Latest from Chicago Critic

Churchill

September 2, 2014August 6, 2014 by Tom Williams

Creating and performing a one person show is a daunting task but when the subject is Winston Churchill (1974 – 1965), the task becomes near impossible! But in the hands of veteran actor/director/playwright Ronald Keaton it is not only doable but amazingly effective. Not only does Keaton bare a resemblance to Churchill and he has his vocal style, accent and speech patterns down pat. He also has his movements, gestures and mannerisms reflecting accurately including the cigar and bowler hat that he seemed to be channeling Churchill on stage! This is a “must see,” tour de force performance magnificently performed by one of the finest, under appreciated actors working in Chicago.

Living Canvas RX

October 23, 2022August 4, 2014 by Tom Williams

The result is a energetic performance art piece. Once the audience adjusts to the nudity, we quickly become engrossed in the themes expressed. No sexual action (including erections, etc) could be seen, rather, Living Canvas RX is amazingly devoid of any suggestion of pornography. being nude is the cast’s way of celebrating the inherent beauty of all sorts of human forms.

Geezers

July 30, 2014 by Tom Williams

With Geezers, Graves and Johnston recreate their magic in a wonderful, honest and heartfelt drama. This ambitious work is both a ‘coming-of-age’ drama and a nostalgic trip back for the ‘geezers’ living in a retirement home. One of playwright Johnston’s strengths is his ability to create well-rounded empathetic characters then put them in believable situations. He sprinkles honesty with humor, even gallows humor, together with smart, witty dialogue without resorting to sentimentality.

Gala Benefit Evening at the Ravinia Festival

July 29, 2014 by Samuel Wigutow

In short, although none of the repertoire here was completely first-rate (the Mozart overture excepted), and despite my reservations about Joshua Bell’s playing, this was a highly engaging evening of music, and the performance of the Dvořák was beyond reproach. James Conlon clearly has an exceptional rapport with this ensemble and often brings out its best; I, for one, would gladly welcome him as a frequent guest during the regular CSO season at Orchestra Hall.

Hellish Half-Light: Short Plays of Samuel Beckett

October 22, 2022July 26, 2014 by Tom Williams

This is an anthology comprised of six of Samuel Beckett’s short plays. There is no discernible plot (why would there be? It’s Beckett). Each short play shares a common theme of perception, particularly what we can and cannot see.

All-Beethoven Program at Ravinia Festival

July 26, 2014 by Samuel Wigutow

The opening performance of Beethoven’s Egmont Overture at the CSO concert he presided over at Ravinia on Thursday evening gave barely a glimpse of the heights to which his conducting would rise at its best over the course of the program. The orchestra played especially well for him, with clean articulation and a good deal of alertness, but the piece – part of the incidental music written to Goethe’s play of the same name, but perhaps not Beethoven at his most inspired – never quite came alive, between the at-times wooden phrasing (especially in the woodwinds) and lack of passionate abandon; the somewhat restrained tempo did not help matters, either.

The Jungle

July 24, 2014 by Tom Williams

Upton Sinclair’s novel The Jungle written to demonstrate the flight of the immigrant laborer in Chicago’s stockyards ended up getting the public to demand reforms in the food processing slaughterhouses. Adapter and director Matt Foss has mounted a moving and vividly blood curling adaptation of Sinclair’s The Jungle with emphasis on the toll and exploitation of the immigrant laborers by American society.

The Marvelous Marvelettes

July 23, 2014 by Kevin Armistead

Most of the songs performed are, of course, hits by The Marvelettes. It begins with the aforementioned “Please Mr. Postman” and then continues on with others such as “Playboy” and “Beachwood 4-5789.” But the show ventures out and brings in a few other Motown hits to join the fun. Among these Daniel Phillips, who makes a later appearance as Jimmy Ruffin, gives an exceptional performance of “What Becomes of the Broken Hearted.”

Intimate Apparel at Eclipse Theatre

July 23, 2014July 22, 2014 by Tom Williams

Playwright Lynn Nottage has emerged as a master story teller with a keen instinct for developing characters. Her six characters in Intimate Apparel each warrant a play of their own but only Esther (the empathetic Kelly Owens) gets Nottage’s focus. We quickly love Esther. We become fully engaged as we meet Esther who is a thirty-five year old single African-American women living in lower Manhattan in 1905 in Mrs. Dickson’s (Frances Wilkerson’s) boarding house.

The Merry Wives of Windsor at First Folio Theatre

October 22, 2022July 21, 2014 by Margaret Eva

Shakespeare’s very funny comedy begins with the conniving ways of a roly-poly Sir John Falstaff (Brian McCartney) to seduce not one but two wives (Mistress Ford-Lydia Berger Gray; and Mistress Page-Patrice Egleston). The wives conspire on creative antics to see that Falstaff gets his comeuppance which offer hysterical situations. The play raises the concerns of trust, greed, deception, chaos, and love.