Court Theatre returns after nearly ten years to remount their successful holiday show based on a James Joyce short story- The Dead. As conceived and written by Richard Nelson with music by Shaun Davey, The Dead is a special, gentle and wholesome holiday musical. This time around, director Charles Newell and music director have a new cast that features an array of actors who can sing with several actor/musician to give the production an intimate realistic flavor.
Read MoreUnder director/choreographer Tammy Mader, dancing and tongue-in-cheek humor fuels the fun-filled romp back to the 20’s where the girls wore short hair and skimpy dress and the guys donned stripped pants and loud jackets. It was the era of fun times, especially at speakeasies and dance clubs.
Read MoreAnother musical-based-on-movie that unfortunately lacks the charms and personality to keep the franchise alive twenty years later.
Read MoreEvery policeman, watercress, ER nurse, and cab driver knows that two events trigger weird behavior in the public: a full moon and a major holiday. After a ten year run from 1992 through 2002, Will Kern’s Hellcab is being remounted by Profiles Theatre at their Main Stage in Lakeview. Kern’s play is based on his experience as a Chicago cab driver.
Read MoreJules Massenet’s Werther (1892) is a dramatically exciting and intensely passion and totally romantic French opera. Massenet’s varied music moves form lightly friendly even tranquil melodies depicting nature and happy children to intensely emotional feelings of a young poet madly in love with a woman he can never have.
Read MoreBut, The Odd Couple still gets laughs as Neil Simon’s biting zingers still contain the ingredients that laughs are made from. With exquisite timing, the cast lands the barbs expertly. You’ll still laugh and appreciate a master craftsman at work. Neil Simon’s ageless comedy still works thanks to Marc Grapey and his pals.
Read More…when the Mexicans are treated like “background” fodder by the American couple, the Mexicans concoct a ridiculous plan to kidnap the couple to force a confrontation. I wish that this premise would be a tad clearer early on in the play so audiences will “buy into” the premise. But the bumbling kidnappers and the quirky captives embark on a hilarious journey as each struggles to come to terms with their stereotypical views of both Americans and Mexicans.
Read MoreSwiss conductor Charles Dutoit brought his two-week engagement with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra off to an auspicious start Thursday night with a highly compelling presentation of music by Britten, William Walton, and Beethoven. The conductor coaxed the very best out of this formidable ensemble, ensuring, with the help of a comparably impressive solo contribution from violinist Gil Shaham, that this would not be just another routine night at the symphony.
Read MorePlayed for humor, I found Jack Or the Submission to be an over-the-top affair filled with screaming and shouting and cartoonish movements.
Read MoreThe program was billed as “Three B’s… With a Twist”; the “twist” was a partial change, with two of the so-called Three B’s of Classical Music, Bach and Brahms, replaced by Boccherini and Bartok, but the third, Beethoven, left intact. The quartet gave a remarkable performance in this first installment of its three-part series this season in the Logan Center, even if I, for one, was not entirely impressed by the “revision of the Three B’s.”
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