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Theater Review: STABBED IN THE HEART (Factory Theater)
TOO MUCH HEART; NOT ENOUGH BLOOD Directed by Braxton Crewell, the Factory Theater’s production of Cody Lindley and Nate Hall‘s new rock musical Stabbed in the Heart has some hilarious moments and memorable music, but doesn’t quite hit the mark as a slasher-movie parody, if indeed that is the mark. Trish (Madeline Ackerlund) drags her…
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Theater Review: VELOUR: A DRAG SPECTACULAR! (World Premiere at La Jolla Playhouse)
DRAGTACULAR Velour at the La Jolla Playhouse subtitles itself “A Drag Extravaganza” and for 105 uninterrupted minutes it validates the label with a smorgasbord of song, dance, film, projections, animation, circus stunts, and narration. It’s primarily a one-person show but if any entertainer can shoulder such a load, it’s the inimitable Sasha Velour, who has…
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Theater Review: SOFT POWER (Signature Theater, Arlington, VA)
A FABULOUS FEVER DREAM Soft Power at Signature Theatre is a meta-theatrical production that begins with a semi-autobiographical portrayal of David Henry Hwang, who, following a near-fatal incident, envisions a future where China has risen to become the world’s dominant superpower. The narrative then transitions into a futuristic “Chinese musical,” offering a perspective on how…
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Theater Review: FUNNY GIRL (National Tour at Hobby Center)
NOT QUITE THE GREATEST STAR The opening moments of this retelling of the Fanny Brice story has the main character sitting backstage as “ghosts” of former performers circle about her. The real crux here is that there is only one formidable missing “ghost’ that truly matters. That ghost being the legendary Barbra Streisand, who has…
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Theater Review: EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEAR (Coronado Playhouse, San Diego)
The Coronado Playhouse is currently presenting Exit, Pursued by a Bear, a one-act 80-minute play by American dramatist Lauren Gundersen. who is one of the most successful writers on the American theater scene, with more than 25 staged productions since the early 2010s. Yet after the first half hour, I was ready to give up…
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Theater Review: A TWISTED BARGAIN (Compulsion Dance & Theater at Diversionary Black Box Theater)
IF LOOKS COULD KILL : The strength of a person’s spirit would then be measured by how much ‘truth’ he could tolerate, or more precisely, to what extent he needs to have it diluted, disguised, sweetened, muted, falsified. Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) Best friends (and sometimes lovers) Nathan and Richard decide, because of their extreme intelligence…
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Theater Review: MJ (National Tour at The National Theatre, D.C.)
A TRIP THROUGH MICHAEL JACKSON’S TRIPPY LIFE For those who never had the chance to see Michael Jackson perform live, MJ — the current smash-hit Broadway jukebox musical now on tour at The National Theater — thrillingly brings his spirit and talent back to life. Jamaal Fields-Green as ‘MJ’ and the cast of the MJ First…
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Theater Review: RACHEL BLOOM: DEATH, LET ME DO MY SHOW (Steppenwolf in Chicago)
RACHEL BLOOMS IN DEATH Rachel Bloom, the co-creator and star of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, gives a hilarious and vulnerable performance in her raunchy and irreverent one-woman musical comedy Death, Let Me Do My Show directed by Seth Barrish. This show comes to Steppenwolf after a multi-city tour and a sold-out Off-Broadway run in September of 2023….
