Items filtered by date: November 2007

Porchlight’s 'Blues in The Night' Makes for a red hot Chicago evening. A musical revue in the strictest sense, it was conceived by Sheldon Epps in 1980 as a late-night companion piece to a jazz play.

It took on a life of its own, and a brief Broadway run followed in 1982, which scored it a Tony nomination for Best Musical. It features popular jazz and blues music from the 1930s. You will be witness to a magnificent evening of musical stylings from the likes of Bessie Smith, Alberta Hunter, Ida Cox, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, Billy Strayhorn, Jimmy Cox as well as others. Directed and choreographed by Kenny Ingram, Porchlights’ production of 'Blues in the Night' begins and ends with chill-inducing harmonies from a most impressive musical ensemble.

Set in 1938, three women and one man sing the blues all night long. The three women are guest at a Chicago hotel. Each woman has a story or two to tell, and they are going to tell it. What brings these women together? Men: how they are treated by men, how they should be treated by men, their expectations of men, and disillusionment with men.

Felicia P. Fields, The Lady from the Road, is the older, wiser road-worn veteran in the group. Fields has the pipes to carry the entire show single-handedly. She keeps a steamer trunk packed with memories of her days on the road as a performer, hoping one day to get the call to return to the “chitlin circuit”. She shows her comedic side on songs like “New Orleans Hop Scop Blues” and “Take Me for a Buggy Ride,” songs filled with double entendres that she delivers with sexual indueno and zeal. Fields' gospel-fueled “Wasted Life Blues” puts a stone in your heart and you feel her pain.

Donica Lynn portrays the Woman of the World, once living the high life, she is now renting a room in a cheap Chicago hotel. This is a woman who has known love and lost love. You are transported when she sings “Stompin’ at The Savoy” and “Lush Life,” a song this critic considers one of the hardest songs to sing. Lynn’s voice is silky smooth but sure and direct when she announces her desire in “Rough and Ready Man”.

Sweet and Innocent, the Girl with a Date Clare Kennedy sings “Taking A Chance On Love” and “Willow Weep For Me” songs that reflect her optimism. By Act two she is singing the mournful “Reckless Blues” proving she belongs in the company of these powerhouse singers.

Evan Tyrone Martin, is the Man in the Saloon. Martin’s rich voice complements the women’s voices beautifully. Along with his beautiful voice he possesses the sexuality and charm of a by-gone era. He excites the audience with his “Baby Doll” where he owns the moment.

This show goes into over-drive when all voices are blended together. Kenny Ingram’s direction and choreography made the most of the of talent on the stage. The addition of Terrell Armstrong’s Dancing Man by Ingram was genius. Armstrong embodied the men in the women lives using dance. The most visually pleasing moments occurred when the walls in each woman’s bedroom were backlit as Armstrong danced.

David Fiorello’s musical direction is brilliantly handled the task of telling several stories musically. The vocals were flawless, the harmonies were tight, and the sound perfectly matched the 1930s style. The band consists of Maulty Jewell IV doing double duty as pianist and conductor, Rafe Bradford on Bass, Ricardo Jimenez on Trumpet, Darius Hampton on Reeds and Harold Morrison on Drums. The band mixed seamlessly with the vocalists, creating the perfect atmosphere for an audience to be immersed in jazz and the blues.

A 1930' s era Chicago Hotel was perfectly realized by Angela Weber Miller, creating distinct rooms for each woman, each giving the audience an idea of who the character is: A trunk in Lady’s room, fine clothing in The Woman’s room, and a suitcase in The Girl’s room. Rueben D. Echoles did an excellent job with costumes and wigs.

If a night of great singing and dancing is in order, run, don’t walk and get a ticket to 'Blues In The Night." It will warm you up for many nights to come.

“Blues in the Night” is playing at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn Street, Chicago, extended through March 20th, 2022.
Tickets are: $25-$74.
Performance schedule:
Fridays – 8:00 p.m.
Saturdays – 3:00 p.m.
Sundays – 2:00 p.m.
Thursday, February 17 matinee – 1:30 p.m.
Thursday, February 24, March 3, and March 10– 7:00 p.m.

The 1993 Bill Murray movie comedy, Groundhog Day,is one of those cult classics with millions of fans. Like ‘The Big Lebowski,' people love it, or don’t quite see the appeal. I fall in the latter class on both films: appreciating the concept, but not with a lot of fervor.

