Latest from Chicago Critic

Chicago The Musical 2016 National Tour

October 1, 2026May 10, 2016 by Tom Williams

Book by Fred Ebb & Bob Fosse

Music by John Kander

Lyrics by Fred Ebb

Directed by David Hyslop

Choreography by David Bushman

Re-created Ann Reinking

who used the Bob Fosse style

Musical Direction John Monaco

Produced by Broadway In Chicago

“Give them the old razzle dazzle…razzle dazzle them”

Brassy Chicago sizzles ever more

Despite the terrific film version, Chicago on stage still reigns. As many times as I have seen Chicago razzle dazzle, this production reached me as much as any other. I think it was the flawless Bob Fosse-style dance, or maybe Kander & Ebb’s score, or maybe the vibrant orchestra, or maybe all of the above? I loved this toe-tapping, slick, sensual, erotic musical. Chicago proves that you don’t necessarily need a lavish set or flashy costumes to mount a hit musical. Rather a bouncy ’20s jazz score set to clever lyrics combined with trademark Bob Fosse-styled dances expertly performed with a variety of musical styles are all that is needed for a wonderful show. Chicago is sophisticated, stylish adult entertainment.

From the moment you hear the jazzy whining of the horns and the hypnotic rhythms of “All That Jazz” and see the boys and girls sleekly moving in unison, you know you’re in for a treat. John Kander’s music has a jazz based style with a tango, waltz, blues, and unique dance-inspiring haunting melodies that cry out for movement. Chicago is signature Bob Fosse style, sleek, sexy, smooth, swift, and sophisticated, featuring arm and leg movements that evolve into unique formations and energetic interaction among the dancers, resulting in pure erotic pulsating rhythms.

The story is about women who kill their lovers and flout justice in a Roaring ’20s satirical fable that jabs at society and the legal system. Dylis Croman is the sexy Roxie Hart and Terra C. MacLeod is Velma Kelly—both are outstanding triple threats, each can sing, are fine comic actors—and both are marvelous dancers. Croman brings cuteness to Roxie, while MacLeod is the more sensual Velma. Both land their songs and dances deftly. The show ending duets “Nowadays” and “Hot Honey Rag” danced and sang perfectly.

The ensemble was the finest I’ve seen dancing Ann Reinking-Bob Fosse style numbers. “Roxie,” “Tap Dance,” and the show stopper “Razzle Dazzle” were slick and flawless. I’ve not witnessed Fosse dances better performed. The ladies justify their crimes with the haunting “Cell Block Tango.”

John O’Hurley brings a big voice and a commanding presence to the shyster Billy Flynn. His “All I Care About” and “Razzle Dazzle” lead the way. Jessie Wildman, as Matron Morton, belted “When You’re Good to Mama” and the sarcastic “Class” with MacLeod skillfully. Paul C. Vogt wins our hearts as the loser Amos Hart as he tenderly delivers “Mister Cellophane.”

This touring production is fresh, energetic, funny, and well rehearsed, featuring an “A” list ensemble of Broadway veteran dance pros. The orchestra sounded terrific with exceptional horn work. Kander’s tuneful score is in good hands here.

If you want to see an expert Broadway musical, this production of Chicago sure qualifies. If you’ve never seen Chicago and/or you’ve only seen the film, then do get to the Cadillac Palace to witness the “real” Chicago. There is nothing like a Bob Fosse dance show. Chicago is Fosse’s best. It is thrilling and so polished. Kudos to Broadway In Chicago for bringing back this classic. It played only through May 15, 2016.

NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT

October 23, 2022May 9, 2016 by Tom Williams

Music and Lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin

Book by Joe DiPietro

Directed by Danny Herman & William Pullinsi

Choreographed by Danny Herman

Music Direction by Bill Underwood

At the Theatre at the Center, Munster, IN

Funny contemporary old fashioned musical comedy features the Gershwin songbook and a zany book

Bill Pullinsi’s farewell production at the Theatre at the Center is, of course, a full-throttle musical comedy featuring a game cast lead by Justin Brill and Erica Stephens doing their best Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers take on the Gershwin songbook.

Set in the Roaring Twenties, Nice Work If You Can Get It is a fast-paced musical filled with exciting dance numbers, Roaring 20’s costumes, and a cute love story between newly married New York playboy Jimmy Winter (Justin Brill) and the feisty bubbly bootlegger, Billie Bendix (the lovely Erica Stephens), who melts his heart. This new Broadway musical features a book by Tony Award winner Joe DiPietro, and a treasure trove of George and Ira Gershwin’s most beloved, instantly recognizable tunes (“Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off,” “Someone to Watch Over Me”, “‘S Wonderful”).

