Top 5 Shows

“Caroline, or Change,” Court Theatre

“A House with No Walls,” Timeline Theatre

“The Glass Menagerie,” Steppenwolf Theatre

“No Darkness Round My Stone,” Trap Door Theatre

“The Birthday Party,” Signal Theater

—Monica Westin

Top 5 Shows

“Jon,” Collaboraction

“A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant,” A Red Orchid

“Be More Chill,” Griffin Theatre

“Men of Tortuga,” Profiles

“Picked Up,” Neo-Futurists

—Nina Metz

Top 5 Theatrical Experiences

“Caroline, or Change,” Court Theatre

“Columnibus,” Raven Theatre

“As You Like It,” Writers’ Theatre

“The Comedy of Errors,” Chicago Shakespeare Theater

“Romeo y Julieta” (Staged Reading), Chicago Shakespeare Theater/Shakespeare in Español

—Fabrizio O. Almeida

Top 5 Guilty Pleasures

“Jarred: A Hoodoo Comedy” by Tanya Saracho, Teatro Luna

“Speech and Debate” by Stephen Karam, ATC

“Dead Man’s Cell Phone” by Sarah Ruhl, Steppenwolf

“The Little Dog Laughed” by Douglas Carter Beane, About Face Theatre

“After Ashley” by Gina Gionfriddo, Stage Left Theatre

—Fabrizio O. Almeida

Top 5 New Plays

“Kita y Fernanda” by Tanya Saracho, 16^th Street Theater

“The U.N. Inspector” by David Farr and James Sherman, Next Theatre

“Dead Man’s Cell Phone” by Sarah Ruhl, Steppenwolf Theatre

“Our Enemies: Lively Scenes of Love and Combat” by Yussef El Guindi, Silk Road Theatre Project

