Spotlight on Reviews

* Somewhat Recommended * I was really looking forward to seeing “Pride and Joy: The Marvin Gaye Musical” because I’ve always loved Marvin Gaye’s music.  What a disappointment!  The cast is talented – they all have really good voices – and the music is Motown, but the book (the storyline) is awful!  If I were to rank the jukebox musicals I’ve seen over the years, “Pride and Joy” would probably come in dead last.  1 Spotlight

Highly Recommended **** I must preface this review by stating that I never expected to give this particular show a rating this high, but Toma Tavares Langston and his quartet of fabulously talented performers have brought this show to a new level for me (and I suppose based on what the opening night response ) and others. When the touring company came by several years ago, I believe my rating was “somewhat recommended”. The current production in the very intimate space at Theo Ubique is far and away a masterpiece compared to what BIC brought in.

★★I truly do not enjoy using a rating system for a new work. As many of us know, Chicago gets many pre-Broadway shows that leave here looking like a short run is in store, but with fixes, the show survives and often plays for years there and on the road. Some plays return to their original starting theater unrecognizable to us. The new production of “Grace, Or The Art of Climbing” written by L.M.Feldman, a “Queer”, feminist playwright (and circus artist) tells us a story about Emm ( Alex Molnar is terrific, except for projection to the back row) who due to some bad stuff decides to enter the world of competitive rock-climbing. note: who even knew that there was such a thing?

*** Recommended *** If it’s June, it must be time for Canterbury Summer Theatre, one of two true summer stock theaters in northwest Indiana.  CST always begins the season with a drama rather than a musical in a very short run (4 days).  This year, they’ve kicked off the season with a play called “Constellations” which seemed more like an acting exercise than a fully realized play.  As I watched the actors repeat the same lines over and over, I kept thinking to myself, “Are we there yet?”  3 Spotlights