Items filtered by date: November 2007

Yuri Lane was a child actor, almost cast as Doogie Howser until the producer decided to go blond.

Lane has performed on the stage with Matt Damon and has many commercials under his belt but fame eluded him until one of his videos showing his amazing beat box skills went viral on YouTube with a million hits. Yuri was flown around the country by Google, Yahoo and many other corporations came calling with offers, some paid, some not. After a while he says he “kind of lost himself” in the process of trying to make the phenomenon of his number one YouTube video profitable at 1/20^th of a penny per hit.

Lane has made an interesting and funny one man show about his wild run with YouTube, which showcases his unbelievable vocal skills as a beat box artist as well as his sense of humor.

Yuri plays his own father by projecting himself as his dad on a video screen above his head and it was a very effective and funny way to illustrate their relationship. Yuri's recollection of his own Jewish artist father, a painter who is living precariously on Social Security, is revealing. Yuri's dad tries   to help by making suggestions like “Just walk into advertising agencies and sell yourself!”  The way Lane's father constantly plies Yuri with guilt trips about why Yuri isn't making more money to help support him and questions about how much “art “Yuri is creating in the meantime, really hit home with me.

Lane brings up many interesting points about the process of becoming a star on YouTube and also how very difficult it is to make any money on YouTube even with a video that gets over 2 million hits.

“MeTube” also shows that a performer like Lane who is obviously multi talented as a vocalist and writer/ producer but in such a unique and unusual ways that it sometimes it is very difficult to get a lasting break in Hollywood.

Judas Priest was Unleashed in the East once again last Saturday night. Well, at least east of Chicago, that is – Hammond, Indiana – home of The Venue inside of the Horseshoe Casino. Getting big time support from Thin Lizzy and Black Label Society, Judas Priest bulldozed their way through a two and a half hour set in what the band is calling the “Epitaph” tour – their final farewell. Sold out, The Venue proved it can handle even the mightiest of metal shows hosting a monster stage and laser light show and providing superb acoustics so that every bone-crushing crunch from the guitars were clearly heard as intended by the band.

Legendary frontman Rob Halford teams up with originals Glen Tipton and bassist Ian Hill on this tour along with Richie Faulkner on lead guitar and Scott Travis on the drums. While keeping the crux of the sound intact, Faulkner also brings his own style to the band, which is more on the young at heart side, to a band that could use a youthful infusion when it comes to the visual part of the performance. Even though Tipton seemed a bit fragile and Halford a bit less mobile, make no mistake about it – Judas Priest still gets it done. The fact of the matter is that the band flat out rocks with authority.

Halford showed off his high-pitched vocals with relentless fervor, sounding as good as ever, while his showmanship was still that of top caliber. Changing from one metal-studded jacket to another from song to song, Halford patrolled the stage with a mighty presence as the band took the audience on a memorable journey of metal nostalgia. Taking a stop or two on many of the band’s albums, Halford included a little history lesson with most and shared fond memories. The set list was vast and included such favorites as “Victim of Changes”, “Diamonds and Rust”, ‘The Sentinel”, “Heading Out to the Highway” and “The Green Manalishi”. The band also played “Breaking the Law” but let the crowd sing the words from beginning to end as Halford stood by directing and admiring loyal Priest followers.

With already more than a full night of music in the books, Judas Priest went into their first encore with a power-packed version of “The Hellion” and “Electric Eye” before bringing the Harley Davidson onto the stage for “Hell Bent for Leather” followed by “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming” led by a British and American flag clad Rob Halford. The band then took their bows to roaring applause and walked off stage only to return to do their party on classic, “Living After Midnight”.

We’ve heard the words “Farewell Tour” many times only to see a band resurface down the road. However, if the “Epitaph” tour (expected to run through 2013) is really it for this band from Birmingham, England, then they left on a powerful note. Producing metal since 1969, Judas Priest has influenced so many bands that since followed as well as generations of fans. To see them perform at the high level they have maintained for over four decades was nothing short of special.

