Author: Colin Douglas
Finish the Fight and Keep Marching!
Suffs
Not many Americans know very much about the long, difficult struggle it took to achieve Women’s Suffrage. All that is mentioned in most high school history textbooks is that “in 1920 the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote nationwide.” A few famous names may be mentioned, but the actual journey toward giving women equality is sadly simplified. The words “Suffrage” and “Suffragette” often pop up, but many people aren’t sure what those terms mean. They have nothing to do with suffering, as many believe. Suffrage simply means the legal right to vote in public political elections and referendums. And a Suffragette, or Suffragist, is a woman who advocated for women’s rights. But there’s a great deal more to learn from history about this bitter fight for gender equality. And, more importantly, while major advances have been made since 1920, equality for all women still isn’t a sure thing, even in 2026. The timely musical message that we hear repeated over and over again in SUFFS, is that we must “Finish the Fight” and “Keep Marching!”
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One Hundred Ways
Men of Soul
There’s big news from the top, just as the incredibly entertaining and uplifting Black Ensemble Theater celebrates its 50th anniversary. Jackie Taylor is announcing that Daryl Brooks, the creative force behind so many of the theater’s wonderful, effervescent productions over the past 20 years, has been named Artistic Director. Congratulations to Mr. Brooks for this well-deserved achievement! And then, to illustrate why this talented young man is the perfect new face of the Black Ensemble Theater, the company has revived MEN OF SOUL, one of his thoroughly researched and most entertaining productions from the company’s archives of wonderful shows.
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Total Insanity
Iceboy!
Wacky! Bizarre! Absurd! Stupid! Those are some of the audience reactions heard on opening night, following the curtain call of ICEBOY! One patron commented that it was like seeing “All About Eve” on ice! I agree with all of these comments…and many more. At this point in time, like practically every show that’s had its eye on a successful Broadway run, ICEBOY! has already gone through countless script rewrites, musical tweaking and cast changes. As the production opens to Chicago audiences eager to see an original hilarious musical and live, comic performances by its two high profile stars, I guarantee you won’t be disappointed. And there’s no denying that the supporting cast for stars Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman is equally as talented. These local actors all share high accolades for their versatile characterizations, comic timing and musicality. But at this stage in its development, ICEBOY! still has a couple problems to address before the show is ready for a New York audience.
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The Power of the Vampire
St. Nicholas
In a commanding and brilliant tour de force, multitalented and prolific actor Kevin Webb delivers a one-man performance that completely captures the imagination of his audience. The two-act presentation is storytelling, at its best. Mr. Webb mesmerizes his audience and envelopes them in a frightening, sometimes humorous, tale of the supernatural. Through Kevin’s polished performance and ingenuity, he recounts a series of related events experienced by the nameless character he plays that, by the end of the evening, chronicles the power of the vampire.
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In Praise of Women
A Little Night Music
As Summer in Chicagoland begins to heat up, what could be more delightful than A Weekend in the Country? This is also the title of the grand, magnificent musical number, performed by the entire cast, that brings Act I to a rousing, comic closure. The fast-paced, syncopated melody, with humorous patter-song lyrics, offers a promise of the plot complications to come in Act II. The song’s soaring, intertwining operetta style counterpoint is an absolute delight. It’s one of my favorite songs from one of the most treasured of all Broadway musicals.
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The Greatest Show on Earth
Water for Elephants
Jacob Jankowski, an elderly gentleman living in a senior citizens home, sneaks out alone to visit the circus that’s come to town. After the show ends, Mr. Jankowski befriends a couple of the big top employees, sharing with them that, in his youth, he was the veterinarian with the Benzini Brothers traveling circus. Then, magically, the musical travels back to Depression Era America, where a younger Jacob Jankowski hops a train going somewhere, anywhere. He just wants to leave behind the tragedy that’s befallen his family and him, after both his parents are suddenly killed in an automobile accident and the bank has foreclosed on their house. Having recently finished veterinary school and with nowhere to go, Jacob just wants to leave his sadness and tragedy behind. Hoping to start anew, the young man begins working as a big top roustabout, but is eventually promoted to circus veterinarian. Soon the thrills and chills of the greatest show on earth take stage.
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A Work in Progress
A People
Avi Hoffman, the talented director of A PEOPLE, a theatrical work written by LM Feldman, says that for him this “mosaic is less a play and more a living conversation across generations, languages and lands.” That statement might prepare the audience somewhat for the performance piece they’re about to experience…but not entirely. This presentation of short scenes, stories, songs, passages told partly in Yiddish, and using a couple puppets and masks, is much more confusing than it is enlightening. Mr. Hoffman concludes his introduction to A PEOPLE by saying his hope is “that you leave the theatre feeling not that you have seen a play about Jews, but that you have been invited into a communal act of remembrance and imagination…” I agree that leavingTheater Wit, there was no satisfaction of seeing a fully fleshed-out, polished production. The “communal act” that the audience experiences is more like being given a peak at a work in progress.
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When You Got, Flaunt It
The Producers
Remarkably BrightSide Theatre has done it again! Naperville’s only live professional theatre brings its 14th season of magical main stage productions to a close with a musical comedy classic by Mel Brooks. And if you’ve never treated yourself to an evening at BrightSide Theatre, this hilarious show would be the perfect production with which to begin and see what you’ve been missing. Following BrightSide’s recent delightful production of PRIVATE LIVES, producing Artistic Director Jeffrey Cass has followed it up with this beautifully embellished almost intimate, slightly scaled-down production of THE PRODUCERS. But Cass’ production is an absolute gut buster and, with respect to lavish sets and special effects, illustrates the old adage that “Less is More.” And you know what they always say—and as Ulla sings in Act I—“When You Got It, Flaunt It!”
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Heavenly Voices
Nunsense
Oh, dear Lord, in Heaven, help me! The Little Sisters of Hoboken have a huge problem on their hands. It seems that the convent cook, Sister Julia, Child of God, accidentally poisoned 52 of the nuns with her tainted vichyssoise! The Mother Superior and the remaining nuns, all of whom were out of town when the incident took place, have buried all but four of the deceased sisters. These poor nuns have been temporarily laid to rest in the kitchen freezer…for now, at least.
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Fangtastic Fun
Untitled Vampire Play
Have you ever met a vampire? Well, you might have and not known it because, despite the way these creatures are depicted in novels, horror films and television shows, vampires look much different today. The 21st century undead don’t resemble the bloodthirsty vamps in fictional works, such as “Nosferatu,” “Twilight,” “Interview With a Vampire,” “True Blood,” “What We Do in the Shadows” and the upcoming sitcom, “Eternally Yours.” The vampires who have been the subject of popular theatrical plays and musicals, such as DRACULA, DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES, LESTAT, and the current broadway hit musical and Tony Award-winner, THE LOST BOYS, are always easy to identify by the way they look. But Kevin Douglas, the talented Chicago playwright and Lookingglass Theatre ensemble member, paints a much different, more contemporary portrait of today’s vampires who blend in with everyone else, and are apparently living among us in every big city…like Chicago.
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