Theatre reviews

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MUST SEEREVIEWSREVIEWS BYTheatre ReviewsTom Williams
Tom Williams

The Dead Prince

Come and take the fairy tale musical comedy quest with The Strange Tree Group – you’ll smile, laugh and be musically captivated by the original story told with manic energy. This is a smart, well written show that is ready for prime time. One can home that the major musical comedy producers from The Theatre at the Center, Drury Lane Oakbrook, Marriott Theatre and Chicago Spokeshave Theater come to see The Dead Prince and Emily Schwatrz’. She is a major theatrical artist whose work needs to be mounted at the next level.

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REVIEWSREVIEWS BYTheatre ReviewsTom Williams
Tom Williams

Paulus

I admire the hutzpah of Silk Road Rising for taking a chance with this most problematic play. Paulus may stretch credulity and be a tad too much for many to handle yet it is daring, provocative and enticing work. It will bore some, offend others, and yet I found it theatrically appealing in a strange way. It sure challenges us to think, analyze, and consider the nature and essence of our beliefs. Jews and Christians will find much to rile about. So make the effort to stay with Paulus’ style, it’ll payoff.

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REVIEWSREVIEWS BYTheatre ReviewsTom Williams
Tom Williams

Appropriate

Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is an African-American playwright who loves to be provocative and stun audiences with outlandish works. But here in Appropriate, now playing at Victory Gardens Theater, he has written about a most dysfunctional white family gathered to liquidate the estate of their recently departed patriarch. Jacobs-Jenkins demonstrates his talents by creating fully flashed-out characters with language that is both bitingly bitter and razor-sharp. Jacobs-Jenkins is an emerging major talent who bravely doesn’t hesitate to write about a white family that has a most racist past that none of the family will recognize.

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MUST SEEREVIEWSREVIEWS BYTheatre ReviewsTom Williams
Tom Williams

An Iliad

The key element that makes this theatrical event so noteworthy is that Kane’s amazing classical acting training together with his expert articulation and enunciation and his ability to makes us ‘see’ each character whether it be Achilles, Agamemnon, Patroclus or King Priam. Kane’s fabulous performance gets aid from Todd Rosenthal’s large bomber-out cement bunker set and from Keith Parham’s riveting lighting and from Andre Pluess’ eerie sound. Charles Newell’s blocking that found Kane moving about, as his emotions spirited him about, kept the story fresh and engaging. The dramatization of the confrontation between Achilles and Hector by Kane became so real that, for an instant, Kane’s eyes seemed to be recalling the actual event.

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REVIEWSREVIEWS BYTheatre ReviewsTom Williams
Tom Williams

Detroit ’67

Playwright Dominique Morisseau’s first play in her The Detroit Projects trilogy, Detroit ’67 is a glimpse into the world of African-Americans struggling to exist in a violent and changing urban city. We meet Chelle (Tyla Abercrumbie) and her younger brother Lank (Karmal Angelo Bolden) who run a “blind pig” (a non-licensed bar with musical entertainment) in their basement. These private neighborhood establishments were often harassed and shook-down by the mostly white Detroit police.

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MUST SEEOperaREVIEWSREVIEWS BYTom Williams
Tom Williams

Parsifal

Don’t let the five hours fool you or deter you from enjoying the power and spectacle of grand opera. Just accept and cherish that it is a full transformation into the magnificent world of Wagner. Bring food since there as three intermissions. Look at it as an adventure and simply let the joys of opera sweep into your psyche. The payoff is a dazzling experience that is unforgettable.

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REVIEWSREVIEWS BYTheatre ReviewsTom Williams
Tom Williams

Great Expectations

Some of director Jason Gerace’s staging left large portions of the audience blinded by pillars during key moments. Also the use of multiple narrators quickly became an irritant. The lack of articulation and the thick accents made the already complex story impossible to follow. What I did gather was that PIP (Mike Tepeli) is an orphan boy who is plucked from poverty and thrust into the upper class by a hidden benefactor. Pip has various adventures as he strives to find his way and a soul mate. The saga is adventurous and the supporting five actors play 40 characters in various accents and personae.

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