So I was hopeful that the 2017 Broadway musical version would help me get into the story. Indeed, ‘GroundHog Day: The Musical,’ is a tremendous musical production. The story tells of cynical, self-centered TV weatherman Phil Connors who balks at being relentlessly assigned to cover the furry forecaster at the annual Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, PA. You know, if the groundhog sees his shadow, winter lingers; if not, we get an early spring.

Alex Syiek is exceptionally good as the arrogant weatherman Phil Connors, channeling the flavor of Bill Murray’s version but making it his own. And Phoebe González as Rita Hanson, Phil’s new producer and love interest, is terrific.

The full production team has done a wonderful job, with very creative staging: Jim Corti, director; Megan E. Farley, choreographer; Kory Danielson, music supervisor, music director and conductor; Courtney O’Neill, scenic designer; Jordan Ross, costume designer; Greg Hofmann, lighting designer; Adam Rosenthal, sound designer.

In its Midwest premier at the beautifully restored Paramount Theatre in Aurora, IL through March 13, 'Groundhog Day: The Musical' a remount of the Broadway version that garnered seven Tony nominations. One suspects there is a reason it didn't win any. Frankly, the underlying material is pretty bad, in particular, the music. That would be the underlying material.

As in the film, Connors gets stuck in a time loop, awakened by his alarm each day at 6:00 a.m. to cover Groundhog Day. The musical version explores Connor’s desperation to escape the loop, and how he uses his time - for instance, hitting on every woman in town, and taking piano lessons - always “for the first time.”

But the repetitive nature of the morning 6:00 a.m. alarm seems to be incorporated into the music, yielding what basically sounds like endless variations on a single song for an overly long first act. The soporific effect was counteracted in a shorter second act with two distinct songs, one even memorable. And a Two Brothers coffee available at intermission helped.

It would have been hard to predict when this show was originally planned that Omicron Covid would still bedevil us. And in a sense, we are consigned to our own relentless treadmill of masks and constraints. Perhaps 'Groundhog Day The Musical' was chosen only for its coincidence with the real annual Groundhog Day each February. Infusing our masked treadmill wouood have given it more relevancy.

But I wouldn't write off seeing this show, which is a beautiful production, pretty much perfectly executed. But get yourself a Two Brothers in the lobby when you arrive.

Should a tiger take up residence in your bathroom, Trap Door Theater’s new production presents an entertaining selection of likely scenarios to follow. In a fresh translation of an absurdist play by Polish playwright Sɫawomir Mrożek—Poland’s Ionesco—director Nicole Wiesner turns 'The Martyrdom of Peter Ohey' into a highly entertaining, high energy production that feels as though PT Barnum had decided to produce ‘Cabaret.’

This obscure farce by Mrożek was intended to poke fun at contemporary mores and life in the 20th century in communist-dominated Poland. Mrożek probably penned it as a critique of an overweening government seeking too much control over the individual, constraining freedom. Delivering it straight up as Mrożek would have intended it would risk giving us an artifact of historical interest, but not much fun to watch.

Instead, Wiesner has boiled the message down to its essence, and the forces of conformity seem to be not the government, but social expectations. We see the thoughtful, individualistic Peter Ohey (Dennis Bisto) driven to accept a ridiculous proposition—that his bathroom has a tiger hiding in it—and he is forced into a submission of belief by outside forces.

His son is bribed by self interest into asserting the tiger’s existence by an Official (Carl Wisniewski), and his daughter and wife (Venice Averyheart) accept the story in a rapid group think. Ohey is suddenly alone in rational view, and vulnerable, as the Official, then a Tax Collector (Natara Easter) declare the tiger's presence to be incontrovertible fact.

But it is when the Scientist appears (Keith Surney is magnificent) Peter Ohey has met his match. He soon capitulaes, and is transformed into the tiger, under the Scientist’s lashing whip, in a scintillating leather and fishnet encounter with distinct BDSM overtones. All hope is lost for Ohey. Soon another ominous force appears, The Old Hunter (Bob Wilson) who seems hauntingly reactionary and powerful.

After this the show descends into a circus act under The Circus Manager; Matty Robinson gives an exceptional performance in this role. 

Whatever serious themes this work addresses are unimportant, really. Trap Door has produced a remarkable show, and it is very highly entertaining. It runs through March 3, at Trap Door Theater on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM and comes highly recommended.

I’m not sure how long this honeymoon feeling of returning to life as a theatergoer will last. That butterflies-in-the-belly, waiting-for-the-lights-to-go-out feeling just before the show starts. Right now, I tell myself that it’ll last forever. That I’ll never take for granted what I was—and all of you lovers of a good show done well were—lucky enough to enjoy until the past two years. That I’ll watch every show like it could be my last. Who knows if this feeling will last? I hope it does.

