**** Recommended **** Although it’s not exactly holiday fare, “The Tall Boy” really is a good play and well worth seeing on its own merits. It’s also a rare opportunity to see New York actress (and daughter of Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn) Tandy Cronyn in a one-woman show. It’s a poignant story about three boys, Army mascots, who desperately wanted to get to America. 3 ½ Spotlights
***** Highly Recommended ***** The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre is rocking with the return of” “Q Brothers Christmas Carol”. IMPORTANT NOTE: this is not “A Christmas Carol” as Dickens wrote it. The Q Brothers Collective (GQ, JQ, Jax and Pos) have yanked Ebenezer Scrooge and the gang into the 21st century! I’ve seen this cheeky, snarky, funny and very, very original musical every year (and twice last year – but that’s another story) since it premiered in 2013 as a developmental work-in-progress (that’s 6 years!), and it still makes me laugh! It’s become my very own holiday tradition! 4 BIG Holiday Spotlights
***** Highly Recommended ***** The Joffrey Ballet’s “Chicago-centric” version of “The Nutcracker”, choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, is quite simply magnificent. By setting “The Nutcracker” against Chicago’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, Wheeldon gave the city a unique gift. I am in awe! Every movement was graceful, precise and exquisitely performed. This will be the fourth time I’ve seen/reviewed “The Nutcracker” and I love everything about it, including the glorious music played by the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra. By the way, this is the final appearance of “The Nutcracker” at the Auditorium Theatre. 4 BIG Holiday Spotlights!
***** Highly Recommended ****** The Goodman Theatre’s annual production of “A Christmas Carol”, which remains essentially the same from year to year, is a holiday tradition for many families, spanning generations. The Goodman lobby is festive with decorations and a sparkling holiday shopping area. Now in its 42nd year, “A Christmas Carol” will put you in the holiday spirit with a fabulous cast, lavish sets and colorful period costumes. 4 Holiday Spotlights.
**** Highly Recommended **** Take your family on a nostalgic trip into the past with American Blues Theater’s 18th annual production of “It’s a Wonderful Life: Live in Chicago!”. You ‘ll have a rare opportunity to join a ‘live radio’ audience and watch a talented cast bring the voices of all the characters you love to life. Since this is ‘live’, the actors do the commercials too. It is so much fun to listen to the beloved story unfold. “It’s a Wonderful Life: Live in Chicago” always gets me in a holiday mood! 4 Holiday Spotlights!
**** Recommended **** Drury Lane Theatre’s production of Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s “Mary Poppins” is even more “practically perfect”. Sure, “Mary Poppins” is still dispensing “A Spoon Full of Sugar”, but there are also new songs and scenes and even technical derring-do. This is a Broadway quality musical; and yes, Mary Poppins does fly! This is a perfect show to introduce your children and/or grandchildren to live theater. Don’t miss “Mary Poppins”, it’s one of my top ten musicals of the year. 4 BIG Spotlights
*** Recommended *** I’ve been struggling with this review for a few days – well more than a few days. After I talked to my friend Helen, who’d been my plus one at the opening, I was finally able to pull my thoughts together and get something written. At the core, Steppenwolf’s production of “Lindiwe” is the story of singer from South Africa who fell in love with a drummer from Chicago. I’d like to say that together they made beautiful music, but that wasn’t quite the case. The plot of “Lindiwe” just doesn’t measure up to the music. 3 Spotlights
**** Highly Recommended **** You can’t help but feel nostalgic when you see Theatre at the Center’s production of “Irving Berlin’s White Christmas”. Just wait, the terrific cast will sing and dance themselves right into your hearts. You’ll be humming along to Berlin’s wonderful melodies, too. Unless you’re a curmudgeon, I guarantee you’ll be in the holiday mood when the fabulous cast sings the title song. I give “White Christmas” 4 BIG Holiday Spotlights.
**** Recommended**** Court Theatre’s production of “Oedipus Rex” is powerful, gripping and ultimately poignant. I’m sure everyone is familiar with the word ‘Oedipus” but I wonder how many have actually read it. Written by Sophocles, it was first performed in about 429 BC as part of a trilogy. I must say, this most tragic of all the Greek tragedies, left me with tears in my eyes. 4 Spotlights
***** Highly Recommended ***** I’m a Jane Austin fan. I’ve read and reread all of her books, wry commentaries on the courtship rituals of the English gentry. The Bennett family, described so well in “Pride and Prejudice”, is dear to me. I loved Northlight Theatre’s 2016 production of “Miss Bennett: Christmas at Pemberley”, so I was happy to see that Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon had written a companion play set ’downstairs’ at Pemberley. “The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley” is fresh and witty, fitting perfectly into Jane Austin’s world. I loved it. 4 BIG Holiday Spotlights.
