Items filtered by date: June 2026

All five piano concertos on one bill? Gulp…Yes. This is a rare treat. For those of you do not know what a piano concerto is exactly, I will tell you. First, you have the piano. But you probably guessed that. Second, is a medium sized orchestra. You may not have known that. What basically occurs in such an event is the exchange of virtuosic piano player and the majestic power of an orchestra. I heard some describe it as a battle between the two forces. I did not see it as that at all.

Wael Farouk is the talented pianist featured in the three-hour event, “Beethoven: Five Concertos – One Pianist”. In addition to his remarkable piano skills, he is an assistant music professor at Carthage College. The Egyptian-American Farouk has performed on five continents with venues that include Carnegie Hall. His resume is amazing to say the least and taking on a task such as this gives some serious padding to his already spectacular credentials.

While Farouk impressed The McAninch Arts Center audience with his talents as a classical pianist, the New Philharmonic Orchestra was conducted by Kirk Muspratt and was nearly as remarkable. Muspratt conducts several orchestras in the area and also has an impressive resume. With the stage presence of a classic concert master, his sense of humor adds a touch of lightheartedness to the evening’s entertainment.

The music was essentially flawless and the playing top notch. One couldn’t help but be very awestruck with Farouk. There are only a handful of players with the chops and stamina to tackle all five concertos in one performance – and he’s one of them. It’s a lot of work playing the piano, as it can be a very physical instrument. The amount of practice and rehearsal time exhibited in Farouk’s playing must have been what would equate to a lifetime of devotion to the instrument. The orchestra was the perfect foil to the Farouk’s piano.

The concertos were played in the order that they were written. That being the case, you could hear how Beethoven matured in his harmonic sense with each piece. The forms of all five concertos were very similar. Going back to the thought of this being some type of battle, I found it more like a musical conversation. The interplay between piano and orchestra was more playful than attacking. I personally prefer conversations to word battles myself. This extends to musical ideas as well.

The pieces performed went as follows:

Piano Concerto No. 1 op. 15 in C major, written in 1795, revised in 1800. Although Beethoven performed at many private occasions during his first few years in Vienna, his official Viennese debut did not
occur until April 1800, when he was the featured soloist and composer in an afternoon concert featuring this Concerto. Running time: 36 minutes.

Piano Concerto No. 2 op. 19 in B-flat major, composed primarily between 1787 and 1789. The concerto was first performed by Beethoven in Vienna March 25, 1795 and was dedicated to Carl Nicklas Edler von
Nickelsberg. Beethoven often referred to this as “not one of the best,” however the work was quite successful. Running time: 28 minutes.

Piano Concerto No. 3 op. 37 in C minor, composed in the 1800’s, was the first of Beethoven’s concertos to use a minor key and features the dynamic tone and the turbulent emotions for which he was become
known for. Running time: 34 minutes.

Piano Concerto No. 4 op. 58 in G major, composed in 1805-1806. With this concerto, Beethoven began to create concertos that were considered genuine solo instrumental symphonies. Running time: 34
minutes.

Piano Concerto No. 5 op. 73 in E-flat major, “Emperor” written between 1809 and 1811. The powerful themes and heroic note of the composition inspired the name for this concerto. It is commonly believed the name was not given by Beethoven but by one of his friends. Running time: 38 minutes.

Over three hours of music can make one really feel for the performers, and the audience was there to meet the challenge as well. With so much music crammed into three hours, it was a lot to digest, but as a musician, I found it very educational. It was a great way to see the evolution of the mind of someone considered to be one of the greatest composers. Ludwig von Beethoven was a compositional genius. It was nice to witness how his musical mind grew, despite the fact that he was almost deaf. It was simply amazing.

In 1959 director Douglas Sirk left his mark on Hollywood in the making of his final film, Imitation of Life, which was based on the Fannie Hurst novel of the same name. The film starred Lana Turner in the lead role and dealt with several topics that still loom large today, focusing on race, class and gender. This was the second film adaptation of the novel, the first being directed by John M. Stahl in 1934. Finding it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" the United States Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2015.

