*** Recommended Steppenwolf’s production of Ngozi Anyanwu’s play, "Leroy and Lucy," left me adrift. Since it’s billed as a play with music, I thought I’d hear way more Delta Blues than I did. I thought I knew where it was going – the ‘sell your soul to the devil’ trope – but then it took a strange turn and I wasn’t sure what to think. I liked the staging but I couldn’t bring myself to care about the characters. 2 ½ Spotlights
**** Highly Recommended There’s new revue at The Second City e.t.c., "Best Kept Secret: Tell Everyone" and it’s downright hilarious. Everywhere I looked, people were laughing. This cast brought the audience into the show from the first, and people loved it. In fact, a good sport from the audience drew as many laughs as any cast member! If laughter is contagious, we all caught the bug! 4 Spotlights
**** Recommended Looking for adventure with your Shakespeare? "Pericles" is definitely the show for you – a fantastical soap opera, chock full of adventure, comedy, tragedy and double-dealing. Escape into a world of kings & queens, shipwrecks, pirates, goddesses – even evil stepmothers – with the Royal Shakespeare Company’s "Pericles." Don’t miss this show! 4 Spotlights.
**** Recommended Remy Bumppo’s production of "Dear Elizabeth" is a unique and charming little play. It’s unique because the characters were real people, renowned American poets, Elzabeth Bishop (Leah Karper) and Robert “Cal” Lowell (Christopher Sheard). Apparently, playwright Sarah Ruhl ran across their letters and decided the content would make a play. Kudos to Director Christina Casano for this fascinating glimpse into the lives of two literary giants. 4 Spotlights
**** Highly Recommended "Some Like It Hot" is a big, old-fashioned Broadway musical straight out of the thirties and forties. It’s full of big band music and songs, big tap dance numbers, and beautiful people wearing stunning costumes. Some Like It Hot is also a farce, with rapid fire dialogue, mistaken identities, men dressing as women, insane chases, lots of doors and plenty of pratfalls. I loved every minute of this show! 4 BIG Spotlights
**** Highly Recommended I was moved to tears by Namir Smallwood’s tour de force performance in "Primary Trust." I didn’t know quite what to expect – given the whole imaginary friend thing – but as it turns out, the imaginary friend is more of a footnote because the play is actually about self-discovery and connection. Do not miss this poignant yet charming little play at the Goodman. It bumped some very prestigious plays to leap right into my top five plays of the year! 4 BIG Spotlights
**** Highly Recommended Hell in a Handbag is one of my absolute favorite Chicago theater companies. Their unauthorized parodies of old black and white films and favorite TV shows, packed with double entendres, puns, running sight gags and bad wigs, never fail to make me laugh! This fall’s offering, "The Golden Girls Meet The Skooby Don’t Gang: The Mystery of The Haunted Bush," is a farce so ridiculous, it’s hysterically funny! If you need some laughter in your life, this is the show for you. I loved it and you will too. Kudos to playwright David Cerda, Hell in a Handbag’s Artistic Director. "The Golden Girls Meet The Skooby Don’t Gang: The Mystery of The Haunted Bush" is one of his best! 4 BIG Spotlights
**** Recommended Shattered Globe Theatre’s production of "Becky Nurse of Salem" is a play that grew on me. I didn’t think I liked it, but the more I thought about it, the more it intrigued me. Playwright Sarah Ruhl always seems to pick an interesting topic for her plays, and then takes the story in a really unexpected direction. In this case, Ruhl uses a real person, Rebecca Nurse, a hard-of-hearing, 71-year-old mother of nine, who was hung as a witch in 1692, as a starting point for a modern tale about an outspoken woman with modern problems. 4 Spotlights
*** Recommended I have real mixed feelings about "Ironbound", the first production of Raven Theatre’s season. It was dark, dystopian and very intense, but really confusing. The story jumped back and forth in time leaving me wondering when was this, who is that person and why was he there. Darja (Lucy Carapetyan), the central character, is abrasive, aggressive and angry, making it difficult to empathize with her. The cast was spot on, however, especially Carapetyan who never left the stage! 3 Spotlights
**** Highly Recommended "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" is phenomenal! Really, I’m not exaggerating. Harry Potter is wizardly and action-packed. The special effects are awesome, in fact, mindboggling. It’s a true continuation to J.K. Rowlings’ original series, AND it’s not a musical. It’s a tad long at nearly three hours, but you’ll never notice while you’re watching! I loved this show! 4 BIG Spotlights
