My 16th birthday proved transformative. No, it wasn’t being given the keys to the family mini-van with wood grain paneling after securing my driver’s license. Nor was it my Eagle Scout ceremony. Not even logging onto the internet for the first time (anyone remember AltaVista?). No – it was the magical moment at the Ford… Read More ‘Sunset Boulevard’ at Porchlight
“There is greatness in me!” When the unflappable Barbara E. Robertson – with her fiery eyes and large, expressive mouth – bellows this mere feet from a rapt audience, you have no choice but to believe her. Robertson plays Anna (Annie) Edson Taylor, the first woman to go over Niagara Falls in Firebrand Theatre’s stunning… Read More ‘Queen of the Mist’ at Firebrand Theatre
It’s hard to think of a show more iconic than A Chorus Line. Michael Bennett’s athletic, razzle-dazzle touch is all over it. Marvin Hamlisch’s pulsating score is peppered with tunes that have become nested in our pop culture. Even the costumes are part and parcel to the show. I mean: You need Cassie’s Red Dress… Read More ‘A Chorus Line’ at Porchlight
Gypsy. Sweeney Todd. Chorus Line. Chicago. Great American musical theatre rallies around a common theme: Desperation – and the great lengths we go to get what we want. Hands on a Hardbody – a show that didn’t get its due on Broadway – fits neatly into that realm. Seeing Refuge Theatre’s scrappy, soulful production last… Read More Hands on a Hardbody – Refuge Theatre
In a recent Chicago Tribune interview, the iconic Betty Buckley – who’s starring in the first national tour of Hello, Dolly! – told critic Chris Jones that even if she has to “put up with a little comparison to this lady or that lady,” it’s all worth it in the end. Full disclosure: I’m a… Read More “Hello, Dolly!” First National Tour at the Oriental Theatre
Gypsy is my favorite show. I’ve seen dozens of performances and productions. I can confidently say I know this show inside and out. That is, until I saw E. Faye Butler as Madame Rose in Porchlight Music Theater’s arresting production. Butler has always been a force. For decades she’s been stopping shows – either as… Read More Gypsy at Porchlight Music Theatre
It’s been a hot second since I’ve written here, but the passing of one of my very favorite performers awoke the muse. If you’ll indulge me… We all have those voices we’ve grown up with. For many it was Aretha. For others, Whitney or Prince. For me, it was a very small handful of… Read More Remembering Marin Mazzie
I can’t imagine a more utterly charming musical than Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s A Little Night Music. Like a bubbly glass of crisp Champagne, even the most middling Night Music waltzes through your senses with delight. Boho Theatre’s production at The Greenhouse Theater Center is disarmingly straightforward, with a few welcome surprises. Directed by… Read More Boho Theatre’s ‘A Little Night Music’
The musical Grand Hotel is, in many ways, an anomaly. Based on a 1932 MGM movie about the inner dramas occurring in an opulent Berlin hotel in 1928, this relentlessly dark show did not feel like a hit when it premiered on Broadway in 1989. Namely, it was competing with the British import megamusicals of… Read More Kokandy’s haunting “Grand Hotel”
As a hard-worn musical theatre nerd, it’s a very rare thing when I encounter a nearly two-decade old, critically praised musical in which I’ve neither seen the source material nor heard a single song. Needless to say, I entered Refuge Theatre Project’s The Spitfire Grill with delightful naiveté. The Spitfire Grill – written by James… Read More Refuge Theatre Project Presents an Earthy, Earnest “The Spitfire Grill”
I love me some Theo Ubique – the scrappy, award-winning storefront that’s made quite a name for itself (and also a new home, opening shortly up the road from its current residence at the No Exit Cafe in Rogers Park). I also love me some Sweeney Todd. It’s my favorite musical, in fact. I’ve seen… Read More A foggy ‘Sweeney Todd’ at Theo Ubique
I tried to hold myself back. I really did. Out of the two shows presented Monday evening as part of Steppenwolf’s “Lookout” series, I very reasonably bought tickets for the late show, starting at 9 p.m. Mainly because the earlier show was sold out (or so I was told), and also because of a goal… Read More I saw Patti LuPone spill tea for three hours, and lived to tell the tale
It’s a rare thing where a show you’ve literally been anticipating for a decade arrives as a full-out, first-rate tour in basically your back yard. Yes, back in 2008 my friends and I wildly conjectured on the much-anticipated sequel to The Phantom of the Opera back when the first, sketchy details of the plot emerged… Read More An Unapologetic ‘Love Never Dies’ in Chicago
Growing up. Trying things, being flexible, bending with the road. Adding dreams when the others don’t last. Growing up, understanding that growing never ends. Like old dreams, some old dreams. Like old friends. “Growing Up” from “Merrily We Roll Along” by Stephen Sondheim It’s no secret in saying getting older means growing up. However, what… Read More Porchlight’s ‘Merrily’ Packs a Punch
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