I am always amazed by experiencing Sting performing live in concert. Sting has an incredible knack for creating an infinite number of new and compelling variations on his rich 25-year catalog of hit music. He never just rehashes his hits or performs them by wrote, he actively uses the fantastic musicians around him and his own life experience to innovate hip new arrangements that take each song to a whole new, truly new, level of intensity and meaning.

Sting appears on the stage for his Back to Bass Tour casually stripped down, with shaved head, zero body fat and wearing sheer gray T-Shirt and jeans. Sting appears relaxed yet energetic and completely in command of his band and the audience.

Sting has chosen such a small and an interesting group of players for this tour. Sting's right hand man, longtime guitarist, Dominic Miller, is on this tour, as well as Dominic's' 26 year old son, Rufus Miller. Rufus is a very good rhythm guitarist and already displays some of the handsome, pouty, nonchalant stage presence of a more seasoned player like his dad.

Drummer, Vinnie Colaiuta, is dynamite on the sticks, serving up some really great and tricked out yet solid rhythms for these arrangements.  On backing vocals Jo Lawry, has a rich, dramatic vocal presence, and also provided fiddle and additional percussion, which is doubly impressive. The show stealer is another young musician, Peter Tickell, who brought our house to a roaring standing ovation with his fiddle solo during “Love is Stronger than Justice”. Tickell really is an amazing player, like a Stevie Ray Vaughn on the violin. I've seen other young people solo with great skill like Peter, but in that boring, cold and speedy,  “music school” showing off sort of way. Tickell has the soul and rhythm to really feel out the emotional crescendo of his solo and it's catharsis and is a surprisingly mature, dead on rockin' and passionate player for his age.

I love that the Back to Bass Tour is utilizing smaller more intimate venues this time around. Sting has no difficulty projecting a great performance to a roaring outdoor crowd of 40,000, like with the Police Reunion Tour at Wrigley Field. However, I personally find that enjoying the superior quality of his voice and intricacies of his arrangements is so much more affecting in a smaller indoor venue.

Sting really is a master of transforming- or  “trance- forming”- musical performance. The combination of his detailed, lyric story telling, ultra-rhythmic bass lines and intensive Yogic training over the years   come together perfectly in a shaman like fashion, drawing the willing listener into a musical “trance” that is both entertaining and healing at the same time. I enjoy walking around after his concerts seeing the relaxed, happy, meditative looks on the faces of his satisfied audience members after the show.

Sting mentioned that he enjoys a great sense of “continuity when playing in Chicago, that it always feels like coming home to perform here.”

I feel a sense of continuity when Sting plays here as well because I have so many great memories of his concerts, meeting him and interviewing his band mates Dominic Miller and Chris Botti over the years.

In a way, Sting and Dominic gave me one of my very first breaks as a journalist when they allowed me to come backstage to do a live interview just 15 minutes before they ran out on stage in front of over 10,000 excited fans during the Sacred Love Tour.

I did not have my own Chicago magazine or PR firm established. Back then, I was writing for a teeny,  tiny newspaper in Brookfield Illinois. My cameraman and I drove six hours from Chicago to Grand Rapids but we were a full hour late for the scheduled interview because we forgot about the time change in Michigan, but they still had the ushers lead me back into the dressing area to conduct the interview with only minutes to spare before curtain.

I remember I had undergone a disastrous tanning booth experience the day before hoping to look good for the meeting wherein the entire back of my body ended up with 3^rd degree burns from double exposure and my front remained untouched and completely white. Now, I always make a point of giving my celebrity interview guests a big hug when we finish and I remember thinking, I don't care if it hurts- I am hugging Sting and Dominic for doing this interview- no matter what!

Then there was the wonderful, encouraging, 50 minute plus, phone interview that Chris Botti gave me just moments before taking the stage that night at Carnegie Hall. Chris Botti called me for the interview from Stings' condo in Manhattan, which Chris had just purchased from Sting and had barely moved into.