“Superior Donuts” by Tracy Letts, Steppenwolf Theatre

—Fabrizio O. Almeida

 Top 5 Revivals

“The Maids,” Writers’ Theatre

“The Lion in Winter,” Writers’ Theatre

“Requiem for a Heavyweight,” Shattered Globe

“Plaza Suite,” Eclipse Theatre Company

“The Birthday Party,” Signal Ensemble Theatre

—Fabrizio O. Almeida

Top 5 Play Revivals

“Our Town,” Hypocrites

“The Lion in Winter,” Writers Theatre

“Requiem for a Heavyweight,” Shattered Globe

“Journey’s End,” Griffin

“M Butterfly,” BoHo

—Dennis Polkow

Top 5 Memorable Productions by a Smaller Theatre Troupe

“Multi-Purpose Doom,” Sandbox Theatre Project

“The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler,” Dog & Pony

“Termen Vox Machina,” Oracle Productions

“On My Parents’ 100^th Wedding Anniversary,” Side Project

“The Last Days of Judas Iscariot” (original mounting), Gift Theatre

—Fabrizio O. Almeida

Top 5 Directors

Ann Filmer for “Kita y Fernanda,” 16^th Street Theater

Charles Newell for “Caroline, or Change,” Court Theatre

Sean Graney for “Edward II,” Chicago Shakespeare Theater

William Brown for “As You Like It,” Writers’ Theatre

Greg Kolack for “Columbinus,” Raven Theatre

—Fabrizio O. Almeida

Top 5 Musicals

“Caroline, or Change,” Court Theatre

“Grey Gardens,” Northlight Theatre

“Tell Me On A Sunday,” Bailiwick Theater

“The Full Monty,” Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre

“All Shook Up,” Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre

—Fabrizio O. Almeida

Top 5 New Musicals

“Caroline, or Change,” Court Theatre

“Grey Gardens,” Northlight Theatre

“Songs for a New World,” Porchlight

“The Ballad of Emmett Till,” Goodman Theatre

“I Am Who I Am: The Story of Teddy Pendergrass,” Black Ensemble Theater

—Dennis Polkow

Top 5 Musical Revivals

“Tell Me on a Sunday,” Bailiwick Theater

“Sweet Charity,” Drury Lane Oakbrook

“1776,” Signal Ensemble

“Jacques Brel’s Lonesome Lovers of the Night,” Theo Ubique

“Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” Circle Theatre

—Dennis Polkow

Top 5 Worst Musicals

“Shout! The Mod Musical,” Drury Lane Water Tower

“Avenue Q,” Broadway in Chicago

“Dirty Dancing,” Broadway in Chicago

“Russian on the Side,” Royal George Theater

“Gutenberg! The Musical,” Royal George Theater

—Dennis Polkow

Top 5 Worst Musicals

“Dirty Dancing,” Broadway in Chicago

“The Kid from Brooklyn,” Mercury Theater

“Gutenberg! The Musical!,” Royal George Theatre

“Jekyll & Hyde—The Musical,” Bohemian Theatre Ensemble

“Sweeney Todd,” Broadway in Chicago

—Fabrizio O. Almeida

Top 5 Operas

“Manon,” Lyric Opera

“The Abduction From the Seraglio,” Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Ravinia

“Lulu,” Lyric Opera

“Porgy and Bess,” Lyric Opera (second cast)

“Don Giovanni,” Chicago Opera Theater

—Dennis Polkow

Top 5 Productions of Shakespeare

“As You Like It,” Writers Theatre

“Comedy of Errors,” Chicago Shakespeare

“Much Ado About Nothing,” First Folio

“Merchant of Venice,” Boho

“Twelfth Night,” City Lit

—Dennis Polkow

Top 5 Touring Shows

“Saint Joan,” Shaw Festival Canada, Chicago Shakespeare

“Cirque du Soleil: Kooza,” United Center

“The Drowsy Chaperone,” Broadway in Chicago

“My Fair Lady,” National Theatre London, Broadway in Chicago

“Jesus Christ Superstar,” Broadway in Chicago

—Dennis Polkow

Top 5 Holiday Shows

“The Christmas Schooner,” Bailiwick Theater

“A Dublin Carol,” Steppenwolf Theatre

“A Christmas Carol,” Writers Theatre

“Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular,” Rosemont Theatre

“The Seafarer,” Steppenwolf Theatre

—Dennis Polkow

Top 5 Comedy Shows

“Impress These Apes,” Blewt!

“Shatter,” Pat O’Brien’s solo show at Second City e.t.c.

“Steve and Jordan, Respectively” i.O. Theater

“Brother, Can You Spare Some Change?” Second City e.t.c.

“PennyBear: A Collection of Miniature Plays and Curious Diversions,” Apollo Theater Studio

—Nina Metz

Top 5 Female Performances

Janet Ulrich Brooks, “Golda’s Balcony,” Pegasus Players

Christina Anthony, “Brother, Can You Spare Some Change?” Second City e.t.c.

Erin Barlow, “Red Angel,” LiveWire

Sarah Goeden, “13 Dead Husbands,” Sansculottes Theater

Rachel Quinn, “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” Circle Theatre

—Nina Metz

Top 5 Male Performances

David Cromer, “Our Town,” The Hypocrites

Usman Ally, “Celebrity Row,” American Theater Company

Steve Wilson, “Red Angel,” LiveWire

Edward Thomas-Herrera, “The Last Days of Beast,” Live Bait’s Fillet of Solo Festival

