The cast of Theo Ubique’s “Smokey Joe’s Cafe” As a powerhouse songwriting duo, Jerome “Jerry” Leiber and Mike Stoller cranked out some significant hits in the ’50s and ’60s, including “Hound Dog,” “Jailhouse Rock,” “Stand By Me” and “On Broadway.” When producers Stephen Helper, Jack Viertel and Otis Sallid decided to create a musical revue… Read More HuffPo Review: Visit ‘Smokey Joe’s Cafe’ for a Toe-Tapping Good Time
This audition video for Goodman Theatre’s Crowns is quite charming. These two young actresses look like they’re completely gobsmacked to be working on this show, and their energy is infectious. Now I’m even more excited to see this Goodman revival. *** Maybe old news to some, but Writers’ Theatre’s A Little Night Music has scored… Read More This and that in Chicago theatre
My latest HuffPo review is now live, people. Check it. — After 16 years renting spaces around town, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble — Chicago’s only producing organization dedicated to women’s voices — has finally found a permanent home. The modest double storefront space features a cozy 50-seat blackbox performance venue, male AND female restrooms (a luxury… Read More A Sleepy ‘Falling: A Wake’ and a Radiant ‘The Light in the Piazza’
Get ready for some random: A storefront Piazza Theo Ubique announced that it will produce The Light in the Piazza — one of my absolute favorite shows — in their 60-seat cafe setting. I’m confident this group can pull it off, as artistic director Fred Anzevino has more than enough experience staging epic musicals in… Read More This and that.
Meow! Cats is back in Chicago. But not like you’ve seen it before. A little over a year ago, the non-Equity national tour stopped in town at the Cadillac Palace for a handful of performances. Despite the inflatable sets, canned tap-dancing and sluggish tempos, the show still delivered the magic. But that’s probably due more… Read More Theo Ubique offers an in-your-face ‘Cats’
Courtney Crouse as Freddie strategizes his next move in Theo Ubique’s “Chess.” Theo Ubique doesn’t shy away from a challenge. To prove this, they’ve staged Chess — the biggest ’80s rock musical* in the history of ’80s rock musicals — in their rickety, ramshackle venue: the aptly-named No Exit Cafe. (Seriously: I hope a fire never… Read More Review: ‘Chess’ @ Theo Ubique
I already posted my thoughts on this production here. A snippet of the review follows: This ain’t your grandmother’s Man of La Mancha. You know: the classic musical about the “mad” knight who attacks windmills, as told by a late 17th century inmate named Cervantes to his fellow prisoners as he awaits trial during the… Read More New EDGE review: Man of La Mancha
Last night I attended what I thought to be the press opening of Theo Ubique’s Man of La Mancha. [Minirant: This is the third show I’ve reviewed recently were the press people have either 1) not had a ticket for me after sending a confirmation email that there would be one; or 2) messed up… Read More (Wo)Man of La Mancha — in scrubs!
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