There are many wonderful and synchronistic events that I have experienced seeing Sting but the best has to be when he provided two wonderful seats to a rehearsal concert in Miami for my mother and I.  My mother was having major health problems at that moment and I flew to Miami to help her.

For my mom, attending Sting's concert that night turned out to be a miraculous, healing, dream-like, turning point for her and I really am indebted to him on a soul level for reviving her.  After that concert, Danny Quatrochi, Sting's personal bass assistant since The Police, hung out with my mom and I in the hotel bar and made her feel like the Belle of the Ball at the age of 73. The entire evening was amazingly generous and sweet.

Well, I could wax rhapsodic about more of my Sting-chronicity's over the years but I am sure with the shape Sting is in, there will be many more great concerts and mysterious dreams come to life in years to come.

I'll leave you with this about the show last night. Sting has a great practice of really allowing his players to shine and temporarily take the spotlight away from him on stage, but just in case you were starting to get distracted by all the bells and whistles of his band, Sting takes his last of three encores alone, with only his voice and an acoustic guitar filling the excited space.

When he does this, the energy in the room stays strong and climbs even higher, proving without a doubt that Sting's voice and compositions alone are the reason we have congregated here and that Sting's magnificent voice and songs really need no adornment whatsoever.

I highly recommend seeing the Sting, Back to Bass Tour. When it comes to your city in 2011.

The performance of Back to Bass that I attended here in Chicago at The Rosemont Theater was sheer concert perfection, a “must see” concert event of this season for any Sting fan.

For Tour dates through December of 2011 visit www.Sting.com.

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A metropolis during the Great Depression, a beachfront home in California, and a chic upper class apartment in New York City are the settings for the three plays developed in this year's Steppenwolf First Looks series.  United in their focus on desire and pain, the frugally titled "Man in Love," "Want," and "Oblivion" feature memorable characters that are bold, engaging, and fundamentally unhappy. They hunt, crave, and search for meaning and joy, turning to others, within, and above. If and how they find it is addressed differently by each playwright, but together they reavel multiple quests for the same goal of sincere meaning in an insincere time.

A Killer Accomplishment by “Man in Love”

Set in a segregated metropolis during the Great Depression, “Man in Love” twists between six characters pursing their desires during a time of social and economic turmoil. A man released from prison searches for work, another pines for the attention of a beautiful, young student, and another man – a book stacker at the University of Chicago library – hunts for something much darker: squares of Black, female flesh.

Paul Pare, Jr., a soft-spoken Black serial killer, is the creation of Christina Anderson, a playwright schooled by Brown and the Yale School of Drama. Her goal for the play was to pen a period piece that follows these murders and tracks the society’s reactions to the deaths of Black women. Over the course of the play, Paul Pare, frighteningly played by Namir Smallwood, grows his numbers from 4 to 5 to 6, as squares of flesh appear in a stack on his wall. We’re offered a glimpse into the psyche of the disturbed, violent man during killer monologues, delivered under a piercing light and over a tense soundtrack.

Despite the importance of the murders in the play, it is not a television crime drama, but a more complicated exploration of desire and secrets in a time of raised tension. Perhaps the most fascinating character is Bernice – a woman who today might identify as transgendered – who throws parties for money and attention while only having a loose connection to the killer. Brilliantly embodied by Ryan Lanning, Bernice is a tall woman who seeks belonging even though she is not, as her friend remarks in a war of words, a “real woman.” In the post-show talkback, Artistic Director Martha Lavey remarked that everyone in the work is passing. Bernice passes as a woman, Paul Pare passes as an innocent man, and other characters pass as wealthy or as white. It is this shifting of identities – secret and public – which thematically connects the characters in a stronger way than plot can. In fact, the piece might be stronger if the killer never interacted with the other characters, letting their connections be solely those of setting and situation.

“Man in Love” tackles much – race, gender, class – and does so while remaining true to a collection of messy, complex individuals desperately searching for love in a flawed world. With historical accuracy and a gentle nuance, it is a bold new play that all the while feels somehow familiar. And that is a killer accomplishment.