But I’ll tell you what…the cast and crew of Marriott Theatre’s West Side Story are putting on a production that shows that us theatergoers weren’t the only ones itching to get back to it, putting on a show like it could be their last.

That the production is Leonard Bernstein’s classic was a great choice. Its content, while still thought-provoking and fitting for our fractured world all these decades later, is also well-known, proven, comforting. We know what to expect, the cast and crew know what to do, and then we all hope it goes according to script.

It does here. The two leads, Lauren Maria Medina as Maria and Jake David Smith as Tony, are both very talented vocalists, comfortable with the challenging melodies Bernstein gives them. They play their parts, they sing their songs, they live their lives, as the Maria and Tony we as the audience want.

The roles of Anita and Bernardo, of course, won best supporting Oscars for the 1961 film version, and here they are filled by Vanessa Aurora Sierra and Gary Cooper. Sierra captured my attention whenever she was onstage, bringing not just the passion the role calls for but a real joy, too. Gary Cooper (that name!) brought physicality to Bernardo and the fight scenes, but matched Sierra in having that extra presence, too.

The ensemble—a highlight is the Shark Girls led by Sierra in a rousing, syncopated “America”—pulls off stunning dance numbers and tightly choreographed fight scenes, and does them well. And, like the four actors mentioned above, they give each of them that little something extra, that little bit of joy that just makes this a production to see and enjoy.

Because, like I said, West Side Story can certainly still make us think—still is making me think—socially, about what can be done to make life better. But West Side Story—done so well, now through March 27—also shows us how good life is, how good life can be. We have these beloved songs and characters, and we have such talented people like those in this cast and crew who will give that little bit more to live up to the material, who will play each show like it might be their last, and who, thank goodness, are still here to provide us grateful fans that feeling you get when you’re waiting for the lights to go out and for the show to start.

West Side Story is being performed at Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire through March 27^th.

Goodman Theatre’s aptly titled season, Homecoming, kicks off with a revival of August Wilson’s “Gem of the Ocean.” Written just a few years before his death, “Gem of the Ocean” is the first chapter of Wilson’s 10-play 20^th Century “Cycle”. This play was originally produced at Goodman Theatre in 2003. Goodman has produced each of Wilson’s ten plays at least once, with some making their world premiere.  

Despite being a native of Pittsburgh, where his plays are set, August Wilson had a unique relationship with Chicago. Revival director Chuck Smith served as the dramaturg on the original production of “Gem of the Ocean” but formed a working friendship long before then. Since 2005, Chuck Smith has produced two August Wilson festivals.

“Gem of the Ocean” captures the African American experience in the first decade of the 20^th Century. The play centers around mystic Aunt Esther (Lisa Gaye Dixon) and a mysterious drifter named Citizen (Sharif Atkins). Romantic tension blossoms between Citizen and Aunt Esther’s housemaid Black Mary (Sydney Charles).

Wilson follows Citizen’s journey from Reconstruction-era Alabama to Free North Pittsburgh. The play makes a direct parallel between the American immigrant experience and the post-slavery African American experience. Much like Upton Sinclair’s Jurgis, Citizen is tricked at every turn upon arrival in bustling Pittsburgh and he quickly becomes discouraged. He seeks refuge and soul cleansing with Aunt Esther and finds a loyal family.

Performances are humorous and complex. Lisa Gaye Dixon fills the space with her enchanting presence, but it’s Sydney Charles in the meeker role of Black Mary who is equally captivating. Charles has an impressive voice and an ageless sense of vulnerability and humor. The two share a contagious chemistry. It wouldn’t be an August Wilson play in Chicago without A.C. Smith though, his hulking appearance and effortless comedy help maintain August Wilson’s balance.

While “Gem of the Ocean” is about class warfare in the 1900s, its themes of injustice and police brutality are as relevant today. Wilson covers a lot of ground in three hours but the mood never feels overwhelming. In fact, there’s a great deal of whimsy. “Gem of the Ocean” begins this cycle with a deep understanding of the horrors of the slave trade. Wilson deeply felt the plight of free, but somewhat lost African Americans in the century after the civil war. He gets to the heart of the American caste system, and why some people choose to perpetuate it. Though there is darkness, there is so much lightness in the warm exchanges and theatrical staging of this ensemble play.