Daniel Behrendt, “Beggars in the House of Plenty,” Mary-Arrchie

—Nina Metz

Top 5 Out-of-the-Box Performances

“Inner Space,” Joffrey Ballet’s American Moderns

“Walking Mad,” Hubbard Street Dance Winter Series

“The Young Ladies Of…,” About Face Theatre

“Dr. Egg and the Man With No Ear,” Redmoon Theater

“One on One,” Hubbard Street Dance Winter Series

—William Rogers

Top 5 Dance Shows by Chicago Companies

“The Sky Hangs Down Too Close,” Lucky Plush Productions

“Nuevo Folk,” Luna Negra Dance Theater

“De-Evolution of Mudwoman,” Breakbone DanceCo

“Vintage Modern,” Same Planet Different World Dance

“American Moderns,” Joffrey Ballet

—Sharon Hoyer

Top 5 Overrated Productions

“Dave DaVinci Saves the Universe,” House Theatre

“Dirty Dancing,” Broadway in Chicago

“Shining City,” Goodman Theatre

“The Glass Menagerie,” Shattered Globe Theatre

“Scenes from the Big Picture,” Seanachai Theatre

—Fabrizio O. Almeida

Top 5 Theatrical Disappointments

“Dirty Dancing,” Broadway in Chicago

“Les Miserables,” Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre

“Yohen,” Silk Road Theatre Project

“Richard III,” Strawdog Theatre

“Macbeth,” Greasy Joan & Co.

—Fabrizio O. Almeida

 

RECOMMENDED

No theater company has transformed itself in the past year as completely and successfully as American Theater Company. Quality work aside, the company sometimes verged on irrelevancy. All that has changed under artistic director PJ Paparelli, whose savvy instincts have resulted in smart, modern plays that are wry and potent and incredibly entertaining. Check out the company’s current production of “Celebrity Row” (by Itamar Moses) and see for yourself.

But first, a lingering problem. Enough with the bush-league opening-night chaos. Time for ATC to grow up, stop papering the house and lose the twenty-minute delays. And please fix the nasty flood zone in the women’s loo. If ATC wants to be a major player, it better focus on the audience experience, as well.

That said, “Celebrity Row” (directed with sharp energy and a canny understanding of the issues by David Cromer) might be the most intellectually engaging show since Paparelli took over. Moses examines the well-thought-out criminal imperative—born of grievances both legitimate and not—in a political excavation that feels very of-the-moment. Moses understands the ways in which raging ideologies and unexpected comedy can exist side by side.

The play takes place in late 1990s at the Colorado Supermax prison—“the Alcatraz of the Rockies”—where four notorious criminals are housed. Unabomber Ted Kaczynski. Oklahoma City Bomber Timothy McVeigh. World Trade Center Bomber Ramzi Yousef. Latin Kings gang leader Luis Felipe. Their block is dubbed celebrity row. This part is true.

The play itself is fictional—wholly imagined scenarios that never played out in reality—but it contains a larger truth about the notions that shape our identity as Americans. Who are we as a society—and more importantly, who do we want to be? It’s a hell of a question, election year or not.

The four men—all with hyper-articulated reasons for their crimes—battle and debate with a civil rights attorney (the effective Kelli Simpkins) who is working to improve conditions at supermax-type facilities. In other hands, her role might be grating—annoyingly righteous and sanctimonious—but Simpkins creates a woman who is more than a mouthpiece. With her lithe-jock body language and Southern twang (the character is from North Carolina but Simpkins is more Holly Hunter Texas), she is a no-nonsense pawn with some decent reasoning behind her actions.

The issues are nothing new—a fury born of frustrated impulses, directed squarely at America’s flaws—but Moses lays them out like a Frank Rich column. (My one complaint: A few heavy-handed poetic scenes at the top have a zone-out effect and add nothing to the play.) There is something comforting about the script, tense and violent as it is—something comforting in the idea that people can have real arguments over real dilemmas, instead of chasing a tail that doesn’t exist.

Cromer’s work here as a director is a serious bump to ATC’s game—a phone call actually sounds like a phone call (props to sound designers Andy Krumeich and Josh Schmidt)—and his cast of men physically resemble their real life counterparts. Larry Neumann, Jr., prone to actorly ticks, sheds all that baggage as Kaczynski. It’s his best performance to date. McVeigh, as played by Christopher McLinden, finds the three-dimensional human behind the notorious cold stare, and Joe Minoso’s Felipe is a wily crime boss from the mold of “The Wire’s” David Simon.