 “Want,” a Funny Social Critique, Needs More

David, a charismatic “tough love” therapist (although he’d never answer to the title and doesn’t have any sort of license) has assembled a group of former addicts in a beachfront California home. The five residents live communally, working to overcome their addictions to food, drugs, and/or sex and put an end to suffering. They seem happy, having left behind their former lives for this separated paradise, but their comfortable rhythm is disrupted when a wild, young woman arrives and affirms that desire never fully dies.

Zayd Dohrn, a playwright, screenwriter, and teacher, was inspired to write “Want” after watching close friends struggle with addiction and flip-flop in and out of rehab. He witnessed their searches for happiness, belonging, and acceptance, all the while growing cynical about our capitalistic, consumer culture. “Want” is his fast-paced critique of that culture, as he unravels the authority of the leader David, perfectly realized by Mark L. Montgomery. An especially strong cast of talented veterans make the work engaging from the initial scene – Audrey Francis, as a tightly-wound ex-wife who craves meaning, Kendra Thulin as a former addict who craves sweets, and Mick Weber as a man questioning his profession and sexuality while craving acceptance. Weber’s Henry, the former attorney whose savings bankroll the operation, ends up being the most dynamic, engaging character – changing from a humorous, jovial house-ex-husband into an angry, bitter man by play’s end. The cast’s chemistry and commitment is palpable, although newcomer Janelle Kroll as the home’s newest resident misses several comedic moments and doesn’t carry the show as strongly as another might.

With such a sharp-edged critique, one might expect Dohrn to offer a solution to our contemporary, continual unhappiness. But an open-ended ending – which was still undergoing drafts up to the performance – doesn’t offer an easy answer, but also doesn’t quite feel true to the play. There’s a stronger ending hiding just beneath the surface that could be teased out by a “tough love” session or two. In truth, there’s something fascinating about struggling find the right ending in a play titled “Want;” perhaps embracing that struggle – maybe through abandoning realism – might give the piece a more satisfying close.

The characters in “Want” are engaging and strong, even when their wills aren’t. Their struggle for happiness is one every human endures, making the play linger long after craving fades.

Rebelling with Religion in “Oblivion”

Upper class Jewish parents Pam and Dixon want nothign more than for their only daughter to mature into an upstanding moral citizen of the world, someone who thinks for herself and always questions authority. So when their high schooler Julie repeatedly lies about sneaking away to a weekend church retreat, their open minds begin to close and their feet begin to come down.  This rebellious daughter isn't turnint to drugs or sex for fulfillment, but something her parents find even scarier: God. 

When raising a child, parents must choose which beliefs and values to pass on and how to go about that passing.  The process is made even more difficult for humanist parents, who do not rely on religious institutions to instruct their children in morality.  "How do I teach my child right and wrong?" "How do I punish them?"  "Should I?"  These questions take center stage in Carly Mensch’s newest play, “Oblivion," when two parents must confront the fear that they have failed their daughter.  Schooled at Julliard and working as a story editor for Weeds, Mensch creates a smart, humorous play which draws upon her own Jewish upbringing and disillusionment with religion and society.  Mensch writes for her generation, which she describes as “over-educated yet spiritually malnourished 20-somethings who fear they’re overdosing on the excesses of entertainment and media yet have no idea what to do about it.” Fiona Robert’s even-keeled Julie captures this duality: an extreme intelligence, yet base embracing of silly pleasures, a longing for more, and a contentment with the everyday.

Caught in the web of lies is Bernard: a quirky, Asian, aspiring filmmaker who worships a god of his own: film critic, Pauline Kael. His devotion to Pauline mirrors his friend Julie's search for meaning in a house of atheists.  Under Matt Miller’s clear and clever staging, “Oblivion” chronicles Julie’s forays into the church, as she tries on praying, baptism, and forgiveness. These explorations leave her parents behind, straining their marriage and forcing them to question just how much they believe in one another.