Upon signing to star in a remake of Imitation of Life, Turner was knee-deep in real world trouble. She had been involved in courtroom proceedings after her boyfriend was killed by her daughter in a domestic struggle. Hollywood seized on the media sensation and used the film as an opportunity to reclaim her star status on the big screen.

So, leave it to Hell in a Handbag to brilliantly lampoon the film and actual events surrounding Turner, intertwining the two stories into one. In “L’imitation of Life,” Ricky Graham and Running with Scissors take Bruce McNally’s original script and run with it, and thanks to outstanding direction by Stevie Love, we get a hilarious spoof that keeps Handbag at the top spot for Chicago comedy theatre.

In “L’imitation,” Lana Turner (Ed Jones) wants to succeed as a Broadway star no matter what the cost. She currently grabs any commercial she can get no matter how degrading the topic matter and is known as many things such as “The Queen of Flush” (yes, from a toilet brush advertisement). The widowed commercial starlet lives with her spoiled school-aged daughter Suzie (Katherine Bellantone), who, as in her real-life drama, had stabbed to death Turner’s boyfriend (perhaps with a little prodding from mom). It is when the two happen upon Annie Johnson (Robert Williams), a besieged African-American mother while at the beach, that a new life for both begins. With Annie and her daughter Sara Jane (Ashley J Hicks) having nowhere to go, Lana “charitably” invites the two to come home with her – with Annie becoming a maid and caregiver to Lana and the two girls.

With their new living situation comes many challenges. Sara Jane is rebellious. Light-skinned and defiant, she wants to be accepted as white, keeping her mother a secret from friends at school. Annie is there for Lana for anything and everything she needs with a smile but is massively overworked and disregarded. Lana is delusional about her talents as an actress and sleeps with anyone she can to move forward in the entertainment industry. And Suzie is weird – and flat out scary.

Ed Jones never lets the Handbag faithful down, and in “L’imitation of Life” we might just get his best work. A flawless performance by Jones highlights this very funny production as he so masterfully is able to capture and exaggerate Turner’s essence to comedic perfection. Jones gets strong support from Robert Williams whose Annie Johnson so perfectly plays off Turner’s delusions of grandeur, no-respect-for-others character. Chazie Bly plays Steve Martin (no, not that Steve Martin), Turner’s on again off again boyfriend, and is ferociously funny in doing so.

In “L’imitation,” Hell in a Handbag is able to spoof such touchy subject matter in their own unique fashion that actually finetunes what, in some ways, may have been the desired the effect of the film – to point out the absurdities where society falls short in poking fun at stereotypical behaviors. “It is the intention of Parody, as an art form, to hold a fun-house mirror to our culture and to reflect all attitudes in an art (past and present).’ Says director Stevie Love. “The beautiful, the garish, the righteous and the misguided. We intend to do that in 5-inch heels.”

Presented with visuals that help in providing a scene’s setting and also serves as yet another avenue for big laughs, “L’imitation of Life” hits on all cylinders.

“L’imitation of Life” is being performed at Stage 773 through May 6th. For tickets and/or more show information, visit www.handbagproductions.org.

“The Diary of Anne Frank” is a familiar story to many people. While two Jewish families are hiding out from the Nazis in Holland during World War II, the story centers around the diary of a young girl, Anne Frank, belonging to one of one of those families. Such circumstances sound like a setting for a story one might find difficult to watch. That being said, it is a play well worth seeing.

Despite the fact this is a student production, the performances rival that of many established theatre actors. Director Connie Canaday Howard directed, and the play was adapted by Wendy Kesselman. All the actors are students at College of DuPage and they were very good overall. The quality of theatre at this level should really not be this good, thus a pleasant surprise. Though not professional actors, bright stage futures are certainly in store a handful of its cast members.

The set design is well crafted. I really liked the cutaway walls that allowed an open view of rooms other than the main room in the upstairs location where the families hid for nearly two years. Imagine that if you will. Hiding in a relatively small space for almost TWO YEARS. No sunlight. Having to remain silent for a good portion of the day because the space you are occupying is over a business that operates during the day. And in spite of all this, the people did still function. The ending is unfortunate, and I am sure not too uncommon during World War II.

