Sunday, 10 September 2017 20:40
Drury Lane's "Rock of Ages" "Ain't nothin" but a good time"
Written by Ken Payne
For Chicagoans that grew up in the 1980’s music scene, we remember favorite rock clubs such as The Thirsty Whale, Chances R and Dirty Nellies where spandex and rayon were the materials of choice and eye-liner on Aqua-net sprayed, long-haired guys was all the rage. For the glam rock scene,…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tuesday, 12 September 2017 22:41
After Many Tribulations, Muthaland Finds Its Home
Written by Jacob Davis
Minita Gandhi’s autobiographical one-woman show is making its official world premiere as the final production of the 16th Street Theater’s tenth anniversary season, but it’s already been subject to a huge number of raves. Developed at Silk Road Rising and Victory Gardens, earlier versions of Muthaland were performed at everything…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Friday, 08 September 2017 20:06
(re)discover's "FOR ONE" is an unusual theatre amusement park
Written by Vika Lvova
The historic Gunder Mansion in Edgewater opens its doors for a unique theatre experience: a fifty-minute event consisting of five distinct plays, each unfolding in a separate room of the mansion and designed for an audience of one. The entire audience consists of only ten members; there are two tracks…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tuesday, 05 September 2017 17:40
Review: Kokandy's "Bonnie and Clyde" at Theatre Wit
Written by John Accrocco
“This world will remember me,” Bonnie and Clyde sing to each other in Kokandy Productions’ presentation of “Bonnie & Clyde” – a musical. Directed by Spencer Neiman, this odd-ball musical makes its area premiere after an unsuccessful Broadway run in 2011. This production also marks the fifth anniversary of Kokandy…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Sunday, 03 September 2017 16:26
"Honeymoon in Vegas" So Fun It's like Taking a Vegas Vacation!
Written by Kimberly Katz
If you like Vegas like I like Vegas, you will love Marriott Theatre’s energetic and top notch, romantic musical comedy production of "Honeymoon in Vegas"! Jack Singer (Michael Mahler) is in love with his girlfriend of five years Betsy Nolan (played with terrific spunk and formidable singing chops by Samantha…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Thursday, 31 August 2017 23:48
What Does the Queen Do? The Audience Explains Why Brits Have Royalty
Written by Bill Esler
You don’t need to be an Anglophile to love The Audience. Directed admirably by Nick bowling, it is written by Peter Morgan, the trending screenwriter of the The Queen (Helen Mirren) and the Netflix series The Crown, developed another angle on portraying Queen Elizabeth II: recounting a number of the…
Published in
Theatre in Review
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Wednesday, 30 August 2017 16:09
Barbecue’s wacky family is wildly entertaining
Written by Vika Lvova
Strawdog theatre begins its 2017-2018, 30th Anniversary Season with a Chicago Premiere of Barbecue by Robert O’Hara. Barbecue is performed at Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theatre as a LookOut Visiting Company. In Strawdog’s Barbecue, a spirited trailer trash family is having a summer barbecue with an ulterior motive in mind: they want…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Thursday, 24 August 2017 10:33
Review: "Trevor the Musical" at Writers Theatre
Written by Kimberly Katz
"Trevor the Musical" tells the tale of a beautiful young boy in the 1970's who is just discovering his love of choreography and dance. He is also lovesick for an older boy in his school during a time when same sex relationships were not as socially acceptable or acknowledged as…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Saturday, 26 August 2017 00:47
Chad Deity, a Manly Send-up of Pro Wrestling, Asks How We Choose Our Villains
Written by Bill Esler
Kristoffer Diaz’s “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity” is getting a knock-out revival by Red Theater. Named for the colorfully staged, and bombastic entrances of professional wrestlers - with costumes, smoke, lights, confetti, and plenty of trash-talking put-downs of their rivals to rile up the audience - pro wrestling is…
Published in
Theatre in Review
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Machinal refers to an automated or mechanical system. Sophie Treadwell's 1929 play "Machinal" takes its styling from this theme. Directed by Jacob Harvey, Greenhouse Theater Center brings this work back to Chicago for the first time in many years. Maybe not as well known as Lillian Hellman, but Sophie Treadwell…
Published in
Theatre in Review
As a cook and a big fan of Ina Garten, I was excited to see “The Food Show” on opening night by The Neo-Futurists theatre. The main plot of the story is about family, which is brilliantly defined through cooking. Rather than hold the show at the Neo-Futurium, there was…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Friday, 28 July 2017 16:53
"They're Playing Our Song" Watching Two Neurotic Musical Prodigies Try to Stay In Love
Written by Kimberly Katz
I was very happy to see Brown Paper Box Company put together this once hugely successful romantic comedy by Neil Simon, which played on Broadway for four years with music and book by Marvin Hamlisch and Carole Bayer Sager. Produced, directed and choreographed by Daniel Spagnuolo, this semi-autographical piece about…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Thursday, 27 July 2017 18:12
Review: An American in Paris at Oriental Theatre
Written by John Accrocco
‘S wonderful. “An American in Paris” was the surprise hit of 2015 on Broadway. It is of course the stage adaptation of Vincent Minnelli’s 1951 Best Picture winner of the same name. With familiar songs by George and Ira Gershwin, it would be hard not to be charmed. To appreciate…
Published in
Theatre in Review
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