In the beautiful final scene, as Bernard plays his black-and-white first film for the family, there’s a quiet hope that the family will be alright. Bernard apologizes that first films are never that great since the maker has to learn as he or she goes. Perhaps that’s how we all live our lives, learning as we go how to behave, how to treat others, and how to find meaning. It's a messy exploration, but maybe we’ll perfect it the second time around. 

Irish playwright Martin McDonagh’s newest play, “A Behanding in Spokane” is his first set in America. It’s still one of his characteristic black comedies – a label that means it okay to laugh at others’ pain and suffering – but it comes across the pond and centers on a one-handed man. The sweaty-headed Carmichael lost his hand to a bunch of hillbillies in Spokane, Washington, and he’s been searching for it for the past 27 years. The hillbillies he long ago found and disposed of, but his hand still eludes him. Profile’s production of the play, similarly, seems to be searching for something; it has many of the essential parts – a smart head and occasional heart – but it’s missing something I can’t quite put my finger on.

 The unfinished business of Carmichael (broodingly played by Darell W. Cox) brings him to a decrepit hotel for a promised transaction. An enterprising young couple (Levenix Riddle and Sara Greenfield tell Carmichael they have his hand, but they underestimate his intolerance for trickery and his capacity for violence. The hand-off plays out in real-time, with the young couple disagreeing on the con and ending up playing a twisted carnival game for their lives – tossing severed hands at a candle that is burning down to a bucket of gasoline. Caught in the middle is a delightfully naïve, but still flawed, receptionist, given a playful characterization by Eric Burgher.

At its core, A Behanding in Spokane is about justice and how it plays out between these four individuals – a man seeking revenge disregards the law, a young couple unethically try to swindle him, and a receptionist serves as an accidental judge with his own grievances. In the plot-heavy piece, McDonagh digs into how a grudge can consume and destroy a life, leaving it more mangled and blackened than a 27-year-old severed hand. But from a man obsessed with location (his play titles almost always include a geography: The Beauty Queen of Leenane, A Skull in Connemara, The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The Banshees of Inisheer), the placement of the play in America is not accidental. In his black comedy, he features a black character (the young Toby) and satirizes political correctness and confronts America’s racist past. Toby’s girlfriend Marilyn reprimands her captor, while he wields a gun, for his homophobia and use of racial epithets.  Her boyfriend is a bit more practical about the situation.  In short, he doesn’t mind being called a name if it means he doesn’t get murdered.

The relationship between this pair is what makes the piece lose its early momentum. Once Carmichael leaves the pair alone, the piece dips in intensity, focusing on the yelling of two young folks. Their screams and banter become a bit monotonous, although I/m not sure exactly I would react in the face of impending death. The layout of the Profiles Theatre storefront puts the audience close to the actors and on both sides of the stage. The effect is Brechtian – you’re never lost in the dream of a story, you’re constantly aware that the other half of the audience– and intimate – you’re close to the characters, which can be frightening with a villain like Carmichael or disappointing when a moment isn’t properly directed.

McDonagh’s repetitive dialogue, rhythmically perfected by a talented cast of 4, is a strong source of humor, but occasionally Snyder has directed his cast toward pathos rather than the laughs the author intended. In the face of such dark and tragic comedy, sometimes the only response is laughter – aided by the fact that these are fictional characters in an imagined situation. Even still, McDonagh’s impression of the United States are as dark as his comedy – we’re a violent, homophobic, racist people that have overcorrected by becoming PC and sensitive to the point of nonsense. How far off is his assessment? I had never heard of Spokane, Washington until McDonagh’s play, but I recently received an e-mail which referenced the city three times. In a list of recent LGBT hate crimes were the following:

- September 21, 2011: Steve Pfefferle, 38, was choked with a rope and repeatedly struck with a piece of metal by a man in Spokane, Washington after leaving Dempsey’s, a local gay bar.

- September 28, 2011: Michael Jepsen, 45, was hit, pushed, and called a “faggot” by a group of people outside Irv’s, a bar in Spokane, Washington.

