MUST SEEREVIEWSTheatre Reviews

In the Time of the Butterflies

As this is a memory play, locations are represented mostly through Liviu Pasare’s dazzling projections, which fit with Svich’s intimate focus on the sisters’ psychology. Teatro Vista will present In the Time of the Butterflies three times for schools, but this intensely personal account, mingled with exhortations on the importance of bearing witness, edifying and rewarding for people of all ages.

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MUST SEEREVIEWSTheatre ReviewsTom Williams

The Producers at the Mercury Theater

In this production, I rediscovered Brooks’ clever humor. There is so much going on in this nonstop show that it simply overwhelms us. Can a show have too many laughs? Comedy returns to musical comedy with The Producers. Mel Brooks is outrageous as he attempts to offend as many people, places, nationalities, genders and institutions as possible. He does it without regard to being ‘politically correct.’ Thank God for Brooks’ chutzpah!

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REVIEWSTheatre ReviewsTom Williams

Bullets Over Broadway National Tour

The show’s cast of non-Equity players danced superbly and the main characters were first rate. Equity should do something about such terrific talent working for way under what their worth before all Equity tours disappear.

But for Chicago audiences, Bullets Over Broadway plays as a nicely paced, well danced show with funny lines (Woody Allen at his funniest) and spot-on dancers particularly the dancing gangsters.

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REVIEWSTheatre Reviews

One-Man Star Wars Trilogy

Ross’s retellings of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi are a lot more similar to the fan-work genre today known as “The Abridged Series.” He comments more about the absurdities of the story, and drops in a lot more humorous references to the prequels, but also makes a greater effort to capture the emotional heart of the trilogy. Ross also throws in references to the memes and other bits of fan activity that have emerged since he created this show, prior to the rise of the internet or Episodes II and III, but these moments seldom overwhelm the basic point of telling the story.

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REVIEWSTheatre Reviews

Jesus Hopped the “A” Train

A new season for Eclipse Theatre means a new playwright to be spotlighted for a year, and Stephen Adly Guirgis is just the one to demonstrate theatre’s continuing relevance and vitality. From The Last Days of Judas Iscariot to The Motherfucker with the Hat, the New York-based Guirgis often wrestles with themes of responsibility, guilt, and justice in plays with a Christian framework and colorful language employed by a diverse array of urban characters. So, too, is the case with his early work, Jesus Hopped the “A” Train, which starts Eclipse’s season with an emotionally piercing production directed by Anish Jethmalani.

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REVIEWSTheatre Reviews

Even Longer & Farther Away

Even Longer & Father Away is a fantastical quest of tropes in search of a cliché: the angry, young man gone native—accompanied by his comedic confidant, his young-but-mature sister, and her happy-go-lucky boyfriend—quests stubbornly for what he thinks he needs, but instead encounters a wise, mystical woman on a mountaintop whose perfectly felicitous stories lead him exactly to what he always really needed.

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REVIEWSTheatre Reviews

Don’t Make Me Over (In Tribute to Dionne Warwick)

Don’t Make Me Over is essentially a playlist of some of the best and most memorable Dionne Warwick songs performed by professional singers and a live, 8-piece band. Additionally, the dozen-plus hits are interspersed with short vignettes from Warwick’s life that are introduced and commented upon by the “mistress of ceremonies” Ms. Divine (Alexis J. Rogers) who guides us with a boisterous charisma down Warwick memory lane, often adding a endearing zest to the proceedings with her sharp sense of humor and interesting anecdotes. Accompanying Ms. Divine are “three Dionne’s” adorned in splendid dresses who each lend their voices to some of Warwick’s songs.

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