Lawrence Bommer

IT’S NOT JUST THE MEAT, IT’S THE MISERY The final searing image in Oracle Theatre’s pile-driving retelling of Upton Sinclair’s muckraking masterwork is a bold take on the Chicago flag: Now the blue stripes flank not four stars but four bloody handprints. The vandalism happens just after the magnificent ten-member ensemble have erupted in a…

ELEVATED EXPERIMENTS Now in its 14th season, New Dances 2014, Thodos Dance Chicago’s weekend-long premiere at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts is a grueling, ambitious, and often successful showcase for nine company members. Instead of marching to another’s rhythms, they’re here allowed to design their own dances. Maybe it’s because these performers are…

T.M.I. AS DRAMA The Qualms (a cute title that sounds like both a setting and a condition) is basically an Internet forum made flesh, a “truth or dare” confessional in one act. Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s new 90-minute offering from Pulitzer/Tony-winning playwright Bruce Norris is one loud argument divided into eight characters. Four couples in what…

HORTON HATCHES A HIT “Oh! The Thinks You Can Think!” proclaims this joyous romp as it proves what it belts. One of those powerful pensées  is: “A person’s a person, no matter how small.” That truth from Dr. Seuss sits well with the kids flocking to Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Courtyard mainstage. Because Seussical is the kind…

HIDDEN IN THE MASTER’S SHADOW The sardonically named Twain’s World (that hint of amateurism is to be heeded), this year’s week-long LitFest from First Floor Theatre is devoted to the works (first act) and life (second) of America’s crown jester, Mark Twain. Seven ten-minute plays written by local writers and staged by Chicago directors testify…

MUSICALS LIKE THIS OCCUR ONCE EVERY 100 YEARS What won’t some do to flee the ravages and anguish of war? In 1947, when Brigadoon confirmed the mutual genius of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, timing was everything: A second global conflict had just ended, leaving in its wake postwar angst and searing doubts that…

WHILE GENERIC, A SINCERE SHIP HARDLY CAPSIZES The Last Ship, now in a shakedown cruise at Bank of America Theatre, joins a proud list of fervent tributes to blue-collar Brits. These salutes to stolid survival honor underdog heroes fighting hard times and mean bosses. Invariably, they take a dramatic stand, however doomed or demented’”Billy Elliott,…

TILL DEATH DO US RECONCILE In little more than an hour Sharr White pulls off a (one) act of forgiveness, reuniting estranged partners in a foul trailer in Paonia, Colorado. The unpromising setting, delivered in detail by set designer Katie-Bell Springmann, is a sty surrounded by dog shit where anything good has to fight against…

A JUICY CLUSTER OF APES There are no simians in Apes of Wrath, Second City e.t.c.’s new revue at Pipers Alley’”but then, as always, the jokes are on us. The vague premise behind this trenchant, well-targeted sketch satire is that humans are specks in an uncaring universe–so it’s better to light your Chinese lanterns (as…

ORPHANS OF THE RICH No one captures the volatile complexity and fragile bravado of mixed-up young adults better than the angry young plays of the 20th century. In Look Back in Anger, Dealer’s Choice, Stupid Kids, and subUrbia  lost generations find dead-ends they either deserve or don’t. This Is Our Youth, Anna Shapiro’s pile-driving (and New…

A FEMINIST FANTASY SOAKED IN WHIMSY In Lifeline Theatre’s semi-delightful 150-minute romp, the war between the sexes is replaced by a war against sexism. The latest adaptation from this literature-loving ensemble is Chris Hainsworth’s faithful adaptation of  Monstrous Regiment, the 31st novel  in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series.  This prolific author manages to meld sword-and-sorcery, 18th-century fantasy, and a…

A THREE-HOUR HOME RUN Clearly and cleanly, tried and true director/choreographer Kevin Bellie trusts the heart out of Adler and Ross’ 1952 Broadway classic. Damn Yankees, Light Opera Works’ summer treat at Northwestern University’s Cahn Auditorium, is glowing and glorious fun. Their faithful recreation gets richly rewarded by complete and accurate orchestrations, clever 50’s costumes,…

HEARKENING BACK TO HAPPY HARMONIES Too sweet to be termed a blast from the past, Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre’s latest reclamation brings back, with all their pep, pizzazz and patriotism, the greatest sister act of all time (Lennon who? Boswell what? McGuire huh?)’”Patty, Maxene and LaVerne Andrews. Under director/choreographer David Heiman’s loving recreation, conceived in…

CYBER COMPASSION, OR PIXELS FAKE PASSION Like his equally probing The Day of the Locust, Nathanael West’s 1933 novella Miss Lonelyhearts all but skewers its subject: the loneliness of crowds and the desperation that anonymity generates in each and, finally, en masse. West’s seminal work depicts a hard-boiled young journalist who reluctantly becomes a newspaper…

HOME LOST HOME A world premiere from Sideshow Theatre Company, this curious and lengthy offering feels as familiar as it is threatening. In 145 minutes Kathleen Ackerley (who also co-directs) imagines a very ingrown world within a highly structured system: Basically, Tyrant (the title referring not to a dictator but to a rich man’s internal…

WILL WONDERS NEVER CEASE? No question, Black Ensemble Theatre’s latest offering boasts the usual superb quality control of sounds and notes, casting, performance, ensemble rapport, and musical impeccability that distinguish their worthy works. Contrary to previous delights by Jackie Taylor that showcased Jackie Wilson, Marvin Gaye, or Howlin’ Wolf, its title One Hit Wonders suggests…

NOT SINCE THE REAGAN ERA Alas, it’s been 30 years since Paul Taylor Dance Company last played Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre. Even more alas, the too-brief weekend return ends today. At least now we know what the New York troupe is up to and, if not exciting, it’s certainly eclectic enough for whatever payoff that presents….

AN ANCIENT SWEETNESS ON A GOODMAN STAGE Infatuated with alteration, Tony-winner Mary Zimmerman loves transformations, metamorphoses, shape-shifting, and slow to rapid mood swings. Nothing should seem or stay as it looks or as we see it. Astonishment is all. Almost two millennia old, the ancient myth of a white snake who painstakingly enlightens herself into…

BEYOND THE BREACH It honors the text. That’s praise enough for any production, especially when the drama is the world’s greatest propaganda play:  Henry V. Shakespeare’s most patriotic work all but wallows in the come-from-behind victory at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 and all but beatifies the warrior king whose false claim to the throne…