The ambitious, driven ultimate stage mother, Mama Rose is one of the great characters in all of American Broadway musicals. Any production of Gypsy depends on who plays Mama Rose. New Yorker Klea Blackhur’s booming voice channeled Ethel Merman takes over as the determined stage mother.
Read MoreBesides Verdi brilliant score, the voices sing with passionate emotions. Tenor Marcello Giordani commands the stage and soars to the heavens while Sondra Radvanovsky – a Chicago native- raises to the demanding role of Aida. She triumphs in her first time as Aida at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. The audience cheered her performance! Jill Grove’s mezzo effectively demonstrated Amneris’ heartache and Gordon Hwkins strong baritone rules his scenes.
Read MoreAnother stunning production featuring 27 actors/dancers with 13 Equity plays and 17 stop-shelf musicians at Paramount Theatre in Aurora. It still holds audiences with its stunning honesty and emotionally exhilarating heart…A Chorus Line is so strong a piece that nothing can dent its emotional impact. Judging by the full house for Wednesday matinee, musicals have found an audience in the Far Western Suburbs.
Read MoreThis lightweight fare is a delight for everyone, especially those between 40 and 50 years old. ABBA was their group. ‘Dancing Queen,’ ‘Honey, Honey,’ and ‘Take A Chance On Me’ recall the 70’s when romance, sensuality and adventure reigned.
Read MoreIn this cynical world, the cyclical words of Mamet’s characters are frustrating in that they are unrepentantly bleak. As a piece about racism in America, that makes a sad sort of sense. Maybe we are just talking in circles without moving forward. As a piece about the law, it falls into another tired (and not nearly as true as Hollywood would paint it) stereotype of the scheming, soulless lawyer that is forgiven only for the performances. It’s not really about the law anyway. It’s a springboard to a race discussion that for some will seem tired and played out
Read MoreThe dynamic of this drama lies in the bickering, sexual advances, mockery and stress each student endures as they struggle for grades, money, acceptance, and some sexual release. Much of this 1 hour and 55 minute play builds the emotional tension nicely as director Jonathan Berry swiftly paces the dramatic tension toward a wrenching conclusion
Read MoreIn The Drawer Boy, we meet two friends living and working a farm in 1972 rural Ontario. Angus (Will Kinnear) and his friend Morgan (Nick Polus) who run their farm through a harmonious daily ritual based on Morgan being the farmer and Angus being the cook, housekeeper and account. Tolerance, trust and routine rule their lives. They seem content until a young man-an actor- arrives at the farm asking to learn about farming by living and working with Morgan and Angus.
Read MoreBut once the show is trimmed and refocused, Invisible Man will emerge as a masterful stage work. After all the text of the Invisible Man remains an important depiction of the American experience. Teagle F. Bougere tour de force performance gives the Invisible Man demonstrates the human search for identity by an anti-hero everyman
Read MoreThe early scenes that depict the determination and strength of each women are marvelously played out as each establishes their own rules for the relationship. Pearl will only sing unheard slave and work songs if Susannah works to find Pearl’s daughter. The two eventually unite to allow each to become “successful” on each’s terms.
Read MoreI must say that playwright Dennis Kelly over works the speeches that come across as as personal confessionals or sketches or interwoven scenarios that have a thin strand with one couple – David (Peter Moore) and Jess (Julia Siple) – debt-laden misery of a married couple as their spending and lavish lifestyle threaten their peace.
Read More