There are some feel good moments even though the overall mood could be rather dark in a situation like this - one being the concept of people risking their own lives attempting to save someone from death. That alone gives someone a sense of the fight for survival spirit that humans must have at times. This play needs to be seen. The world sometimes needs to be reminded of how a madman came very close to taking control of Europe and the atrocities that occurred during his attempt. I was personally close to a few survivors of the holocaust, so this play hit close to home. Another thing worth noting is that this occurred less than a century ago.

I do not wish to discourage anyone to avoid watching the play because of the horrors in this heartbreaking story to which we are firmly reminded. Instead, seeing the playwright’s point of view may shine some light on the human element of war. There is so much that has happened that the history books do not tell you. The battles are all documented, but the story of how people were – and are - affected often never gets heard. The fight for survival never goes away.

“The Diary of Anne Frank”, A Tony Award winning play, is being performed at Playhouse Theatre at the College of DuPage through April 15th. For more show information visit http://www.atthemac.org/events/diary-anne-frank/.

Lydia R. Diamond deserves most of the credit for the many wondrous theatrical moments in her play, Smart People. But without the spectacularly able cast and the razor’s edge pacing set by director Hallie Gordon, you would not be able to enjoy her excellent script. 

Smart People covers all the social terrain maturing adults must traverse – from romance, to careers, consumerism, social competition, to sex, and yes, racism. But this is not your father’s racism, by a long shot. No, this is the peculiar, post-modern type that could only be conjured up in our “post-racial” America. Author Diamond says as she wrote it, she realized the play would need to face racism directly. But it’s about much more than that – because it’s about the whole of life, and how we engage with each other. 

The characters are indeed smart – sharp and witty, well off, even smartly dressed. Set in the environs of a university medical center, the story centers on a white researcher Erik Hellman (Brian White) whose pioneering studies point to a biological basis for white racism against blacks. A rising research star, he is celebrated among liberal academics for nailing incontrovertible evidence of, and the objective basis for, white racism.

His best friend and basketball buddy is Jackson Moore (Julian Parker), an African-American M.D. who works as a resident in the emergency room by day, and volunteers in a free clinic in a tough neighborhood at night. Parker, whose extended family still struggles financially, is on the way up himself. But he has identified friction for his career in a source of racism – the white doctors supervising him who he feels certain are hazing him.

White’s love interest is Ginny Yang (Deanna Myers), a high power academic figure who is researching the forces that cause Asian women to punish and subordinate themselves to spouses and families. Tough as nails and the most brilliant of the lot, Yang makes a hobby of terrorizing clerks at Nordstrom’s and Hugo Boss as she power shops her heels and handbags.

Into this trio of self-absorbed achievers stumbles Valerie Johnston (Kayla Carter), an actress. Disappointing her well-to-do African-American family, she has abandoned their career aspirations for her own goal: to become an actress. She faces the “you aren’t black enough” racism from her own community, and racist typecasting when she reads for roles.

Valerie runs into Jackson in the emergency room, where she arrives dressed as Kate from Taming of the Shrew, for stitches to a head wound from hitting a stage scenery flat. Asked repeatedly, "Were you beaten?" she declares in exasperation, "What does a black woman have to do to convince people she hasn't been beaten?"  

For the audience, Valerie is the most sympathetic character. A stand-in for the author, perhaps, Johnston’s Valerie is a delectable feast of acting skill, as her character reads for roles, and reads and re-reads scenes at an unseen director’s request. 

The repartee and dish is loads of fun. When Brian meets Valerie on a double date with Ginny and Jackson, he tells her of his work. "I'm trying to show all white people are racist," he says. "It's kind of hot when a white guy says that," Valerie replies. 

As Ginny and Brian get acquainted, she sizes him up. "Professionally, you are almost as self destructive as I am. "I'm liking that!"

