These are Chicago Critics Must See shows. If you are only going to see one show let us recommend one of these great pieces of true Art!
Spartan Theatre Company takes its names from its minimal budget and aesthetics. The company was founded in 2012 by three Roosevelt University alumni. Therefore, they deserve especially high praise for their excellent production of Tony Kushner’s 1980s work A Bright Room Called Day, now playing at Chemically Imbalanced Theater….This show was a bold choice for such a young company, and they do it justice
Read MoreVerdi’s 1853 opera is here interpreted during a civil war in early nineteenth-century Spain. Loyalist commander Ferrando (bass Andrea Silvestrelli) keeps his soldiers awake one night by telling them a spooky story. Years ago, the old count had a “gypsy” burnt at the stake because he blamed her sorcery for his younger son’s illness. The gypsy’s daughter then abducted the little boy, and burnt him on the same pyre as her mother. It just so happens that this is the backstory to the plot, and the present Count di Luna (baritone Quinn Kelsey) is the surviving brother. Currently, he is at the castle to woo the noblewoman Leonora (soprano Amber Wagner).
Read MoreConsidered to be Rodgers & Hammerstein’s most beloved musical, The King and I is set in Siam in the 1860’s. It tells the story of Anna, a widowed Englishwomen, who becomes a tutor to the King’s children as part of the ‘westernization’ of Siam by the King. The King, played with a tortured nature by Andrew Ramcharan Guilarte is torn between clinging to his ancient customs and embracing modern ways.
Read MoreChicago, under the innovative leadership of William Massolia, director Scott Weinstein and music director Elizabneth Doran, is the first theatre to experience this newly reworked of the voyage of the Titanic from the crew’s,the passengers – first, second and third class’ point of view. The brilliance of Maury Yeston’s score and the efficiency of Peter Stone’s book comes to life in the intimate Theater Wit stage.
Read MoreOn October 21st, Chicago Folks Operetta presented a one-night show, Operetta in Exile. The ninety minute long piece was a tribute to the Jewish composers and lyricists of the Berlin and Vienna operetta genre who remain largely unknown in English. Part revue and part history lesson, the piece is an example of CFO’s dedication to spreading appreciation for central European culture in North America.
Read MoreOn Wednesday, October 22, 2014, I was luck enough to experience on the finest chamber music orchestra, Sphinix Virtuois with Catalyst Quartet as they Tour in their Americana program. The young dynamic troupe is a professional chamber orchestra and theonly all-Black and Latino string orchestra in America. This 18 person is a a one month tour is an homage to The Star Spangled Banner as member and composer-in-residence premieres a new work titled Banner as an ode to our beloved anthem.
Read MoreThe story is that of the 1915 lynching of Jewish industrialist Leo Frank (Jim Deselm) in Georgia. Leo is from Brooklyn, came to Georgia to manage a relative’s pencil factory, and can’t stand the South. It doesn’t care for him, either. His wife, Lucille (Sarah Bockel), an Atlanta native, thinks he’s overly hard on a region he doesn’t understand, and often wishes her husband could be more emotionally intimate. On Confederate Memorial Day, one of the girls who works in the factory, thirteen year old Mary Phagan (Peyton Tinder) comes Leo’s office to collect her pay. That night, she is found murdered in the factory basement.
Read MoreThe Anyway Cabaret (an animal cabaret) is a strange but funny new musical from the creative team at TUTA. An amazingly talented cast of ten accompany each other in songs about animals that range from goofy to very sad.
Read MoreSince The Submission was finished in 2011, the focus is all on Danny pretending to be black. Today, the biggest controversy in theatre regarding discrimination vs. tokenism is about women, but Emilia doesn’t talk about gender as much. For dramatic tension, Talbott made both characters bigots, leaving a discussion of the issue entirely on its merits up to the audience. The show is about issues habitual theatre-goers have wanted to see addressed for some time. The character Pete brings up the question of what all this looks like to outsiders. I’m really not sure what someone outside our community would make of this story, but I suspect similar discussions are happening elsewhere. The play is called The Submission, but I doubt anyone will surrender.
Read MoreGreenberg’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.
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