Through February 27^th at Goodman Theatre. 170 N Dearborn St. (312) 443-3800

“Relentless” is a play about memories and what we do with those memories. Running at Timeline Theatre through February 26, this is a show in which all the characters carry a memory, either literally or figuratively. 

The year is 1919. America is struggling with two pandemics, one the recent outbreak of influenza decimating the country, the other, the ever-present racism, turned up to a feverish pitch. Janet and Annelle, sisters, have returned to their childhood home from Boston along with Marcus, Annelle’s doctor husband. The sisters are there to settle the estate of their deceased mother Annabelle Lee, a midwife in Philadelphia.

While going thru her mother’s things, Janet (Jaye Ladymore offers stoic resolve and suppressed determination) finds a treasure trove of dairies and is engrossed in reading every word. On the other hand, Annelle (playfully sweet but fragile and vulnerable Ayanna Bria Bakari) wants nothing to do with the diaries and feels they should be destroyed.

Franklin (Xavier Edward King delivers wit and simmering intensity), a businessman in Philadelphia, remembers the details of his birth and how it informs his present. Marcus, (the debonair Travis Delgado) remembers how he felt seeing Black people refused medical treatment. Zhuukee/Annabelle Lee (sweetly played by Demetra Lee) writes her own memories down. She is given a remembrance of her mother in a scene that is one of the most powerful in the play.

One thing you can count in Chicago theatre, if you go to a Timeline Production, you will spend a great deal of time researching what you have just seen. It was like that when I saw “Fiorello”, It was the same when I saw “Weekend” and it is no different with “Relentless”. Timeline productions teach and enlighten, you walk out wiser than when you walked in.

As you walk into the theater you are greeted by a wall of pictures, in a neatly appointed room. Jack Magaw’s scenic design is right out of a 1900’s picture, faded with time. There is cornice molding framing the room, mahogany wood doors, a staircase that leads up to a second story and a colorful stained-glass window. To the left there is an alcove for sitting. The wallpaper is quintessentially Victorian. It is obvious the owner of this house is comfortably middle class. There are crates scattered about, giving the room the feeling of upheaval.

Special kudos to lighting designer Heather Gilbert and Mike Tutaj, this same room is turned into a southern manor with the addition of projection and lighting. Music is used to heighten drama during certain important moments of dialogue in a manner that’s almost cinematic. Christine Pascual did a remarkable job costuming in 3 eras, I noticed the sisters in 1919 weren’t wearing constraining bodices as women were taking more agency of their bodies, preparing for the roaring 20’s. Great Job!

Abercrombie has given us some wonderful and interesting characters. She wrote her play in five chapters with each chapter having a title from a work of Black literature. As the scene begins it is projected on top of the setting (like the title page of a book). The dialogue is fast, witty and engaging. Ron OJ Parsons, a director of renown, knows exactly what he’s doing. He choose an excellent ensemble. He found the right tempo for the time and place and let the words do the work.

Theatergoers will want to become familiar with Tyla Abercrombie, as she has made a name for herself not only in Chicago theater but throughout the country. She can also be seen as a series regular in “The Chi”. Aside from a one-woman show, this is her first play. She was supported in the development process by Timeline’s Playwrights Collective and the result is pure magic. Abercrombie’s writing is deliberately educational, clearly pointing out important names, dates and events. This gives her writing a sense of immediacy. She has shown herself to be a playwright of exceptional skill and if this first play is any indication, expect to see her name featured in the future.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t say “Relentless” is long, coming in at 3 hours. August Wilson was notorious for over writing his plays, Lloyd Richards was notorious for editing those plays and getting them to Broadway and he was born in 1919 ..The universe is talking …I’m just saying! Nevertheless, it is highly recommended.

At Theater Wit through February 26th.

Owen Wister’s 1902 novel The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains has been adapted for the stage at least once (by Wister himself along with a co-adaptor) and has had five screen adaptations, not including the television series based on it. This leads to the question of why it is necessary to adapt this seminal Western novel once again for the stage. According to director Terry McCabe, “The value of any national myth lies in its availability to everyone.” The diverse cast certainly seems to enjoy the opportunity to bring the well-worn trappings of the myth of the American West to life, and, hey, who wouldn’t? Wister’s novel is considered the first to introduce the Wild West to the American mainstream, with its black hat/white hat dichotomy, rough justice and rugged individualism. With prose capturing the unspoiled glory of Wyoming, both the novel and this new adaptation by L.C. Bernadine and Spencer Huffman evoke a time and place that exist only in the imagination, but nevertheless have shaped the “American Character.” Is it valuable to return to those dusty streets? This production does not make that case. Is it fun? Most certainly, especially in this tightly written adaptation, under the inventive direction of McCabe, with a creative and committed cast and design team.