In fact, this brace of actors is something to relish: Deanna Myers is a force on stage as Ginny; Jackson Moore excels in a range from home boy to ironic bud, to reluctant lover. And Erik Hellman brings the natural style so evident in his frequent roles at Steppenwolf.

The paths of this foursome cross as the action progresses, and White gets into trouble for overplaying his discoveries about racism and threatening the institution. We watch, along with the other characters, as he falls from grace. 

Diamond has given us a great play, creating characters who are sincere, but whose foibles and failings are transparent to the audience, and to each other. Largely a romantic comedy, Smart People is highly recommended. It plays through June 10, 2018 in the Gillian Theatre at Glencoe’s Writers Theater.

They say you should never meet your heroes. That may be the case in Philip Dawkins' new play 'The Gentleman Caller' at Raven Theatre. Dawkins', a popular local playwright, was commissioned to write this play about the strange friendship between Tennessee Williams and William Inge. This is Cody Estle's first production as artistic director of Raven Theatre. Tennessee Williams and Inge are often featured in Raven seasons, and 'The Gentleman Caller' gets a fitting premiere here.

The play is told in two scenes, the first takes place in a young William Inge's garden apartment in St Louis in 1943. It's supposed that Inge, a newspaper critic attempted to interview a then unknown Tennessee Williams about his upcoming play 'The Glass Menagerie'. The second act is a few months later, New Year’s Eve. Inge visits Tennessee Williams in a Chicago hotel following the premiere of the play. No record exists of dialogue between the two playwrights, but they maintained a relationship of sorts over the years. The dialogue in Dawkins' play is as he imagined it would have been.

This is an important distinction to make. The events of this play are highly fictionalized. 'The Gentleman Caller' says a lot about what Philip Dawkins thinks of these two playwrights. The character he's written for Tennessee Williams isn't very likeable. Throughout the play Williams feeds Inge a frustrating string of non-answers. Inge, a closeted homosexual is uptight and put off by Williams' vulgarity. There's a lot of sexual tension between the characters, but who’s to say if that was really the case.

Dawkins' play has an inspiring message for creative types or anyone that feels different. It gets a little buried in slow-moving and often redundant dialogue but there's some solid wisdom in there. Estle seems to share a similar vision for this production. It has the feeling of being at a Tennessee Williams or William Inge play.

There are only two actors in this play, Curtis Edward Jackson plays William Inge and Rudy Galvan plays Tennessee Williams. Jackson is well suited for Inge's restrained temperament. His final monologue is captivating. Galvan is somewhat miscast. The depth of his character gets lost in an unconvincing and mostly unflattering impression of Tennessee Williams.

In this play, we see Inge so very disappointed in Tennessee Williams the man, rather than the hero he'd imagined him to be. It may be that when researching this play the author came to the same conclusion. There's a melancholic thread throughout 'The Gentleman Caller'. It shows us a side of our literary heroes we may not like to see. The part behind closed doors and sometimes without success. In that regard, Tennessee Williams would certainly approve of this play.

Through May 27th at Raven Theatre 6157 N Clark Street. 773-338-2177

*Extended through May 27th

Seated in the venue before the show, I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. With a title like, The Rosenkranz Mysteries: Physician Magician, my first thought was of a murder mystery. The set, designed to mimic a well-appointed study or office, didn’t give any real clues. Enter our host for the evening, Dr. Ricardo Rosenkranz.

Dr. Ricardo Rosenkranz is not just a character. He really is a REAL DOCTOR. He is a neonatologist and Assistant Professor in Clinical Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. He has been practicing both medicine and magic for many years.

In the opening scene, The Puzzle of Life, the well-respected professor sets the stage for what the next 90 minutes will reveal. The Rosenkranz Mysteries are the doctor’s lessons and insights into life shared, with the audience through 12 vignettes using charming storytelling and theatrical magic.

Similar to Stevie Wonders’ weaving song titles like Confusion, Ordinary Pain and Joy Inside My Tears into the album “Songs from the Key of Life”, Dr. Rosenkranz weaves his story with scenes like The Magical Childhood, Perfect Empathy, and finally Ricardo’s Thread (a tribute to his mentor - highly acclaimed magician Eugene Burger).

