Juba!

RECOMMENDED

The pulse of tapping feet will thunder from buildings downtown for a fortnight as hundreds of percussive dancers gather for the annual Rhythm World festival, hosted by the Chicago Human Rhythm Project. Week one is a series of intensive residencies at the Fine Arts Building for youth and professional dancers from across the country. Next week features workshops and master classes during the day and public performances in the evenings. Each program is different, giving you just a few angles on a multifaceted American art form; hoofers and jazz musicians riff together at Jazz Showcase on August 1; August 2 is a by-donation informal student and faculty showcase at the Harold Washington Library; and three formal performances at the MCA—featuring virtuosos in their twenties, visiting masters from Canada, and Chicago ensembles respectively—wrap up the festival. (Sharon Hoyer)

Public performances at Jazz Showcase, the Harold Washington Library and the MCA Stage, August 1-6. For tickets to MCA performances call (312)397-4010. Visit chicagotap.org for more info.

While the summer blockbuster season is primetime for the fan of comic-book superheroes, Jack Tamburri and the Society of Young Superheroes are offering a theatrical alternative to those too-often-unsatisfactory films. Tamburri is directing “POWERLESS: Issues 1-3” with the SYS, a “comic book play” about a group of Chicago-based young heroes.

The comic-book aspect of the performance is most evident in the 200 original “panels” that are projected onto areas of the stage throughout the performance. The panels depict scenes that contextualize the staged action with visual information or tell a parallel story, and were a key part of “POWERLESS” even from the early stages of the script. Comic books combine the visual and textual, Tamburri explains, and theater offers even more possibilities. “It’s a coagulation of a lot of different modes of storytelling,” he says. To the text of the script and visuals of the panels and staging, they have added voiceovers and a score, which is performed live. Read the rest of this entry »

The Infamous Commonwealth Theatre (ICT) has been producing critically acclaimed plays since 2001, but announced Monday that it has ceased operations. “It was something we all saw coming,” says Genevieve Thompson, founding artistic director of ICT, “but it was a sad resignation.”

Thompson describes the closing of ICT as an amiable end, but a regrettable one. “When we started the company, we were all in our twenties,” she explains. Much of the ensemble was just out of school and able to commit the time required to ICT. Ten years later, many of the ensemble members have demanding full-time jobs and families. “It required too much time from people who couldn’t give that time without pay,” she says. It became harder and harder to put up each show while maintaining the level of quality their audiences had come to expect. Read the rest of this entry »

Kevin Scott and Matt Farrabee/Photo: Scott Cooper

RECOMMENDED

Hard times don’t just mean no money; they mean the hardscrabble headspace that a bad economy brings. Naomi Wallace examines the long-ranging effects of an empty wallet in the Eclipse Theatre’s latest, the second of three productions devoted to Wallace’s work.

Pace (Marissa Cowsill) and Dalton (Matt Farabee) languish in a Depression-era small town; they take solace at the town’s train trestle, plotting a hazardous race against the train. Meanwhile, Dalton’s parents Gin (Cindy Marker) and Dray (Kevin Scott) struggle with their dying marriage.

Wallace’s poetry resonates but the narrative trips over the construction. That’s alright; the performers pull the audience through. Cowsill’s Pace is so abruptly honest and intelligent you question her sanity; Farabee’s absolutely believable as the “good boy” overwhelmed by Pace’s single-mindedness.  Marker and Scott impress as a loving couple reviving their relationship. Director Jonathan Berry’s staging and pacing keeps a hard-luck tale vibrant and alive. (Lisa Buscani)

At The Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 North Lincoln, (773)404-7336. Through September 4.

RECOMMENDED

In the most daring piece of music ever composed for a Broadway musical, Leonard Bernstein’s climactic “Quintet (Tonight)” near the end of Act I in “West Side Story” uses the template of a grand operatic ensemble combined with a Bach-like sense of counterpoint with spicy Latin rhythms and contemporary jazz harmonies. Acting as a beacon of clarity within that complex structure are Stephen Sondheim’s masterful lyrics, the best he ever wrote for any show, including his own.

It speaks to the best and to the worst aspects of the current touring production of the 2009 Broadway revival of the show that most musical theater cognoscente would consider the greatest musical ever written that this “Quintet” is delivered with remarkable transparency musically and yet, its meaning muddled by the bizarre inclusion of Spanish—actually Spanglish, in this case—into the mix. Read the rest of this entry »

RECOMMENDED

Jumping from the Red Line to the Brown Line, the Waltzing Mechanics have added a few new faces to their troupe and a little more depth to their stories, though the general outline remains the same: anecdotes collected from various El riders are acted out by the cast as the train moves from station to station. Starting at Washington and Wells and heading towards Kimball, this seventy-minute train ride, captured visually by a simple collection of chairs and aurally by the easily recognizable El announcements, is consistently entertaining. Whether it’s a story about purse theft, getting (or getting out of) a ticket for underage drinking, or just getting a backpack in the face, the cast creates an endearing set of commuters. The interaction between storytellers is an enriching addition to the formula, peeling back the curtain a bit on the story-gathering process. Though most stories are comical, a discussion of suicide in front of a train is especially frank and poignant. (Zach Freeman)

Waltzing Mechanics at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 North Lincoln, (773)404-7336. $13. Through August 13.

