concert at times. 

Director James Moye uses the lovely theater’s in the round setting to create a new fresh and energetic staging of this show that will perk you up and make you feel the "sun" that must have been radiating out of the historic Sun Studios on December 4th, 1956 when these four young stars really did gather there to play on the same day. 

'"Million Dollar Quartet” is really an ensemble piece where all four lead characters also get a chance to shine individually during the course of the show. 

I have seen the show several times and even though these actors are playing monolithic stars and their memorable hit songs - each cast is totally unique. 

In this production Johnny cash played by Christopher J. Essex shines out as the best voice for Johnny Cash. Essex's deep rolling singing tones and gentle giant presentation are spot on and form an anchor for the entire cast to stay true to the singer they are portraying. Rustin Cole Sailors plays a nice, sensitive youthful Elvis and Shaun Whitley busts out with an excellent, rocking portrayal of Carl Perkins - blazing guitar playing and all. Marriott regular Laura Savage also impresses as Elvis’ girlfriend Dyanne, especially in her saucy rendition of “Fever”. Bassist Zach Lentino who play’s Carl’s brother Jay and Kieran McCabe who mans the drums are also a ton of fun to watch. 

But the real standout in this production comes from Nat Zegree as Jerry Lee Lewis. Zegree whose program biography states that he has played the role 350 times, is an animal in the role, prowling the stage and riding the piano like a tiger on speed. Zegree never loses sight of the brilliance of Jerry Lee Lewis piano chops and his ahead of his time, sexually charged rock and roll energy.  Zegree is a dancer, you can see that every step he takes, even while doing a headstand while continuing to batter the keys with ferocity and accuracy.

I've seen other actors play this role, but Zegree's interpretation and performance and piano playing is best I have seen. I imagine it must be difficult for an actor so multi-m talented to show off ALL of his talents in any other role. 

The show isn’t all rosy with four musical legends playing an impromptu one-night engagement. The story also delves into what an impact studio owner Sam Phillips (David Folsom) had on each of them – and how Presley, Cash, and Perkins outgrew the local music studio opting to go with big record labels like Columbia. Worry not, Phillips will be the first one to tell you he made out quite nicely.

A hearty soundtrack of favorite rock and roll classics light up the stage during the 100-minute play – toe-tapping hits such as “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Walk the Line,” “Sixteen Tons,” “Who Do You Love?,” “Great Balls of Fire,” “Folsom Prison Blues” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On.”

I thoroughly enjoyed the entire cast and every number in this exciting, inspiring show which was perfectly timed for the "dead of Winter" here in Chicago to warm up sleepy audiences. Zegree's showstopping, prodigy-like talents and explosive energy is a performance I will remember for a long time and makes this already great production one of the "must see" shows of the season. 

Highly recommended.

“Million Dollar Quartet” is being performed at Marriott Theatre through March 16th. For more show information visit www.marriotttheatre.com.

Sometimes we see couples in restaurants and think how on earth did they ever end up together? Sadly, the couple in question might be feeling the same way. Is it the idea of settling or just assumed gender roles that lead so many married couples to this place? Will Eno’s play ‘The Realistic Joneses’ makes its area debut at Shattered Globe Theatre in a collaboration with Theater Wit. Shattered Globe is particularly well known for ensemble acting, Jeremy Wechsler (also artistic director) directs this 2014 dark comedy.

After a star-studded run on Broadway, Eno’s suburban play finally comes to Chicago. While hard to categorize, ‘The Realistic Joneses’ is an unsettling look at a couple’s battle with a degenerative disease. Middle-aged Jennifer Jones (Linda Reiter) is caring for her husband as he succumbs to an ALS-like illness. She feels taken for granted and begs her husband Bob for the emotional intimacy it seems she’s been waiting on for years. Their lonely lives change when a young, mysterious couple with the same last name moves in next door. With a strange but oddly satisfying dialogue cadence, Jennifer and Bob get perhaps too close to their new neighbors Pony (Cortney McKenna) and John (Joseph Wiens).

Will Eno proves with this play that loose ends and uncertainty are okay in life and in theatre. Joseph Wiens captures the at times absurd, but insightful dialogue in a way that makes it almost seem not absurd. There’s a familiarity in his delivery. We’ve all met someone like this and Eno digs deeper to show us why characters like this exist in an orderly world. Cortney McKenna plays his bubbly wife Pony with such sincerity that you almost forget how absurd her lines are as well. Crazy as what these two characters say to each other and their neighbors sounds, there’s a rooted sense of honesty that Eno suggests is the key to a happy life and relationship. It is Linda Reiter’s performance that ups the emotional ante of the play. Bits of anger boil through a strong exterior which makes the conclusion even more bleak.