- October 7, 2011: Danny Hawkins, a gay rights advocate, was asked if he was gay before being beaten by an unnamed man in Spokane, Washington after leaving a local gay bar.

And that’s nothing to laugh about.

Comedians Scott Thompson and Kevin MacDonald Live at Mayne Stage in Chicago

I really enjoyed the dueling comedy sets by “Kids in The Hall” cast members, Scott Thompson and Kevin MacDonald.  There is a certain type of ripple effect laughter that really great comics can get out of an audience that I think of as a “bouncy wave” or “bouncy ball” where the audience continues to laugh and giggle to themselves in between the jokes about the last joke. Then the laughter just continues to and build and bounce like a rubber ball even when the comedian isn't saying anything!

Thompson and MacDonald really got that bouncy ball of laughter going to the point where I was actually wiping tears from my eyes.

Scott Thompson was over the top raunchy with a great story about how autographing a fan's penis turned into a full-blown sex romp and another great bit about his search for a genuine “Unicorn- the uncircumcised Jewish male.”

Thompson also covered some interesting ground when he described how bizarre it was to be a man diagnosed and treated for breast cancer- “The hospital elevators and even the medical forms are all PINK!!”

Kevin MacDonald's comedy was a little bit more tame but also very funny when he came out and told the audience that he is not really a stand-up comic that his jokes only have “middles” not beginnings or ends.

Kevin and Scott alternated sets and shared the stage three times, making for a generous, very funny, satisfying and balanced night of comedy.

Kids in the Hall' alumna, Dave Foley, happened to be in Chicago performing at the Improv and joined Thompson and MacDonald on stage at the end of the night for a little bit of funnin' around that involved Scott Thompson's' hand in Dave's pants. Foley also stuck around after the show with Scott Thompson to meet the audience.

Thompson recalls meeting a young Uma Thurman backstage early in the groups' career.

"Uma Thurman at the time was the sexiest woman in the world," he says. "We had never met a celebrity before. We all thought she wanted to sleep with us. It really was a big launching pad for us. It made us think that wow; we're in the big leagues. She was the first responder."

if you are a Kids in the Hall fan,  Thompson and MacDonald live  is a real treat , you must check out “Two Kids in the Hall” while they are on tour.

I actually started cutting my teeth as a booking agent 20 years ago. by booking my own band into nightclubs. It seemed straightforward at first, there was a contact name and number and process for submitting your band's music but then I found out each club had a huge stack of unopened music and it was difficult to get the manager on the phone. If the manager wasn't a friend or at least a friend of a friend who liked your band you may get the runaround for months or wind up being given an opening slot at 6:30 PM on a Tuesday night that you can't possibly get your fans to show up at, let alone make any money playing. After a few rounds of this time wasting futility, I learned that by booking other bands along with my own for a whole night of music or a festival, I could get a lot more respect from the club, and more control over the split of funds from the door and which band got the prime slot- mine.

 *(above) Kimberly Katz with Taylor Negron

Theatrical booking by comparison is about 100 times more selective, complex, political, and cliquish than club/musical booking.

For ease of explanation, I group theatrical bookings in three tiers, based on length of run, not size of venue. For example a Tier One booking is for one or two nights max including speaking engagements. It doesn't matter if the theater is 300 hundred seats or 3000. A Tier Two engagement is a week or longer up to two weeks max. A Tier Three is the most intensive booking logistically; it lasts for two weeks or longer and may include a run extension of several months in the same venue.

After 25 years in the New York and Chicago theater scene, I know exactly what each theater or venue is like to see a show in from top to bottom. I know what type of experience theater goers and my productions' members will have right down to the restrooms, bar area, parking options, and disabled access. I am aware of the general age and personality of the theaters' subscriber audience as a whole and I am aware of the success or failure of each of their past productions season to season.  The artistic directors and general managers who decide which productions to run, know me from reviewing their shows for Buzz and are friends from college or just respect my taste in theater and talent.

