Tom Williams

Before all the Hamilton hype. Lin-Manuel Miranda created a four Tony winner, including Best Musical with In The Heights. I have seen the show three times now and I enjoyed and appreciated this musical on its own terms. Filled with a manic pace, toe-tapping rhythms and richly powerful vocals, Directer Brenda Didier and co-choreography Christopher Carter created wonderful dances including salsa, hip-hop and natural Latino beats. The energy keeps us engaged throughout.

We hear old friends, ex-lovers, estranged in-laws and sworn enemies grapple and whine about how life, indeed, sucks.. The seven souls talk, debate and grumble about their life as loneliness, regrets, and lack of personal ambition has rendered them unhappy. This play has many fine moments and several strong performances by Chaon Cross (Ella), Phillip R. Smith (Dr. Aster0 and Barbara E. Robertson (Babs).

All these weird dysfunctional traits lead to some funny moments but mostly become ‘head-scratching’ actions beyond belief. Andrew is an enabler unable to accept his soulmate is a lesbian; Eric is a weak person who has strange sexual practices; while Angel has substance abuse problems due to low self esteem. Eli, thought of as needing constant supervision, is the most ‘normal’ one of the brothers. The mother’s suicide five years earlier had profound effects on all but Eli.

The plot thickens as Cassius sways Brutus, Caius Ligarius (Matt Hawkins) and Caska (Julian Parker) to take the ultimate resolution to stop Caesar from becoming king. The assassination was vividly presented with red lighting and haunting sounds (lighting by Jesse Klug and sound by Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen). This has been buildup by the discourse between Cassius and Brutus. We do hear the obligatory Et tu, Brute? uttered by a dying Caesar.

Helldrivers of Daytona wants to be a spoof of those corny 60’s rock films but its crude sexy references are neither sexy enough , raw enough or funny enough to raise the level of this show from the gutter. If audiences could understand the Broadway pop-rock singing from the boys, who must shout over the much too loud band, maybe more humor would emerge.

But, by far, this shows major flaw is with the girls. They all talk and sing with a silly squeaky high-pitched ‘chipmunk’ sound that is instantly hard to understand rendering the lyrics and much of the humor unintelligible. Few laughs throughout this production

Mamma Mia! is an amazing show in that it is immensely popular despite being a pop-rock score by ABBA of mostly forgettable songs. In a curious way, I enjoyed the event more for its charm and its feel-good elements. I was mesmerized by how much audiences enjoyed Mamma Mia! They simply went wild with enthusiasm throughout. Amazing, since it is full of average rock songs and the story is fine but not overwhelming. I guess audiences come to hear ABBA songs performed on nice sets by talented actors. I guess?

As I left the theatre, i asked myself who is the audience for this show? Jewish theatre patrons? Lovers of solo shows? I Do Today only contains one of the three elements that make solo shows work: a terrific performance by the actor (Carin Silkaitis was terrific and work hard to make the material work.) But, this show lacks the other two essential elements: no celebrity or historical figure and a strong comprehensive script.

Naperville turns into a cable TV original play filled with playwright invented wacky characters who seem to p layout their problems through too much caffeine. Candice want to sail and cut her grass despite her blindness. Howard quits his job in Seattle as he feels he needs to move back to Naperville to help his mother. Howard discovers that Anne is an old high school classmate that he had a crush on; Anne realizes the Howard (fifty pounds lighter) was her class mate. Sparks could fly?