Dec 22
George Hamilton and Christopher Sieber/Photo: Paul Kolnik
RECOMMENDED
Though the idea of mainstream audiences being even modestly scandalized by drag queens and the depiction of gay characters as loving, funny—well, as human beings is, like, so eighties, I am sad to report that “La Cage Aux Folles” is every bit as relevant today as it was when it debuted on Broadway in 1983. The challenges of achieving social acceptance of a loving long-term gay marriage? Right-wing politicians making hay out of homophobia? Plus ça change.
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Dec 21
"Being Harold Pinter"/Photo: Aleksandr Paskannoi
Top 5 Plays of 2011
“Being Harold Pinter,” Belarus Free Theatre
“Clybourne Park,” Steppenwolf
“Yellow Face,” Silk Road Theatre Project
“The Original Grease,” American Theater Company
“Stage Kiss,” Goodman Theatre
—Brian Hieggelke
Top 5 Musicals of 2011
“The Original Grease,” American Theater Company
“Follies,” Chicago Shakespeare Theater
“West Side Story,” Broadway in Chicago
“Next to Normal” Broadway in Chicago
“Working,” Broadway Playhouse
—Brian Hieggelke
Top 5 Shows
“Black Watch,” The National Theatre of Scotland and Chicago Shakespeare Theater
“The Real Thing,” Writers’ Theatre
“Church & Pullman, WA,” Red Tape Theatre
“The Hot L Baltimore,” Steppenwolf Theatre
“Cyrano,” The House Theatre
—Neal Ryan Shaw Read the rest of this entry »
Dec 19
Photo: Carol Rosegg
RECOMMENDED
Only in America could a boy’s desire for a harmful weapon be turned into a charming musical. But it has, and good thing. This production adds a great deal to the story we’ve all seen a gajillion times on TBS.
Ralphie (Clarke Hallum) wants (all together now) an official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model air rifle, but has to circumvent his parents (solid troupers John Bolton and Rachel Bay Jones) and teacher (cabaret legend Karen Mason), who are certain that he’ll “shoot his eye out.” It’s the epic holiday struggle. Read the rest of this entry »
Dec 13
Charles Castronovo/Photo: Dan Rest
RECOMMENDED
The perfect Mozart opera? Most would pick “The Marriage of Figaro,” some “Don Giovanni,” perhaps a handful even “Così fan tutte,” all Mozart collaborations with brilliant librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte. And yet, for comedy, fantasy and intrigue, “The Magic Flute” has to top the list. A product of those much romanticized last months of his short life, this is Mozart at his most witty, his most charming and at the full height of his soon-to-be-silenced miraculous musical powers.
The memorable August Everding production that Lyric Opera is still using dates back to the mid-1980s and has frankly had more revivals than I can count with casts of various quality levels. After a quarter of a century of use here and elsewhere, apparently some of the pieces could barely be repainted and lighting had to be adjusted to compensate for the age of some of the scenery. If so, this is never obvious in the current revival. Read the rest of this entry »
Dec 11
Logan Vaughn, Yasen Peyankov, Scott Jaeck and Tracy Letts/Photo: Michael Brosilow
RECOMMENDED
In Steppenwolf’s latest, playwright Enda Walsh paints a bleak picture of masculinity and what men must endure in today’s world: the cruelty of time, the savagery of economic survival, the political maneuverings of love.
Fitz (Tracy Letts), Quinn (Yasen Peyankov), Dunne (Scott Jaeck) and Burns (Ian Barford) are the remaining suitors vying for Penelope’s hand. They are running out of time; they’ve all dreamt of Odysseus’ return and their subsequent murders. The suitors work together to woo the queen. Read the rest of this entry »
Dec 11
Photo: Michael Brosilow
RECOMMENDED
Listen to the “Spring Awakening” lyrics and realize how little things have changed. In our climate of abstinence-only sexual education, this musical version of Frank Wedekind’s scandalous 1906 play chronicling the sexual awakening of repressed German teenagers still packs a bittersweet punch.
Wendla (Aja Wiltshire) flirts with S&M and starts a sexual relationship with Melchior (Josh Salt); Moritz (Matthew Fletcher), distracted by his yearnings, fails at his studies; Martha (Paige Collins) and Ilse (Lindsay Leopold) struggle with abuse at home. It’s a tragedy made achingly bearable by the haunting score. Read the rest of this entry »
Dec 09
Diane D’Aquila and Steven Sutcliffe/Photo: Liz Lauren
RECOMMENDED
In many ways, Timothy Findley’s play is a gender theorist’s wet dream. On the factual night before the execution of Elizabeth I’s lover, the Earl of Essex, the queen has ordered Shakespeare’s players to perform for her distraction and has a fictional confrontation with Ned Lowenscroft, the actor who played Shakespeare’s leading female roles. The kicker is that Lowenscroft is dying of syphilis. Read the rest of this entry »
Dec 08
Let It Ho
Chicago is lousy with holiday shows. Want to see the “Christmas Carol?” Choose from six different versions. Or if your fancy is the “Nutcracker,” there are three of those. Not to mention three takes on “It’s A Wonderful Life.” It’s gotten to the point that almost every theater in town is putting on some kind of holiday-themed show. And almost every show, no matter if it’s a comedy poking fun at the holidays or a dramatic original, still falls into the category of traditional holiday theater with themes of a heart-warming character. Read the rest of this entry »
Dec 05
Photo: Megan McClure
A manic kind of energy radiates from the children thronging the dance floor of the Preston Bradley Hall at the Chicago Cultural Center—spinning, jumping, running, screeching. Parents, at once anxious and excited, create an almost impenetrable boundary between the dance floor and the rest of the room. They crouch, sit and stand on the fringe, ready at any moment to swoop up a child that is upset and comfort them. Any person attempting to get around or through the press of bodies needs to weave, high-step and dodge. Getting from one side of the dance floor to the other is equally difficult. Adults working their way through the children look like ships plowing through constantly swirling waves.
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Dec 05
Dana Omar, Robert McLean, Ryan Bourque, Lindsey Gavel and Shawn Pfautsch/Photo: Matthew Gregory Hollis
RECOMMENDED
The Hypocrites haven’t simply reimagined this Gilbert & Sullivan classic; they’ve wholeheartedly re-appropriated it, paring its grandiosity down to a much more streamlined, folksier scale. Light-opera purists might scoff at the idea of putting the Major General in Big Bird slippers or introducing the daughters by having them sing “Milkshake,” but those people would be forgetting that G&S had a sense of humor in their own time. Read the rest of this entry »
