My two young sons, my mom, and I attended Roald Dahl’s "James and the Giant Peach" at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire. The show was excellent. The wonderful singing, colorful costumes, animated actors, and live action keeps the audience very engaged. I highly recommend this play. Go see how the giant peach sets James free!
***RECOMMENDED*** As with all well-constructed dramas, audiences are often faced with more questions than easy or simple pat answers by the play's end. Such is the case with Raven Theatre Company's world premiere of playwright Paul Michael Thomson's "brother sister cyborg space." Highly relevant and pressing issues -- namely the climate crisis -- are addressed in Thomson's twisty script. You may not be entirely comfortable with the outcome. 3 SPOTLIGHTS
***RECOMMENDED*** Court Theatre's Oedipus Trilogy comes to a fitting and deeply satisfying conclusion with its very daring and bold new production of "Antigone," written by Sophocles. Associate Artistic Director Gabrielle Randle-Bent has directed a timeless classic with such strikingly vivid strokes that the work is virtually reimagined by her visionary choices. Wisely, Randle-Bent has utilized Founding Artistic Director Nicholas Rudall's translation. Rudall, whose career spanned over four decades as a Professor Emeritus in Classics at the University of Chicago, is widely recognized as an expert in making ancient Greek tragedies engaging for modern audiences. Since "Antigone" is a play whose central theme is justice, it seems like true poetic justice that Court Theatre's final offering of the trilogy should exalt in Rudall's translated text. 3 SPOTLIGHTS
*** RECOMMENDED For lovers of Shakespeare, and especially for patrons of Chicago Shakespeare Theater, this is most definitely not the winter of our discontent. Edward Hall, Chicago Shakespeare Theater's new artistic director, is making his directorial debut with a smashing and gore-filled "Richard III" which is, quite simply, the most accessible version of this great work that you are likely ever to see. Shrewdly revising some of the text by transposing certain scenes, combined with an audacious choice in casting of the titular role and assembling a dynamite design team, Hall has stamped this "Richard III" with a distinctive style. The resulting production is brazenly original, skillfully executed (pun intended) and downright disturbing. Oh...it's terribly funny, too. 3.5 SPOTLIGHTS
****HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Whenever you see Anna Deavere Smith's name attached to a project, you can be sure that you will experience a unique and well-researched theatrical presentation of often under-appreciated and frequently marginalized voices, which -- when listened to closely -- become both educational as well as emotionally authentic. Whether dealing with the Los Angeles riots following the beating of Rodney King in her legendary "Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992" or the segment titled "The Walkers," which detailed efforts to curtail violence on the South Side of Chicago and made up the bulk of the three stories presented in the contemporary opera titled "Proximity" at Lyric Opera of Chicago last season, Smith has always created works that are rallying cries for social justice. Her "Notes from the Field," receiving its Chicago premiere at TimeLine Theatre Company in a rousing production, is no exception. 4 SPOTLIGHTS
**** Highly Recommended On Saturday, December 2, 2023, I saw “The Snow Queen,” a new musical adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s adventure, with my mom and two young children. It was excellent! The audience was filled with young girls and young boys, alike. All ages enjoyed this musical! I would give this play 5 out of 5 stars.
***RECOMMENDED*** No one does fairy tales (pun intended) as well as PrideArts.
And no one does adult adaptations of children's fairy tales better than Tom Whalley. After a very successful run of Whalley's "Jack Off the Beanstalk" in December of 2022, PrideArts is once again presenting a holiday version of one of Whalley's very British pantomime interpretations with the hilarious "Sleeping with Beauty." 3 SPOTLIGHTS
***RECOMMENDED "Power is the only fact."
No, this is not some sound bite from a certain politician who is seeking re-election but rather one of the many rantings of a former king of England nearing the end of his reign. In James Goldman's "The Lion in Winter," currently at Court Theatre, sometimes it's hard to tell the difference. Director Ron OJ Parson and his assured ensemble have clearly done a comprehensively thorough textual analysis of Goldman's witty yet sardonic script, which translates to a highly entertaining bit of fun. 3 SPOTLIGHTS
***RECOMMENDED "Wise Guys: The First Christmas Story" is a new comedy at The Factory Theater which is a bit difficult to categorize, which is one of its many charms. Playwright Chase Wheaton-Werle's script is equal parts history lesson and an examination of multiple religious beliefs plus an adventure tale combined with a regal quest for the divine. If you simply can't stomach the idea of seeing one more Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy or dread the spirits that will visit grumpy old miser Ebenezer Scrooge, then "Wise Guys" is just the holiday show for you. Definitely not a sugary-sweet confection a la "White Christmas" but this is, obviously, the quintessential origin story of why people celebrate Christmas in the first place. 3 SPOTLIGHTS
**** Recommended Being at my peak in the 60’s, and given this review assignment, Citadel Theatre's "She Loves Me," the first thing that popped into my head was the Beatles’ song, “She Loves You, Yeh, Yeh, Yeh”. This musical has nothing to do with that, exactly. Well, maybe a little. The Beatles’ song is about a gentleman lacking in self-confidence, being assured that the woman of his dreams does, in fact, love him.