Dr. Rosenkranz’s skill as a story teller is both calming and reassuring. There is a bit of a mystical vibe in the theatre when he is speaking. The intimate theatre setting, and the warm tone of his voice created a comfort level as if we were all sitting in the parlor of the doctor’s home listening to his sage advice and philosophies on life. He speaks of magic and medicine almost interchangeably, in a manner that I can only describe as Disney-esque. His demeanor could easily place him at Hogwarts. He quickly earned my trust.

The magical content of the performance was equally enjoyable and entertaining… and yes, mysterious. The illusions and magic were truly mind-boggling even though it was not grandiose or glitzy (no fireworks or clouds of smoke). From my front row seat, I was certain that I would “catch a slip up” to disprove the magic, but instead I was left pleasantly confounded and amazed. He is truly gifted as a magician. He definitely brings a personal element to the entire program, and frequently mentions his inspiration during both his dialogue and feats of magic. It’s easy to sense how important the weaving of magic and being a physician together is to him.

This is certainly a “feel good” experience in a way that stays with you. I still catch myself smiling as I’m writing this review 24 hours after the show. I highly recommend this show as it is both witty and intelligent.

While this show is family-friendly, the subtlety of the life lessons may go unappreciated by the pre-teen audience members.

The Rosenkranz Mysteries: Physician Magician is showing at The Royal George Theatre Cabaret, 1641 N Halsted Street in Chicago for a limited engagement.

Never has there been a more relevant time for Paula Vogel’s 1998 Pulitzer Prize winner ‘How I Learned to Drive’. By now, it’s considered a modern classic and has certainly made Vogel a hot playwright ever since. The fact that this play is now twenty years old and is arguably more topical now than when it premiered is unsettling. The Artistic Home Ensemble is reviving this play in hopes that we don’t have cultural amnesia regarding sexual abuse.

‘How I Learned to Drive’ is simply staged. There’s a few seats on a platform to be the car, and then a few other small set pieces here and there. What’s not so simple is Vogel’s narrative structure. This is almost like a personal essay come to life. Non-linear, or non-traditional structure is a hallmark of Vogel’s work. In this play, Li’l Bit (Elizabeth Birnkrant) relates how her uncle taught her how to drive and also taught her about adult love.

Using driving and cars as a structure, Vogel spins Li’l Bit’s story about growing up in 1960s conservative Maryland. Intermittently, she includes cleverly constructed nuggets of sexual wisdom learned from her mother and grandmother. As Li’l Bit matures into a woman, she notices how the world around her changes. Her Uncle Peck (John Mossman) takes advantage of her isolated feeling. What adds layers to a familiar story are the moments when Li’l Bit initiates or at the very least plays into a pedophile’s hand. There are such moments of tender depth that you nearly forget how illegal their affair is.

With an almost absence of scenery to hide behind, Elizabeth Birnkrant plays to the comedy in the script. She’s often more engaging to watch when she’s portraying Li’l Bit in her teenage years. Adults are quick to forget the agony of being so unavoidably vulnerable. Mossman delivers sex appeal without seeming like a predator, which is what makes his performance all the more slick.

It’s tough to bring much character to the “Greek chorus” as their purpose in the play is mostly to pipe in with mortifying one-liners. Though, Jenna Steege distinguishes herself as Li’l Bit’s heavy smoking mother. She provides some pretty sound advice on how a lady (or anyone) should drink on a date.

Artistic Home Ensemble is a storefront theater that specializes in the Meisner (or method acting) approach. Therefore, their productions tend to rely more on character than set pieces. ‘How I Learned to Drive’ perfectly lends itself to director Kayla Adams’ black box vision. This story is so compelling that you don’t need scenery. The images conjured in Vogel’s script are as familiar to us as a Coca Cola ad. It’s a trip through Americana, which fittingly includes an older man taking advantage of a young woman. It’s an odd thing to comment on the chemistry between a pedophile and his victim but since the actors are both around the same age, it seems okay to say. These two seem very comfortable with each other and that makes the seduction all the more tragic. ‘How I Learned to Drive’ tells us what’s old is new again, but a 2018 audience may ask itself, does it have to be?

