A bomb scientist, working for a deeply underground division of the US military, is struggling to put the pieces together from his fractured life. His latest experiment hasn’t gone exactly to plan, and the collateral damage is more than he can reconcile. His wife and daughter have gone missing … or have they abandoned him? [...]
Raven Theatre’s ‘Bang the Drum Slowly’
Bang the Drum Slowly is one of those rare plays that will appeal to a wide range. (Ahem: pardon me while I make sweeping and offensive generalizations.) Men will appreciate the references to baseball, teamwork and perseverance while women (and gays) will respond to the themes of friendship, loyalty and men in towels. It also [...]
When class lines collide: Focal Point’s potent ‘After Miss Julie’ packs a punch
It’s been said that English plays are all about class, while American plays are about property. Well, that’s certainly the case in Patrick Marber’s 1995 play After Miss Julie, which takes August Strindberg’s late 19th century play, Miss Julie, and pulls into 1945 England — specifically the evening when the British Labour Party defeated the [...]
Writers’ Theatre’s ‘A Little Night Music’ Captivates
There’s something magical happening up in Glencoe, Ill. It’s a sparkling new production of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s 1973 musical, A Little Night Music — a sophisticated, romantic comedy set in 20th century Sweden about mismatched pairs who, through a mix of fate peppered with manipulation, waltz into the arms of their ideal lovers. [...]
Report from Boston: ‘Bombshell’ — they might want to change more than the title of this DOA Marilyn musical
I took a day trip to Boston yesterday to catch the second preview of the new musical about Marilyn Monroe, Bombshell. Perhaps you’ve heard about it? It’s the much-anticipated bio-musical that the bland Hollywood star Rebecca Duvall was set to make her Bway debut in, but then she had a “backstage incident” resulting in an [...]
‘Jamaica, Farewell’ takes us on a path to freedom, whatever the cost
America – that shining land of opportunity. I know I take my freedoms for granted. They’ve just always been there, and it’s hard to imagine life without them. However, in Debra Ehrhardt’s semi-autobiographical one woman play, Jamaica, Farewell, she reminds us that we have it pretty damn good. And for a young girl growing up [...]
How *not* to write a press release for your theatre company
Each day I get dozens of pitches and press releases in my inbox for upcoming productions, and most of them are professional and clear, but a good chunk of them are a bit of a mess. However, I’m usually quite forgiving, as many times the people writing these things aren’t PR people, but rather theatre [...]
So long, Chicago! Jessie Mueller is a Broadway STAR
Hey, Chicago. Remember Jessie Mueller? Perhaps you saw her in Writers’ Theatre’s She Loves Me? Or as Adelaide in Guys and Dolls at Marriott? Or, if you were really lucky, her steller work as Mary Flynn in Merrily We Roll Along at The Music Theatre Company? (My friend Jamie and I argued if we saw [...]
HuffPo review: ‘Rent’ and ‘Tick, Tick… Boom’ Rock Out Chicago (Well, Almost…)
It’s a Jonathan Larson summer in Chicago. Currently, the genre-defining musical theatre composer is receiving productions of his two major shows by a trio of distinguished local theatre companies. Tick, Tick… Boom!, which is essentially the precursor to Rent, is a largely autobiographical musical about the late composer’s artistic struggles as he begins to ease [...]
HuffPo Review: Goodman’s ‘Iceman Cometh,’ Starring Nathan Lane, Chills to the Core
Chicago truly is an amazing theatre town — especially now, where we have two epic plays receiving landmark productions, and I’ve been lucky to see both of them. Following the seven hour Angels in America at Court Theatre this weekend, I took in Goodman Theatre’s highly anticipated The Iceman Cometh, which clocks in at just [...]
Sharpen your claws! It’s ‘Cats’!
I love cats. The animal and the show. Ok, maybe not the animal so much, but I love my cat, Alley. She’s, I guess, what you’d call a former Jellicle cat. She lived a rough life before we claimed her in our back alley 10 years ago where she probably had some inscrutable Jellicle name [...]
HuffPo review: Court’s ‘Angels in America’ Soars Despite Clipped Wings
The cliffhanger that concludes the first half of Tony Kushner’s epic Angels in America is designed to stun. It’s the moment when the angel — an earth-shattering vision or a violent fever dream, or both — crashes through Prior Walter’s bedroom ceiling to deliver a prophetic message. However, in Court Theatre’s glorious yet frustratingly uneven [...]
HuffPo review: Get Your Repressed Rage on With ‘Rise of the Numberless’
There’s a rock revolution going on, and should you choose to attend, you’ve automatically become an unwitting member of The Numberless. Who are The Numberless, you ask? Why, they’re the forgotten children who’ve been living underground out of sight from the government for the past five decades, and now they’re gearing up to tell their [...]
Shows I will probably never, ever see
Ok. I may be a Chicago theatre addict, but even I have my limits. You see, I get roughly several dozen press invitations a day for shows, which at first was awesome, but now it’s a bit overwhelming. I’m just one person with a full time job and other various commitments, so I have to [...]
Huffington Post: ‘Being Shakespeare’ at Broadway Playhouse
Simon Callow’s one-man show, Being Shakespeare, took the U.K. by storm and is now making a short stop at Chicago’s Broadway Playhouse, courtesy of Chicago Shakespeare Theatre’s World’s Stage Series. The multi-talented Callow is a deeply compelling performer, who clearly revels in the Bard of Avon’s prose and poems. At various points Callow, who’s 62, [...]
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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