The Pirates of Penzance
An always classic Gilbert and Sullivan gets a twist as the tall ship Windy sets sail from Navy Pier with a merry band of misfits!
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REVIEWS
Shakespeare’s Cymbeline A Folk Tale With Music
The world premiere of Shakespeare’s Cymbeline A Folk Tale With Music is a sheer delight! Combining the lyrical words of The Bard with tuneful, expert music and lyrics by Michael Keefe and David Rice and putting Cymbeline in Appalachia during the American Civil War adds punch to the tale making more folk than fairy (tale). With 10 songs accompanied by a jug band, this Cymbeline is a tale with music but it is darn-near a hillbilly musical.
Read MoreJason and (Medea)
For Shoemaker has opted to work on an immense epic canvas, unfortunately necessitating overly broad brushstrokes in several of her scenes, which is very much a shame considering her undeniable gifts in fleshing out the lived ironies of everyday existence. For where the Jason and Medea of myth aspire to the heights of greatness, Shoemaker’s couple aspire rather to the more narrow level of adult competence and maturity. Indeed, Jason and (Medea) is most charming when attempting to graft onto the hero’s journey a tender and soft-spoken coming-of-age story. Regrettably, much of this tends to get drowned out in an overly self-stylized cacophony of blood, battles and legendary monsters.
Read MoreA Clown Car Named Desire
. It has been years since I was at the intimate e.t.c. second stage to see a sketch comedy show . I very much believe that the smaller stage renders the comedy with more power due to the proximity of the players to the audience. Looking right into the eyes of the troupe-and they looking right into the eyes of the audience produces a connection that enhances the comic dynamic.
Read MoreBoeing Boeing
Despite being a tad dated, Boeing Boeing is still a crowd pleaser comedic farce. When you enter Drury Lane Theatre’s space, you’ll see a 60’s style room adorned with eight doors 9set design by Sam Ball). That usually means a madcap door-slamming farce. With Marc Camoletti’s wildly funny farce, terrific performances fuel an honest rendition of the farce format.
Read MoreMine
Hence there is something admittedly compelling about the premise of Marks’s play. Awakening the next morning after an 18-hour home birth—attended by husband Peter (Gabriel Franken), mother Rina (Deborah Ann Smith) and her midwife Joan (Alexandra Main)—Mari shocks everyone when she declares that the baby in the cradle adjacent to the bed is not, in fact, her baby. Riveting enough, but why does Mari think that?
Read MoreBuddy – The Buddy Holly Story
Buddy is a tribute to both Buddy’s unique talent and to the innovative and imaginative talent of this young guy from Texas. With a large assortment of terrific honest old-time rock music, Buddy is a nostalgic trip back for some and an intro to early rock for contemporary teens. A good time was had by all – this show is fun! Bring your dancing shoes.
Read MoreUncle Bob
This is s disturbing, yet enticing work filled with much subtext, ambitiously cynical take on life, love and self-worth.. In is also a scary story of self-destruction. I’ll say no more so at not to spoil the power of the conclusion. Richard Cotovsky is riveting as the failed writer while Rudy Galvan, in his finest role to date, is thoroughly calculating and intense.
Read MoreAmadeus
Anyone considering a trip out to Oak Park Festival Theatre’s production of Amadeus— English playwright Peter Shaffer’s 1979 black comedy—should know that the grass in Austin Gardens is especially cool on one’s bare feet. And that the birds chirp away well into the early hours of the evening there. And that one should bring an umbrella in the event of inclement weather or bug spray in case of mosquito infestation (there were a few the night I went). But as for Amadeus itself, I’m afraid this production has about as much dramatic momentum as a temperate June breeze, lumbering along with lackluster production design and perfunctory characterizations.
Read MoreBlack and Blue
Set in a Northside Chicago tavern, Black and Blue is the story of two brothers in a life-long argument over baseball. Jake (Anthony Tournis) is a diehard Cubs fan while his brother Tommy (Greg Caldwell) is a diehard White Sox fan. The play covers the ten years of Inter-league between the two Chicago baseball teams. The brothers bet which team (the Cubs or the White Sox) will more games against the other in a ten year period from 1997 thru 2007. This sports comedy is 90 minutes of screaming, shouting, and arguments between the two brothers and an assortment of bar patrons and the boy’s father.
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