RECOMMENDED

In the opening moments of Steve Martin’s “The Underpants,” a scandalized Theo Maske (played as a comically manic buffoon by Jack Birdwell) storms onto the stage screaming at his wife Louise (a calmly charming Jessica Maynard). Her underpants have just fallen to her ankles while the couple was watching the king’s parade and Theo is horrified of the impending scandal. The ninety minutes that follow are a farcical romp through Germany in the early 1900s complete with two lascivious suitors (Josh Nordmark and Jeremy Cohn), a nosy and bawdy neighbor (Calidonia Olivares), a mild-mannered professor (Jason Dabrowski), and plenty of over-the-top chauvinism. Director Lavina Jadhwani plays up the physical comedy throughout with mixed results. The actors’ full commitment to their cartoonish characters is admirable and helps land many of the gags, but there are times when some of the overplayed bits distract from the action or overshadow the dialogue. (Zach Freeman)

Hubris Productions at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 North Lincoln, (773)404-7336. $15-$25. Through July 30.

The lightheartedly ominous backdrop (the Chicago skyline with a colorful storm bearing down on it) of the Second City’s thirty-fifth revue on the e.t.c. stage nicely sets up the theme of impending disaster that runs through this series of sketches and songs. Whether it’s a zombie apocalypse, an unexpected pregnancy or a couple arguing after getting kicked out of Wrigley Field, it seems the world is always on the brink of falling apart. But the energetic cast (made up of e.t.c. veterans Tim Baltz, Brendan Jennings and Mary Sohn along with newcomers Aidy Bryant, Jessica Joy and Michael Lehrer) handle it all with big smiles and the occasional shot of quirky emotional depth. The lightning-fast “pop quiz” bits that open each act are engaging and demand that the audience “pay attention” but, although the first act is strong and takes a number of risks that pay off, the show loses some of its momentum after the intermission and never quite gets it back. (Zach Freeman)

At SecondCity e.t.c. in Piper’s Alley, 1608 North Wells, (312)337-3992.  Tue-Thu/8pm, Fri-Sat/8pm & 11pm, Sun/7p. $22-$27. Open run.

Here’s the press release from Theater Wit:

THEATER WIT ANNOUNCES 2011-12 SEASON, PLUS CHICAGO’S FIRST NETFLIX-LIKE LIVE THEATER MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM

Become a Theater Wit Member, see the company’s Chicago debuts of Jason Wells’ The North Plan, Kim Rosenstock’s Tigers Be Still, David Sedaris’ The Santaland Diaries, plus Chicago’s most diverse slate of off-Loop plays and musicals, whenever you like, as often as you like

CHICAGO, July 20, 2011 – Theater Wit Artistic Director Jeremy Wechsler has been busy pinning down the company’s 2011-2012 season line-up, which boasts the Chicago premiere of Jason Wells’ spine tingling apocalyptic drama The North Plan, the Midwest debut of Kim Rosenstock’s hot new dark comedy Tiger Be Still, plus the return of Chicago’s favorite alt-holiday comedy, The Santaland Diaries. Read the rest of this entry »

Maire Curiosity and Cinnamon Twist/Photo: Heather Moats

RECOMMENDED

Episode four of the now ubiquitous (at Gorilla Tango, at least) Geek Girl Burlesque series launches into the land of “Star Wars” by placing the infamous introductory words (“A long time ago…”, etc.) on the derrieres of the dancing cast. Of all the previous GGB showings, “A Nude Hope” sticks the closest to the script, lovingly satirizing “Star Wars: A New Hope” with less than subtle jabs at the story and plenty of partial nudity. The script by M.C. Curran isn’t necessarily funnier than past GGB shows, but the leads here help make it the funniest yet. Both Bottom Heavy Betty as the angsty Luke Skywalker and Cinnamon Twist as the arrogant but dashing Han Solo draw big laughs with their deliveries, but it’s veteran GGB performer Diva La Vida that steals the show as the aging Obi-Wan Kenobi, proving that even a bearded old man can be both sexy and hilarious. (Zach Freeman)

Geek Girl Burlesque at Gorilla Tango Theatre, 1919 North Milwaukee, (773)598-4549. Through October 29.