Kimberly Katz
“Meet Me in St Louis!” A Delightful Holiday Treat!
Meet me in St. Louis, now running at The Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place through December 21st, is an absolutely delightful production of one of my favorite shows.Imagine you are a young girl, newly in love and in love with one of the greatest and most advanced cities in the world.
"Thunder from Down Under" at Excalibur
Sexy, Sassy and Classy!
Family comedian, Louie Anderson, and the all male revue “Thunder from Down Under” share the same stage space at the Excalibur Hotel.
Cirque Du Soleil's "O" at the Bellagio
"A Beautiful Dream Comes to Life"
It is truly the closest thing to dreaming while being awake. There are very few shows that have so much going on, so many enthralling acts one after another, that you find yourself wondering when you can see the show again before it's even over and "O" by Cirque Du Soleil at the Bellagio Hotel is certainly one of them.
It's hard to even begin to describe the artistry of this masterful combination of ballet, gymnastics, diving and synchronized swimming. I think my jaw dropped about ten minutes into the show and after that I just kept shaking my head in stupefied awe as I tried to follow and digest every one of the nuances of the individual dancer/swimmer/acrobats as they swam, crawled, and flew in and out of the huge pool and filled every foot of space around it with one visually stunning image after another.
The costumes and makeup reminiscent of the 15th to 20th centuries with an emphasis on the Romantic period, defy description as each character stands out uniquely in vivid colors and lavish, flowing designs full of natural movement that glorify the human body on these dancers already remarkable physiques.
The pool, the cranes and giant swinging barge, trapeze and other floating phenomenon compose the structure of this technically compelling and mind boggling masterpiece. It is interesting to know that when they first developed this show they found major difficulties keeping the Las Vegas audience cool and the soaking wet performers warm. The solution was to create two completely separate temperate worlds wherein the pool area and the air above it stays warm enough for all those amazing dives into the 1.5 million gallon pool, and lightning fast costume changes while the auditorium remains a comfortably cool dry 72 degrees.
Inspired by "the concept of infinity and the elegance of water's pure form", there is no real plotline or dialogue in this show, but none is necessary where heady romanticism, and haunting Fellini-esque scenarios evoke such moving and exciting emotions in the audience of tourists from around the globe. The cast is made up of 85 superbly skilled, Olympic quality performers from more than twenty different countries and gives you an incredibly warm feeling of universal oneness. It really reminds one of a veritable UN of the international theatre community. As I looked around at the faces of the enraptured audience and realized that they had all come together and were enjoying this wonderful piece without words in similar ways regardless of their country or language of origin, it gave me a wonderful feeling of pure theatre acting as a catalyst for world peace.
When citizens are exposed to high culture whether it's on the traditional Broadway stage in New York or right there in good old Sin City, they are transformed into peaceable creatures for the night, clapping, laughing and dreaming the same dream. In this case it's a dream of both unlimited possibilities and impossibly spectacular and graceful feats of daring and skill. It's a dream I plan to share with that beautiful cast and equally beautiful audience again on my next trip to Vegas. I highly recommend "O" as one of the must see shows for anyone looking to buy a single ticket that will absolutely deliver on it's high quality promises of delight and wonder.
Jesus Christ is Still a Superstar!
Ted Neely, 64, who has been performing this role for nearly forty years, is absolutely stunning in the role of Jesus, which requires an enormous amount of both technical skill and emotional maturity in order to pull it off to any satisfaction. I told Ted in our interview last year that I need for him to continue...
RENT at The Cadillac Palace
Rent is the blockbuster musical hit of the nineties, a modern version of the opera La Boheme, depicting a community of young artists struggling to celebrate life while battling the first wave of the AIDS epidemic during the late eighties. I can never watch this production without thinking fondly of its...
A Christmas Carol to Sing About
Disneyland might be able to pull off the the same schtick night after night but come on; what does a heartless old fool like Ebenezer Scrooge have on Mickey Mouse and some kick ass Fireworks? Celebrating it's 30th year at the Goodman Theatre you would think enough is enough already. This might ring true if the show was performed the same year after year but we can...
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
My God, has it really been twenty years since the first time my friends and I dressed up in our best Goth and stumbled out at midnight to see what was surely the raciest, and most exciting, interactive movie of the time? Seeing director Steve Hildebrandt’s exciting and highly gifted, mostly Equity cast, brought back a flood of fun memories, and just in time for Halloween!
