From the opening number that was changed and poorly danced by the six boys (instead of the mixed gender 13 from the 1983 original), we quickly realize that this crude production is a mere parody of the lush heart-felt original that was ground-braking in 1983-84 since it featured a male-male relationship. In this production, no one will ever believe that George Hamilton and Chris Sieber have been lovers for more that 20 years
This is all by means of saying that this play bears incredible intellectual fruit. It is, like Beckett, like Brecht, deep in meaning and rich in metaphor. But, also like Beckett and Brecht, it is incredibly hard to stage successfully. And Steppenwolf falls short…And the play itself, I say again, I find fascinating and highly worthy of both praise and production. But, sadly, this particular one falls short. Perhaps in a few years – maybe with some Irish help – the right people will come together and create magic with this piece.
Led by the steady work from Gene Weygandt as Shepherd and by golden-voiced youngster Clarke Hallum as Ralphie, A Christmas Story The Musical is a most winning full-blown Broadway musical true to its source material and marvelously acted, sung, and danced by a 30 person cast consisting of a mixture of Chicago Equity talents and a polished troupe of kid talents. Adam Petly, George Andrew Wolff and Karen Mason are a few of the Chicago players featured in this family friendly new show.
Utilizing flashbacks for the back story, Opus is a compelling ‘family’ story of how personal dynamics, professional jealousy, sexual relationships, and drugs contribute to the vibrant culture of the four expert musicians. Opus deftly offers a glimpse into the artistic world of musicians striving for perfection in their art.
Clara returns to the living room after the party around midnight and is confronted with the mice. She is saved by her Godfather Drosselmeyer who takes her into the Land of Snow. This is the fabulous place where movement is supreme, where ballet takes us into a fantasy land that captivates us with the soaring music and breathtaking dance. In the Land of Sweets, the Sugar Plum Fairy fascinates us in spectacle and movement.
When the queen arrives, Ned is her outspoken opponent since his eminent death from the pox allows him the freedom to say whatever comes to his mind. The debate rages on as the two engage in verbal debate. Elizabeth hides her female side as a mechanism for sovereign survival – ruling as a man works for her. Ned has played woman all his life in Shakespeare’s plays and as a gay man feels more comfortable as a woman.
My feelings about this play are fairly well-documented. To put it succinctly: I’m not a huge fan of the material. That said, this production was far more endearing – and overall successful – than the previous Broadway in Chicago venture. They made the material work better for them than their touring counterparts. And to a surprising degree. This troupe really found the comic moments between the words; they had great timing and used space very well.
The cast is made up of lawyers, judges and law students who want to show that attorneys have ‘show biz’ talents besides law acumen. They sure do as the large cast deftly sings, dances and lands their biting parody garnering enough laughs to leave audiences smiling aplenty.
This highly entertaining musical revue is light on story featuring small vignettes designed to introduce the next song. Courtney Crouse, in fine voice, narrates and introduces us to the folks at the garage and the diner. Pump Boys featuring a nice blend of country, folk, old-time rockabliiy, blue grass, Cajun, cowboy and western, blues with gospel thrown in. This revue easily grabs us and holds on until we’re filled with enough toe-tapping tunes to satisfy
It’s basically Marivaux staging a Moliere-style comedy and throwing in a Commedia del’Arte character to see what would happen. Which yields interesting results. Harlequin (a clown character with roots in the insolent slave in Plautus who perhaps reached his intellectual peak as Feste in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, or What You Will) is possibly the fondest-remembered character of the Commedia, and certainly shakes things up in a largely endearing way in Changes.