This is a solid play but perhaps not for everyone. Shattered Globe marketing materials uses a quote which says this is one of the strongest plays since Tony Kushner’s 1993 Pulitzer winner ‘Angels in America.’ Though this play is good, it’s not anywhere close to the monolith that is ‘Angels in America.’ This is a tight hour and a half stroll through the everyday lives of two couples that share the same name. In it there are nuggets of wisdom about everyday life that may not have a ton of plot-weight, but stick with you for days after. There’s a lot to unpack in this piece and surely nobody will leave saying “I didn’t get it.” Eno sticks closely to a reality we all understand; sickness, death, love and where we all fit into it.

Through March 9 at Shattered Globe at Theater Wit. 1129 W Belmont Ave. 773-975-8150

Backstage comedies and dramas are a beloved genre – David Mamet’s Main Street, Ronald Harwood’s The Dresser, Noel Coward’s Present Laughter, Mel Brooks The Producers– known for sending up actors, directors, and show business.

Michael Frayn’s Noises Off – the phrase is basically British for “Quiet on the Set” - is widely regarded as among the best of these. And in its current production at Windy City Playhouse Frayn’s script is given its due. From the opening scene, we see we are witnessing a masterwork of comedy, operating on multiple levels – parody, farce, and pure physical hijinks. (Among Frayn’s works are Copenhagen, After Life, The Two of Us and Clouds.) Director Scott Weinstein and this very high-energy, hard-working cast had the audience roiling with laughter.

And it’s no wonder. It tells of a British troupe that has taken a farce, “Nothing On,” on a long road show with limited time for rehearsal. The cast members are already exhausted before opening night, with little time to learn lines, blocking, or plumb into character motivation. These players are a mixed bag of talent, either past their prime or unlikely to reach it. One example: the towering senior Shakespearean actor, Seldson Mowbray (played wonderfully by Will Casey), an inveterate drunk, and impossibly hard of hearing.

Part of the magic of Frayn’s work is that each actor must play two characters - their role in Noises Off, and their secondary role in the farce, Nothing On. And another part of the magic is that they as they squabble, feud, or fall in and out of love, everything is expressed indirectly, within the language of the plays they are performing.

It gets uproarious when the play is live upfront, and the audience is taken backstage to see the battling conducted “noises off,” through pantomime fighting and fisticuffs. Here Frayn challenges the actors to split-second timing in bumping and crashing into each other, handing off props, etc., and they acquit themselves well (Max Fabian s Fight Choreographer). Two other productions I have seen used a turntable set, rotating to perform the second act. Windy City Players has the audience move to the rear of the house, creating an immersive experience that is even more convincing.

As the show opens we meet the actress Dotty Otley (a delicious performance by Amy J. Carle), who, in “Nothing On,” plays a housekeeper, Mrs. Clackett. Otley struggles to remember her lines, her blocking, and what to do with three props she handles: a plate of sardines, a newspaper, and a telephone receiver – always taking the wrong one off stage at the end of the scene. Otley is oozing self-pity, and the other performers crowd around her in sympathy.

Soon enough, from on high over a speaker, we get the sardonic voice of director Lloyd Dallas, world weary and certainly tired of this group. As the rest of the actors appear on stage, Dallas discovers they do not quite realize it is not a technical or even dress rehearsal, but the final rehearsal before opening night. And they do not nearly have their lines down.

“I’m starting to know what God felt like when he sat out there in the darkness creating the world,” says Lloyd as the dress rehearsal implodes. “What did he feel like, Lloyd,” an actor asks. “Very pleased he’d taken his Valium.”

Frayn also seems to be working a bit of an author’s enmity toward actors – largely bringing us venal people who are filled with inchoate emotion, but have no lines of their own to express themselves. When they are “Noises Off,” they don’t even have the lines. To press it even further Frayn shows us how ineptly the actors contend with the rising chaos on stage, adlibbing pathetically – at one point following a missed entrance by her Frederick Fellows (Scott Duff), his wife finds Belinda Blair (Amy Rubenstein is very funny) using a mop as his stand-in.

