Yesterday, I noticed a significant — and seemingly out of the blue — spike of new twitter followers. So, I did a little digging and discovered I’d been listed as “The Top 100 Theatre Tweeters You Must Follow on Twitter – 2011 Edition.” Well, fancy! I’m completely surprised and honored to be listed among notable [...]
Meow! Hell in a Handbag turns up the claw-flying camp in a Tennessee Williams classic
Brick (Eric Lindahl) can’t face his wife, Maggie (Jeremy Myers) in Hell in a Handbag’s “Pussy on the House” by Ryan Landry. (Photo by Rick Aguilar Studios) What happens when you take Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, turn the emotive-meter up to “camp,” replace the female roles with men in full-out drag [...]
The New Colony’s funny, if unfocused, ‘Frat’ returns in commercial remount
The cast of New Colony’s “Frat,” from the 2009 production. Photo by Anne Petersen. I was in a fraternity in college. Ok, so it was a music fraternity. Still, there were rituals and secret knocks and creeds and things we had to memorize — and even a small degree of hazing for the pledges. And [...]
Developmental concert of new musical, ‘Facing East,’ to benefit The Trevor Project
Got this press release in my box. I’m all for supporting new musical works, especially when the support of new works supports worthy nonprofit organizations — in this case, The Trevor Project, which provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth. The new musical, Facing East, will [...]
Announcing The Great ‘Follies’ Smack-down of 2011
Top: Ron Raines and Bernadette Peters (and their ghostly counterparts) in the Broadway production of “Follies.” (Photo © Joan Marcus) Bottom: Susan Moniz and Robert Petkoff in Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s “Follies.” (Photo: Peter Bosy) The challenge: To see two productions of Follies within four days of each other and determine which production is the winner. [...]
Victory Gardens’ ‘In the Next Room or the vibrator play’ hits the spot
Mark Montgomery and Kate Fry in Victory Garden’s “In the Next Room or the vibrator play” One simple moment in Sarah Ruhl’s In The Next Room or the vibrator play particularly struck me. It’s a scene where Catherine Givings (the outstanding Kate Fry), in preparation for a procedure by her stoically scientific husband (Mark Montgomery), [...]
New Chicago theatre podcast: “Off Book” (featuring yours truly)
My dear friend and fellow Chicago theatre blogger Katy Walsh has teamed up with Chicago actor Joshua Volkers to produce “Off Book,” a new weekly podcast discussing our vibrant and ever-growing theatre scene. I was honored and flattered to be asked to participate in the premiere episode, along with Time Out Chicago theatre editor Kris Vire. I [...]
2011 Chicago Fringe Festival: genders, counting and soul mates
Rebecca Kling returns to the Chicago Fringe Festival. This Saturday I made the trek down to Pilson to catch a trio of shows on the final weekend of the second annual Chicago Fringe Festival. To add to my initial impressions from last year, I’ll simply say this: Chicago’s Fringe Festival continues to amaze and inspire [...]
About Face Theatre’s ‘The Kid Thing’ is a thoughtfully conceived conversation starter
The cast of About Face Theatre’s “The Kid Thing” For most of my young adult life, the concept of wanting kids totally eluded me. It wasn’t even worth discussing with my partner of 10-plus years because I couldn’t even imagine it. And, to some extent, neither could he. Then, not too long ago, the discussion [...]
Porchlight’s stellar ‘Putting it Together’
More than a decade ago, I saw my first Chicago storefront-produced musical. It was the swinging Burt Bacharach tuner Promises, Promises, produced by a little theatre group called Porchlight Music Theatre. Porchlight has been on my radar since then, and while their shows over the years have been usually well-produced, they’ve often seemed a little, [...]
Equity Jeff Award nominations: huzzah, harrumph and huh?
Happy fall, kittens! As you can see from my “CTA Tracker” (as Beyoncé would say, “to the left, to the left”), this Chicago Theatre Addict is going to be quite busy very soon. On top of this, nominations for 2010-2011 Equity Jeff Awards were announced, and there are a lot of them. And I’ve some [...]
Ludicrous Theatre offers a close-quarters ‘Rocky Horror Show’
Kevin Buswell stares down Kirk Jackson and Mara Stewart in Ludicrous Theatre’s “Rocky Horror Show.” “Don’t dream it; be it,” sings Ludicrous Theatre’s energetic cast in tight harmony. This lyric, which closes out cult musical Rocky Horror Show, could easily be the mantra for this hardworking storefront theatre company. Someone had a dream to do [...]
Mortar’s bold ‘Corazón de Manzana’ brings fantasy to a gruesome reality
A girl (Cruz Gonzalez-Cadel) begins a fantastical (and fatal) journey in Mortar Theatre Company’s “Corazón de Manzana.” Photo credit: John W. Sisson, Jr. Dana Lynn Formby’s highly ambitious new play, Corazón de Manzana, examines the femicide crisis in Juárez, Mexico through the lives of three mother/daughter relationships: a passionate young girl and her single working [...]
Brikenbrak’s ambitious ‘Wolf’ leaves you hungry for more
An introverted and intellectually bewitching high school student (sporting a red hoodie)befriends her mild-mannered, but deeply frustrated, English teacher, Jacob Grimm. The relationship evolves and becomes… questionable. And then, tragedy strikes. The police narrow in on Grimm, his agoraphobic wife turns her back on him, and the small-town rumor mill churns. Mr. Grimm soon finds [...]
Welcome to [CTA]
- Hi. My name's Bob Bullen and I'm a Chicago Theatre Addict [CTA]. Learn more here. Please leave comments — I'd love to hear what you think, and promise to do my best to reply.
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