Chicago Theatre Review
Millennial Connections, with Music
First Date – Royal George Theatre
Just in time for Valentines Day, and poised to warm up those cold Chicago nights, this pocket-size, recycled sitcom-style musical is cute,
Read MoreMoving Toward the Darkness
The Addams Family – Mercury Theatre
The sizzling sound you hear is all the artistry that burns within Mercury Theater’s creative team. This includes director, L. Walter Stearns,
Read MoreBring on the Girls
La Cage aux Folles – Marriott Theatre
The glitz and glamor of St. Tropez, with all its sparkle and shine, stars in sequins and feather boas and talented chorines in drag, almost
Read MoreA Boy and His Drag Queen
Princess Mary Demands Your Attention – Bailiwick Chicago
A young, gay African American named Amari realizes that his life is stagnating. Things begin to change, however, soon after he encounters
Read MoreToo Hot to Handel
AUDITORIUM THEATRE PRESENTS: TOO HOT TO HANDEL
THE JAZZ-GOSPEL MESSIAH
JANUARY 17-18
REVIEWED BY: DR. MADISON SAMPLE
I also have a dream. One day, black and white men, Jew and Gentiles, male and female, and those of different backgrounds and faiths will come together and speak the universal language of music. If Dr Martin Luther King were here now, he would be very pleased. The experience is one of great music of different categories and styles.
I did not anticipate hearing straight ahead jazz, cool jazz, Big Band, classical, traditional gospel and mood music in one night! I felt cheated that I missed the previous years of such a grand experience.
This weekend is the 125th anniversary of the Auditorium theater at Roosevelt University. The architecture is fully grand. It has housed several diverse acts throughout its history, but never in one night.
“Too Hot to Handel” also is produced as a tribute to Dr Martin Luther King. He tirelessly dedicated his life to the furtherance of man and the ideal of humanity trumping ethnicity. I believe this collaboration provides such an example of his living dream.
The singer soloist– Rodrick Dixon, Alfreda Burke and Karen Marie Richardson were all fantastic. Not only were the vocal notes pure musicianship but full of soul you could touch. The orchestra and background chorus filled the auditorium with a sweet aroma of enjoyment and expectation for more.
This is my first Too Hot to Handel, but certainly not my last.
Madison
Keeping It Fresh
Plastic Revolution – The New Colony
It’s 1950 and the Donna Reed/June Cleaver-inspired housewives are back and ready to burp those plastic food storage containers all over
Read MoreWe Tell the Stories
Mr. Burns – Theatre Wit
If and when the world comes to an end, people will be left with little, except recollections and fond memories from popular culture,
Read MoreJudgement Not Allowed
Handicap This! – Step Up Productions
Most people don’t realize that the largest group of minorities in the nation are those who fall under the category of being handicapped. It’s
Read MoreNothing to Fear
Scary Tales 2015 – Clock Productions
A 75-minute evening consisting of seven short stories, linked together by a title that indicates there will be shivers and chills galore, is a
Read MoreThe Confusing Symmetry of Living
A Map of Virtue – Cor Theatre
At once poetic and terrifying, enlightening and confusing, Erin Courtney’s perplexing Obie Award-winning play will be remembered as one
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