Sister Act the Musical
Another musical-based-on-movie that unfortunately lacks the charms and personality to keep the franchise alive twenty years later.
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Hellcab
Every policeman, watercress, ER nurse, and cab driver knows that two events trigger weird behavior in the public: a full moon and a major holiday. After a ten year run from 1992 through 2002, Will Kern’s Hellcab is being remounted by Profiles Theatre at their Main Stage in Lakeview. Kern’s play is based on his experience as a Chicago cab driver.
Read MoreWerther
Jules Massenet’s Werther (1892) is a dramatically exciting and intensely passion and totally romantic French opera. Massenet’s varied music moves form lightly friendly even tranquil melodies depicting nature and happy children to intensely emotional feelings of a young poet madly in love with a woman he can never have.
Read MoreThe Odd Couple – Northlight Theatre
But, The Odd Couple still gets laughs as Neil Simon’s biting zingers still contain the ingredients that laughs are made from. With exquisite timing, the cast lands the barbs expertly. You’ll still laugh and appreciate a master craftsman at work. Neil Simon’s ageless comedy still works thanks to Marc Grapey and his pals.
Read MoreI Put the Fear of Mexico in ’em
…when the Mexicans are treated like “background” fodder by the American couple, the Mexicans concoct a ridiculous plan to kidnap the couple to force a confrontation. I wish that this premise would be a tad clearer early on in the play so audiences will “buy into” the premise. But the bumbling kidnappers and the quirky captives embark on a hilarious journey as each struggles to come to terms with their stereotypical views of both Americans and Mexicans.
Read MoreDutoit Leads CSO in Varied and Gripping Program
Swiss conductor Charles Dutoit brought his two-week engagement with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra off to an auspicious start Thursday night with a highly compelling presentation of music by Britten, William Walton, and Beethoven. The conductor coaxed the very best out of this formidable ensemble, ensuring, with the help of a comparably impressive solo contribution from violinist Gil Shaham, that this would not be just another routine night at the symphony.
Read MoreDisfunctioning: Two plays by Ionesco
Played for humor, I found Jack Or the Submission to be an over-the-top affair filled with screaming and shouting and cartoonish movements.
Read MoreThree B’s… With a Twist
The program was billed as “Three B’s… With a Twist”; the “twist” was a partial change, with two of the so-called Three B’s of Classical Music, Bach and Brahms, replaced by Boccherini and Bartok, but the third, Beethoven, left intact. The quartet gave a remarkable performance in this first installment of its three-part series this season in the Logan Center, even if I, for one, was not entirely impressed by the “revision of the Three B’s.”
Read MoreLong Day’s Journey into Night
O’ Neill’s family tragedy that features the Tyrone’s, a family in despair as they seem to be doomed and trapped in their dark past where fears, addictions and habits dominate the present. Long Day’s Journey Into Night is set in 1912 in the Tyrone summer home in New London, Connecticut. This most autobiographical play deals with the nature of family love where each person loves more than hates the other family members
Read MoreSuperior Donuts – Remount
Letts’ Superior Donuts demonstrates Letts’ keen ability to write dialogue capturing the unique voice of each of his rich characters. After 25 years living in Chicago, Tracy Letts claims he is a true Chicagoan. Superior Donuts is his ode to the melting pot ethnic neighbor of Chicago’s Uptown….
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