Tommy on Top

Tommy on Top – PrideArts

I don’t like giving bad reviews. I know how much work and energy go into a show and how vulnerable it makes the people who put in that work. I always try to respect that. I flatter myself that I am not in the class of reviewer who enjoys writing pans to make themselves feel smarter than everyone else who may have liked something. I always try to meet a show where it is and judge it not just for how I viewed it, but also through the lens of its intended audience. Even if something isn’t for me, it’s often for someone, and to me, a well written review looks for that. This is the long way of saying I can usually find something to hang my hat on to recommend a show to someone for some reason. Unfortunately, I cannot do that for PrideArts’ latest production, the Chicago premier of Tommy on Top, a farce by British playwright Chris Woodley. The story centers on hunky, young, and closeted actor Tommy Miller, on the cusp of winning an Oscar, having to deal with the possibility of being outed and the impact that will have on his career.

Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations – Broadway in Chicago

Following successful runs on Broadway, both before and after the shutdown, Ain’t Too Proud has come to the Cadillac Palace for a two week engagement. The show tells the story of the Temptations, from their formation in 1950s Detroit through their rise to fame in the 60s and 70s, all through the lens of the incredible music they made.

The Winter of Our Discontent

Richard III – Promethean Theatre Ensemble

Promethean Theatre Ensemble is back with its first show since the shut down and is staging Shakespeare’s classic Richard III, the tale of the scheming duke who plots to seize the throne from his brothers then his young nephews by any means necessary.

Unearthing the Past

Digging Up Dessa – Theatre Above the Law

Dessa is a budding paleontologist. Following a school trip to the natural history museum, is outraged to learn that a wall of photos to the fathers of paleontology is missing one of its founding mothers, Mary Anning, who made several major discoveries, but is more remembered for being the inspiration for the rhyme “She Sells Seashells by the Seashore.” She shares a special connection to her because she is the one female paleontologist in a book she received from her father, who recently passed away. The play unfolds watching Dessa deal with both her loss and the struggle with how the world will see her and other women.

Attend the Tale

Sweeney Todd – North Riverside Players

In what is becoming a familiar, but happy, refrain in my reviews, another show cut short in 2020 by the pandemic is finally getting its time on the stage. This time, North Riverside Players prove both resilient and ambitious in mounting Stephen Sondheim’s classic Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. A London barber, falsely convicted and imprisoned in Australia has returned in secret to find his family and revenge himself on the corrupt judge who sent him there. Returning to his home, he finds his neighbor, Mrs. Lovett running a failing pie shop. Together they will find a novel, if nauseating, solution to both their problems.

A Romantic Atmosphere

She Loves Me – Blank Theatre Company

At Mr. Maraczek’s perfume shop in Budapest, longtime clerk Georg Nowak and new hiree Amalia Balash are constantly butting heads. Whenever they aren’t finding fault with each other, they’re trying to one up each other selling skin creams and potions to the housewives of Budapest. Little do they know that they are each other’s secret pen pals, connected through a ‘lonely hearts club.’ If the story of business rivals unknowingly falling in love via correspondence rings a bell, it’s because the Hungarian play that this musical is based on also formed the basis for the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan comedy “You’ve Got Mail,” among a few other movies. It’s an old story, and one often told to be sure, but that’s part of its charm. Everyone in the audience and everyone on stage except the leading couple know exactly how this story ends from the moment the curtain goes up. The pleasure is watching the leads catch up with the rest of us.

The Power to Choose

The Lady from the Sea – Court Theatre

Court Theatre’s new production of Henrik Ibsen’s The Lady from the Sea was originally set to premier in March of 2020, before having to shut down the night of their first preview. The cast and creative team have all returned to stage the show now, but rather than simply running their lines in the meantime, the Court commissioned a new translation by Richard Nelson. The show is one of Ibsen’s lesser produced shows, but to anyone who has seen his more famous A Doll’s House will certainly find a few similarities. The story centers on Ellida, wife to Dr. Wangel, and stepmother to his two daughters. Ellida is unhappy and anxious, and Dr. Wangel, despite his best and genuine efforts, cannot figure out why. The reason is a man from Ellida’s past, a mysterious sailor whose return has been looming over her for years. Now Ellida must choose between them.

Ghosts of Chernobyl

Ghosts of Chernobyl – Theatre Above the Law

Theatre Above the Law’s new show, Ghosts of Chernobyl, has been a long time coming. It was originally set to premiere in March 2020. I was particularly excited since I had then recently finished the HBO series about the Chernobyl disaster and gone on a deep dive on the subject. I had my ticket ready to go and even hoped that, after a shutdown we thought would last two weeks, the show could reopen. As well all know now, the shutdown of the world, and theater in particular, lasted much longer. Happily, Theatre Above the Law remembers that the show must (eventually) go on.

Under the Masks

God of Carnage – AstonRep Theatre

Michael and Veronica, a pair of parents, are hosting another pair of parents, Alan and Annette, in their home to discuss a fight their two 11-year-old sons had resulting in one boy hitting the other with a stick and knocking out two teeth. It begins as four enlightened, urbane parents all coming together to showcase how mature they can be. It turns quickly into a four-way brawl that would put their children to shame.

Once Upon a Time

Grimm – Theatre Above the Law

Reimagining and recombining fairy tales is a mode of story telling probably only slightly less ancient than the fairy tales themselves. I imagine there is more than one fairy tale I know by heart but have never actual heard or seen in its original format, having just pieced it together from its adaptations. Theatre Above the Law’s new show Grimm, picks a few darker or lesser known of Grimms’ fairy tales, just in time for Halloween.