Tom Williams What would happen if all six of 16th Century English King Henry VIII’s wives found themselves living together? That is the premise of Six Dead Queens now running at Evanston’s Picollo Theatre. This is a madcap comedy that swiftly moved for laughs during its 75 minutes. It had its moments but ultimately succumbs to vague historical references and silliness.
I have ambivalent feeling about the – hypocrites’ production of 1966 hit Broadway musical, Cabaret. Director Matt Hawkins made some curious decisions both about casting and staging of Kander & Ebb’s Broadway musical. …The hypoctites’ production has enough production values to be worth a look.
The story searches for personal identity and family bonds using the motif of hip-hop culture. There are some warm and funny moments but the play comes off as a modern fable with raw contemporary elements. The story has under developed characters that evoke little empathy.
Having to fend for themselves, the teens are concerned with discovering the inner and outer tumult of sexuality. The original play was banned in Germany, for about a century, due to its portrayal of masturbation, abortion, rape, bondage, child abuse and suicide. The immense pressure put on these teens fueled by hypocrisy and stupidity, does lead to dire consequences
But if you love theatre and want to spread the wonders of the live stage to your children, then Stage Door will do nicely. It is Ferber & Kaufman’s ‘Love Letter’ to the American theatre.
Day of Late is a romantic drama about a group of 30something’s each lonely and desperate for sex, companionship and personal fulfillment. The play is structured like a screen play with many short scenes each lasting a minute or two followed by blackouts and movement of benches and chairs. I found all the characters as emotionally desperate souls.
Musical Director Eugene Dizon and the small orchestra are wonderfully housed onstage in a little nook. I would like to applaud Mr. Dizon for making the music in the show so seamless and scaling down the large score to the point where it could be played by a handful of musicians.
The winner of 10 Tony’s including Best Musical, Billy Elliot arrives for an extended sit-down run at Chicago’s Oriental Theatre. There has been much hype about this show and, as is the case so often, it doesn’t quite live up to my expectations. I must say, that Billy Elliot has so much going for it that it is “critic-proof.”
Corrie ten Boom (Lia Mortensen), her sister, the saintly Betsie ten Boom (Cynthia Judge) and their father, Casper ten Boom (Dennis Kelly) have a large house/watch repair show. The ten Boom’s are devote Christians from the Dutch Reform Church. They are also fierce Dutch patriots who quickly became members of the Dutch Resistance.
The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas features a nice blend of adult humor, sweet country ballads and rip-roaring high energy dance tunes that make for a pleasing light-weight Broadway musical. Kevin Bellie, as usual, mounts several large ensemble dance tunes where he has his dancers moving deftly on his small stage.