Author: Colin Douglas
All You Need Is Love
As You Like It – Chicago Shakespeare Theatre
Wowza! Just…Wow! Daryl Cloran’s magnificent adaptation of one of Shakespeare’s most beloved plays is like a fresh, brand-new musical comedy that could easily play on Broadway or in the West End. This genius theatre artist has incorporated almost two dozen of the most popular tunes from the Beatles Songbook into this comedy. What’s so surprising is how perfectly the lyrics sync with the story. It’s as if the Fab Four had written these songs expressly for this comedy. The result is a newly imagined, unbelievably romantic, creatively conceived and perfectly cast and performed production.
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Serving Up Food and Farce
A Recipe For Disaster – Windy City Playhouse
Windy City Playhouse, Chicago’s preeminent theatre company for immersive dramas and comedies, is back at the table, so to speak. Playwrights Carl Menninger and Amy Rubenstein join forces with Chicago top chef, Rick Bayless, the master chef behind the Frontera Grill and Topolobampo, to create this new comedy that serves up food and farce at a frantic pace. The result, directed by David H. Bell with the same momentum as “Noises Off,” is a side-splitting, savory treat that’s a real feast for all the senses, particularly the sense of humor.
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The Wait Is Finally Over
Together At Last – Second City
As with every theatre that has been shuttered for 18 months due to the pandemic, the wait is finally over! That much-loved Chicago comedy club, Second City has reopened with its 109th main stage revue. This original, brand-new, two-hour evening of short skits (including intermission) and songs is as topical and timely as we’ve come to expect from this company. The show is clever, funny and fast-paced. It’s crammed full of adult humor and profanity, making it appropriate for audiences over 18 years of age. It addresses such contemporary topics as, of course, COVID-19, the effects of the pandemic on everyone, vaccine mandates, the reluctance by some to getting vaccinated and President Biden and his policies. There’s also parodies about air travel and wearing masks (like everyone in the audience), social media, parent and child relationships, a rowdy Florida school board meeting, a contentious divorce and many, many other topics from today’s news.
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Starting Over
This Wide Night – Shattered Globe Theatre and Interrobang Theatre Project
Georgette Verdin, Interrobang Theatre Project’s talented Artistic Director, deftly collaborates with Shattered Globe Theatre to tell a gorgeous, heartbreaking story that feels perfect for our times. Seldom do either of these theatre companies disappoint, and this production, their re-entrance into the much-awaited world of live theatre in Chicago, is as strong as ever. At first, Chloe Moss’ one-act drama doesn’t seem to be about very much. But as the scenes wash over you, the audience finds itself plunging headfirst into this two-hander, discovering that it’s actually about a number of topics. In particular, this is a story about starting over and about our universal need for one another.
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Memories Lost and Found
4000 Days – PrideArts
Michael lies in a hospital bed while his mother sits in a chair next to him. Carol protectively keeps an eye on her son, continually checking for a sign that he’s finally waking up from a coma. Micheal’s suffering from a blood clot on the brain, and it’s been three long weeks since he was conscious. Naturally Carol’s worried, although she appears sedate and self-assured. Michael’s loving partner, Paul, stops in, as usual, on his lunch break from work. He hopes to find Michael’s condition has improved. But the tension in the room between Carol and Paul is so thick you could cut it with a knife; and when Michael’s mother finally deigns to speak to her son’s partner, the conversation drips with venom.
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A Prophetic Musical Production
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog – Black Button Eyes Productions
Back in a more innocent time, about thirteen years ago, Covid-19 hadn’t reared its ugly head. We weren’t yet imprisoned in our homes for safety’s sake or masked for protection from a pandemic when we had to go out. After theatres shut their doors in March of 2020, live productions ceased to be. Only plays, musicals and concerts that could be streamed online were safe for presentation. Entertainment and enlightenment for an arts-hungry public was limited, but still possible.
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Coming Into the Light
Songs for a New World – Theo Ubique
Most theatres share a commonality, now that we’re finally coming out of the pandemic and presenting live shows. We are seeing more modest, smaller cast productions, typically a musical revue or a one-person show of some kind, that creates an immediate feeling of intimacy between the audience and the performers. At Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, this style of show is their specialty, as one can tell from the company’s name. Also, no one in Chicagoland produces a more polished show than Artistic Director Fred Anzevino. This visionary Director and multi-Jeff Award winner is once again collaborating with his gifted, award-winning Musical Director and pianist, Jeremy Ramey. And once again the duo have brought magic to their audiences. Joining these two gentlemen, Theo Ubique newcomer Jamal Howard brings his own talent as Associate Director and Choreographer, to help guide this polished, professional production toward perfection. The result is a 90-minute show, with intermission, that sparkles with a welcoming glow as, after almost two years, we can finally return to live performances.
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Music As Memory
American Mariachi – Goodman Theatre
As is often the case, this warm and wonderful play by Jose Cruz Gonzalez has its roots in his own, true life experiences. Mariachi music was the soundtrack of this playwright’s life. After discovering that Mariachi was taught in the music department of Cal State, where Gonzalez was an instructor, he began to take lessons. This lively art form is a huge part of the Mexican culture and is heard played at every important moment in one’s life: baptisms, birthdays, quinceaneras, marriage ceremonies and even funerals. It’s been generally thought of as a male-dominated musical form, with the history and skill being handed down, from father to son. But that was all soon to change.
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A Heavenly Musical
Forever Plaid – Drury Lane Theatre
Can you remember the last time you heard “Three Coins in a Fountain,” accompanied by an accordion, or the proud, Highland anthem, “Scotland the Brave,” or wallowed in the nostalgia of “Moments to Remember”? Well, unless you’ve found a radio station that plays the hit tunes from the 1950’s, it’s probably been a very long time, if ever! In Stuart Ross’ sweet tribute to the close-harmony male vocal groups of the Eisenhower years, we’re treated to a jukebox musical revue with a clever plot. For younger patrons, this Heavenly musical is a creative introduction to the hit songs of a more innocent, bygone era; but it’s a sweet trip down memory lane for every Baby Boomer in the audience.
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The Songs of Kander and Ebb
The World Goes ‘Round – Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre
Lovely Allison Blackwell slowly walks onto the Marriott stage and immediately her eyes tear up. Most of the audience can empathize with her emotional response, as she surveys her surroundings. Christopher Rhoton’s imaginative scenic design presents a space that resembles an abandoned theatre, possibly the Marriott itself, as it might’ve looked the day the lights were turned off almost two years ago. That’s when the pandemic shut down every Chicagoland venue. A dusty act curtain lay across the stage; an old piano, some assorted chandeliers and few props and costumes are strewn here and there; and the ghost light, a promise of good things to come, shines brightly, frightening away bad spirits and welcoming the joyous energy of a new show.
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