MUST SEE

Porchlight 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.

Founding 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.

Among the remarkable accomplishments by LaChiusa and Wolfe that director/choreographer Brenda Didier made in The Wild Party was that the story contains a rich, fully developed group of characters depicted through song, dance and comedy. This show is a drama that morifs into a into a musical that marvelously tells its story through songs and strong acting. The singing, dancing and comic turns by the entire cast were amazing

Take all the youngsters in your life to hear a master songwriter’s work neatly song by a veteran cast presenting a varied, engrossing revue of memorable show tunes that have survived the test of time. Cole Porter’s songbook needs to be heard again by us fans of genius composers/lyricists. Porter takes his place among Gershwin, Sondheim, Berlin and Herman. Light Opera Works, once again, has a hit revue going that begs a trip to Evanston.