Author: Colin Douglas
Paramount Once Again Seizes the Day
Newsies – Paramount Theatre
Paramount Theatre has done it again! Opening their new season is Disney’s stage adaptation of their own so-so 1992 cult movie musical of the same name. Taking Broadway by storm when it opened in 2012, “Newsies” went on to play over 1,000 performances before hitting the road in an excellent National Tour. Deservedly this musical earned eight Tony nominations, winning two for its athletic choreography and contemporary score. History promises to repeat itself as this regionally produced musical, now playing to sellout houses at the Paramount Theatre, is once again demonstrating why it’s one of our most highly-respected professional Chicagoland venues.
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Members of an Exclusive Club
Five Presidents – American Blues Theater
Rick Cleveland’s fictionalized docudrama, which is generously laced with comic zingers and one-liners that lighten the subject, imagines a 90-minute get-together between past presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, and the current Leader of the Free World, Bill Clinton. The year is 1994 and the setting is a gathering room in the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, California, tastefully designed by Grant Sabin and nicely lit by Alexander Ridgers. The occasion for this meeting is the funeral of President Richard Nixon. Even though these five men would’ve greeted each other on this occasion, it’s unlikely that they spent an hour and a half talking together about so many different topics.
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Masters of Our Fate
Be Here Now – Shattered Globe Theatre
Set in a small town in upstate New York, Bari is a cynical former college professor, who taught a course in nihilism. She’s lowered her standards by working to make ends meet at a chotchke shop that deals in religious souvenirs, that are made in China. She’s suffering from writer’s block when it comes to finishing her dissertation. But she’s also suffering from severe, debilitating headaches that often result in seizures. Bari radiates negativity about everything in life and it deeply troubles her longtime friend and coworker, Patty Cooper, as well as a young, tirelessly optimistic newcomer to the mail order warehouse, Luanne.
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Another Trip to the Bright Side of Life
Spamalot – Mercury Theatre
At some point in this hilarious musical, the plot simply goes out the window and unbridled hilarity and bawdy humor takes over the Mercury Theater stage. Eric Idle’s brilliant adaptation of his popular film, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” which features an infectious score by both Idle and John DuPrez, won the coveted Tony Award for Best Musical in 2005. The show first hit the boards in its Chicago PreBroadway preview. It went on to become a Big Apple and West End hit, as well as everywhere around the world.
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Welcome to the Renaissance
Something Rotten – Marriott Theatre
Where do these talented actors get all this energy? This production, smartly directed by Scott Weinstein and choreographed within an inch of its life by the brilliant Alex Sanchez, is absolutely slap-happy and unstoppable. If the energy of this cast could be harnessed, these actor/singer/dancers could probably generate enough power to light up all of Lincolnshire. In other words, this impressive, brilliantly cast ensemble of triple-threats is astounding. Looking as if they’re having the time of their lives, these two-dozen generously gifted ensemble members unleash so much unbridled mirth and mayhem that theatergoers will wonder when they have time to breathe. Indeed, by intermission, the audience feels as if they need a shot of oxygen, simply from laughing so much.
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We’re All Alike
The Band’s Visit – Broadway in Chicago
Try to imagine this situation. You’ve traveled many miles, as part of a small musical ensemble, to play a concert in a remote, little town. There’s danger in the air because of the political tension and social unrest that’s occurred over decades. You’re limited in your command of the language and, because of your nationality, you’re looked upon with suspicion. Then you suddenly learn that, because of a miscommunication, you’re actually in the wrong town. To make matters worse, it’s a desert village from which there’s no bus for at least 24 hours. You and your band are tired, hungry and pretty irritable from a long day of travel and waiting around. Then you learn there’s not even a hotel where you can stay. What to do?
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A Story of Class, Ethics and Romance
Howards End – Remy Bumppo
E.M. Forster’s 1910 literary classic is a sprawling novel about three English families from different social classes. Through this tale, we come to know the wealthy, capitalist Wilcox dynasty; the idealistic, intellectual upper middle class Schlegel sisters; and the ever struggling, financially impoverished lower class Leonard and Jacky Bast. Forster spun a dramatic story of social rank, morals and love. His novel offered an insightful portrait of England at the height of its imperial world influence, in the years just prior to World War I. He showed, through the lives of three diverse families, how fast progress was happening and shaping Edwardian England. Forster seemed to ask, in light of the sweeping changes taking place, who would eventually inherit England? Which class would ultimately define this powerful nation?
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Work in Progress
Sons and Lovers – Greenhouse Theatre
It’s true that the very best writers use experiences from their own lives to inspire their writing. English author D.H. Lawrence, whose early twentieth century novels like Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Women in Love, Mr. Noon and The Rainbow shocked and entertained readers during this Age of Innocence. But it’s also true that his stories are all very intimately bound up with his own life. But none of his novels is more autobiographical than Sons and Lovers.
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It’s a Woman’s World
Casa Valentina – Pride Films & Plays
As part of Pride Films & Plays’ exploration of all things gender related, we travel back to the Chevalier d’Eon Resort in the Catskill Mountains. It’s 1962, and a secret world is revealed to twenty-first century audiences that actually existed during those more innocent, post-war years. For at least one weekend during the late Spring, a group of happily married men with families, highly-respected in their chosen, white collar professions, gather together in this secluded Garden of Eden to express their alter-egos.
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Ever After
Into the Woods – Writers Theatre
Wish fulfillment and their consequences, the pain of growing up, parental and child relationships, learning to accept responsibility and the message that no one is ever alone: those are the themes that Stephen Sondheim leaves us with by the end of this magical musical. Imagine a world in which your favorite childhood fairy tale characters all live in the same neighborhood? Suddenly those familiar stories begin to merge and blend together as Cinderella, her Prince Charming, Little Red Riding Hood, the Big Bad Wolf, Jack and his beanstalk, Rapunzel, her Witchy mother, and many others, all work together trying to navigate their enchanted existence. Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s clever interweaving of these fairy tales propel the familiar characters forward on a journey of personal growth and self-discovery. The first act is frothy and fanciful but, in an unexpected about-face, the second act turns darker, more sobering and powerfully thought-provoking. The result is simply enchanting, especially in Writers Theatre’s deliciously delectable production.
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