Monthly Archives: August 2026
There’s Life Outside Your Apartment
Windows
Although there are some similarities, WINDOWS isn’t really an update of the silly 1970’s sitcom, “Three’s Company,” although both focus on two women and a man sharing a flat. And Matt Schutz’s play is definitely unlike the classic 1954 Hitchcock thriller, “Rear Window.” The only similarities are that, like the James Stewart character, Olivia has a leg injury that has stranded her on the sofa. With nothing to do, the apartment windows provide a sort of multiscreen source of live entertainment for both main characters. But in Olivia’s case, the invalid’s voyeurism strongly ignites her imagination. She begins devising complex stories about the people she sees, even inventing their names and character quirks that continually change. And so, as they sing in the musical AVENUE Q, the lethargic Olivia enjoys discovering that “There’s Life Outside Your Apartment.”
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Laura Benanti On Her Own
Nobody Cares
In a very highly enjoyable evening at the Steppenwolf Theatre, multitalented Broadway, film and television actress Laura Benenti appears “On Her Own.” It’s a cabaret production that’s part original songs and part comical confessional. This one-act performance focuses the spotlight entirely on the gifted and versatile actress, as she shares the highlights of her life in an autobiographical one-woman show. Laura Benenti admits that, throughout her life, she’s always been a “pathological people pleaser.” And as such, Ms. Benenti continues to constantly seek approval from everyone; the actress admits she simply wants to be liked, “even by people who I don’t like.”
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Sadness and Joy
The Notebook
Emotionally moving, unabashedly sentimental, filled with moments of honest and truthful observations about life and balanced by unexpected humor, the National Tour of THE NOTEBOOK is simply magnificent. The musical is based upon the popular novel by Nicholas Sparks, an author known to readers all over the world. He’s written and published 24 novels, to date, many becoming New York Times bestsellers, and eleven having been turned into successful movies. They include such familiar titles as Message in a Bottle, A Walk to Remember and his latest, Remain: A Supernatural Love Story, will soon be a film collaboration with director, M. Night Shyamalan. The Notebook, Sparks’ first novel, was published in 1996, and was turned into a blockbuster film in 2004. This beautiful love story has been adapted into a gorgeous, heartbreaking stage musical that, incidentally, enjoyed its pre-Broadway debut right here in Chicago, just four years ago. I think the National Tour is actually better. As the main characters, Noah and Allie sing, get ready to enjoy a tale filled with both “Sadness and Joy.”
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