Tom Williams

Moving from the Kit Kat Klub, a Berlin sleaze night club back and forth to the Belin boarding house–we are greeted by the Emcee (Patrick Andrews) who charms and sets the sexy tone of escapism predominant in Berlin of 1930 in a most memorable version of “Willkommen.”

These three one-acts need to be re-thought and the last one (Midnight Vultures) sure could a major cutting and re-focus since the valid thought gets lost in all the rhetoric. It is never wise to rush theatre pieces into production.

Nick Sandys gives a “perfect performance” as the star of the “perfect musical.”
I am happy to report that Rudy Hogenmiller’s current production, now in a short run at Cahn Auditorium in Evenston, is a first-class show with a fine cast of new faces in the principal roles with Roger L. Bingaman’s 28 piece full orchestra deftly rendering Loewe’s original orchestration

Sad Cafe’s 1963 adaptation by Albee contains loads of his signature piercing dialogue in rich southern drawls. This story is billed as answering the question: is it better to be the loved , or the beloved

In homage to Of Mice and Men, with hints of Desire Under Elms, Moonshiner comes across as a period piece peering back to the dark days of the Prohibition Era of the 1930’s. We are in Appalachia, East Tennessee, where the production and distribution of moonshine was a cottage industry.

They refer to their jobs as something that was voted on–therefore it is alright to find, arrest and execute folks in order to thin out the herd. Their lack of conscious doesn’t ring true

Road is all about social exclusion and alienation that the poor working class struggles to survive body and soul. Road is filled with raw, raunchy humor, sensuality and desperation.

The sheer negativity and hopelessness of this show was overwhelming. Add the slow pacing and The Hecubae becomes a long tedious evening. The show answers (over and over again) the question: “What remains after war?”

Without a Parachute suffers from several flaws: The work has a uneven mood–is it a romance or a drama or a comedy? The main character–Cory (Joanne Dubach) is an unlikable, shouting woman with whom we never warm up to…