There is so much excellence in this show, including a pretty successful adoption of British accents (Kathy Logelin is dialect coach), but I particularly enjoyed Ryan McBride as matinee idol Garry Lejeune (and Roger Tramplemaine in Nothing On) – a character who emotes, but doesn’t seem to have any nouns at his disposal. Also charming was his floozy paramour, Brooke Ashton (Rochelle Therrien) playing an impossibly bad actress who is unable to deviate from her memorized positioning and blocking – even if it means she faces away from Lejeune when speaking to him.

Noise Off comes highly recommended. It runs through March 31 at the Windy City Playhouse on Irving Park Road in Chicago. #noisesoffchi

*Extended through ay 12th

Brendan Coyle is no Mr. Bates when it comes to his latest stage endeavor. Instead, the Olivier Award-winning actor, best known for his role on Downton Abbey as the likeable, mild-mannered, ever so loyal valet to Lord Crawley – Mr. Bates, takes on a persona far removed from what most of us are accustomed to seeing him portray. In Goodman Theatre’s ‘St.Nicholas' Coyle plays an resentful, cynical theatre critic with an unbelievable story to tell. Coyle's performance commands audience attention from beginning to end without a moment otherwise.

The first couple minutes of the monologue play are already filled with intensity. Coyle doesn’t even have to utter a single word as he tosses handfuls of rice in various areas of his disheveled apartment – chairs overturned, windows plastered in old newspaper. It looks like the place was ransacked. After penetratingly staring out to the crowd, he finally takes a seat and begins to tell his story. Upon revealing that he is a theatre critic (which alone in itself conjures a hearty, collective laugh in the way he says it), he admits he has been harsh in his reviews due to jealousy. He is a powerful critic. His reviews can make or break a production. The first act offers a great amount of depth into his character in a gripping monologue that only playwright Conor McPherson could pen. The description of his life as a critic laid out so well and superbly delivered, we get a perfectly painted picture. We feel his frustration, his pain and his triumphs. We feel for the character. In true McPherson style, who has given us such powerful productions as “the Seafarer’ and ‘Dublin Carol’, the play is filled with dark humor, plenty of F-bombs, drinking and, of course, deep soul searching.

“When I was a boy, I was afraid of the dark… What was there. And maybe one of the things I thought was there was vampires,” our critic says in the first act. It’s not the only mention of vampires in the play’s first half. Though riding along with perfectly timed moments of humor, “St. Nicholas” becomes more of a psychological thriller as it progresses. The Dublin theater critic tells us how he gave up his everyday life for a beautiful actress, an actress whose spellbinding grace, beauty and charm won him over while reviewing a play he planned to trash. As he describes the actress, it is obvious there is no turning back in his mind. His obsession, he reveals, leads him to strike a deal with a community of modern-day vampires and that’s when we are taken on a journey like none other, as we hang on his every word.

The second act takes place in a candlelit setting – almost presenting an atmosphere like that of a ghost story told around a campfire as we are given the devilish details of his interactions with the band of vampires. Candles burn on the window sills, his desk, the floor. There is no stage lighting directed to Coyle’s face. Instead, the glow of small flames flicker about, allowing just the perfect amount of lighting to most effectively create just the right ambiance as he tells his dark tale. Peter McKintosh does a masterful job with set design and Matt Daw with lighting while Simon Evans' direction is flawless.

Towards the end of his magnificent story Coyle's character then wonders if it was real or just a dream. “After all, what is a dream and what is real?” he then asks while offering several scenarios of which can so be defined as a "dream". Perhaps, as he suggests, our dream moments are real and what we perceive as our awake moments are in fact dreams. The play, after all, is inspired by McPherson’s own dream - where he was bitten by a vampire and given two pain killers.

Emmy Award nominated Brendan Coyle is outstanding. He is a true stage presence and has the ability to reach out to his audience in the most effective of ways – a true master of the stage.

I wholeheartedly recommend ‘St. Nicholas’ at Goodman Theatre as Coyle’s performance is not to be missed – enthralling, powerful and perfectly executed humor – a theatrical delight. Catch this limited engagement that comes direct from London's internationally renowned Donmar Warehouse.

‘St. Nicholas’ is being performed in Goodman’s cozy 350-seat Owen Theatre through January 27th. For tickets and/or more show information, visit www.goodmantheatre.org.