Booking a theater for a production is a lot like hosting an important party. I have to find the best room with the best vibe for that style and size party, with all the right amenities, ample parking and bar/restaurant foot traffic in the right neighborhood.  Then if there is competition for that venue, and those dates, I have to really sell my production to a number of company heads based on what I project will be it's success and get the best deal financially for my clients.

Of the three aspects, the vision, the budget and the schedule, the schedule is actually the most pivotal. The vision for a show changes and evolves. The budget or lack thereof, also changes over time and alters the execution of the vision but not necessarily in a bad way.  You may have a large budget and pump a lot of money into a play with big sets, lighting design, and costumes but it doesn't mean the show will be successful in proportion to the money you have spent. Bigger isn't always better, in fact, it may gild the lily to the point where the show is ruined.  For example, actor, writer, Jeff Garlin from Curb Your Enthusiasm did a successful two-week run at Steppenwolf this past summer with no set at all. Garlin performed his piece “No Sugar Tonight” with just an old ladder, some scaffolding strewn about and a plastic pumpkin with ladle full of water and a ukulele he said he would not play but was there for visual suspense. Garlin said he thought the ladder, etc. would indicate that this was a “work in progress” and that he did not even have a name for the show until the theater pressed him for one.

When I look at the calendar as a booking agent I see years flying by, not weeks or days because in a sense the best dates of the theatrical calendar year are already booked well before it begins.

Imagine the entire theater community on a big Monopoly board of the United States.  On the board there is a fixed number of major theaters in each of the major cities. Every agent or producer already knows which venues and which dates they need for their production’s tour schedule that year.

The in- house subscriber series are locked in a full year in advance.  Major Holidays like Christmas are always in the same place and have either a good effect on your particular show (A Christmas Carol) or a dead zone effect that you want to avoid, etc.  Booking is done as far in advance as possible to get the best slots and have ample time to promote the show and fill seats.

For more information visit www.KimberlyKatzPR.com   

When it comes to bringing Rogers and Hammerstein’s “The Sound of Music” alive on stage, of course the surrounding cast is utterly essential, but most important of all, the show would need a vibrant “Maria” who absolutely exudes true spirit and fun. Drury Lane’s Production of “The Sound of Music” has not only put together a brilliant surrounding cast from top to bottom, but has also struck gold with leads Larry Adams as “Captain Von Trapp” and Jennifer Blood as “Maria Rainer”. Not only are the two vocally right for the roles; their chemistry together is nothing short of magical, adding a very believable element to this timeless story of love for family and country.

It’s not always easy to bring classics to the stage since we already have such a preconceived notion as to what we expect from certain characters or are often saddled to such a familiarity to a particular role that we don’t want to stray away too far from what we’ve come to know. However, in this case, Drury Lane Productions has succeeded and then some.

To no lack of vocal prowess, the jury still seems to be out on Blood after her opening number, “The Sound of Music”, as it is not yet clear where this “Maria” will take us. But it doesn’t take long to find out. During her next song, “I Have Confidence”, her talents really shine at the same time her personality beams throughout the house and it is apparent she has captured the entire crowd. Each of the seven children is immediately likeable and, like the rest of the cast, more than vocally efficient. Patti Cohenour adds a tasty punch as “The Mother Abbess” boasting her incredible vocal range while Peter Kevoian is entertaining as can be as “Max Detweiler”.

The set design is stunning as the audience is taken inside the Abbey then into different areas of the Von Trapp mansion and its courtyard. One highlight has the stage transformed into the very festival in which the performing Von Trapp Singers escape from Nazi occupied Austria. So detailed is the setting that Nazi soldiers walk up and down the isle on the look out for any foul play, placing audience members into the festival itself.

Many productions of “The Sound of Music” have come and gone and some have stood out more than others. This current production is one that stands at the top. A perfect holiday treat or a family night out, “The Sound of Music” at Drury Lane in Oakbrook is a memorable experience that you can enjoy over and over again.