L.C. Bernadine and Spencer Hufffman have done an excellent job of adapting Wister’s 400+-page novel into a stage version that clocks in at just over two hours, including the intermission. The play hews closely to the plot of the original, though the novel’s narrator has been eschewed with his elegiac praise of the Virginian and the Wyoming landscape assigned to other characters. In making the myth available to everyone, the playwrights have also made a few changes; for example, Steve calls The Virginian “Whiskey” instead of “Jeff” (for Jefferson Davis, which would be discordant in this production) to honor his Southern roots. The dialogue, much of it lifted from the novel, is remarkably fresh and entertaining, though the playwrights have used the time constraints and desire to preserve elements of the novel’s descriptive prose as an excuse to give proportionally more stage time to the female characters, which also allows for a more critical gaze at the mythological Western version of masculinity. There are also nods to the economic disparities between owners and employees, and the hardships faced by small-scale ranchers, as well as the nascent Women’s Suffrage Movement. Despite these changes, Bernadine and Huffman’s adaptation is a faithful rendering of the American classic.

Director Terry McCabe has more practice than anyone in dealing with the constraints of the tiny City Lit Theater space, and it shows in his ability to effectively shoehorn a sprawling Western into its confines without sacrificing the sprawl. First and foremost, McCabe embraces the fact that this is a stage adaptation, and his production deploys a wide range of theatrical devices with aplomb. He also embraces the sepia-toned nostalgia for an America that never was. The cowboys look cool in their jeans and gun belts, the ladies elegant in their high-waisted skirts. The costumes by LaVisa Williams perfectly capture this Western fantasy world. Resident set designer Ray Toler has created a set that bends and folds and pops out into various locations, with the Great Plains represented by beautiful rolling fabric drops. Though smoothly executed by the cast, the scene changes are helped along by composer/cellist Kellee Vandervall’s score, which emulates and incorporates American folk music (and Wister’s own compositions). Liz Cooper’s lighting design helps recreate the sundrenched colors of the Plains and focus the action. Steven Widerman of the Puppet Company designed the expressive horses, which are integral to the action.

The large ensemble cast is uniformly strong, smoothly moving from location to location, transforming the set as they go. The well-choreographed scene changes never break the momentum of the performances. Robert Hunter Bry brings a quiet, intelligent charm to the Virginian, convincingly filling the shoes of ranch foreman and architect of change in the West. As his love interest Molly Wood, the schoolmarm from Vermont, Liz Falstreau embodies the well-mannered rebelliousness of her role, and makes a solid case for reexamining the traditions of Western vigilantism. Ben Auxier brings enough dimension to the antagonist role of Trampas to almost garner sympathy—and enough to make some good points about the inequities of the democracy of the Wild West—but fortunately comes up short on this front to create a compelling villain. David Fink’s performance as animal-loving, gullible Shorty is affecting as he maintains his heart through adversity. Aaron Sarka is an affable, winningly impetuous Steve. Varris Holmes is charismatic and grounded as Judge Taylor, while bringing the necessary gravitas to the role. As Mrs. Taylor, Andie Dae brings just a touch of aristocracy to her strong-willed character. Tom Lally is imperious as the cruel ranch owner Balaam. Rounding out the cast of cowpokes are DC Cathro, Tyler DeLoatch, Tony DiPisa, and Huy Nguyen; each creates a distinct character that goes beyond the archetypes they are portraying to breathe life into the sometimes cliched dialogue. Likewise, as Molly’s relatives back home, Hilary Hensler and marssie Mencotti fully realize the characters behind their Vermont attitudes. Adele Watel brings spirit to both her Young Bride and sharp-tongued barmaid Krista. The horses could not horse without horse without the talented puppeteers who animate them: Linsey Falls, Sarah Franzel, Adele Watel and David Wiesenhahn, who allow the animals to not only move but express emotion. The horses are also given life by their “riders,” who each give them a distinct gait. 

The trend in Westerns these days is to go beyond the mythologizing to the harsh brutality that inspired it. This production does the opposite, though it does open the door to a more inclusive portrayal of the myth. The dialogue pays lip service to condemning extra-judicial killing, vendettas settled by showdowns at sundown, and unbridled masculinity, but the adaptation does not veer far enough from its source to make a serious stab at an alternate morality. The Virginian unabashedly celebrates the men who won the West with horses and six-shooters and opened the land to those who would come after with railroads and coal shovels. Terry McCabe’s City Lit Theater production of Owen Wister’s The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains, as adapted by L.C. Bernadine and Spencer Huffman, is an enjoyable, fast-paced, inoffensive step back into a time that never really was, but that inspired generations, now made available to everyone.

