Prolific Chicago playwright Jon Steinhagen’s latest work is a deliciously cunning dark comedy inspired by the real life case of Drew Petersen. It is a wicked take on our tenancy to prejudge celebrity news events, especially when we know someone involved with the hated celebrity.
Besides the hilarious exchanges between Betty and Charlie, we see how all the characters openly speak in front of Charles since they believe he doesn’t understand their words. The folks grow to love and trust Charlie mostly due to Shue’s clever characterization and Rod Armentrout’s tour de force performance. He invents a pig-Latin language , gloriously pretends he doesn’t understand anything and he ‘learns’ their language in a series of funny imitative scenes.
Playwright Mark Schulz begins his weird horror comedy with: “I got an idea,” Brian (Mike Tepeli) says to wife Stacey (Meghan Reardon). “Don’t laugh. We are a little stressed — the money, the kids. I think we should sell the kids.”
So, who is the audience for American Idiot? Lovers of punk rock and Green Day? If so, why not promote American Idiot as a punk rock concert? That way, us lovers of traditional book musicals will not have to suffer through 90 minutes of theatre hell.
The righteously indignant tone that pervades so much of the production seems to be that of the “last angry man” at open-mic night. Ultimately it’s a disappointment to see so much effort spent reminding us to have empathy for a weary world. It offends by putting us on the offensive by aggressively assuming we lack it.
In a long sequence of screaming, screeching and foul-mouthed dialogue, coke snorting and champagne drinking scenes, the three dysfunctional women show their crude, raw make up. When they spent time talking about the strategic use of oral sex on men to get an advantage, I was totally turned-off. These three unhappy and self-destructive losers were painful to watch and their loudness made me want to bolt the theatre.
Written by Paul Slade Smith, a 14 year Chicago actor now on tour with Wicked, Unnecessary Farce finally after 6 years makes its Chicago debut. Under Alison C. Vesely superb casting and tight direction, Unnecessary Farce is a whip-smart comic farce that produces enough laughs to get anyone through winter.
Through the musical, we see cute puppets moving the action along. Blair Thomas, the show’s director, is a master at utilizing puppetry along with live actors to tell a story. We see Victor and his Houdini puppet trying the Water Torture escape using only a water glass and a 6 inch puppet.
A fast-paced look at the world of professional sports that tries to invest the audience in the players outside the stadium as much as we invest in those who play within it.
While playwright Colburn vividly dramatizes the stilting Christian beliefs including Dasiy’s (Rebecca Buller) sexual attraction to Ian and Aaron’s confusion, he seems have both Ian and Claudia insincerely using the Christian beliefs more as an escape from their past sins than belief in an all-powering God. The contradictory behavior of Ian is a clue since Ian wants Claudia back, wants to be saved and he wants to have sex with Daisy.