Chicago Play & Musical Reviews

Barnum

April 7, 2013April 5, 2013 by Tom Williams

Barnum ran two years on Broadway (1980-82) with music by Cy Coleman (Sweet Charity, City of Angels & Will Rogers Follies) Lyrics by Michael Stewart (Bye, Bye Birdie, Carnival & Hello Dolly!) and book by Mark Bramble (42nd Street). In the Mercury Theater production, director Walter Stearns as assembled a fabulous creative team and a terrific “A” list of Equity actors to make Barnum a true theatrical event. The score is a pastiche of toe-tapping marches, ballads, ragtime and Dixieland tunes with several circus-infused show stopping numbers designed to thrill audiences

“Underneath the Lintel” – First Folio Theatre

April 6, 2013April 5, 2013 by Margaret Eva

“Underneath the Lintel” is intriguing to watch perseverance toward a goal with reckless abandon…the librarian’s dogged passion which punishes yet awakens. It leaves you asking the big questions, or reminds you of them. This play offers significant rewards for those patient enough to take the journey….a must see for many!

A Midlife Something

April 4, 2013 by Anthony J. Mangini

In short, A Midlife Something captures many of the emotional frustrations of living listlessly young and broke in today’s America, even as it suffers from an ill-paced narrative and too narrow a sphere of activity. Cardiff’s story obviously means something very personal to him, and that investment is palpable in A Midlife Something’s big heart. Now if only the story might be as equally big.

Beautiful Broken

October 23, 2022March 30, 2013 by Tom Williams

Beautiful Broken lasted a whopping two hours and thirty-five minutes! It is a relationship “romantic dramedy” that plays like a redundant-filled, cliche-ridden contrived drama fueled with “playwright-speak” unrealistic dialogue with a too-slow razor thin plot.

The Night of the Iguana

March 30, 2013 by Anthony J. Mangini

Audiences of The Artistic Home’s recent staging of Iguana may keep this in mind, if only because the struggle of its central character, Rev. T. Lawrence Shannon, so closely intimates the one Williams himself would be forced to undergo in the years following. Shannon (played here by the incomparable John Mossman), is a man on the edge. He is “cracked up” and “at the end of [his] rope,”

Under A Rainbow Flag

October 23, 2022March 25, 2013 by Tom Williams

Under A Rainbow Flag is a delightful, light-weight musical that explores the various types of love that gay men endured in those closeted-days during WWII. This show is a tribute to the wholesomeness and heart of gay men. It celebrates the essence of being gay with a high-energy expression. It contains humor, angst, love, and hope as those early brave souls were determined to live in truth. This is a fun show that could use a trim and more authentic military uniforms but it delivers a well-sung tribute to gay veterans all around bravery. It is a worthy new musical that begs an audience.

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: The Musical

March 22, 2013 by Anthony J. Mangini

Yet I suppose its luridly overdone production design is the closest Priscilla comes to actual camp. Like a drag queen who genuinely believes her own tinsel-laden illusions, Priscilla is more often than not only “playing” a good time. Desperate to keep you from noticing the wrinkled clichés beneath all the makeup or how its only ever lip-syncing someone else’s tunes, Priscilla blinds you with tasteless spectacle, gaudy costumes and enough bitchy “shade” throwing for an episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race.

But Priscilla isn’t fooling anyone. Dress it up however you like. It still doesn’t sing…

Measure for Measure at the Goodman Theatre

September 16, 2017March 21, 2013 by Anthony J. Mangini

Thus with a remarkable eye for Shakespeare’s darker tonalities, Falls’ Measure for Measure is wickedly smart even as it seemingly pulls our inner moral compasses all which ways. As beautifully constructed as it is intellectually evocative, it comes highly recommended.

Smokey Joe’s Cafe—Remount of Theo Ubique’s 2012 production

October 23, 2022March 20, 2013 by Anthony J. Mangini

There’s no denying that Smokey Joe’s has immense commercial appeal. Dispensing altogether with the narrative conventions of a book musical, Smokey Joe’s is all revue, featuring near forty pop standards from the songwriting team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller—responsible for such leviathan-sized hits as “Hound Dog,” “Jailhouse Rock,” “Stand By Me,” and “On Broadway.”

Stones in his Pockets

March 21, 2013March 16, 2013 by Tom Williams

As the story progresses, we learn to love the characters, hate the hypocritical American film makers and we feel the pain as we hear about the desperate action of one young lost Irish soul. Humor and heartbreaking situations give Jones’ script depth. You’ll laugh and be amazed at the stage craft of David Ivers and Brrian Vaughn – they even do some expert Irish dance steps!