An alluring play with a less familiar name - Fuente Ovejuna – is delivering a startlingly great moment of theater. Written in 1619 by Lope de Vega – the prolific writer who is considered the foremost playwright of Spain’s golden age - it is based on a true story that had become legendary even in its own day.

Set in 1476, it tells the story of a village in Spain, Fuente Ovejuna, captured by loyalists to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella in a battle for the crown of Castile. As the story unfolds, Commander Fernán Gómez returns victorious from battle and is feted by the villagers, who shower him with gifts – though not gold and luxuries, but simple fare from their farm town - food, livestock, and crockery.

But Gomez (Varris Holmes) is a tyrant, and he also claims as spoils of victory the young women of the town for himself and his solders. His henchmen Ortuno (Jimmy Mann) and Flores (Ty Carter) represent what is coming to be called toxic masculinity, though when the play was written in the 16th century (and onward if we are being honest), it was common male behavior.

Gradually intimidating the townsfolk until they are afraid to resist, Gomez finally crosses the line when he accosts Laurencia – a self-possessed and what we would call today “empowered” woman - and played with compelling vigor by Carolyn Plurad. Through the build-up to that moment, Laurencia and her companion Pasquala (Kristen Alesia), assert themselves against the increasingly forcible entreaties of Gomez and his soldiers. Thwarted, Gomez beats her fiancé and carries Laurencia away - on the very day of their wedding.

Though subjected to attempted rape (medieval Droit du seigneur allowed overlords to have their way with young women under their dominion), Laurencia makes a daring escape, then shames the leading men of Fuente Ovejuna, and in a dramatic exhortation, rallies the men and significantly, the women, to overthrow the tyrant Commander. 

We have City Lit Theatre to thank for helping familiarize us with Lope de Vega, who is revered just a notch below Cervantes in classic Spanish literature. The work is like a highly evolved morality play as it tracks the arc of the historic event, a blow by blow direct narrative. But de Vega invests what are presumably vaguely known historical characters with fully developed, colorful and likeable personalities. 

Standout performances by Rob Garbowski as Esteban, the town magistrate; Jimmy Mann as the Inquisitor and soldier Ortuno; Val Gerard Garcia, Jr. as townsman Mengo; and Dan McGeehan as jurist Manrique. But without question the most powerful performance is Carolyn Plurad as Laurencia – who brings to the role a rousing power. Her delivery will remind you of one of Shakespeare’s heroines.

Terry McCabe, who adapted and directed the work, provides an amazing evocation of the village center, with a continuous cavalcade of performers – 16 actors in 20 roles, including a musical band, with the requisite pool and working fountain in the town square. All this takes place in the tiny quarters of City Lit Theater’s space on Bryn Mawr. De Vega's play has a living heritage: In its home town, it is performed regularly as part of a theater festival, with 150 of the townsfolk in the cast.

Much more than a historic artifact or literary novelty, Fuente Ovejuna is a something quite special, like a fine art house movie – and for that reason comes recommended. See it at City Lit Theater through February 17. www.citylit.org

Despite being both a writer and a fanboy of books aimed at readers much younger than I’ve been for what seems like millennia, I never got around to Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. Maybe I thought it was a knockoff of the, at the time, immensely popular Harry Potter books. Or maybe I’d had enough of Greek mythology from my own junior high days.

Either way, I came into the Oriental Theatre to see the touring production of The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical with no advanced knowledge, no preconceptions, and no great expectations. But then a thunderbolt hit, the show began, and I ended up very pleasantly surprised by the cast of gods, demi-gods, and enthusiastic actors and musicians who took the stage.

As luck would have it, the titular character’s played by Chris McCarrell, a Broadway vet who actually originated this very role Off-Broadway. So from start to finish, the production’s in good hands, as McCarrell is youthful, confident, and has a Hades of a voice. My date for the evening — my six-year-old daughter, only slightly younger than the audience’s average age, I’d wager — whispered to me after one of Percy’s songs, “Daddy, I think I love that boy who’s singing.” Judging by the applause and squeals, much of the crowd agreed with her.

The cast for this show is a small one, with most members playing multiple parts, and playing them well. Jorrel Javier features as both a trusty young sidekick and crotchety old god of the vine who’s traded in drunkenness, debauchery, and drama to be a camp counselor. Kristin Stokes’ voice filled the theater whenever her Annabeth (type-A daughter of Athena) sang. Like Stokes and McCarrell, James Hayden Rodriguez has been part of this show for a long time, and his experience showed as he played both an adolescent counselor and an ancient deity with charisma and charm.