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Theater Review: MAMMA MIA! (25th Anniversary Tour at The Kennedy Center Opera House)
THE CAMPY ABBA FEST IS BACK Still an over-the-top, campy, family-friendly entertainment, the 25th Anniversary North American tour of Mamma Mia!, currently at The Kennedy Center Opera House, is the feel-good, powerhouse musical romantic comedy that will thrill ABBA fans. Jalynn Steele (Tanya), Christine Sherrill (Donna), Carly Sakolove (Rosie) For those unfamiliar with the plot,…
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Theater Review: DIDO OF IDAHO (Echo Theatre Company)
Dido of Idaho, now playing at Atwater Village, is yet more proof that Echo Theater Company really knows how to pick bold original scripts. And usually they have a heart of darkness coated with offbeat humor. Abby Rosebrock‘s latest one-act is no exception The essence concerns Nora (the always fascinating Alana Dietze), a young woman…
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Theater Review: BACK TO THE FUTURE: THE MUSICAL (National Tour)
BACK TO THE FUTURE NEEDS TO GO BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD The Broadway tour of Back to the Future, a musical adaptation of the beloved film, has landed at Chicago’s Cadillac Palace as part of a national tour. Directed by John Rando, it is visually marvelous and otherwise totally unmemorable. This is a theatre…
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Theater Review: THE GROWN-UPS (Baby Teeth Productions)
ALL SCRIPTS SHOULD BE THIS GROWN UP One of the most riveting and original pieces of theater I have ever seen, The Grown-Ups is now playing outdoors around a campfire near you. Funny, spooky, and sometimes purposefully enigmatic, I simply can’t stop thinking about it, along with all of those psychological Easter Eggs in Skylar…
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Theater Review: IN HIS HANDS (First Floor Theater)
A SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE AT THE THEATER First Floor Theater’s Chicago premiere of In His Hands by Benjamin Benn, which opened last night, is breathtaking from start to finish. Benn’s writing is a poem of the mundane turned miraculous, and the deeply intimate, visually striking production does Benn’s words justice. Alex Benito Rodriguez and Matt Klingler This…
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Theater Review: NINE (Broadway Center Stage at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts)
NINE IS A TEN AT THE KEN CEN Following Broadway Center Stage‘s delightful production of Bye Bye Birdie, here comes a musical on the opposite spectrum in every way. Presented by The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Nine, the musical adaptation of Federico Fellini’s 1963 film 8 ½ now playing at the Eisenhower, is…
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Theater Review: ALICE BY HEART (Kokandy Productions — Midwest Premiere at The Chopin Theatre)
ALICE BY HEART: FULL-HEARTED PRODUCTION; HALF-HEARTED SCRIPT Alice by Heart follows a young girl, Alice (Caitlyn Cerza), during the London Blitz of World War II as she takes refuge in her beloved copy of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alice and her friend Alfred (Joe Giovannetti), who is deathly ill with tuberculosis, seek shelter in an…
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Theater Review: MS. HOLMES & MS. WATSON – APT. 2B (The Old Globe’s Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre)
YOU CAN GO HOLMES AGAIN! The world obviously cannot get enough of Sherlock Holmes. Since the first story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle appeared in 1887, the immortal fictional private detective has appeared in countless books, films, plays, and television shows, with Dr. Watson as his faithful friend and chronicler. But there is always room…
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Theater Review: THE SUPPLIANT WOMEN (Apollinaire Theatre Company at PORT Park in Chelsea, MA)
SUPPLIANT AND DEMAND Looking for a thoroughly pleasant evening on the banks of the Mystic River? Head for Chelsea’s PORT Park and a transfixing performance of The Suppliant Women, by the Greek tragedian Aeschylus. Dating back about 2500 years, it’s one of the world’s oldest known plays, brought into the present moment by award-winning playwright…
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Theater Review: CHICKEN STORIES (Broadwater Main Stage)
CHICKEN STORIES IS A FOWL BALL! There are more than 8 billion people on the earth. But did you know that there are more chickens on the planet than human beings? And you know that we’re not talking as pets. Costco alone sells more than 75 million roasted chickens every year. But what of fried…
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Theater Review: CLUE (National Tour at the Ahmanson Theatre)
CLUELESS NO MORE As a kid, I never played the Hasbro board game Clue, nor did I ever see the Paramount Pictures movie based on that board game. But at opening night on July 31, I was absolutely wowed by the sensational national touring production of Clue at The Ahmanson Theatre, on stage through August…
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Theater Review: PETER PAN (National Tour)
HAPPILY EVER EVER IN THE LAND OF NEVER NEVER There have been so many versions of Peter Pan over the years that current viewers might have been exposed to the character in numerous ways. Granted, it’s not too likely that anyone today got to see J.M. Barrie’s original 1904 London staging of his play about…
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