My two sons, ages 4 and 2, my mom, and I went to see "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown" at the Marriott Theatre on Saturday, February 25, 2023 at 10:00 am. The play follows Charles Schulz’s famous “Peanuts” bunch. All of the actors did a great job. The performance lasted a little over an hour. My kids were entertained the whole time. The actors had colorful costumes and the music was great. The entire show came together nicely.
Although it was not easy to score a ticket to this sold-out production, I’m glad I did. Steel Magnolias is a play that has it all… fights, love, worries, birth, death, laughs, and tears.
3-1/2 stars – bumped up to 4 stars! Porchlight Theatre’s “Cabaret” is fun and entertaining yet retains its dark underpinnings of things to come: having to do with the Nazis’ rise to power in Germany in the 1930s. With hummable music by Kander and Ebb and a remarkable book by Joe Masteroff, the singing, dancing, and acting in this show are terrific—and many elements are exceptional.
5 Stars! Highly Recommended! Juicy and flavorful, “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” is a treat! The acting is fantastic; the choreography is beautiful; the singing is excellent; and the music is fun and enlivening. The original Broadway musical came out in 1978, written by Larry L. King and Peter Masterson, with music and lyrics by Carol Hall. But this new production by the Theo Ubique company can boast of originality too: with both female and nonbinary characters playing the “working girls” and with lots of gender fluidity: men playing women’s roles, women playing men’s roles, etc., and doing so convincingly. Due to the marvelous trifecta of three talented women: director Landree Fleming, choreographer Jenna Schoppe, and music director Isabella Isherwood, this largely comedic show provides an enjoyable evening’s-worth of live theatre.
My 4-year-old son. Mike, and I attended The Steadfast Tin Soldier, at Lookingglass Theatre recently. The location of this theatre is a treat in itself. It is located in the Water Tower. It is on the Magnificent Mile, too, so we enjoyed shopping a bit and walking around after the show.
My husband and I took our sons, ages 2 years and 4 years to Filament Theatre’s, “Forts! Build Your Own Adventure,”
Camelot is a place where everything is right, in a time long ago….until King Arthur meets and weds Guinevere. Initially it is a relationship made in heaven and the kingdom is perfect. Then, Lancelot enters the picture. King Arthur is enamored with him and bestows knighthood
and makes him a knight of the Round Table. And then, Guinevere is enamored with him too and this does not end well.
My two boys, ages two and four, my husband, and I attended the 5:30 pm showing of "Sesame Street Live! Make Your Magic" on Saturday, October 8, 2022 at the Rosemont Theater. We had a great time and our boys had fun. We loved seeing how much our kids enjoyed the show. The show lasted about 90 minutes; this included an intermission about half way through
This reviewer couldn’t get there for opening night but maybe the one-week head start made this production near flawless. The opening set design by Eric Luchen set the tone, drawing applause as the curtain went up.
★★★★★One of my favorite Sondheim musicals is “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (hereafter I will use “Sweeney Todd”). I have witnessed quite a number of productions, but never as a chamber piece. Kokandy Productions, since its onset, has been great at selecting material to convert from large stage to chamber. For those unaware of a Chamber Piece/or musical, it is an intimate production where more imagination on the part of the audience comes into the mix. The actors are close enough to touch and often, a character will sit at a musical instrument and become a part of the band. The audience is not sitting in what we call theater seats, but rather arm chairs and stools and other pieces of furniture one might find in “Grandma’s living room”.
