For the Midwest premiere of TL;DR: Thelma Louise: Dyke Remix, a rock musical by Ellarose Chary (book & lyrics) and Brandon James Gwinn (music and lyrics), the entirety of the Theo Ubique space is transformed by set designer Rose Johnson into the world’s coolest garage; an entirely appropriate location for the world’s coolest punk rock garage band; they don’t have a name yet but the selection process yields some of the biggest laughs in the show.

Jack Chylinski as Cubby, Jeff Rodriguez as Blazer,
Crystal Claros as Henrietta, and Bailey Savage as Marie

A brief catch-up for those of you who aren’t movie lovers (you are forgiven) or those of you who  are movie lovers but have not watched Ridley Scott’s classic Thelma & Louise (you are not): the 1991 feminist crime drama follows its titular protagonists as they escape lives prescribed for them by the patriarchy, jettison their abusive men, and turn briefly to a life of crime leading to a police chase which culminates in them driving their Ford Thunderbird over a cliff into the Grand Canyon; the last shot of the movie being an iconic freeze-frame of the car above the canyon.

 Carolyn Waldee as T and Claire Guthrie as L

The entirety of TL;DR takes place in that freeze-frame—in that Ford Thunderbird suspended in the air above the Grand Canyon. Rather than plummeting to their deaths, Thelma and Louise, known only as T & L in the show, enter a different universe, populated by a garage band of their adoring fans (four queer musicians who idolize them as feminist role models), an assortment of Barbies, toys, and the random detritus one finds in anonymous boxes in garages everywhere. Director Claire Divizio’s masterstroke is to use these toys to chart and process T & L’s awakening to their queerness and its subsequent evolution. It also makes for an interesting parallel to the growing up process, equating those who have newly come out to children who have yet to learn to make their way in the world. This isn’t a new concept to be sure, as anyone who’s heard the term “baby gay” bandied about would attest, but it’s definitely one of the most clever and witty depictions of the process that I’ve seen.

Jack Chylinski as Cubby, Crystal Claros as Henrietta, and Bailey Savage as Marie

The show also explores the concept of community in unusually complex ways, eschewing the old “we are family” chestnut in favor of a much more thoughtful representation of how the expectations of the tribe, even a marginalized one, can be as alienating as societal rejection. In the shock of the new world to which their queerness has exposed them and the pressure put on them by their adoring fans, T and L’s reflexive insistence on normativity is as expected as it is uncomfortable to watch. These scenes are among the most well-performed in the show; the anger and disappointment of the fans running up against the protestations of unfairness by T & L, who didn’t ask to be icons, let alone queer ones. There is also thoughtful commentary on representation and the need for marginalized peoples to read between the lines to try and find characters in art that speak to their experience. This is the rare musical where the book carries as much weight as the music.

Bailey Savage as Marie and Jeff Rodriguez as Blazer

The Cast

And that music is as glorious as the lyrics are hilarious. Fully embracing the punk aesthetic, the score, conducted by pianist Ellie Kahn, is loud, rambunctious, and invigorating; the songs are hilarious and frequently very catchy, and there are (thankfully) only a couple of ballads, and great ones at that. The actor-musicians comprising the band are having a blast and their enthusiasm is infectious. Jeff Rodriguez provides some terrific deadpan as Blazer and her drumming is top notch. As Cubby, Jack Chylinski gives probably my favorite performance of the lot; their gentle singing voice and underplayed dry wit providing a valuable counterpoint to the more aggressive turns. And Bailey Savage turns in the best vocals of the evening on the stunning ballad “Love, Yourself,” my vote for the song most likely to be a future standard.

Jack Chylinski as Cubby and Jeff Rodriguez as Blazer

Our leads, Carolyn Waldee (T) and Claire Guthrie (L) have extremely difficult roles, requiring them to cycle through shock, self-examination, coming out, self-acceptance, and then work their way through a marriage, its dissolution, and reunion in a little over a hundred minutes. There are also the superhero comic and the “WHITE ERASER” but that would require an essay of its own. For the most part they are terrific, and their solos “Stuck” (L) and “Put Up a Fight” (T) are powerful musical moments.

Bailey Savage as Marie

Crystal Claros as Henrietta and Bailey Savage as Marie

The technicals are mostly solid with one unfortunate exception: the sound design and audio is atrocious with the music frequently overpowering, occasionally even drowning out the performers, and mics misfiring multiple times, with Crystal Claros (Henrietta) as the unfortunate casualty of this: it was almost 20 seconds into her solo (“No one has to get f**ked”) that I even realized that there was a song being sung, and even after that, her vocals were hardly audible. I’ll take it on faith from the applause on the other side of the theater that it’s a witty song, but I could barely hear or understand a word. It was a similar, though not as severe, issue with her narration where every few minutes she was inaudible. A disservice to an excellent performance. Hopefully it will be corrected in subsequent shows.

Claire Guthrie as L

Reimagining a classic or classic characters is always a dicey proposition but Chary and James Gwinn have smartly sidestepped any potential potholes in their approach: it’s not important what Thelma and Louise were intended to be but what they became. Icons matter. Representation matters.

T & L deserve their queer happy ending. And so do we.

(And my vote for the band name is “Willa’s Catheter.” That, or “Margaret Cho’s Mustache.”)

Jack Chylinski as Cubby and Bailey Savage as Marie

photos by Elizabeth Stenholt Photography

TL; DR: Thelma Louise; Dyke Remix
Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre
2 hours and 25 minutes with one intermission
Thurs-Sat at 7:30; Sun at 6
ends on October 12, 2025
for tickets ($10-$40), visit Theo U

for more shows, visit Theatre in Chicago