But the two cast members who had me applauding and near squeals were Ryan Knowles and Jalynn Steele. Knowles is first seen as a stuffy, wheelchair-bound teacher of the classics, but quickly proves his verve and versatility, playing a centaur and a beach bum among many others. But his best moment was as a snaky, strutting, devilish diva of yore. Steele then one-ups Knowles’ diva with her own, bringing the house down to an underworld full of shimmy, shake, and some shoutouts to long-dead musical heroes that the audience’s older members recognized.

And that brings me to the thing about The Lightning Thief that stood out the most to me. While there were bits here and there meant to appease the oldsters — pop-culture references, old-school mugging — this production felt young. It could’ve been the thrown-together (I mean that in a good way) but thoughtful set and costumes designed by Lee Savage and Sydney Maresca. Or it could’ve been the clubby lighting by David Lander. All of those things were fresh.

But I think what made The Lightning Thief seem so new and fresh to me is that it is new and fresh. It’s got the feel of the kids these days (again, meant in a good way). It’s not trying to be cool. It just is cool. It’s not trying to shoehorn ancient stuff like gods and monsters into today’s world. It just does so. I found it fun and inspiring and I’ve gotta say, it proved to be the gateway drug that’ll find my daughter and me checking out the book series on which the stage show is based.

La Ruta accomplishes an impossible feat: drawing a luminous theater experience from a horrific factual account. This premier at the Steppenwolf tells the tale of the scores of young women who have been kidnapped and murdered near Juarez over several decades.

And yet, it is an uplifting and inspiring show. Playwright Isaac Gomez approaches the story by relating the emotional toll these murders have taken on the mothers and families of these young women, who board la ruta, the bus line to the U.S.-owned maquiladoras border factories. Some of these women never return.

It is a startling achievement that Gomez and director Sandra Marquez can present this tale in an entrancing manner, through song and stagecraft, drawing us close so that we will not flee from hearing of an atrocity that, even as it continues, is in danger of being forgotten.

Since 1993 hundreds of grisly murders have taken place of young Mexican women working near Juarez. Peculiar patterns have emerged in these murders, known as feminicidos, and which are monitored by Amnesty International and other groups: slender young women are kidnapped, sexually violated, tortured, then abandoned in the desert or in garbage dumps. These murders have scandalized the world.

La Ruta relates some of this, and depicts the social and emotional toll it is taking in Juarez, in the province of Chihuaha from which many of the women originate, and throughout Mexico. But Gomez and director Marquez adeptly mix music, comedic and tender emotional moments, and political drama, against the gut-wrenching backdrop of this acrid history.

La Ruta opens on what appears to be a lovely evening streetscape, and we hear the transcendentally beautiful voice of Desamaya (Laura Crotte). She is singing an enchanting ancient Mexican fable of La Bruja – The Witch – who as legend holds it steals little children and sucks out their souls – foreshadowing the drama to come. On a closer look we see a dead tree, and not moonlight, but the vapid glare of a streetlamp.

The next morning a mother sees her daughter to the stop for La Ruta, and she will head to the garment factory. Once there, a music plays a central role on the factory floor. The workers scan the dial for pop songs to support their repetitive work, in one scene settling on Son Del Obrero – an upbeat tune perfectly synchronized to the choreographed movements of the women at their sewing machines, singing along as they push work through. We witness the aspirations of the young women hoping for better life through the factory floor.

Gomez also gives us endearing scenes – a young newbie worker Brenda (Cher Alvarez) is shown the ropes by Ivonne (Karen Rodriguez). And later, Ivonne coaches Brenda on how to talk to boys – a delightful scene.

Charin Alvarez is at the top of her game as Marisela, a grieving mother turned political activist who leads others to march to the state capital. She has channeled her grief into action.

And in one of the most poignant scenes in this or any play, Marisela coaxes another mother to join her on the march to Chihuaha. But that mother cannot come, because doing so would mean describing her daughter as being among the dead. She is not ready to acknowledge her daughter is permanently missing. Because her body has not been found, this mother clings to the hope she is alive. Marisela does not push her beyond what she can accept. It is hard not to be moved. 

As the play concludes, the audience rises as one for an ovation. It is well deserved. La Ruta is highly recommended, and runs through January 27 at Steppenwolf Theatre.

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.