Death of a Streetcar Named Virginia Woolf: A Parody

May 8, 2016 by Jacob Davis

Created by Tim Ryder and Tim Sniffen

Death of a Streetcar Named Virginia Woolf: A Parody — Martha (Karen Janes Woditsch) and George (John Hoogenakker). Photos by Michael Brosilow.

Written by Tim Sniffen

Directed by Stuart Carden and Michael Halberstam

Produced by Writers Theatre, Glencoe

Huge Laughs at Old Tragedies

After opening their new building with a production of Tom Stoppard’s incredibly dense Arcadia, the staff at Writers Theatre thought audiences might be in the mood for something funnier. Do they ever deliver. In a collaboration with Second City, Death of a Streetcar Named Virginia Woolf: A Parody is now the inaugural production of the Gillian, the smaller of the playing spaces in the complex. Riffing on four of the mid-twentieth century dramas which dominate the American stage (the fourth, not included in the title, being Thornton Wilder’s Our Town), Tim Ryder and Tim Sniffen’s script is a rapid-fire homage and parody which imagines a clash of icons in sultry New Orleans.

Little Shop Of Horrors – American Blues Theater

May 8, 2016May 7, 2016 by Tom Williams

While I personally never cared much for Little Shop Of Horrors, I must report that the creatives at American Blues Theatre, under the smart leadership of director Jonathan Berry, have mounted a slick, funny and musically interesting production of the campy classic.

Once in a Lifetime

May 6, 2016 by Jacob Davis

By George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart

Directed by Damon Kiely

Produced by Strawdog Theatre Company

Strawdog Exits Laughing

Strawdog will be moving next season to a new location at 1621 West Howard Street, but for now, it’s the end of an era at their Lakeview home for twenty-six years. They picked a great way to go out, though. Though the names George Kaufman and Moss Hart are today associated most strongly with You Can’t Take it With You, a beloved, but dated and overexposed, comedy, their first collaboration, Once in a Lifetime, has a lot more satirical bite. Written in 1930, the story centers on the movie industry, one of the few financially promising fields at the time (or so many people hoped), and director Damon Kiely has found all sorts of delightful ways of bringing out the script’s humor, while making it compatible with modern tastes. It’s the perfect fusion of old and new for a long-running company undergoing a major transition.

Best of Enemies

October 22, 2022May 4, 2016 by Jacob Davis

By Mark St. Germain

Based on the Book by Osha Gray Davidson

Directed by Timothy Gregory

Produced by Provision Theater

Small Victories can have a Big Impact

The story of how a North Carolina Klan leader in the 1970s reluctantly joined forces with a black civil rights activist to improve public schools, wound up befriending her, realized their mutual enemy in an oppressive economic system, and renounced the KKK in favor of a union has obvious appeal for the Christian Left. But what makes it amazing is that it’s true. Mark St. Germain’s 2012 adaptation of the book of the same name by Osha Gray Davidson is a chamber play which pulls no punches in portraying the depraved hatred of white supremacy and the resulting anger among African-Americans who endured the desegregation struggle. But today, when bigotry has once again reverted to its raw form amid economic tensions and strengthened opposition, the production of Best of Enemies at Provision Theater is a welcome bit of reasonable optimism.

Chess The Musical Porchlight Revisits

September 15, 2017May 3, 2016 by Tom Williams

(London production)

Book & Lyrics by Tim Rice

Music by Bjorn Ulvaeus & Benny Andersson

Directed by Michael Weber

Music direction by Jimmy Morehead

Choreographed by Brenda Didier

Produced by Porchlught Revists

At Stage 773, Chicago

Poor sound mix hurt otherwise worthy production

After director Michael Weber narrated the history of Chess The Musical, I realized that this production was special: it was the first London rendition to grace an American stage. This 2 hour, 45 minute production is a mixture of modern operatic motifs with classic pop/rock music and rock-sung recitative. Much of the sung dialogue had to be screened to be heard. To add to my irritation was the orchestra, especially the percussion (and at times the piano) was simply too loud. That made the soloists and, even the chorus, to sing quite loud. Many of the lyrics were lost due to the poor sound mix.