The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains runs through February 20 at City Lit Theater at 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue, on the second floor of the historic Edgewater Presbyterian Church. Performances take place Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 and Sundays at 3:00, as well as Mondays February 7 and 14 at 7:30. Tickets are $34, seniors $29, and students and military $12. Information about the run, including COVID policies and transportation, are available at www.citylit.org or by phone at 773-293-3682.

More jukebox than musical, Theo Ubique’s production of 8-Track: The Sounds of the ‘70s, conceived by Rick Seeber with musical arrangements by Michael Gribben, is a tribute to 70’s AM radio, performed by an ensemble of powerhouse vocalists, showcasing a range of tunes from Motown to the Bee Gees. There is no metal, punk, or hip-hop, but the range of pop sounds that provided the soundtrack for the decade is wide enough that, in the hands of the capable musicians who perform them in this lively rendition, there is something for everyone in the set-list. The actor/singers do a good job of creating distinct characters, but plumbing the depths of relationships or creating anything resembling a plot is an elusive quest when there are 50 songs to get through. Director/Choreographer Jamal Howard has done his best to pay tribute to the social movements of the 70’s, but this backdrop only makes one wish for a deeper dive; the production is more successful when the music guides the choreography and relationships are lighter. Music director/conductor/designer and keyboardist Jeremy Ramey keeps the tempos brisk and the harmonies tight, providing a musical setting that ensures one is not sucked into the morass of the more saccharin or outdated numbers. The cast is respectful of the material but does not allow their reverence to try to sell numbers whose expiration date is past—though they still have fun with them. Billed as a holiday production, this is a light-weight but entertaining option for people who loved even some of the music of the 70’s or those whose pop music education began in later decades and want a quick primer.

Performed by a stellar eight-person cast led by four lead singers, Jamal Howard’s production pays tribute to the social movements that defined the decade, especially the post-Stonewall gay rights movement. Several characters explore their sexual orientation, questioning and fearing their feelings of attraction until finally embracing them with the advent of disco at the end of the decade.  The Vietnam War was nearing its end at the beginning of the 70’s, but the draft was still claiming the lives of young men without the means of it, and the music and Howard, with assistant director/choreographer J Alan, honors those who were forced to take up arms. Feminists were starting to demand equality of pay and opportunities for women, which was reflected in the music of the time (Helen Reddy’s “I Am Woman” being a more obvious example), though there were plenty of songs that countered that narrative as well (the Commodore’s “Brick House” being a rousing but egregious example). In trying to bring these narratives into a musical without a book, Howard occasionally creates frustratingly mercurial relationships that leave one wanting some dialogue to flesh things out, but the historical framework offers insights into the decade that younger viewers will not have. Howard’s choreography is serviceable throughout, but shines when he draws on the dances of the time period.

The design elements also help transport the audience to the era. Mara Ishihara Zinky’s scenic design combines elements of wood-paneled basement and music club. Costume designer Jasmine Aurora Medina’s first act designs seem to be a year-by-year march through the Sears catalogue, though characters become more consistent as they “find themselves” and the disco looks are truly fabulous. Lighting designer Piper Kirchhofer brings a concert-like feel to the evening, relying on super-saturated colors to provide shifts in mood. Sound designer Stefanie M. Senior adds additional period context, and audio engineers Isaac Mandel and Max Cichon provide invaluable support.