As the man who bombed the WTC in ’93, Usman Ally makes the strongest impression. Behold this rational thinker with untold pools of anger. In a flashback scene, he plays Simpkins’ mother—a performance that exists in an altered dimension, achieved with little more than a pair of earrings and an entirely different demeanor. Ally and his co-stars act the tar out of this thing. ATC has come to play, and they mean business. (Nina Metz)

At American Theater Company, 1909 W Byron, (773)409-4125 or atcweb.org. Thur-Fri 8p, Sat 3p and 8p, Sun 3p. $35-$40. Through Nov. 16.

How does a man evolve from a progressive, glad-handing Midwestern idealist into a paranoiac cult leader whose freak out in the Guyana jungle left more than 900 of his followers dead? This unacknowledged question carves a gaping hole through “The People’s Temple,” nearly gutting it. The docu-play about the 1978 Jonestown tragedy and its architect, Jim Jones, is currently in a semi-compelling production at American Theater Company.

The show is comprised of anecdotal interviews. We hear from the handful of people who survived Jonestown (including two of Jones’ children), and those who distanced themselves from the group prior to the mass panicked exodus to Guyana. Written and directed by Leigh Fondakowski, the play offers a thoroughly researched argument that speaks to the allure of Jones and his church—the intensely warm embrace of community and acceptance. If you were poor or cast out, Jones was your man.

From the start, Jones sought to break social race barriers, creating (in the words of one former member), a “truly functioning multi-racial society.” The guy was also terribly charismatic (played by Darrell W. Cox with confident swagger), working the room and cultivating a preacher-man-in-sunglasses look, like the perfect 1970s Hollywood agent. He was a con man, but “he could light you up,” says his son Stephan with a mix of admiration and disgust. He was the George Clooney of cult leaders, and joining his church was like gaining a ticket to an all-immersive rock concert. People felt connected to one another in meaningful ways.

So what went wrong? You can’t talk about Jonestown without really examining Jones and his transformation. The play chooses not to, and you’re left to wonder at details. What was really going on in that church? There is passing mention of sleep deprivation, forcible sex, drug use. (It’s suggested that Jones might have fueled his myth-making with speed). What you never get is a reasonable discussion of the circumstances that led Jones down this path.

The play tends to buckle under the weight of so many voices. The cast often doubles or triples up on roles, confusing things further. No doubt Fondakowski and her collaborators conducted exhaustive interviews, but too often the project feels like an beast that refuses to be tamed. (Nina Metz)

At American Theater Company, 1909 W. Byron, (773)929-1031 or www.atcweb.org. Thu-Fri 8pm, Sat 4pm and 8pm, Sun 3pm. $30-$35. Through September 28.

RECOMMENDED

So just how gay—and as a gay person myself totally mean this in a good way and by which to rate degrees of fabulosity—is the new play at American Theater Company? So gay that in it Mary, the Mother of Jesus, is right up there with Mary Rogers, one of our Mothers of the Musical Theater. Or so gay that a big, fat epic refers to “Hamlet,” “Angels in America” and (long beat) “Wicked.” Or so gay that if a young, ambitious teenager was to time-travel through history meeting cultural giants, his or her roster would include John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Idina Menzel. Most Chicagoans probably know “Wicked,” so one out of three isn’t bad. Whether it’s enough to get the total impact of playwright’s Stephen Karam really gay, but also undeniably really fun, hilarious and oftentimes touching “Speech and Debate” is itself up to debate. Basically, it’s the story of three teenagers—two gay guys and a straight girl—with different social, political and artistic agendas who unwittingly come together to out a closeted teacher for personal gain. Of course, the only people they end up outing to the audience—emotionally and psychologically, at least—is themselves. It’s a character study at heart, but I’ll be damned (again, in a good way) if there isn’t something for everyone. A smart satire on the loss of privacy in the age of “I’ll google it” and “private” blog postings. An attack on prurient journalism and overzealous reporters? A touching coming-of-age teenage-angst dramedy? Karam’s lament for lost youth circa the 1980s. A showcase for some of the most gloriously brilliant song and dance parodies I’ve seen since “Waiting for Guffman.” An excuse to bring to glorious life Diwata, a fabulous and flaming character that deserves to join the pantheon of sublime scene-stealing female creations a la Paul Rudnick or Douglas Carter-Beane. Director PJ Paprelli’s effervescent production connects these sometimes messy dots while a trio of strong performances—Jared McGuire, Patrick Andrews and Sadieh Rifai as Diwata—finds the depth in the dazzle. (Fabrizio O. Almeida)