Through May 6 at The Artistic Home. 1376 W Grand Ave. 866-811-4111

It’s 1997, and Beth Peterson, an aspiring 19-year-old musician, has journeyed from her home town in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to Chicago. She is bearing a guitar, and a business card of a gentleman who heard her at an open mic near her home in Escanaba. He invited her to come make a demo record.

Now she has arrived at the address on the card – site of a small but very professional northside Chicago recording studio that does a mix of vanity recordings, and serious music.

When Beth arrives, the studio director Alex (Mary Jo Bolduc is in terrific form) at first puts Beth off, then hears her out at the behest of the sound engineer, Steve (Nick Freed is quite good in his role). It turns out the gentleman who invited her is Alex’s dad, or more precisely, her late dad. Though the originator of that invitation has passed on, Steve and Alex feel sorry for the wandering Beth (Allison Grischow is the picture of Escanaba innocence), and they invite her to sing a little, and try to imagine what the late owner might have seen in her. They decide to let her stay and record a sample.

We learn the late founder had declined to record another young woman from Michigan – Madonna – so he was probably trying to make up for his earlier error by inviting Beth. There are also some lively touches when Beth’s fantasies of success and cavorting with the stars come to life. We have a cameo by doppelgangers for Marilyn Manson and a caped Smashing Pumpkin. These are very nicely put together. The story line has some nice possibilities, but things get a bit too complicated, and take some unlikely turns.

The recording studio happens to have a dormitory, where prospective artists are housed while working on their music. Beth is invited to stay there, and ends up as a roommate with Monica, a poor little rich girl who is a candidate for a permanent slot of the recording artists at the studio’s parent firm.

Also on tap for the plot is Clive, a driven studio exec who is a competitor to Alex, played with remarkable panache by Tim Newell. And skulking around is Toby, a studio technician and eventual love interest for Beth, played as a smoldering Jim Morrison or Kurt Cobain type by Raj Bond. Oh yes, a blonde zoned out doofas drummer, Evan, played quite hysterically by Jake Szczepaniak, who also plays the flaming Beck.

For added seasoning, we switch to a bar, where we are regaled by the earthy wit of Mike (Blake Dalzin does a great job as a Chicago bar tender.) And oh yeh, it’s a coming of age story for Beth, who falls for a married man before finding the man of her dreams.

This is probably a little too much for one play, but it is the type of creative The Factory Theater likes to produce, and it gives the actors plenty of room to demonstrate their chops. The story also advances at a reasonable pace under the direction of Robyn Coffin - no small feat. But the script probably takes too man detours along the way. It’s fun, and a chance to see some great performances. The Next Big Thing runs through April 21 at The Factory Theater. 

The Dixie Dregs reunited for a tour recently their latest stop being The Vic Theater in Chicago. For those of you who don’t know who they are, they were one of the finer instrumental groups of the late 70’s/early 80’s. Some may put them in the category of Fusion, but they are more of an instrumental Rock band with influences that suggest sources from Jazz, Classical and Country. Essentially, the band has always been led by guitarist Steve Morse.

Morse has won Guitar Player Magazine’s best all-around guitar player award five consecutive years in a row, and even though that may have been thirty years ago, his playing is still right where it always was. Morse also kept himself busy in between touring with Deep Purple for twenty or so years and has released several solo albums throughout his long and brilliant career.

The Dregs current tour features the band’s original line up – something you don’t see that often today with bands from their era. Accompanying Morse, was Andy West on bass, Rod Morgenstein on drums, Allen Sloan on electric violin and Steve Davidowski on keys. The band gave the crowd exactly what they had hoped for, playing material from their first six albums. The Dregs’ music live is even more intense and just as technically-minded. Most of the band’s material is penned by Morse, who has a degree from Miami University in Jazz Guitar. In fact, it was while at Miami University when the band originated, then known as The Dixie Grits. Many of the members of the band also are degree-holding musicians.