The eight cast members all create distinct characters and bring both acting chops and vocal expertise to the experience. There is a lot of music, and the arrangements are complicated by the addition of voices to the core cast of four, but all the performers flawlessly execute the vocal journey and choreography. The four lead singers, Wesly Anthony Clergé, Mia Nevarez, Patrick O’Keefe and Jasmine Lacy Young all bring confidence and exuberance to their performances, capturing the emotions of their characters’ relationships and the songs that provide the vehicles. Jasmine Lacy Young brings soaring vocals to the anthem “I Am Woman,” and more meditative songs like “Just the Way You Are.” Wesly Anthony Clergé brings out the anger in “War” as the veteran who could not avoid the draft. Clergé’s well-modulated voice and ingratiating smile are a highlight of the show. Mia Nevarez, a relative newcomer, has a beautiful, smooth soprano that manages to make even “You Light Up My Life” rise above its schmalzy mediocrity. Navarez and Clergé join forces for a beautiful rendition of “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.” Patrick O’Keefe rounds out the quartet of principals; he ends up having to sell some of the less sturdy music of the decade and his character takes a while to come into his own, but he brings a nice longing to songs like “I’m Not in Love” and “Desperado.” The remaining members of the ensemble provide become love interests and swell the sounds of the music. Chamaya Moody distinguishes herself with her dance moves, but all the actors, Moody, Alli Atkenson, Matt Patrick and Roy Samra find ways to create characters that remain consistent while changing with the decade. The show is at its most joyful and fun when the eight-member ensemble joins together for “tracks” (the show is divided into eight of these, appropriately), including a raucous party in the first act, and a road trip and disco tribute in the second. With a versatile band consisting of Jeremy Ramey on keyboards, Perry Crowder on guitar, Egan Franke on bass and Carlos Mendoza on drums backing up the vocals and rocking out on their own, the production more than does justice to the artists that created the sounds of 70’s.

If one has musical memories of the 70s, 8-Track: The Sounds of the ‘70s will provide a joyful trip to the past, with the talented cast breathing life into even the most moribund hits of the decade. If one is too young to recollect the times, many of the hits may still ring a bell, and the show will provide an energetic introduction to those that don’t. If you are looking for complex plots and characters, this is not your show, but director Jamal Howard and the exuberant ensemble have created a respectful but not too reverent time capsule that provides a nice break from the winter weather as well as a reminder that every decade has its own struggles and celebrations.

8-Track: The Sounds of the ‘70s runs through January 23 at Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre at 721 Howard Street, Evanston. Tickets are on sale at www.theo-u.com or 773-939-4101. Prices are Thurs. & Sun. $42 bar seats, $45 riser seats, $50 table seats; Fri & Sat: $46 bar seats, $49 riser seats, $54 table seats, except ticket prices for the New Year’s Eve show (including a champagne toast) are $70 for the show only. No performances Christmas week Thursday, December 23 through Sunday, December 26. Optional three course prix fixe dinners catered by Good To Go Jamaican Cuisine are available for $29.00 per person, per show. Dinner reservations must be placed one week in advance of the desired performance date. Theo Ubique will be requiring all audience members to be fully vaccinated from COVID-19 this season. Photo ID and proof of vaccination (photos or photocopies are acceptable) will be required at the door. (Starting one hour before curtain, all unsold seats will be released for $20.)

‘Christmas Dearest’ is wicked good fun, a hilarious if unholy marriage between Charles Dickens ‘A Christmas Carol’ and Mommie Dearest, the scathing tell-all book by moviestar Joan Crawford’s abused daughter, Christina. 

The show's creator, Hell in a Handbag Productions, is sui generis, a company whose staged shows tap the rarified sanctums of performance art, driven by our local treasure in drag, David Cerda, who penned book and lyrics and shares music credits with Scott Lamberty for 'Christmas Dearest.' This also marks the troupe's return to live shows, with a remount of a deliciously popular show. (Proof of vaccination is required to attend.)

The premise—a tyrannical Joan Crawford (David Cerda) turns Scrooge as she struggles to reignite her career with a big, splashy 1953 musical about the life of the Blessed Virgin—’Oh Mary!’ —casts Crawford in the lead role, natch. She takes liberties with the script, editing to make sure this Mother of God is not outshown by her miraculous offspring. And of course, she makes sure her millon dollar legs get plenty of exposure, even if that lout Joseph keeps tripping on them in the dance scenes.

There are morals here (it’s Christmas after all) though largely loose ones as practiced by Joan Crawford and her friends over the years. And we do get the requisite conversion to goodness after a series of Dickensian ghosts advises Crawford during a dream triggered by Chinese takeout with Johnny Walker pn the rocks. The sweep of Joan's life includes key players along the way—including a child Crawford (Maiko Terazawa) and 1920s show girl Crawford (Marissa Williams). Mark Barty ably carries the role of her daughter Christina from youngster to embittered adult.  

It's hard to say exactly what separates drag performances, parody, and gender-blind casting. But it is certain that in this show the best scenes involve women characters: Olive LaLake (Tyler Anthony Smith) who plays an actress friend from Crawford's early days; and Bette Davis (Caitlin Jackson) who delivers a pancake make-up, platinum blonde-curled version, vintage “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane,' that is a tour de force in rendering Davis's drawling mid-Atlantic stutter, complete with eyerolls and waving cigarette. The scene with the two movie star rivals includes a duet, “Two Old Broads," both catchy and engaging. Davis tells Crawford that while she is a movie star, "I am an actress." We also get this priceless interlude in which Joan appeals to Davis's better nature on the set of "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane:"

Crawford: We should work together, Betty; not tear each other apart.”