At American Theater Company, 1909 W. Byron, (773)929-1031. This production is now closed. 

Cleaning someone else’s mess is as crummy a job as they come, and Richard Dresser nails that much in “Augusta,” an uneven dramedy about a pair of women who work for a housecleaning service. Molly is middle-aged, weary and glad for the paycheck; Claire is young and angry, and glad for the paycheck. Their days are filled with the petty grievances that comprise work life, made incrementally worse by a new boss, Jimmy, who is a one-man homage to douchebaggery. All three characters are driven by desperation—both the emotional and financial kind—which explains much of their backstabbing, or perceived backstabbing. Jimmy makes vague promises to Claire about getting ahead, and she is naïve and self-deceptive enough to believe his interest is strictly professional. It’s not that this sort of thing doesn’t happen. It does. But Claire, as played by Gwendolyn Whiteside, isn’t quite right; she’s supposed to be a blundering bull in a china shop—toughened, yet entirely bereft of street smarts —but it’s hard to believe a woman this attractive (and Whiteside is very pretty) is really that dumb about the motives of men. As Molly, Kate Buddeke can do no wrong—she is vulnerable and knowing at once, and it is her performance that keeps you hooked in. Otherwise, director Nora Dunn (of “Saturday Night Live” fame) can’t seem to get this thing moving fast enough. Ninety minutes never felt so long. (Nina Metz)

At American Theater Company, 1909 W. Byron, (773)929-1031. This production is now closed.

By William Scott

It is not every day that a dead playwright gets a world premiere. Tennessee Williams has always been a man of exceptions. SummerNITE (Northern Illinois Theatre Ensemble), the resident Equity company operated by Northern Illinois University, is bringing Williams’ voice once more to life in a way no one has ever experienced it—through Japanese tradition. The play is “The Day on Which a Man Dies.” Completed in 1960 and subtitled “an Occidental Noh play,” this dramatic departure in genre from the balmy Southern gothic to Japanese Noh was alluded to casually by Williams in an interview. It was dug up in 1991 by American scholar Allean Hale from the UCLA Library where it was deposited in 1970 with unnumbered pages. Since then the play owes its life in great part to director/designer David Kaplan.

Kaplan has been producing Williams’ work, both new and old, for much of his career. For the past three years he has served as artistic curator of the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theatre Festival.  As such he says, “people tell him about plays.” “The Day on Which a Man Dies” came to him by way of Thomas Keith and Annette Saddik, the publisher and editor, respectively of the soon-to-be-published script. The confidently aggressive director knew it was for him. “The things that were hard and unusual and interesting, I had been doing for twenty years,” he says. Kaplan has studied and directed Tennessee Williams from Alabama to Hong Kong and in languages including Russian and Cantonese.  He knew immediately he wanted to do this piece strictly as an artist. “I didn’t want to produce it myself. I wanted to think about it as a designer and director and not have that other responsibility.” He was also weary of the delicate piece being buried in his festival.

“Is there something you want to direct that you can’t do in the festival?” came the call last November from Christopher Markle, a friend of Kaplan and artistic director of SummerNITE. “There is actually,” he said, and the project commenced.

The play is a reflection of sex as power using the Noh elements of dance, music and storytelling. The result is a work with the poetry of Tennessee Williams and the ceremonial tradition of fourteenth-century Japan. A famous American painter (inspired by Jackson Pollock) and his mistress argue violently in a Tokyo hotel room. They make up, make love and ultimately betray each other. Crucial stage directions mirror a form of Japanese performance art called Gutai. The tragic end for the painter and the eccentric means by which paintings are created onstage are characteristically Gutai.

