This landmark play (for 1934 audiences), The Children’s Hour, is a drama set in an all-girls boarding school run by two women, Karen Wright and Martha Dobie. An angry student, Mary Tilford, runs away from the school and to avoid being sent back she tells her grandmother that the two headmistresses are having a lesbian affair. The accusation proceeds to destroy the women’s careers, relationships and lives.
Read MoreAfter a weak 136 performances on Broadway in 2012, the producers of Ghost The Musical are trying to recoup their investment via a national tour which is here at the Oriental Theatre until January 19, 2014. At $95 for the top ticket, with a non-Equity cast of players who are both inept singers and shallow actors, Ghost The Musical doesn’t deliver on most levels.
Read MoreAfter skipping the last couple of years of the Annual Chicago Young Playwrights Festival, now in its 27th year, I was delighted to see what the today’s teens view of the world is in 2014. It turned into a mixed bag of theatre from a moralizing work to a chilling one to a comic one.
Read MoreThe healing, motivational, and redemptive power of show tunes. Music can uplift the human spirit. These are among my favorites
Read MoreOne of the most enjoyable treats to come from Broadsword musicals and film musicals are tap dancing. Here are my
Read MoreThe opening ten minutes of a Broadway Musical are critical. Every great show has a great opening. Even if a
Read MoreHere are my picks for the Top Ten Plays in Chicago in 2013
Tom Williams
I never knew how Roy spent the holidays until I needed to borrow his copy of the Gershwin musical, Crazy For You. Roy had a vast collection of theatre memorabilia and I always found him to be the source. I promised my nephew that we would watch the musical so he could be introduced to the wonders of Gershwin music. It was noon on Christmas Eve, snow was falling faster than the plows could remove it. I needed that tape. A promise is a promise.
Read MoreIt is so refreshing to experience classical Browadway musicals mounted like the originals. With all the original Robert Russell Bennett’s orchestrations played by a 30 person orchestra, Annie Get Your Gun, now a holiday treat at Cahn Auditorium in Evanston produced by Light Opera Works, is a marvelous musical containing one of Broadways’ most memorable scores
Read MoreOnce the Holme’s method of crime solving gets going there is no stopping that process. Beside the goose caper, once Holmes discovers that said goose had a large blue carbuncle jewel belonging to the Countess of Morcar, they mystery is “on.” With the help of the game cast of players and foley artists with sprinkles of Christmas songs, the case is a fun dash of Christmas intrigue.
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