Category: Chicago

Chicago Like a Local: ‘Beauty and the Beast’ at Chicago Shakespeare Theater is a Belle of a Good Time

The cast of ChiShakes’ “Beauty and the Beast.” It’s clear, based on yesterday’s sold-out performance of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, that Chicago Shakespeare Theatre has a hit. From the moment Belle (the charming Emily Rohm) comes strolling down the aisle singing that well-known passage (“Little town, it’s a quiet village…”), kids of all ages… Read More Chicago Like a Local: ‘Beauty and the Beast’ at Chicago Shakespeare Theater is a Belle of a Good Time

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HuffPo Review: Right Brain’s Fascinating ‘Marat/Sade’

Only in Chicago would a theater company actively seek out to produce a play that has more people onstage than in the audience. Yet that’s exactly the case in The Right Brain Project’s ridiculously ambitious production of German playwright Peter Weiss’ 1963 play, The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates… Read More HuffPo Review: Right Brain’s Fascinating ‘Marat/Sade’

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‘The Twelve Tenors’ at The Riverfront Theatre

My dear friend, Herb (whom we lovingly rever to as “Opera Herb” because his mellifluous voice is something of a wonder), reports on the new, unique summer Chicago venue, The Riverfront Theatre, and its most recent production, “The Twelve Tenors.” Take it away, Herb! If you’re like me, you’ve commuted home north on the Kennedy,… Read More ‘The Twelve Tenors’ at The Riverfront Theatre

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Hollywood takes Chicago theatre by (dust) storm in ‘Johnny Theatre’

Ah, Chicago theatre. The place where people willingly toil away for countless hours in windowless black boxes, bearing their souls for little to no pay. As a frequent voyeur of such perversions, I’m in constant awe of the commitment and courage these artists place on telling a story to those of us who show up.… Read More Hollywood takes Chicago theatre by (dust) storm in ‘Johnny Theatre’

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‘Best Musical!’ turns weary Wednesday nights into lyrical lunacy

What do you get when you take five singer/comedians, one pianist, a top hat filled with fictional song titles and shove them on a stage? You get BEST MUSICAL! A Completely Improvised Musical Comedy! Musicals often take years — even decades! — to develop. Just look how long it’s taking the folks in Smash to… Read More ‘Best Musical!’ turns weary Wednesday nights into lyrical lunacy

Bob Bullen2 Comments

Ravinia Bob returns: LuPone, Callaway and more planned for Ravinia 2012

There are some people out there (you know who you are) who refer to me as “Ravinia Bob.” Over time, this nickname was been truncated to “RivB,” and eventually “Riv2theB.” Why? Because I’ve made some lifelong friends over the years attending many events at the Highland Park concert venue — particularly during the summer of… Read More Ravinia Bob returns: LuPone, Callaway and more planned for Ravinia 2012

Bob Bullen6 Comments

This and that

Remy Bumppo’s only halfway through their season, and newly appointed artistic director Timothy Douglas has suddenly called it quits, much to the surprise of the theatre company’s board of directors and artistic associates. It seems like only yesterday he was saying things like, “It is with gratitude, humbleness and divinely guided purpose with which I… Read More This and that

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One star-making turn barely keeps this lackluster ‘La Cage’ afloat

If there’s one reason to see the tour of La Cage Aux Folles, which is playing at the Bank of America Theatre through January 1, it’s for Christopher Sieber’s ovation-worthy turn as Albin, the campy, drag-tastic dynamo who, as his alter-ego Zaza, stars in the nightly revue at La Cage. Sieber, who’s had the opportunity… Read More One star-making turn barely keeps this lackluster ‘La Cage’ afloat

Bob Bullen3 Comments

Profiles explores its caregiving side with ‘Assisted Living’

Assisted Living, a new play by Deirdre O’Connor, is a tender domestic drama about a woman, whose life has been consumed by taking care of her ailing mother, struggling to rediscover herself. Really? Profiles Theatre, a company known for producing extremely violent and upsetting works such a Killer Joe and Kid Sister, is producing this?… Read More Profiles explores its caregiving side with ‘Assisted Living’

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All brain and little heart in Hershey Felder’s ‘Maestro: The Art of Leonard Bernstein’

Hershey Felder is a talented man. He can play piano virtuosically (that’s a word, right?). He can command a stage. He knows how to establish a mood through carefully modulated delivery of words and music. He can sing (though, at times the sound isn’t what one would describe as pleasing). He can even do accents!… Read More All brain and little heart in Hershey Felder’s ‘Maestro: The Art of Leonard Bernstein’

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Sondheim gets his Shakes on, the most overrated play of 2011 and more …

Get ready for some random theatre-y thoughts: Sondheim gets his ChiShakes on: After receiving the Chicago Tribune Literary Prize for lifetime achievement on Sunday morning, the man himself visited Sunday’s matinée of Follies at Chicago Shakespeare Theater (along with playwright David Henry Hwang and the great Sir Peter Hall). He then went backstage following the… Read More Sondheim gets his Shakes on, the most overrated play of 2011 and more …

Bob Bullen2 Comments

Raven hits a road bump with lackluster ‘Bus Stop’

Sophia Menendian, Antoine Pierre Whitfield and Jon Steinhagen in Raven Theatre’s “Bus Stop” I admire Raven Theatre for many reasons. The staff and actors all seem to love what they do. And the highly diverse audiences seems to love watching the result. It’s a supportive and inviting atmosphere, and the last few shows I’ve seen… Read More Raven hits a road bump with lackluster ‘Bus Stop’

Bob Bullen7 Comments