Though so many stories come to life via stage productions, there are just a handful that come across better than imagined. The needed ingredients to pull this off would be a strong cast – top to bottom - with dynamic leads, imaginative props to go along with a detailed set, colorful costumes and staying true to the original story. “Mary Poppins” has all of this and more.

Now playing at the Cadillac Palace through November 6^th, “Mary Poppins” is one of the biggest musical successes to emerge from London or New York in recent years. With all the songs we’ve come to know while growing up like “Practically Perfect”, “Chim Chim Cher-ee”, “A Spoonful of Sugar” and “Supercalifragilisticexpialidoious”, “Mary Poppins” is musically fun and holds several dance numbers that are as colorful as they are creative.

Of course you couldn’t have a successful run of “Mary Poppins” without the right “Mary Poppins” or “Bert”. Though there will never be another Julie Andrews or Dick Van Dyke, the production finds gold in Rachel Wallace and Nicolas Dromard, both who seem made for the roles. Dromard is charismatic as can be as the jolly, dancing chimneysweeper and Wallace brings with her every attribute necessary in playing the perfect “Mary Poppins”.

The show also has some unique visuals such as “Bert” walking up the side up the stage only to continue by walking upside down across the top. And of course the crowd is also awed when “Mary Poppins” flies overhead. “Mary Poppins” fans or not, attendees will be treated to an evening filled with stunning dance sequences, tremendous vocal display, eye-catching sets and, of course, the classic story itself.

Tickets are reasonable, starting at just $25. For more information visit www.BroadwayinChicago.com.

I only wish I had watched the film “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” the night before seeing this hilarious and touching send up because “Pussy on the House”, written by Ryan Landry, really hit the parody right on the head with huge laughs scene by scene and line for line.

In “Pussy on the House”, the failed ex-TV star Brick Pollup, and his stunningly gorgeous, sexually frustrated wife, Maggie Pollup, emotionally battle it out around the bed Maggie has dragged up to the roof where she is finally gratified when the full truth comes out about recent tragic events in the family.

Jeremy Myers in Elizabeth Taylor's role as “Maggie the Cat”, was absolutely beautiful to look at, very sexy and convincing. I loved that Jeremy achieved a strikingly natural resemblance to Taylor in his costume and makeup because his interpretation of her was as multi layered and dramatically rich as it was funny.

David Cerda as the very pregnant, money hungry sister-in-law and house-frau, Mae Pollup, was hysterical, often bringing the full house to a stop with laughter with just a single word or a smirking spot on look from under his false eyelashes.

The whole cast was dynamite and Honey West as Big Mama Pollup, “the richest, butchest lesbian in six counties who built the biggest polyester plantation the South has ever seen” gave the show some drama and weight with a rich voice and straight delivery that lifted this piece above great parody and into great melodrama.

Director Matthew Gunnels, who previously did such a smash up job directing “POSEIDON: An Upside Down Musical” stated about “Pussy on the House”, “Tennessee Williams is one of my favorite all-time playwrights and I have a special place in my heart for Cat. Mr. Landry’s play is clearly a love letter to the original material, but adds tons of campy fun and touches upon current events such as gay marriage, the effects of cancer on family members and same-sex adoption. Since being diagnosed with cancer this spring, it has changed the way I view characters in the play and has added importance and a sense of urgency to present this amazing script to Chicago.”

What I loved about this play and see in every play that David Cerda produces for his company, Hell in a Handbag, is a strong passion and devotion for keeping truly great drag alive. Great drag doesn't make fun of women, or make clowns of men, it elucidates and glamorously celebrates women’s' social condition in life and relationships.

Great drag, which Hell in a Handbag consistently delivers, makes you laugh and sympathize with grand dames like Elizabeth Taylor and Joan Crawford. A great drag performer uses humor and compassion to also celebrate the men who would like to embody great women.

“Pussy on the House” is playing at The Atheneum Theatre through October 30^th. For more information visit www.hellinahandbag.org.