Beverly Friend The three blues are studies in nuance and non-verbal communication – from the pertinent turn of a head to the gesture of a finger – everything becomes clear. The Blue Men can be slapstick or poignant; they capture and display emotion easily and with aplomb and wind us around their drumming fingers with each and every shtick. Their individual facial features may be blurred by the blue, but oh those speaking eyes!
Who would ever think that such a topic could be molded into a drama? With wit, humor, and compassion, Sarah Ruhl takes historical fact – the medical use of vibrators to calm female patients suffering from what was diagnosed as hysteria in the late 19th century – and innovatively weaves it into a tale of love on many levels, including but certainly not limited to the physical.
What is neat about the play is the variety — tall and short women, thin and fat women, white and black — each with her own plusses and minuses, yet all sharing recognized moments and concerns. Kudos to a fine cast where the actors swiftly and professionally interchange their shifting roles.
Why the title “Farragut North”? The words are only mentioned once – and yet they are haunting. Farragut North is a “nowheresville”— a mere metro stop in Washington DC — the end of the road where failures whose reach far exceeds their grimy grasp ultimately must depart the train. This tale of winners and losers leaves the audience to decide who actually is which.
The adults are pleased and the children are enchanted with twists and turns for every age – from bouncing balls into the audience (to the delight of the little ones) to the more sober moral lessons of love, care, and (above all) honesty as the puppet strives to become a real, human boy.
Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s productions never disappoint. Here, the staging is creative and delightful, with innovative sets, fully fleshed characters, smooth interweaving of puppets and actors, and colorful costuming.
Comedy is rife as he and Alan Schmuckler, (as investigating Officer Marcus Moscowicz) thrust and parry their way to a solution of the crime. And to add to all this, both men are excellent pianists, exchanging and interweaving their musical skill as they swiftly replace each other at the keyboard to underline narrative and interlace songs and dialogue
Initially, the three clowns – who had red ears rather than bulbous red noses – appeared anything but confined as they bounced around, over seats, down the aisles, warming up the audience with action packed improv before they gathered drums and cymbals for a cacophony of sound.
Book by Craig Lucas Music and lyrics by Adam Guettel Based on the novel by Elizabeth Spencer Directed by Michael Leeds Light in the Piazza Shines on Romance Music transcends language, and nowhere is this more apparent than in Act II of Light in the Piazza when Fabrizio Naccarelli agonizes in Italian over the loss … Read more
There are few playwrights more enjoyable than Neil Simon, and few comedies as delicious as Plaza Suite. Time has not dulled the biting wit of the dialogue, the humor of the situation, and the perceptive peek into the foibles of romance, love, and marriage. Here in room 719 of the Plaza Hotel in New York, we watch the tale of three couples as a marriage dissolves, a seduction occurs, and a bride is persuaded to begin wedded bliss.
The performance provides a delightful return to the days of Lawrence Welk, and famous sister quartets like the McGuires, the Lennon Sisters and the Chordettes. And I would estimate that for the audience, at least 90 percent of the songs were recognizable. This is the third incarnation of this fictional quartet, written by playwright and musical arranger Rick Lewis.