A Whimsical, Wonderful Winter Treat

James and the Giant Peach

Poor little James Henry Trotter. One day he suddenly becomes an orphan after his parents are unexpectedly devoured by a rhinoceros that escaped from the London Zoo. His only living relatives are the mean and mercenary Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker, who reluctantly take James in, but treat him as their slave. They  physically and emotionally abuse the sweet little boy from dawn till dusk, until one special day. A strange, but friendly Magician happens by the garden. He gives James a book of spells and helps him mix up a potion. Unfortunately the little boy spills it onto a nearby peach tree. But this accident will propel James into a myriad of wonderful adventures. 

Family Is Everything

The Reclamation of Madison Hemings

Two middle-aged African-American men journey to Monticello in 1866. It’s mid-November and turning cold. Winter is coming to the mountainous region. The Civil War is over but, despite the Emancipation of Slavery, Black men and women still aren’t being treated as equal citizens of the United States. They don’t have the same rights as their White neighbors and still bear the scars caused by the trauma of slavery.

A Top-Notch “Topdog”

On my very first business trip to New York City, in my early 20s, I was fortunate enough to be the victim of a classic three-card monte sidewalk card-shuffling scam that cost me 20 bucks and a much-anticipated stop at Grey’s Papaya for lunch.  Why “fortunate”?  Because it taught me a few very valuable lessons: Con artists have already figured out all of the possible angles, and not one of those angles ever includes you, the mark; the hand is always faster than the eye; greed and overconfidence (the source of the prefix “con” in the phrase “con artist”) will cause you to lose, at the very least, a hot dog and papaya juice lunch and, at the very most, your life savings; and the guy in the crowd who just “won” 100 bucks before your turn is the “shill,” a friend, or a cousin, or a brother, of the card thrower himself.

A Magical Mozart in Miniature

The Matchbox Magic Flute

Imagine a timeless fairy tale featuring a handsome prince, a beautiful princess who’s been kidnapped by an evil high priest and guarded by a demon. Picture the princess’ temperamental, magical mother, the queen. Visualize a lonely, but funny, character who’s part-man, part-bird, three of the queen’s fairy-like ladies who offer their assistance whenever it’s needed, all kinds of enchanted animals and a magical flute. These are the elements that producer, director and writer Mary Zimmerman joyfully worked with in her most recent production, an adaptation of the 1791 opera, “The Magic Flute.” In essence, it’s a magical Mozart opera made miniature.

Charting the Stars

Silent Sky

Gazing up into the rural Wisconsin sky, Henrietta Leavitt longed to know more about the stars, the planets and the entire universe. Not only did she succeed in her desire for enlightenment, but she became an early pioneer in the study of astronomy. In fact, filled with a passion for learning, Miss Leavitt was the one of the first women to be recognized in a male-dominated field dedicated to charting the stars.

Welcome to Nowhere

The Band’s Visit

Try to imagine this situation. As part of a small musical ensemble, you’ve traveled many miles to play a concert in a tiny remote 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 another 24 hours. You and your band are tired, hungry and irritable from a long day of travel and waiting around. Then, to make matters worse, you learn there’s not even a hotel where you can stay. What to do?

Electricity

Billy Elliot

Now that my tears of joy have dried let the cheering begin! This enticing, inspirational and truly impressive celebration of being true to yourself and following your dreams, especially when those aspirations are blocked by family, friends, finances and a  fear of failure, has returned to Chicagoland in a magnificent, Broadway calibre production. The show roars into the Paramount Theatre and brings hope and a feeling that anything one strives to accomplish in life is possible. It’s a musical that’s filled with “Electricity,” like so many of the performances, songs and, choreographed numbers in this production. Once word gets out about how fabulous this production is, Chicagoans will be flocking to the far west suburbs to spend an afternoon or evening with Billy Elliot.

Pressing On

Girl From the North Country

The National Tour of this jukebox musical has arrived in Chicago for a two-week run. However, be warned: this isn’t a conventional musical, jukebox or otherwise. It’s structured more like a concert of 19 songs from the Bob Dylan catalog that are performed between the spoken words. The book was written and the musical directed by award-winning Irish playwright, Connor McPherson. Best known for works like “The Weir,” “The Seafarer” and “The Night Alive,” this sad, sometimes somber musical is constructed in a similar fashion. It’s features a unique, loose storyline that unfolds through a few short scenes and several long monologues.

Only You Can Control Your Future

brother sister cyborg space

This World Premiere one-act, now playing at Raven Theatre, is a distillation of all the reports and warnings that scientists have offered the world community for years about global warming. Former vice president Al Gore expressed a certain optimism when he said that humans have the tools to still repair the damage to the environment before it’s too late. But we’ve run out of time. The climate is definitely changed, despite denials by certain ignorant Right Wing politicians who seem to have their heads in the sand. The data is clear. Temperatures are rising at an alarming rate. The earth’s ecosystems are shifting in a costly, life-threatening and global way. The world, as we once knew it, is sick and dying. 

A Familiar Tale Told Again

a home what howls

(or the house what was ravine)

The works of Mexican-American playwright Matthew Paul Olmos focus primarily on stories about creating space for marginalized communities. In this world premiere production, performed in-the-round, the audience focuses on a smart, young Latina woman named Soledad Vargas. She’s a community leader and activist who’s relocated from the rural California countryside to the urban jungle. At the top of the play, Soledad is prepping for an organized protest against the continued urban expansion in the Golden State. She can see that the progress of this expansion hasn’t been thought through very clearly. It doesn’t take into account the displacement of her family, neighbors and loved ones. Even the animals and plants of the rural area are in jeopardy of losing their habitats.