Reviews Category
Sugar and Spice
Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years -Goodman Theatre
The Delany sisters, two charming, lovable African American spinster ladies (who preferred being called “colored” or “Negro”),
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Conch’a Hear It?
Flies! The Musical – Pride Films and Plays
Only a pair of twisted, yet very creative minds could’ve conceived of a musical version of William Golding’s young adult
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Everything in the Garden
Suddenly Last Summer – Raven Theatre
Raven Theatre continues their homage to Tennessee Williams and his writing with a sterling production of one of the
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Like a Prayer
Grace
Like a Prayer
Shocking the audience by opening his play with three murders and a suicide, and then reversing the events like a tape being rewound, Craig Wright’s taut one-act is a mystery, of sorts.
Read MoreSomeone’s in the Kitchen
How to Use a Knife
Someone’s in the Kitchen
Ensemble acting, passionate storytelling and visceral theatrical experiences are all traits of this intimate storefront company that’s been doing great work for the past 27 seasons. In yet another noteworthy Chicago premiere, Shattered Globe Theatre introduces Windy City audiences to playwright Will Snider, with this daring, dashing new drama set in the prep kitchen of Wall Street restaurant. Amid the chaos of chopping, cooking, plating and delivering high end dinners to affluent customers, a tense situation unfolds.
Read MoreSleep No More
Macbeth
Sleep No More
In this highly anticipated followup to their recent production of “The Tempest,” Teller (the quiet partner of the famous magic team of Penn & Teller) and Aaron Posner (the talented playwright who gave us, among many others, “Stupid Fucking Bird” and “Life Sucks”) have thankfully reunited at Navy Pier’s Tony Award-winning regional theatre.
Read MoreBaiting the Hook
To Catch a Fish
Baiting the Hook
A young man named Terry, who lives with his grandma, Brenda Cameron, in a low-income Milwaukee neighborhood, truly enjoys his job. He works for Dex, Ike and Regina, handing out fliers for their popup pawnshop, in a woods near the Walmart. Their store reportedly sells articles of clothing, toiletries and other small items. The fliers, that Terry so proudly delivers to prospective customers, informs them that the shop will also buy back any guns they possess at a respectable price. So each day, Terry proudly heads out on his bicycle to distribute pamphlets advertising this makeshift specialty pawn shop.
Terry is generally sweet-natured, a man-child, with the most contagious smile always on his face. The audience eventually discovers that, as a baby, Terry experienced a tragic accident that resulted in permanent brain damage, leaving the young man with the emotional and intellectual capacity of an 8-year-old child. But Terry may be unknowingly in danger. What he doesn’t get, but what the audience suspects from the beginning, is that there’s something shady about this whole operation.
Dex and Ike, his employers, don’t come across as the nicest guys; in fact, they’re violent and threatening, especially when patronizing Terry. The two also coerce their co-worker, Regina, forcing her to perform deeds that may be against her better judgment. Terry’s girlfriend Rochelle, his doting grandmother and even his less-than-innocent cousin, Dontre all try to warn the young man to be cautious. But Terry is steadfastly devoted to Dex and Ike and thinks they’re his friends. Soon Terry and the audience learn differently.
Chicago playwright Brett Neveu wrote and developed this drama as the first play to be produced through TimeLine’s Playwright’s Collective program. Based upon a real-life event that occurred six years ago in Milwaukee, Neveu changed the names of his characters but, otherwise, related the dramatic story of Chauncey Wright. This young, innocent African American man unknowingly worked for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in one of their Milwaukee area undercover sting operations. It wasn’t until things went awry that he learned the seriousness of his mistaken trust.
Beautifully staged and guided by respected, gifted director Ron OJ Parsons, this excellent production is filled with tension and trauma. Performed almost entirely in the round, within a tiny space, the size of most living rooms, the events of this play land directly in the laps of theatergoers. The production is gritty and honest, yet laced with moments of tough love and empathy.
The talented cast is uniformly first-rate. Geno Walker is superb as Terry Kilbourn. His gentle manner, his soft-spoken ways and every look and gesture is perfection. Primarily a union film actor, Mr. Walker has made this theatrical role all his own. Tiffany Addison also makes her TimeLine debut as Rochelle. As Terry’s girlfriend, she’s one tough cookie. A minimum wage Walgreens employee, Rochelle has a soft spot in her heart for the young man who enjoys sharing her company, watching movies in her living room and sitting quietly on the front stoop talking and sipping wine.
Anji White, so miraculous in TimeLine’s productions of “The Last Wife” and, especially, “Sunset Baby,” is fiercely magnetic as Regina Whitnall. A no-nonsense woman who can take the crap from the men around her and give it right back, Ms. White is one of those actors who can mesmerize audiences with just a look. Al’Jaleel McGhee is, at once, powerful and heartbreaking as Terry’s ne’er-do-well cousin, Dontre. A young man who just can’t seem to catch a break or make a good life choice, Mr. McGhee is solid and captivating. Linda Bright Clay, a longtime Chicago veteran of theatre, television and film, is loving, impressive and convincing as Brenda Cameron, Terry’s determined, Christian-based grandmother.
