In keeping with their tradition of producing “in-your-face, gritty Chicago-style theatre,” Profiles Theatre has mounted the Midwest premiere of Rhett Rossi’s In God’s Hat. This is a 90 minute, heart-stopping drama filled with dark humor, reflections on family values, as well as unique perspectives on God and the Bible. We experience the extremes of humanity played out by a group of low-life fringe folks in a flea-back grungy motel somehow in rural New York State.
Read MoreConversations on a Homecoming. Set in a dingy pub outside of Galway, Ireland (realistic set design by Mike Mroch), Conversations on a Homecoming is a wordy, often witty, group of conversations among four 30-somethings Irishmen upon the return from New York of Michael (Adam Soule). He left Galway in search of his dream to be an actor in film and stage in America.
Read MoreWritten about a Chicago family trapped in a two-bedroom apartment on the South Side of Chicago, A Raisin in the Sun is one of the finest plays of the 20th Century (it is Number 9 on my list). Based loosely on Hansberry’s own family experience integrating a white Chicago neighborhood, A Raisin in the Sun follows the events of the Younger family as they struggle to get their part of the American dream. This family believes that a better life is just around the corner.
Read MoreThe Color Purple – The Musical is a smart adaptation of Alice Walker’s novel and Stephen Spielberg’s film. The musical found a seamless way to bridge the 40 year span cover here (1909-1949). Filled with powerful voices and musical styles ranging from work songs, blues, gospel, R & B to honky tonk, jazz, be-bop and swing, The Color Purple – The Musical is a toe-tapping sophisticated gem. Eugene Dizon’s reductions worked to give the score a rich flavor despite only eight musicians in the pit.
Read MoreDespite the fact that this is ostensibly a ‘war drama,’ Moscovitch’s main preoccupation in This Is War is sexuality, and there’s a tenuous connection to be made here between the violence of war and the violence of sex, each of which is capable of ripping people limb from limb. In addition to the central love triangle, Moskovitch also drops a somewhat peripheral gay subtext into the relationship between Hughes and the company medic Chris Anders (Dylan Stuckey), who is himself openly homosexual. But like I said, the connection here between war and sex is tenuous, with one sphere of action failing to comment on or fully reinforce the other. Hence, This Is War ultimately reads more like a salacious melodrama that is only incidentally set at the frontline of battle.
Read MoreIscariot is a passion play wherein Guirgis has done his research as he tackles Catholic religious doctrine about the conflict between divine mercy and the personal choices due to human free will. Guirgis wonders why Judas Iscariot was condemned to hell for eternity when other apostles were give forgiveness by Jesus? Judas is on trial to determine if he is eligible for redemption.
Read MoreAnd the audience, following two flag-laden guides, is led along for the adventure. Not that we’re complaining. Even on the leisurely strolls taken between scenes, there’s plenty to absorb here: sentimental rows of late-blooming summer flowers, families of ducks swimming along the shoreline, passersby on their bikes, and the impressive skyline off North Lakeview Avenue. Yet Alice—far from treating its environment as a series of distracting hurdles—incorporates every diverse Chicago happening into its folds, reaching every corner of Lincoln Park to create a theatrical tapestry as rich and textured as the city itself.
Read MoreThe musical plays out as a series of sketches with over-blown incomprehensible production numbers sung badly in that irritating Broadway pop-rock style to a collection of the worse choreography danced by a cast that can neither sing, act or dance. The labor dispute at the heart of the piece is trivialized to the point that both the players and the owners come off as idiots being traumatized by a directorial commissioner.
Read More“Next to Normal” is not a feel good musical, but a truly believable drama that can ignite your emotions and enlighten your understanding of some of extreme life problems people have or could face in their futures. The author wrote a very heart-wrenching story that demands exceptional singers with remarkable acting ability. For a very memorable night of theater, let your mind and heart embrace “Next to Normal”, a brilliant and exceptionally rare theater experience indeed!
Read MoreThe musical version is funny, but not consistently funny enough. The plot appears fragmented, uneven and sometimes clunky, painted with strokes so broad that they obscure the cleverness of the original. Unfortunately, the exaggerated, two-dimensional characters fail to come to life — or seem worth caring about. A shining exception is the villain, heartless Franklin Hart, Jr. played with great verve by James Moye as a callous, lecherous boss.
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