Kindness and Kinship on Kinnan

Islander

A young girl named Eilidh (AY-lee) wanders the Scottish coastline. She spends most of her days alone on the beach, because Eilidh is the only child left on the tiny, fictional island of Kinnan. Almost everyone else, including her own Mum, has relocated to the “Big Land,” the Scottish mainland. Eilidh cares for her Gran, a feisty old woman who enjoys joking and pranking her granddaughter. The school, the hospital and almost everything on the island have closed. Phone service and wifi is spotty, at best. There’s only one radio station on the island where the gossip and local news is shared. But Eilidh is all alone, until she chances upon a whale calf that’s tragically washed up on the shore. While trying to find someone to help the baby, the whale sadly sings to her before expiring. It’s a song that speaks of Eilidh’s kindness and a kinship between these two lost souls.

A Nutcracker Burlesque

The Buttcracker

No, this isn’t a misprint, and the Joffrey Ballet has nothing to do with this production. In the seventh edition of this popular adult entertainment, which has presented sold-out racy parodies of various holiday plays and musicals since its inception, returns with a saucy, sassy and sexy version of “The Nutcracker” ballet. This year the new production is being presented in the upstairs venue of the Greenhouse Theater, which includes a bar where theatergoers can purchase some liquid holiday cheer, both before the show and during the intermission. In fact, I recommend it.

Ease On Down the Road

The Wiz 

“Everybody Rejoice” because one of the finest, most contagious, high-spirited and heartwarming musicals of the past 48 years is heading back to Broadway. And fortunately for Chicago audiences, “The Wiz” has “Eased on Down the Road” to spend two glorious weeks in the Windy City before heading off to Iowa, Arizona and California. Right now, the show is scheduled to open in New York next March, but through December 10 theatergoers of all ages can delight in this exciting, hilarious and often surprising marvel of a musical that updates the tale of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz for the 21st century. It’s quite simply a glorious and exciting evening of theatre!

A Feast For the Eye, Ear and Soul

A Christmas Carol

They say that everything old is new again. That phrase wandered through my head as I enjoyed the opening night of the Goodman Theatre’s 46th annual production of “A Christmas Carol.” The story hasn’t changed, the script is basically the same, some of the actors in this large cast are new but many have returned, a few in different roles. But gifted director Jessica Thebus has tweaked it and made some wonderfully inspired changes and additions to the play that transforms the holiday classic into a fresh, new story. Reimagined, this presentation truly earns the title of A Bonafide Chicago Holiday Tradition.

A Sprinkling of Snow and Magic

The Snow Queen

As Christmas approaches once again there’s a chill in the air and the snow’s beginning to fall. At the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, there’s also a generous sprinkling of magic. Winter heralds a change and the arrival of a new holiday season. Hans Christian Andersen’s enchanted fairy tale, adapted and given a modern feel by Kristin Brandt & Rick Lombardo, boasts songs from almost every genre of music. They’re written by Haddon Kime and Rick Lombardo, with lyrics by Kirsten Brandt, Haddon Kime, and Rick Lombardo. Family audiences and upper grade school age children will lose themselves in this story about two devoted friends, a cold and vain Queen and a shattered magic mirror. It’s a tale filled with a colorful array of memorable supporting characters, including an evil troll, a tough robber girl and her mother, a ditzy witch, a helpful reindeer, a goofy raven, a kind prince and princess and a talking Reindeer.

Cindy Lou Who Returns

Who’s Holiday!

Yes, it’s true: Cindy Lou Who has returned once again to Theater Wit for another bawdy holiday season. Matthew Lombardo’s one-woman comedy about the young, juvenile heroine of the Dr. Seuss classic, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, has returned to the Windy City. This unauthorized sequel to the beloved children’s holiday morality tale stars the story’s winsome youngster, Cindy Lou Who. Of course, she’s all grown up now and is a forlorn, 40-year-old lush. Oh, she still speaks in those cute, singsong rhyming couplets that everyone will recognize from the Dr. Seuss books. But now Cindy Lou swears like a sailor, drinks nonstop, smokes a great deal and enjoys a hit or two off her bong. 

Sleeping with Beauty

PrideArts is opening the holiday season with a queer pantomime by Tom Whalley, who wrote last year’s pantomime production, Jack Off the Beanstalk. For those unfamiliar with pantomime, it’s a very British form of theater, ordinarily aimed at children, full of songs and stock characters and a lot of audience participation in the form of call and response to the actors. PrideArts reimagines the format, and the story of Sleeping Beauty, for decidedly adult audiences.

A Sweet Christmas Story

Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas

Back in 1977, during the holiday season, a sparkling, brand new television special aired that was directed by Jim Henson. It was a sweet Christmas story called “Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas,” based upon the popular children’s book by Russell Hoban. The story was a takeoff of O. Henry’s classic short story, “The Gift of the Magi,” in which a loving young, but impoverished, married couple each make sacrifices in order to buy a treasured gift for their spouses. But the irony of their sacrifices is discovered when each opens his or her gift on Christmas morning. For Emmet and his widowed Ma, the sacrifices each makes deeply affects their livelihood.

A Timeless Treasure

She Loves Me

Citadel Theatre is presenting a musical masterpiece for their holiday offering. “She Loves Me” is a tuneful timeless treasure that has been called the perfect musical comedy. And audiences flocking to this intimate theatre in Lake Forest are in complete agreement, as evidenced by the standing ovation. With the talented cast, director and artistic staff supporting their work, this is a perfect production of a perfect show!

Dollywood

No Trip to Tennessee is complete without at least a day stop at Dollywood. In my opinion this is the perfect park for so many reasons.

For starters those who do not want to drive, you can park your car at Patriot Park and there is a trolley that takes you right up to the door. And it just keeps getting better from there.