Theatre Reviews Archives - Page 184 of 232

The Merchants of Bollywood

I always think it is wonderful when international shows land in Chicago because it provides a kind of entertainment that is not always easy to come across here. I was especially excited to see the Indian culture represented on the stage well, especially because the show is billed as, “The first authentic Indian music & dance spectacular.” This particular show boasts some truly inventive choreography and costume design, but I felt as though it does not translate to a universal audience.

Tom Williams

Dracula: A Tragedy

This is a show where all the cast members work hard to create the atmosphere to vividly create zombie-like characters demented and possessed by the vampire Count Dracula. Jack the Riper meets the other mad killers and a nuthouse owner my Dracula becomes home to his crazy disciples.

Theatre Reviews

Tom Williams

Ghostbox

Colburn’s script is no doubt a challenge to comprehend. The dialogue may be overly poetic, and even esoteric at points, but the actors interpretation makes it feel more relevant to the masses. (Note: At the end of the show everything becomes very plain…so hang in there.)

REVIEWS Theatre Reviews Tom Williams

Tom Williams

The Lion King

Tighter, more polished and containing enough heart to please the most cynical audience member, The Lion King is a most dazzling theatre as spectacle musical of our generation.! From the impressive opening “Circle of Life,” audiences cheer and children go “wow” as the parade of more than 200 puppet animals enter the stage both from the wings and from each main aisle.

REVIEWS Theatre Reviews Tom Williams

Tom Williams

Night and Day

Night and Day is a stinging attack on the role of newspapers (now the Internet blogs and cable news TV) in shaping news. Stoppard has his characters debate who controls the news and asks what news really is and should reporters simply cover events or should they create events? The role of editors and unions in the news process is also covered.

REVIEWS Theatre Reviews Tom Williams

Tom Williams

The Franklin Expedition

British Captain Franklin and his crew of 128 men all died in 1847 after being frozen in the Arctic waters in Canada while charting the Northwest Passage. The show is “a slightly delusional, historically inaccurate, fragmented portrait of a lost explorer.”

REVIEWS Theatre Reviews Tom Williams

Tom Williams

Candide

Wonderful music, witty lyrics and brilliant symbolism fuel this most enchantingly beautiful operetta into both a philosophical satire and a travel adventure romance. This most difficult show is an artistic achievement filled with a cast of expert singers, charming innocence and deft comics, Candide is an eye-poping theatrical gem.

Theatre Reviews Tom Williams

Tom Williams

Thieves Like Us

Filled with gun-tooting, bank robberies and heaving drinking, Thieves Like Us is an entertaining show that grabs us and keeps us involved through. The pace is brisk and the action is wild. Beth Sagal’s, as the all-in-white-dress angel of death, sings torch songs to comment and underscore the action. The extensive use of newspapers including a giant paper that the actors keep unfolding vividly depict the sensationalize coverage of bank robbers.

Beverly Friend Theatre Reviews

Tom Williams

Daddy Long Legs

In our age of telephones, cell phones, texting, and Skype, it is wonderfully nostalgic to return a world where letters are a works of art – witty, poignant, ever exploring and revealing the thoughts of their creators. And these letters are consistently interesting, not only revealing a bright, lively mind reacting to all that she is learning, but steeped in the gossip and concerns of a young girl coming of age. Dialogue nested in pleasant lyrics enhances the action.

REVIEWS Theatre Reviews Tom Williams

Tom Williams

She Loves Me

Set in a European perfume shop in the 1930s, the delightful characters inhabit a world suffused with love and longing. The central story revolves around the two feuding clerks, Georg and Amalia, who secretly find solace in their anonymous romantic pen pals, little knowing that their respective correspondents are each other