Adapter Giles Havergal used the four person concept in Glasgow’s Citizen’s Theater’s production of Travels. That device was smartly utilized by director Stuart Carden as he shrewdly cast Sean Fortunato to play Aunt Augusta – Henry’s 75 year old horny aunt while John Hoogenakker adds the teenage girl, Tooley and LaShawn Banks plays Wordsworth, Aunt Augusta’s lover and Jeremy Sher adds his foley art to his playing of the Girl in Jodhpurs.
Read MoreThe Malloy family’s annual Pancake Breakfast on the 4th of July in Bel Air, Maryland is the setting for a family drama that plays like an HBO series. Three generations of Malloy’s together with new relations gather for the annual celebration despite the underlying turmoil that pervades this dysfunctional family
Read MoreRemy Bumppo think theatre has a wonderful holiday gift for theatre aficionados – The Importance of Being Earnest – one of the great plays ever written! Fulled with so many witticisms and social comments and stinging observations on humanity and society, Earnest is both hilarious and profound. Victorian manners and rules of courtship are spoofed in Wilde’s most popular play penned in 1896.
Read MoreIt’s a Wonderful Life is the quintessential holiday tale of George Bailey familiar to most and regarded as perhaps the best Christmas movie ever made. To take this story and set it in a 1940s radio studio complete with commercials and a foley artist is a great concept, and it is clear why this show has become a staple of the Holiday Season in Chicago.
Read MoreNow in its 33rd season, the Goodman Theatre’s production of Charles Dickens 1842 novella, A Christmas Carol, adapted by Tom Cramer still holds its magic over audiences as director William Brown makes subtle changes and re-casts numerous roles each year to keep the show fresh. This year’s mounting features John Judd as the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge.
Read MoreThe Christmas Sander’s show simply doesn’t work as the larger stage and all the ‘testifying’ (preaching and religious storytelling) slowed the show to a crawl. The dated references to the war and the down-home rural traits wore thin over 2 hours. The music also played poorly as many of the songs were difficult to hear as guitars and the piano drowned out some solos.
Read MoreThis isn’t the ballet with Tchaikovsky’s music, rather a winning fantastical deconstruction of the classic Christmas ballet. There is plenty of original pop music and wonderful underscoring music from Kevin O’Donnell and his five piece orchestra. The show is a new adaptation that does contain movement but it is not a ballet, rather a dark story where dolls and puppets come to life to slay the rat king with several smart songs. Jake Minton & Phillip C. Klapperich have created an engrossing re-thought holiday story rich in fun and mystery.
Read MorePlaywright McManus effectively uses flashback to tell of the brothers bleak background. We see how Fish got his name and how he channeled his rage via fist fighting. Duffy, in awe of his older brothers physical skills, searches for a more tame existence but his fierce loyalty toward Fish demands that he help his spontaneous combustive brother cope with life.
Read MoreAmong the terrifically strong voices in this opera, diminutive Katleen Kim sings her tricky lyrics with gusto. Stephanie Blythe’s contralto haunts while Sondra Radvanovsky’s rich soprano soars. Mark Delavan’s rich bass baritone resonates well but Frank Lopardo’s nicely textured and emotionally deep tenor deftly depicts the Gustavus character. Verdi’s powerful score swept across the stage challenging the singers to reach down to convey their meanings. I particularly enjoyed the duets, the trios and the four-part harmonies that lifted into the heavens.
Read MoreFrom the start, the orchestra and the exquisite Cats-like costumes (Matt Guthier) with wigs by Michael Buoninconto created the proper atmosphere for the Cats to roam. Once we learn about “The Naming of Cats,” we meet the old Gumbie cat and all of her friends all of whom aspire to be the cat selected by Old Deuteronomy to be reborn just before dawn.
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