Feral

October 23, 2022May 3, 2016 by Jacob Davis

By Shepsu Aakhu

Directed by Carla Stillwell

Produced by MPAACT

Playing at the Greenhouse Theater, Chicago

Chicago’s Own Tragedy Onstage

Shepsu Aakhu’s new play Feral is set in Chicago this upcoming summer. Given the events it depicts—the shooting of a young black man by the police for a minor crime and the subsequent unrest—hopefully it is not prescient, but it’s impossible to watch without an overwhelming sense of dread. Feral is the conclusion of the Ma’at Production Association of Afrikan Centered Theatre’s Black Lives Matter season, which puts theatre artists’ frequent claim to be directly engaged with the community’s issues to the test. The resulting story of a tragic young idealist, his enraged peers, grieving, guilt-ridden family, and baffled mainstream media may not surprise anybody willing to see a show bearing the Black Lives Matter moniker, but under Carla Stillwell’s direction, it elicits strong emotions, without allowing them to dissipate into catharsis.

Second City e.t.c.’s 40th Revue – A Red Line Runs Through It

May 1, 2016 by August Lysy

Written and Performed by Lisa Beasley, Aasia LaShay Bullock,

Peter Kim, Katie Klein, Julie Marchiano, Scott Morehead

Directed by Matt Hovde

Musical Direction/Original Music/Sound Design by Jesse Case

At The Second City e.t.c., Chicago

Running Express to Entertain

If you’re looking for an entertaining show where you can eat, drink, and laugh all at the same time, then Second City e.t.c.’s 40^th Revue A Red Line Runs Through It is where you should be tonight. Written and performed by some of Second City’s best, this nearly two-hour show gambols pell-mell through skits, songs, and dances that never failed to amuse with their at-times outrageous and absurd but always skillfully diverse display of comedy.

A Red Line Runs Through It features a lot of lighting and music that, far from merely complementing the skits and atmosphere, are integral to the show as a whole. For instance, the show opens with the cast riding an El-train, bored and impatient at a delay; then, inexplicably, the emergency lights go out and a black light comes on to reveal the entire cast wearing Guy Fawkes’ masks (also inexplicably) and eerily dancing. Absurd? Yes. Amusing? Inexplicably so. Some of the best skits also involve singing, such as a political rap battle, an ironic love song to Rahm Emmanuel, and an improvised song based upon an audience call-out (in this case, crazy drivers), among several others.

Besides this noteworthy inclusion of music (compliments to Jesse Case), the show features some strong collaborative moments among the cast as well as some in which individual members are allowed to shine. We see Peter Kim coach his very white friend Scott Morehead on the how-to of drag; Lisa Beasley and Aasia Lashay Bullock blithely perform some everyday “black-girl magic”; Julie Marchiano plays a humorless fitness/life guru whose existential exercises lead Beasley to commit murder; Katie Klein exposes the seedy past of the Frank Lloyd Wright Estate amidst the mundane backdrop of an architectural tour; and, at one point, the whole cast delivers different iterations of the opening segment to the 11 p.m. news, varying their approaches depending on the city.

3 Sisters

May 3, 2016May 1, 2016 by Jacob Davis

Adapted by Earl H.E. Hill, Dan Christmann, and Andrej Visky

From the play by Anton Chekhov

Directed by Andrej Visky

Produced by Theatre Y

Playing at the Humility Gallery, Chicago

A Showcase of Amazing Creativity Until it Stops Trying

As pointed out in Sideshow Theatre’s recent hit production of Stupid Fucking Bird and virtually every textbook on directing, Anton Chekhov is a master playwright whose tragicomedies about the Russian bourgeois easily ossify into self-parody and empty ritual in the wrong hands. (This can happen to any author, but Chekhov is the go-to example for some reason. Perhaps it’s because he’s among the world’s most-frequently produced playwrights despite having only finished five full-length plays.) In an attempt to restore the emotional power of the 1900 play Three Sisters, three adapters, Earl H.E. Hill, Dan Christmann, and Andrej Visky have rewritten it for Theatre Y with just the title characters. For the first half of the play, director Visky employs a wide array of non-naturalistic staging choices to bring out the emotional core of each character, as they navigate the place where experience becomes memory, which becomes pining for Moscow. It contains all the unexpected, original, and striking visuals audiences appreciate in Eastern European-influenced companies. Then, halfway through, the staging stops, and the sisters just monologue to the audience until the lights go down.