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!
British playwright David Eldridge has written an ode to high school teachers everywhere with Under the Blue Sky – now in its Midwest Premier at Steep Theatre. Free from romantic sentimentality, Under the Blue Sky is part contemporary life commentary where a bomb can change life in an instant and part a love letter to those who dedicate themselves to teaching high school.
Read MoreNow it is Chicago’s turn! And the recent New York opening — even with such a stellar star as Bernadette Peters — couldn’t surpass the Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s production. If this review were limited to just one word, that word would be magnificent! What a sight for the eyes, what a pleasure for the ears, what a treat for the mind.
Read MoreWhile Rodgers’ music is lush, varied and melodic, I believe that it was Larry Hart’s often sad yet smart lyrics that made tunes like “Falling in Love with Love”, “Little Girl Blue”, “My Funny Valentin,” “Blue Moon,” “I Could Write a Book” and “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” American classics.
Read MoreFrom the Circle is not just a play made up of folktales from around the world; and yet it is simply a play made up of folktales, taken from around the world. It is at once heady and primeval, even primordial. The show takes acting, takes theatre, back to its roots – in storytelling. The acting is broad, archetypical, basic. And because of this, the emotions can all the more easily seep through and affect the audience; the audience no longer needs the actor to feel for them, they find the emotions coming up from within themselves. It is a transposition that reminds us of what real theatre is.
Read MoreAnd yet, although the overall effect of The Tales of Hoffmann is comic, Offenbach is a deft manipulator of emotions, and the very end of the piece is profoundly and deeply affecting. At the very end, Offenbach brings true, devastating weight to the opera, and leaves the audience with exactly the feeling he wishes.
Read MoreWe see a group of believers who are desperate, despite their misgivings, to connect with a departed loved one. The methodology of the seance and the trickery of the moderators and their medium add fuel to the desperate believers.
Read MoreI was impressed at the scope and depth of Musial’s work in the 2011 version. Seldom will you see a more technical stage work that vividly evokes the tragedy of a city-wide fire. The only thing lacking was the smoke and smell of a major fire. Telling the story of a catastrophic event on stage takes daring and loads of stage craft – all of which are ingredients in this thrilling and emotional telling of the story of the Chicago fire from October 8, 1871.
Read MoreSean O’Casey is in good hands under the spirited direction of John Mossman and the terrific ensemble acting (each in rich authentic Irish brogues) from the dedicated cast. The quirkiness and the submerged fear storms to the surface in this often-times funny yet sad tale of life and oppression in Dublin during ‘The Troubles” of 1920-23.
Read MoreTheatre is often about something other than what the people on stage are talking about. And Red is no exception – as Logan himself says. The backdrop is art, but the subject is mankind, fathers and sons, mentors and protégés. Art is the intellectual canvas on which these two characters paint their relationship. “The son must kill the father,” Rothko tells Ken, speaking about what the Abstract Expressionists did to the Cubists. “Respect him, but kill him.”
Read MoreRedtwist Theatre features their top actors- Peter Oyloe (Kjell), Andrew Jessop (Elling) and Brian Parry (Alfons) who are sporting their comedic skills in the winning stage production of the Norwegian film “Elling” deftly adapted by Simon Bent. This is a charming, warm comic drama about two seemingly mentally challenged men who struggle to make it on their own away from a mental institution.
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