Davis: Who says we can’t work together and tear each other apart. 

Kudo’s to Smith, cast in several roles, all of them over-the-top, but not too far over  He is a formidable actor and singer. As to David Cerda, the progenitor and driving force of Hell in a Handbag Productions, he gamely navigates amongst the powerhouse cast members. While they occasionally out-sing and out-act him, they never upstage him. Highly recommended for those who prefer their Dickens loaded with glamour and divas, 'Christmas Dearest' runs through December 31 on the Ebenezer Lutheran Auditorium Stage at 1650 W. Foster in Chicago. 

As I ascended Madison Street early Saturday afternoon, my daughter’s hand in mine, Samuel Insull’s Civic Opera House rose up before us, throne-like, a sight that once greeted me daily in our old world with its bustling downtown and delights we took for granted. But our excitement — not just to visit the Joffrey Ballet’s new home, but to visit theater, arts, entertainment, anything — was matched by the excitement of every single theatergoer who’d dressed up and come downtown for the return of the Joffrey’s Nutcracker, a tradition I hope none of us will take for granted again.

The last time I attended the Joffrey, the company was still in the grand old Auditorium Theatre, one of my favorite buildings (and theaters) not just in Chicago, but anywhere. But this weekend, as I set foot in a theater for the first time since early March 2020, I was also for the first time visiting the Joffrey’s new home at the Lyric Opera. And what a return it was.

Just seeing the bustling, eager crowd in the lobby — their faces masked and their vaccination cards visible, but their holiday finery just as prominently on display as in years past — marked a return. Maybe not to normal. But maybe, I hope, to something as good… or better. A normal we appreciate.

Because I know, after seeing the Joffrey’s Nutcracker for the first time in two years, I will never not appreciate this annual tradition for the treasure it is.

The Joffrey’s take on Tchaikovsky’s holiday chestnut has become a treasured tradition itself — in its sixth year now, minus 2020 — its story by beloved children’s author Brian Selznick set amid the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893.

And the return of the winter wonderland of the World’s Fair proved as magical as I’d hoped, a spark in the audience and a spring in every company member’s step, as we’re transported not just back to pre-2020 Chicago, but a Windy City circa Christmas 1892. Yumi Kanazawa’s young Marie navigates the rat-infested streets beneath the grand Ferris Wheel and towering White City. Dylan Gutierrez’s Great Impresario — the Fair’s fictional architect — makes an appearance before arriving at the hovel Marie shares with her mother and brother in the shadow of the White City.

There, the spectacle begins with a holiday celebration, the Impresario delivering gifts (including the titular Nutcracker), children and the cast dancing, and members of the Lyric Opera Orchestra appearing onstage with violin, clarinet, and accordion as an in-house chamber trio. We’re treated to the comforts of this traditional holiday tale — a broken toy, a young girl’s dream, soldiers and mice battling, and finally a gondola to carry us to Act II.

During intermission, I was able to take in the refurbished building itself. My daughter noted that “it looks old, but new, too.” And, perhaps for the first time ever, I marveled at the lines for the bathroom and the bar, just soaking in the wonder of being part of a day at the theater.

After intermission, Act II brings a new wonderland, a new world — the White City of 1893 Chicago. Set to the Tchaikovsky’s festive second act score, the exotic sights and sounds of the World’s Fair enchant, as they did in previous versions, or as they did more than a century ago. Yoshihisa Arai’s hilarious Mother Nutcracker oversees the children’s ensemble playing hilarious cracking walnuts; Fernando Duarte’s Chinese Dancer parades along with paper dragons; Edson Barbosa’s rootin’, tootin’ Buffalo Bill Cody and his showgirls bring the fireworks. And, as in previous years, the highlight of the Fair’s attractions are the Arabian Dancers, here played by Victoria Jaiani and Temur Suluashvili. The only dancers almost as enchanting are Gutierrez’s Impresario and Jeraldine Mendoza, as the Queen of the Fair, who close out the show.

This presentation of the Joffrey Ballet’s Nutcracker has the same grace and beauty, the same spectacle, as one would have expected in previous years. But while the audience was treated to the same attention to perfection as audiences of the past enjoyed, a new home for the Joffrey and a new sense of appreciation for its continued excellence make this year’s Nutcracker a must-see.