Greenberg’s script cuts right to the heart of anxiety over gay men in sports by including lots of showering and changing scenes. Eight actors are fully naked at least once onstage. It’s necessary for an honest examination of the issue, but requires a lot of courage from the cast. For that alone, I commend them all, but they also give strong performances besides that.
Read MoreThe 46th Annual Jeff Awards Celebrates Excellence in Chicago Theatre October 13, 2014 – Chicago, IL. At the gala 46th Annual
Read Morewe meet the wealthy Farrelly family headed by matriarch Fanny Farrelly (the terrific Kathy Scambiatterra), who appears as a flighty woman who seeks control of all aspects of life in her country estate. She fights with her housekeeper Anise (Lorraine Freund) and her butler Joseph (Brandon Boler) in a mutual love-hate relationship. Her son, David (John Stokvis) is an unmarried lawyer who Fanny sees as just like her late husband Jushua.
Read MoreThe first thing to about Durenmatt’s Romulus is that he called it a history play with no historical basis. Several different people from the period in the fifth century arbitrarily labeled “the fall of the Western Roman Empire” are conglomerated here, and their relationships are redefined for dramatic effect. But that’s alright, because this story, presented now by the capable team at Oracle, is more engaging and thought-provoking than a treatment of the actual events would likely be.
Read MorePorchlight Theatre, under the leadership and direction from Michael Weber, have mounted, on a low budget, an intense, well sung and well performed production of Sweeney Todd. It rivals the terrific production recently at Drury Lane Oakbrook in quality not scope. This production is intimate, slick and darkly scarey proving that the source material can work on different scales. This Sweeney plays very much like the 1979 original and the 1982 national tour.
Read MoreI got annoyed while watching with both the script and production, but in retrospect, have a greater understanding of what Interrobang is trying to do. This was another time when people not attending the press opening will likely enjoy a cast feeding off a more typical audience. Every actor is making their Interrobang debut. Clearly, this young company is staying loyal to its mission to do issue plays. I disliked the play’s bluntness about complicated ideas, many of which have changed a lot since its debut, and the production was lacking in some respects. But given the play’s philosophy, maybe this is the kind of company that can best perform it. Some people want art that scrambles for resources and puts forth this niche philosophy. This could appeal to them.
Read MoreThis is a play about how both spiritual and worldly goals have disappointed the characters. If you’re interested in subjects like that, or enjoyed other plays by Rebeck, it could be worth checking out. There is a lot of humor in the story, which would probably work better with a regular audience than at the press opening I saw. But I, like the people in the play, was left wanting more.
Read MoreThe show’s concept is that somewhere in the afterlife, Etta James has split into five parts: one for each stage of her career. Numbered in reverse chronological order, with 1 being the oldest, the five Ettas are snapshots of James at various points in her struggles with drugs, romance, and self-loathing. The Ettas don’t get along, and always hated the hero-worship of a tribute anyway. Bringing them together to do some psychological therapy is drag queen Ms. Real (Reuben D. Echoles). As we relive (or for some people, me included, discover) James’s music, she goes on her own journey of integration.
Read MoreFounding artistic director of Remy Bumppo, James Bohnen, returns to direct a political satire by Maxwell Anderson, his 1933 Pulitzer Prize winner drama, Both Your Houses. This is a fine ensemble work that features naturalistic dialogue from a cast that easily captures the essence of powerful United States Congressman as they wheel-and-deal to get an appropriations bill through congress in the late days of the Hoover Presidency as the Great Depreciation devastates America.
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