In a world premiere pre-Broadway production, Amazing Grace has some merit as an historical bio-musical. As far as it goes, Amazing Grace chronicles the early adventures of John Newton (1725 – 1807) who composed the Christian hymn “Amazing Grace” in 1772. This world premiere pre-Broadway production is a massive epic musical complete with a clipper ship set and a quasi-operatic score filled with stirring anthems and power ballads
Read MoreWhen you think of Hell, what do you see? Do you see fire and brimstone? Pitchforks and torture? Or, do you see something entirely different? These assumptions are the groundwork that George Bernard Shaw builds on in Don Juan in Hell. In Shaw’s Hell there is no torture. There is joy, art, and endless pleasure for an eternity, but without contemplation of the purpose of such pleasures, or something beyond this base pleasures, what’s the point? This is where we begin.
Read MoreThe message of Leo Lionni’s book and this musical adaptation is simple; everyone has something to offer to the world. Practical or impractical, technical or creative, everyone fills a part and everyone matters. Together, Frederick and his mischief of mice learn that they are, as a team, greater than the sum of their parts. There were some tears in the eyes of audience members near the end of the play, and I must admit I was choked up, too. As the play came to a close, numerous children were begging their parents to take them back to the mice. Suzanne Miller and the Chicago Children’s Theatre have successfully created a world where children feel happy and wanted. What a beautiful thing to have.
Read MoreThe Gift Theatre plays home to Bethany, making it’s Chicago debut. We all remember when the recession hit in 2009. We all knew we should’ve seen it coming, yet somehow so many of us still went through struggles. Those struggles are no stranger to Crystal or any of the other pieces in the puzzling production that was Bethany. Bethany tells us a tale of hardship and desperation and begs the question “How far would you go?”
Read MoreAfter 90 minutes of action that often confuses many middle schoolers and high schoolers, I heard several students constantly asking their parents “I don’t understand what is happening?” The lesson of how democratic values can be corrupted by the quest for power. The youngsters learn that in life, sometimes the bad guy wins that unless we stand guard, evil can win the day. They learn that change is good but it must be tempered with compassion and be aimed at the common good of all.
Read MoreSet over a 15 year span, Whatever We Want deals with a 10 year old (Bug) and a 12 year old (Della) as they are have a tight sister bond with Della leading the way. Bug is a precocious child who loves to invent ridiculous quotes to spout. These two yearn for adventure but they become separated by their parent’s divorce. Over the years, they struggle to retain a relationship.
Read MoreThe 46th Annual Jeff Awards Celebrates Excellence in Chicago Theatre October 13, 2014 – Chicago, IL. At the gala 46th Annual
Read Morewe meet the wealthy Farrelly family headed by matriarch Fanny Farrelly (the terrific Kathy Scambiatterra), who appears as a flighty woman who seeks control of all aspects of life in her country estate. She fights with her housekeeper Anise (Lorraine Freund) and her butler Joseph (Brandon Boler) in a mutual love-hate relationship. Her son, David (John Stokvis) is an unmarried lawyer who Fanny sees as just like her late husband Jushua.
Read MorePorchlight Theatre, under the leadership and direction from Michael Weber, have mounted, on a low budget, an intense, well sung and well performed production of Sweeney Todd. It rivals the terrific production recently at Drury Lane Oakbrook in quality not scope. This production is intimate, slick and darkly scarey proving that the source material can work on different scales. This Sweeney plays very much like the 1979 original and the 1982 national tour.
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