Because of busy schedules the play was rehearsed for a week in June, a week in October, and two weeks leading to an opening on February 1 at Links Hall. While not the ideal, Kaplan is happy with the way it has served this piece by giving the performers time to study the material and do the appropriate research. Luckily too, he has previous relationships with several members of the cast.  Jennie Moreau, a former student of Kaplan, is an educator herself and teaches from Kaplan’s book, “Five Approaches to Acting.” After seeing Steve Key in “Orpheus Descending” at American Theater Company in 2005, she alerted Kaplan to the actor’s adept skill with Williams’ language.  The eager director arrived Super Bowl weekend last year to see for himself and was taken with Key’s talent; moreover, he appreciated Key’s willingness to join him for a drink after the show to talk Southern playwrights instead of rushing to watch the game. Lucky he did.

Kaplan is magnetic when he talks about his team and his work. He is excited by the prospect of sharing his knowledge of the things he loves. The cast and crew seem infused with the same excitement. And so they should be. There are three Tennessee Williams festivals in America and theaters everywhere are eager for new work. It has been some time since “The Day on Which a Man Dies” flowed from the pen of a man David Kaplan calls a “shaman of the human condition” and Mr. Williams’ tribute to Japanese tradition may only be beginning its journey in Chicago.

“The Day on Which a Man Dies” at Links Hall, 3435 North Sheffield, (773)281-0824. This production is now closed.

RECOMMENDED

The phenomenon of performing a radio-style adaptation of Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” is an outgrowth of television stations having lost the rights to show the film regularly at Christmastime, as was once the case ad nauseum, and PBS stations started to do televised-radio-broadcast versions instead back in the early 1990s during holiday pledge drives. The American Theatre Company incarnation that the company has been presenting for five years now is as good a version as you are likely to encounter, even expanding the hour-long original 1947 Lux Radio Theatre broadcast with James Stewart and Donna Reed into a fast-moving, ninety-minute version that includes more of the plotline of the two-hour-plus film. This interactive experience has the cast greeting you with a lively sing-along of seasonal songs and even offering you milk and cookies at the show’s end. In between, the audience plays the studio audience of a 1940s radio broadcast of the script, complete with live on-spot sound effects and commercials that tie into the plotline. For such a minimalist experience, it is surprising how effective it is, though undoubtedly it is the over-familiarity that most of us have with every line of the movie that makes it work. With the notable exception of John Möhrlein’s dead-on and virtually hissable Lionel Barrymore as Potter impersonation, most portrayals have been freshly and effectively rethought. Unlike the more upbeat musical version over at Porchlight, this version is not afraid to get really dark and bleak and James Leaming’s George Bailey gets so hopeless and desperate that we really believe that he is about to cash in his chips. (Dennis Polkow)

At American Theater Company, 1909 W. Byron, (773)409-4125. This production is now closed.

 Exclamation points aside, there is little to recommend in this 1966 musical—depicting the life span of a fifty-year marriage—from Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones (the creative team behind “The Fantasticks”). The current American Theater Company revival—updated and shifted to a Chicago setting by director Michael Weber—features the incomparable Heidi Kettenring (recently seen wheeling around as Nessarose in the Chicago production of “Wicked”) and a very solid Stef Tovar as a pair of middle-class normals raising kids and the rest. The musical is a two-hander, accompanied here by twin pianos. As a study in marriage, the show is cloying and precious—the highs too sticky sweet; the lows too obvious and broad. I enjoyed this material about as much as the generic claptrap in “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.” But if you are a fan of wigs, this is your show—Kettenring sports the gamut, from a bouffant, to a Dorothy Hamill, to a confection worthy of a guest appearance on “Dynasty.” (Nina Metz) 

At American Theater Company, 1909 W. Byron, (773)409-4125. This production is now closed.