"On the Town" with music by Leonard Bernstein; book and lyrics by Tony-winning writing partners Betty Comden and Adolph Green is about to be staged on Broadway but the Marriott Lincolnshire has beat Broadway to the punch with this thoroughly entertaining and beautifully staged rendition which has never before been staged in Chicago. Three young sailors arrive in…
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Theatre in Review
Everyone is looking to be loved and to give love though it’s not always that easy as we find out in Stupid Fucking Bird. In this twisted and very comical take on Anton Chehkov’s The Seagull that is filled with bird references relating to life, Stupid Fucking Bird is the…
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Theatre in Review
Monday, 11 August 2014 19:00
The TBS Sullivan and Son Comedy Tour - Don't Bother
Written by Kimberly Katz
We look forward to the TBS Just for Laughs Festival every year to get a week long dose of great comedy from dynamite Chicago locals and some of the best headliners in the business. So when it was cancelled this year, we figured it might be nice to catch the one…
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Theatre in Review
Four strangers are quarantined together as the Black Plague sweeps through London. They must struggle through personal and social prejudices as they try to survive being cooped up together for weeks. Fear of contamination and imminent death from the agonizing plague, hope of escape, and sexual strain haunts their daily…
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Theatre in Review
The Scottish city of Glasgow wallows in economic depression, as this laborer’s family struggles through the hardships of basic survival. “All we’ve done wrong is to be born into poverty,” the father says in comforting the overworked wife wrapped in his arms. A crash look into the real housewives of…
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Theatre in Review
Monday, 14 July 2014 19:00
You don't say - The Beverly Hillbillies - The Musical at Theatre at the Center
Victoria Lvova
Another TV classic has found itself in a musical, this time being The Beverly Hillbillies. Credited as one of the most popular shows of all time, The Beverly Hillbillies aired from 1962 through 1971 and told the story of a backwoods family that found wealth in oil and then migrated…
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Theatre in Review
Friday, 27 June 2014 19:00
Embrace Your Inner Nerd - The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Drury Lane Theatre
Written by Ken Payne
Having never seen this show, five minutes in I felt that I was really going to enjoy myself. Twenty minutes later, I knew that fifteen minutes ago I was correct in feeling so. As the minutes into the show increased, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee only got better…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Thursday, 19 June 2014 19:00
Michael Cera and Kieran Culkin Captivate in This Is Our Youth
Written by Ken Payne
Steppenwolf Theater will be the testing ground for Kenneth Lonergan’s “This Is Our Youth” before the play goes to Broadway for its launch in September. Powered with young, talented actors Micheal Cera, Kieran Culkin and 18-year-old fashion blogger turned actress, Tavi Gevinson, we are taken to a lived-in Manhattan apartment…
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Theatre in Review
I was eager to see the show but felt really bad as I settled into my seat for the opening night of GODSPELL at The Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire. Pain was shooting through my legs, and my mind was overwhelmed after yet another day of wrangling with difficult business decisions.…
Published in
Theatre in Review
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Hell in a Handbag Productions has done it again, bringing yet another hilarious musical to the Chicago theatre scene, this time to Theater Wit. Caged Dames is one bad ass campy ride behind bars at a women’s correctional facility where “shocking” is just another day in the life. Writer and…
Published in
Theatre in Review
The New Colony has staked a claim in the Chicago and U.S. theatre scene. Creating original, devised, ensemble-based productions, the nomadic storefront theatre has made a splash on the local and national scene. In just sixth short years, their productions have appeared across the country - in Steppenwolf's Garage, the…
Published in
Theatre in Review
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Thursday, 22 May 2014 19:00
Black Ensemble Theater strikes solid gold with One Hit Wonders
Written by Ken Payne
In what could be the sleeper theatre smash of the summer, One Hit Wonders has just about all the ingredients a show would need to have the staying power for an extended run. And Chicago theatre fans should hope that to be the case, as this is a production that…
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Theatre in Review
Tagged under
If you have any fondness for tales of the golden era of Hollywood, and in particular the work of the beloved movie star comedian, Jack Lemmon, you will thoroughly enjoy this moving and entertaining one man show starring Jack’s son, Chris Lemmon. Writer and director, Hershey Felder had a similar solid…
Published in
Theatre in Review
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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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