The Dregs played two sets of impressive material. As concert goer and fellow guitar player, seeing the band play live was a stark reminder as to why Morse is so highly regarded in the guitar circle. In fact, I probably wouldn’t be far off in saying that more than half the people in the audience were guitar players. I had the luck (with a bit of well-planned timing) of getting there early enough so that I was able to stand right in front of Steve and his loud amplification set up. In retrospect, I should have worn ear plugs but that is my own fault. No matter - I got one of the best guitar lessons of my life.

The style of the band’s music is very distinct – truly unlike any other. It is comprised of a highly recognizable mixture that blows you away so much, it almost overwhelming. Often over the top most of the time, subtlety is not the band’s forte. Every song is overstated, as the music is so tightly constructed, it leaves very little breathing room. I would best describe their music as an adrenaline rush of sonic energy.

I really did enjoy seeing one of my idols in action. To me, Steve Morse was a superhero and am sure the same is true to an entire generation of guitar players. I would bet most of the audience went home and instantly started practicing their guitar, maybe attempting to play something they stole from Morse that night. I know I did. That’s how influential he is. I can remember trying to copy Morse over thirty years ago and can say with certainty his licks are still worth learning. No question about it, decades after they made strides in the music world as the new musical prodigy upstarts, the band still holds up to their legacy today - audience responded with nothing but admiration to that legacy. They don’t make bands like The Dixie Dregs anymore. I feel a lot of the appreciation for this type of music is gone. I am fifty-years-old and I was probably on the younger side of the age bracket of the crowd…but so what….old people rock, too!

Set 1:
Divided We Stand
Free Fall
Holiday
Assembly Line
Twiggs Approved
Take It Off the Top
What If
Country House Shuffle
Moe Down
Odyssey
Set 2:
Rachel
(violin solo)
Northern Lights (Steve & Allen duet)
Go for Baroque (without Rod)
Day 444
Refried Funky Chicken
Leprechaun Promenade
Wages of Weirdness
The Bash
Cruise Control
(with drum solo)

Encore:
Bloodsucking Leeches

Akvavit Theatre’s latest presentation brings Astrid Saalbach’s Danish comedy “Bad Girls: The Stylists” to the U.S. for the first time where it is being performed at Strawdog Theatre Company.

Taking place in a beauty salon, the story follows four hair stylists through their daily endeavors in the workplace, getting all the more interesting as one client is more unique as the next. A series of outrageous scenes take place, the play offering plenty of laughs, as the banter between the stylists is quite funny at times along with some highly engaging interactions with their walk-ins.

An underlying plot takes place as a mysterious stranger, who shall be known as “A”, begins to visit the salon. First appearing as a homeless woman, more and more intrigue develops as she reappears as other characters. Jennifer Adams highlights this play as “A” and is absolutely hilarious in practically ever scene she graces. Adams well-executed line delivery, expression and comic timing make this play, transcending it from a so-so production to putting it on the worthwhile list.

Though the plot is iffy and the ending questionable, there is enough good comedy to make this production quite enjoyable. Some scenes are flat out shamefully funny. There is plenty of original humor to be found here.
In a story that examines individuality and appearance, Breahan Pautsch directs this dark comedy where five women bravely play twenty-eight characters. Adams is joined by Kim Bolger (Boogie), Jennifer Cheung (Jorun), Kirstin Franklin (Mette) and Madelyn Loehr (Trine).

Making up the production team for “Bad Girls” and putting us in the center of a beauty salon is Chad Eric Bergman (scenic design), Lily Walls (costume design), David Goodman-Edberg (lighting design), Nigel Harsch (sound design), Hillarie Shockley (props design), Rick Gilbert and Victor Bayona (violence/intimacy design) Keith Ryan (hair/wig design), Lindsay Tornquist (asst. director), Harrison Ornelis (technical director) and Hannah Harper-Smith (stage manager).

“Bad Girls: The Stylists” is being performed at Strawdog Theatre Company through April 14th. For tickets and/or more information on this often laugh out loud production, visit www.chicagonordic.org.