It's time to RAGTIME again!
The epic sweep of Ragtime is captured in its opening prologue, a nine-minute kaleidoscope of fictional characters mingling with historical figures from the early 20th century as originally captured in E.L. Doctorow’s novel. As the story continues, we meet pianist Coalhouse Walker Jr. and his child's mother, Sarah who has been taken in by a respectable family...
The Fleshtones Burlesque
I was both intrigued and a little bit hesitant to check out The Fleshtones Burlesque featuring a classic burlesque dancer “Satan’s Angel” the Devil’s own mistress! I am against any form of stripping or performance that women have to do that demeans them just to make money. I was very pleasantly surprised however by the artistry and imaginative performances I saw in this show.
Marijuana-logues: Don't Bogart That Ticket!
Purple Haze, Sticky-Icky-icky, Santa Maria, Sweet Malaysian Skunk Weed, Maui Waui, Muffman Delight, 7 Seconds, Purple Power, no matter what you call it this show makes marvelous sense out of the wonderful and wacky world of pot smoking. If you were unsure if an entire show about pot smoking could be funny, think no more because the Marijuana-Logues is hysterically funny...
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HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD TO PLAY BROADWAY IN CHICAGO'S JAMES M. NEDERLANDER THEATRE SEPTEMBER 10, 2024 – FEBRUARY 1, 2025
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Cast and production team announced for BrightSide Theatre production of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, June 7-23
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Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre announces 2024 season - celebrates local artists and two of the most significant Black female writers of the past 50 years
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Oh Baby, Baby: BABY the Musical at Citadel Theatre
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Babes with Blades triumph over time and space in THE S PARADOX!
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Auditorium Theatre Announces vibrant 2024-25 Season
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Chicago Writers' Bloc Announces 2024 New Play Festival May 5 - 19 at Theater Wit
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Hershey Felder Brilliant as Monsieur Chopin
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Jackalope Theatre Announces Cast and Creative Team for the World Premiere of THE SINGULARITY PLAY, May 19 - June 22
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Spanish Language Magic Shows at Rhapsody Theater to celebrate Cinco de Mayo
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Court Theatre’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead Features Fabulous Ensemble with Striking Design
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'COCK' is f***king amazing!
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Welcome to The Jungle: The Choir of Man Rocks Chicago
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About Face Theatre announces casting for Midwest Premiere of Lavender Men
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CUT TO THE CHASE festival of one-act plays returns May 2-5 with theme "Face-to-Face" at The Den Theatre
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Hell in a Handbag Productions Presents the World Premiere of POOR PEOPLE! The Parody Musical
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'American Fiction' Oscar Boosts Percival Everett's Latest Work, 'James,' at 'Authors on Tap'
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The Physical Theater Festival Chicago Returns July 13 - 21 with its 11th Annual Edition
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Latest Articles
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Review: Joffrey Ballet's 'Midsummer Night’s Dream' at Lyric Opera House
Written by John AccroccoFrolicking season is upon us once again and Joffrey Ballet welcomes summer with the return of Alexander Ekman’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream”. This production was last seen in Chicago in 2018. Told through a mix of ballet and modern dance, this… -
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Written by John AccroccoDirector Chuck Smith returns to Goodman with another major August Wilson revival–“Joe Turner’s Come and Gone”. This is the second play in Wilson’s 10-play “American Century Cycle”. Goodman produced the first play in the series, “Gem of the Ocean” in…
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Eerie, Human Mystery In Captivating ‘Jump’ by Shattered Globe Theatre
Written by Bill EslerAs the audience takes its seats we are greeted by an atmosphere of foreboding, a trestle bridge girder to the left, and in the evening air, foggy wisps drift about the stage. Already something is up, but we don’t know… -
THE 35th ANNUAL RHINOCEROS THEATER FESTIVAL RETURNS MAY 25 – JUNE 30 AT SIX CHICAGO VENUES
Written by Buzz Center StageCurious Theatre Branch is pleased to announce the 35th annual Rhinoceros Theater Festival, May 25 - June 30 at six venues across Chicago. The month-long festival of shows will kick off with a special Full Moon Vaudeville concert event on Saturday, May 25 at…
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