Reviews by Carol Moore

**** Highly recommended **** If you love jazz, and jazz singers, you don’t want to miss Alexis J. Roston in "Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill" at Mercury Theater’s Venus Cabaret.  Wearing a glamorous white gown, full-length gloves and pearls, Roston, backed by a fabulous trio, brings Billie Holiday to life.  By the way, watch for the darling dog later in the show!  Lady Day has found a home at Venus Cabaret!  4 Big Spotlights

***** Highly Recommended ***** Marriott Theatre’s "Big Fish", an old-fashioned feel-good musical about an American family, is imaginative, fantastical and an all- around good time.  Spoiler warning – it can be a bit of a tear-jerker, too.  Although I didn’t see the Tim Burton film, I did read Daniel Wallace’s book.  I think the musical nails the feel of the book.  I loved “Big Fish” and I give it 4 BIG Spotlights.   

*** Recommended *** Chicago Shakespeare’s World Stage has finally returned!  The first World Stage production since 2019, Wise Children’s epic production of "Wuthering Heights", adapted and directed by Emma Rice, comes from Great Britain.  Although this production does convey the melancholy, brooding mood of Emily Brontë’s novel, I found it to be really heavy going.  It’s impossible to empathize with any of these characters.  Worse yet, at nearly three hours, it was way too long for American audiences.  3 Spotlights

*** Recommended ***  The Goodman Theatre production of "the ripple, the wave that carried me home" is a beautifully layered story about a family’s struggle against injustice.  Told from an estranged daughter’s perspective, the narrative seems to make huge leaps through time – present to past to earlier past and back again – without warning, which made it difficult to follow.  Another thing to consider, the ripple, the wave runs an hour and 50 minutes without an intermission, which is just too long for me (the seats in the Owen are not the most comfortable).  3 ½ Spotlights