The cast is filled with fine performances. Gregg Matthew Anderson and Eliza Stoughton square off in a searing battle of the sexes while Dale Benson is the calming voice of wisdom as the waiter. Benson, always a Chicago treasure, is hilarious as usual in a larger role that he delivers with verve and class. Elaine Rivkin is the strong-will mother and Alex Weisman and C. Jay Miller are precious as the young siblings.
I must say that Larry Yando is the ultimate Scrooge. He moves from scary to pathetic to glowing kindness as he comes to grips with his folly. With a blend of terror and humor, Yando get us to first hate then love the money-hording old man.
Donizetti’s delightful Don Pasquale (1842), which opened today at Chicago’s Lyric Opera, is an embarrassment of bel canto riches, with a seemingly endless stream of glorious Italian melodies wedded to a lighthearted yet often witty comedic plot about an elderly man who gets more trouble than he bargained for when he decides in his 70s to finally get married.
Annie, played by Caroline Heffernan, seems slightly more modern than the era, slightly older than eleven, and sings some of her songs in a more modern pop style; but her acting fills the role very well. The other orphans, as well as butlers, maids and other adults do a superb job vocally.
This year I admired The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey more than last year. Maybe, it was because of the message or that this year’s production was tighter? What ever the reason, this wonderful show reached me better than most holidays shows. It is a family friendly affair.
Fred Anzevino and Jeremy Ramey have created a fine Christmas revue that is just the right thing for Saturday and Sunday matinee lovers who get-stressed by shopping. All they have to do is get to the No Exit Cafe in Rogers Park to hear four delightful singers and a fabulous piano and bass produce classic holiday tunes.
Sometimes classic short stories simply don’t “sing,” that is, they don’t work as a musical. That surely is the case with The Gifts of the Magi now playing at Stage 773 produced by Porchlight Musical Theatre.
When Marine warrior Jenny Sutter (Lily Mojekwu) returns home from Afghanistan to a dirty bus station in LA, she seems listless as she simply sits staring into space. She is befriended by the quirky, always-traveling Lou (Jenny Avery), a recovering addict with many issues. Lou senses Jenny’s melancholy as she befriends her and coaxes her to travel to their California desert hideaway – Slab City.
The kind of warm, witty production that shames most other holiday fare, this is a must see for the whole family this holiday season!
Griffin Theatre has found another little gem of a show with The Burnt Part Boys. It is a bluegrass folk operetta set in coal mining country in 1962 in West Virginia ten years after a devastating mine explosion and fire killed five miners. We meet the two surviving teenage sons of one of the killed miners – Peter (Charlie Fox) and Jake (Mike Tepeli).