Author: Michael Antman
Laughin’ and Cyan
Blue Man Group
I’m not sure the physical theatre ensemble Blue Man Group has changed much since I last saw them at the Briar Street Theatre about eight years ago. Back then, in an apparent effort to stay current, the three mute, bald and blue-bodied percussionists engaged in some tomfoolery with large smartphone-styled props, although mostly they banged lustily on drums, clambered over the theatre’s seats, and caught marshmallows with their mouths. Friday night — still at the Briar Street Theatre — three new but still blue performers once again engaged in a bit of tomfoolery with large smartphone-styled props, banged lustily on drums, clambered over the theatre’s seats, and caught marshmallows with their mouths.
Read MoreMerrily is a Miracle
Merrily We Roll Along
The new production of Stephen Sondheim’s musical Merrily We Roll Along, which just premiered at the Reginald Vaughn Theatre, is a reminder of everything that live theatre is, or should be, all about. In a shoebox-sized black-box space on Thorndale Avenue, the Blank Theatre Company has conjured up a poetic miracle of a musical production, with hardly a wrong note at any moment from beginning to end, and with a wonderful surprise at its conclusion. In a long lifetime of theatre-going, I don’t think I have ever seen a better or more heartfelt small-theatre production, nor even a better musical of any size.
Read MoreAn Aimless Expedition
Arabia! Arabia!
Arabia! Arabia! is the kind of play that happens when a playwright doesn’t have a clear idea of what he hopes to accomplish and what effect he wants to have on the audience. Presented by The Plagiarists at the Jarvis Square Theatre, Alexander Utz’s world-premiere play, loosely based on an actual historical event, concerns itself with a group of explorers and scientists commissioned by the Danish government to explore the Middle East — “Arabia Felix,” or “Happy Arabia” — in the mid-18th century.
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A Lukewarm Domestic Drama
Another Marriage
Steppenwolf’s world premiere production of ensemble member Kate Arrington’s first play, Another Marriage, is hardly unworthy of Steppenwolf’s well-deserved reputation as America’s greatest ensemble theatre. But neither is it destined to go down in history as one of Steppenwolf’s classic productions — not without some redevelopment and rethinking.
Read MoreYou’ll Want to See Being Seen
Being Seen
The more one thinks about the aptly chosen title of Richard Gustin’s play “Being Seen,” the sadder it seems. The term refers directly to an actor’s audition process; to “be seen” means to receive an audition or a call-back and, from there (one hopes) to receive a part in a movie, play or TV show. But in a broader sense, virtually everyone wants to “be seen,” to be heard, to feel as if they matter to others, to have at least a modicum of confidence that their status as a unique human creation is recognized and respected by some few others of their fellow human beings. This deeply resonant play is about how, in every sense of the word, that basic human desire is denied, disregarded, degraded, derided, and rendered an utterly absurd fantasy by the arrogant and unfeeling forces that surround us and that express interest in us only as a source of money for whatever often-spurious enterprise or object they are attempting to sell us.
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A Second City for Everytown
Second City: Don’t Quit Your Daydream
Second City these days strikes me as a “Chicago institution” not so much in the sense that it’s an annual must-see for native Chicagoans, but rather that it’s an essential stop for out-of-towners on their three-day itineraries, right up there with Lou Malnati’s, Millennium Park and the Art Institute of Chicago.
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Telling the Audience What It Wants to Hear
Lucy and Charlie’s Honeymoon
Lucy and Charlie’s Honeymoon is an ambitious evening of multi-genre theatre that semi-successfully combines a tall tale about two recently married, bumbling, small-time Chinese-American robbers with figurative and literal brain freeze; a somewhat serious and well-intentioned narrative about human trafficking; expertly timed rapid-fire comic dialogue; honky tonk musical interludes played by a live, onstage C&W combo; and pandering and patronizing messages about the stereotypes faced by Asian-Americans. If you can manage to overlook that last element — and you should — you’ll have a great time at this world-premiere Lookinglass Theatre production in the theatre’s beautiful Water Tower venue.
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Sex, Silliness and Star Wars
The Empire Strips Back: A Burlesque Parody, now playing at the Logan Theatre, is a sparkling example of an evening’s entertainment that is much better than it needs to be.
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A Play More Timely Today Than When it Premiered
What the Constitution Means to Me
If you were lucky enough to see the world premiere of Heidi Schrek’s What the Constitution Means to Me at the off-Broadway New York Theatre Workshop back in 2018, in its subsequent Broadway incarnation, or in the Prime Video special, be forewarned that the first Chicago-based production of the play currently onstage at the TimeLine Theatre Company is now a very different piece of work.
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