**** Highly Recommended The Joffrey Academy’s Winning Works, presented annually at the Museum of Contemporary Art, is a performance I await with great anticipation. It’s a chance to see brand new pieces by new choreographers, all ALAANA (African, Latinx, Asian, Arab and Native American) artist, performed by up-and-coming dancers who get a chance to shine. This year’s program was absolutely fabulous. 4 BIG Spotlights
*** Recommended "The Story of My Life," was a lot like watching a funeral, what with the flower-flanked podium situated in front of an arch, placed exactly in the center of the stage. The rest of the stage is strewn with notebooks and loose sheets of paper. This is a show about a pair of childhood friends who grew up in a small town. One left and one stayed behind. All those sheets of paper contain the stories of their lives together. Although it’s billed as a musical, I’d call "The Story of My Life" a play with music. It’s both poignant and lyrical. 3 Spotlights
**** Highly Recommended Chicago Shakespeare Theatre’s production of "Short Shakespeare! Romeo and Juliet", which is set in the 80s, was charming, engaging and oh, so sad. I’m not embarrassed to say that at the end I had tears in my eyes. With Shakespeare’s drama about teen angst, murder and mayhem still required reading in most high schools, I was happy to see groups of young people as well as families in the audience. I was even more happy to see those young people stand up and cheer at the end of the play! 4 Spotlights
****HIGHLY RECOMMENDED**** Suzan-Lori Parks' play "Topdog/Underdog" has always been a showcase for two supremely talented actors. When it premiered off-Broadway, the 2002 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama starred Don Cheadle and Jeffrey Wright. During the 2022/2023 season, the Broadway revival was graced with two highly-respected and quite well-known actors, both of whom received Tony Award nominations for Lead Actor in a Play. The production itself went on to win the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play. Now, Invictus Theatre Company is presenting a powerhouse production, under the brilliant and compassionate direction of Aaron Reese Boseman, that features two of Chicago's very own up-and-coming stars that shine ever so brightly. 4 SPOTLIGHTS
**** Recommended "Mrs. Doubtfire", a new musical comedy playing at the Nederlander, is a funny, poignant, thoroughly enjoyable theatrical experience. The story is corny but the outstanding cast embraced it, making it their own. It’s unusual for the actor who originates a role on Broadway to go on tour, but luckily for all of us, the amazing Rob McClure decided to do just that. I must admit, I had a hard time imagining "Mrs. Doubtfire" as a musical, so my expectations were low, but this cast made a believer out of me! 4 Spotlights
My two young sons, my mom, and I attended Roald Dahl’s "James and the Giant Peach" at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire. The show was excellent. The wonderful singing, colorful costumes, animated actors, and live action keeps the audience very engaged. I highly recommend this play. Go see how the giant peach sets James free!
**** Highly Recommended The Paramount Theatre production of "Billy Elliot: The Musical", stark, dark, industrial, is magnificent. Superb acting, larger than life production numbers, incredible dancing – both ballet and tap – demand your attention, and yet, in the middle of all that spectacle, there are all these small quietly emotional scenes, too. The miners are men’s men, the strikers and the police have violent clashes, the little girls giggle, but the emotions are honest and open. Gritty, sometimes violent, often profane, but in the end triumphant, "Billy Elliot" gets 4 BIG Spotlights.
***RECOMMENDED*** As with all well-constructed dramas, audiences are often faced with more questions than easy or simple pat answers by the play's end. Such is the case with Raven Theatre Company's world premiere of playwright Paul Michael Thomson's "brother sister cyborg space." Highly relevant and pressing issues -- namely the climate crisis -- are addressed in Thomson's twisty script. You may not be entirely comfortable with the outcome. 3 SPOTLIGHTS
**** Highly Recommended I don’t know why the Joffrey Ballet decided to move to Chicago, but I’m eternally grateful they did. Everything performance is sheer perfection. This year’s spring engagement, "Studies in Blue", includes three contemporary pieces which held me spellbound! Once again, the incredibly talented Joffrey dancers execute the most complicated choreography with flawless technique and timing. 4 Spotlights
***RECOMMENDED*** Court Theatre's Oedipus Trilogy comes to a fitting and deeply satisfying conclusion with its very daring and bold new production of "Antigone," written by Sophocles. Associate Artistic Director Gabrielle Randle-Bent has directed a timeless classic with such strikingly vivid strokes that the work is virtually reimagined by her visionary choices. Wisely, Randle-Bent has utilized Founding Artistic Director Nicholas Rudall's translation. Rudall, whose career spanned over four decades as a Professor Emeritus in Classics at the University of Chicago, is widely recognized as an expert in making ancient Greek tragedies engaging for modern audiences. Since "Antigone" is a play whose central theme is justice, it seems like true poetic justice that Court Theatre's final offering of the trilogy should exalt in Rudall's translated text. 3 SPOTLIGHTS
