**** Recommended **** I am so glad that theaters are reopening. Returning to the Marriott felt a lot like a hug from a friend I hadn’t seen in such a long time – without the actual hug!
*** Recommended “Mr. Burns, a post-electric play” portrays life after an apocalypse which somehow caused the electrical grid to fall.
**** Recommended **** Paramount Theatre’s production of “Kinky Boots” is practically perfect! I’ve come to expect the best from Jim Corti and his crew because they always deliver – the best casts, the best costumes, the best choreography, the best staging and a full orchestra! “Kinky Boots” might be their best ever! I think this production was better than the Broadway tour. The opening night audience didn’t just enjoy “Kinky Boots”, they jumped up and cheered! I think you will too. 4 BIG Spotlights
Blue Man Group which has returned to the Briar Street Theatre stage after more than 18 months.
*** 3 ½ Spotlights I can’t describe how good it felt to be back in a theater after soooo long. Then, to see a delicious play like “School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play”, just wow! No Kidding, “School Girls” is a funny, poignant, thought-provoking play about teen angst. Don’t miss it – at the Goodman Theatre through Aug 29th
*** Recommended *** I was honored and privileged to be in the audience for the first live, in-person professional theater production in the Chicago area since 2019 (although I have seen several professional summer stock productions in Indiana). The Oak Park Festival Theatre production of “The Tempest” was well done and fun to watch. 3 Spotlights
3 ½ Spotlights for Canterbury Theatre’ third musical of the season, “Ordinary Days”
The Canterbury Summer Theatre production of “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change!” is a terrific musical for these hot summer days/nights.
The first musical of the 2021 season at Canterbury Summer Theatre is a high-energy jukebox musical, “8-Track: The Sounds of the 70s”.
*** Recommended *** Decisions, decisions, decisions! Why do people make decisions? They make them for lots of reasons, both personally and professionally. They probably have the best intentions, they might think about possible outcomes, but they’re positive everything will come out the way they expected. The elephant in the room – all those unforeseen consequences. A decision and its ultimately devastating consequences proves to be the crux of the story in “Roan @ the Gates”, American Blues Theater’s intense new production. 3 ½ Spotlights
