The Gifts of the Magi
Sometimes classic short stories simply don’t “sing,” that is, they don’t work as a musical. That surely is the case with The Gifts of the Magi now playing at Stage 773 produced by Porchlight Musical Theatre.
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Welcome Home Jenny Sutter
When Marine warrior Jenny Sutter (Lily Mojekwu) returns home from Afghanistan to a dirty bus station in LA, she seems listless as she simply sits staring into space. She is befriended by the quirky, always-traveling Lou (Jenny Avery), a recovering addict with many issues. Lou senses Jenny’s melancholy as she befriends her and coaxes her to travel to their California desert hideaway – Slab City.
The Nutcracker (House Theatre of Chicago, Paige Collins as Clara)
The kind of warm, witty production that shames most other holiday fare, this is a must see for the whole family this holiday season!
The Burnt Part Boys
Griffin Theatre has found another little gem of a show with The Burnt Part Boys. It is a bluegrass folk operetta set in coal mining country in 1962 in West Virginia ten years after a devastating mine explosion and fire killed five miners. We meet the two surviving teenage sons of one of the killed miners – Peter (Charlie Fox) and Jake (Mike Tepeli).
The Dead
Court Theatre returns after nearly ten years to remount their successful holiday show based on a James Joyce short story- The Dead. As conceived and written by Richard Nelson with music by Shaun Davey, The Dead is a special, gentle and wholesome holiday musical. This time around, director Charles Newell and music director have a new cast that features an array of actors who can sing with several actor/musician to give the production an intimate realistic flavor.
My One and Only
Under director/choreographer Tammy Mader, dancing and tongue-in-cheek humor fuels the fun-filled romp back to the 20’s where the girls wore short hair and skimpy dress and the guys donned stripped pants and loud jackets. It was the era of fun times, especially at speakeasies and dance clubs.
Sister Act the Musical
Another musical-based-on-movie that unfortunately lacks the charms and personality to keep the franchise alive twenty years later.
Hellcab – Profiles Theatre with Konstantin Khrustov
Every policeman, waitress, ER nurse, and cab driver knows that two events trigger weird behavior in the public: a full moon and a major holiday. After a ten year run from 1992 through 2002, Will Kern’s Hellcab is being remounted by Profiles Theatre at their Main Stage in Lakeview. Kern’s play is based on his experience as a Chicago cab driver.
Werther
Jules Massenet’s Werther (1892) is a dramatically exciting and intensely passion and totally romantic French opera. Massenet’s varied music moves form lightly friendly even tranquil melodies depicting nature and happy children to intensely emotional feelings of a young poet madly in love with a woman he can never have.
The Odd Couple – Northlight Theatre
But, The Odd Couple still gets laughs as Neil Simon’s biting zingers still contain the ingredients that laughs are made from. With exquisite timing, the cast lands the barbs expertly. You’ll still laugh and appreciate a master craftsman at work. Neil Simon’s ageless comedy still works thanks to Marc Grapey and his pals.