The Gift Theatre’s versatile, young Jay Worthington is frightening as Ike; and Stephen Walker, seen recently in A Red Orchid Theatre’s production of Brett Neveu’s “Traitor,” creates the character of Dex Farwell as a man filled with rage and distrust. Together these two men become the antagonists of this story, who team up in turning Terry’s world upside-down.
This world premiere is spellbinding. It’s an edgy story that oozes with suspense and hostility. Brett Neveu’s drama offers a taut story about characters who we really care about. It’s all the more fascinating because it’s real, closely based upon a true incident that happened, not long ago, and just a couple of hours away from Chicago. With the recent ambush and shooting of a Chicago ATF agent currently in the headlines, this play resonates even louder with Windy City audiences. Baiting the hook to lure this fish out of water will leave audiences breathless.
Highly Recommended
Reviewed by Colin Douglas
Presented April 25-July 1 by TimeLine Theatre Company,
615 W. Wellington Ave., Chicago.
Tickets are available by calling 773-281-8463 x6 or by going to www.timelinetheatre.com.
Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.
Hock-a-doo!
Memphis
Hock-a-doo!
The Ruth Page Center for the Arts will be rockin’ and shakin’ for the next couple of months with the pulsating beat of 1950’s era rock ‘n roll, rhythm and blues. Joe DiPietro and David Bryan’s head-bobbing, hand-clapping, foot tapping 2010 four-time Tony Award-winning musical has finally arrived in a local Chicago production, bringing with it an evening of unbridled joy to usher in the Spring. Electrified by Daryl Brooks’ inspired and artistically perfect direction, this production is as moving as it is exciting. It features an onstage bandstand of polished accompaniment by Musical Director Jermaine Hill, along with over two hours of spirited, period-perfect choreography, magnificently crafted by Christopher Carter, who also assisted Mr. Brooks in staging this story. Mr. Carter is assisted in choreographing by Reneisha Jenkins.
The show is loosely based on real life Memphis disc jockey, Dewey Phillips, who was a pioneer in bringing so much effervescent, bubbling black music to white radio audiences and record-buyers. The somewhat predictable story tells of fictional Huey Calhoun, a young, white man from the other side of the tracks, who wanders one night into Delray’s, an African American Beale Street club. He’s drawn by his love for the infectious, soulful music, as well as the voice and beauty of the club’s phenomenal female vocalist, Felicia. This story, with its unabashed examination of the racial tension that raged during the early Civil Rights Movement, offers a score of R&B, rock, gospel and New Orleans blues.
As Felicia, Aeriel Williams is honest and natural, yet extraordinarily powerful and poignant, as the African American songstress with a dream of becoming a recording star. She stops the show with her powerhouse voice while moving the audience with genuinely touching moments of anguish, vulnerability and strength. Liam Quealy, every bit as charismatic as Broadway’s Chad Kimball (who created the role), is a bundle of energy. This gifted young man is so likable, as well as being a supremely talented actor/singer/dancer, in his own right. His hilarious exclamations of “Hock-a-doo,” his earnest love and devotion of Felicia and his rendition of such songs as “The Music of My Soul” and “Memphis Lives in Me” are impassioned and inspiring.
Chicago’s own Lorenzo Rush, Jr. brings his magnificently glorious voice and domineering presence to the role of Felcia’s brother, Delray, stopping the show cold with his passionately sung, “She’s My Sister.” As Bobby, the always outstanding James Earl Jones II, so terrific with his breakout hit song, “Big Love,” is a bottled up dynamo just waiting to bust loose. He plays this affable custodian turned singer with grit and honesty. And boyishly handsome Gilbert Domally eventually overcomes a terrible childhood trauma to find his own voice and strength through friendship, in “Say a Prayer.” The 50’s have never sounded more joyful.
Mr. Brooks’ spectacularly gifted ensemble, all of whom sing, dance and portray multiple supporting characters, is simply brilliant. Jacob Voigt is particularly excellent as Huey’s employer and reluctant supporter, Mr. Simmons. Nancy Wagner manages to make Huey’s racially opinionated mother, Gladys Calhoun, lovable. Her breakout song in Act II, “Change Don’t Come Easy,” is like the explosive burst of a bottle rocket. Both Ryan Dooley, opening the show as a drawling DJ at an all-white radio station, along with several other roles, and Isaiah Silva-Chandley, very funny as Buck Wiley and Martin Holton, are ensemble standouts. In fact, every singer and dancer in this musical could be the star of his or her own musical. There are no weak links in this chain!
Porchlight Music Theatre has become another “Broadway in Chicago” with their latest production. It features a fluid scenic design by Jacqueline and Richard Penrod and stunning array of period costumes by Bill Morey. Beautifully acted, sung and danced by some of the city’s most skilled talent, directed with spirit by Daryl Brooks, masterfully accompanied by Musical Director Jermaine Hill and creatively choreographed by Christopher Carter—this is one of the finest productions by an excellent theatre company. It’s phenomenally performed, majestically produced and, quite simply: Hock-a-doo not miss this production!
Highly Recommended
Reviewed by Colin Douglas
Presented April 24-June 16 by Porchlight Music Theatre at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn Pkwy, Chicago.
Tickets are available at the box office, by calling 312-337-6453 or by going to www.porchlightmusictheatre.org.
Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.
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