Displaying items by tag: Buzz Chicago
Get Your Bingo On with the Wildly Fun "We Gotta Bingo"
Similar to the interactive comedy hit “Tony and Tia’s Wedding” where actors stroll about the hall in character to mingle with audience members, Chicagoans can now enjoy what might just possibly be a new dinner theatre hit, “We Gotta Bingo”. In “We Gotta Bingo”, housed at Chicago Theatre Works on Belmont Avenue, guests are thrust into the setting of a fundraiser to raise money for two Catholic churches to merge, the main event being bingo, where attendees actually participate and win cheesy prizes like hand-knitted toilet paper holders or a used clock radio from the 1980s.
Father Duncan, played admirably by Gary Smiley, hosts the event while fast talking and professional lottery ball caller “Lucky” Bucky (Merrick Robinson) calls out the numbers while also plugging his used furniture store and squeezing in as many one-liners as possible. Of course a stunning presenter is needed for an event of this nature, in this case it is Darla, who is played by Jessica Scott and simply nails the ditzy role.
Among the many characters milling about, my favorites may have been Rosa and Rudy, a stereotypical overly-exaggerated Italian couple played by Jane Allyson-D’-Arienzo and Jerome R. Marzullo. I love the way they interact with each other but even more so with the crowd. Rosa would frequently engage with women in the crowd to gossip and stir things up while Rudy, more reserved, made small talk mostly with the men in attendance. The shots they took at each other were hilarious and spot on.
After a game or two of bingo, guests are served dinner (catered by Giordano’s) that includes salad, bread and lasagna. Vegetarians should know to mention they prefer a meatless option ahead of time so that they too can be accommodated. Later, yummy lemon bars and brownies are distributed to all the tables.
This is the perfect theatre experience for someone who enjoys drinking a couple beers and getting a bit rowdy as crowd chants are often invoked by the characters and one-liners become much funnier than they probably really are. It’s festive and it becomes a more of a collaboration between audience and actors as the comfort level grows throughout the evening, as guests chime in and actors respond. If you want to sit back and quietly watch a show, this is not the event for you.
Bingo, beer, Italian food and plenty of laughs – for what more could one ask?
We Gotta Bingo is currently playing at Chicago Theatre Works (1113 W. Belmont) and tickets are at a reasonable $49. For tickets and/or more show info, visit www.wegottabingo.com.
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Latest Articles
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Outrage Made Manifest in “Bust: An Afrocurrentist Play”
Written by Wesley DavidSomething extraordinary happens on a street in Huntsville, Alabama. Mr. Woods (Keith Randolph Smith), a hard-working Black man in the community, is involved in a traffic stop with two cops (Mark Bedard and Jorge Luna) - a scene witnessed far… -
THE DEN THEATRE ANNOUNCES JUNE COMEDY SHOWS
Written by Buzz Center StageThe Den Theatre today announced upcoming June 2025 shows at the theatre's Wicker Park stages at 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., including "Anatomy of Murder" Podcast on June 4; Beth Stelling on June 6–7; IMHO: The Show on June 8; Gabby Bryan on June 12; Grace Helbig: "Let Me Get This… -
Full Casting Announced for Hell in a Handbag's QUEEN FOR A DAY - July 9 – August 3, 2025 at Bramble Arts Loft - World Premiere!
Written by Buzz Center StageHell in a Handbag Productions is pleased to conclude its 2024/25 Season with the world premiere of QUEEN FOR A DAY written by ensemble member Tyler Anthony Smith* and directed by Stephanie Shaw. This gay fantasia on national themes... wait, wrong play. This one-act comedy/drama/cry for help…
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Redtwist Theatre's GARY: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus: Who mops up after the royals' butchery?
Written by Sarz MaxwellI reviewed TITUS ANDRONICUS in mid-February, so I was eager to see the sequel! In TITUS, Shakespeare tells the story from the viewpoint of the regnant major characters: Empress Tamora and her sons Chiron, Demetrius and Bassianus; Lucius and the…
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