Blood was flowing at the opening of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s 2010-2011 season the evening of Oct. 1. Giuseppe Verdi’s powerful “Macbeth” starred the mighty American baritone Thomas Hampson in the title role and slim, sensual German soprano Nadja Michael as his fiercely ambitious partner in crime. Sex accompanies the violence in this production […]
Mary Zimmerman’s imagining of Voltaire’s “Candide,” with the score of Leonard Bernstein’s Broadway musical, opened at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago Sunday evening. It is a very fine show with a strong cast, plenty of laughs and, of course, superb songs. The first question about “Candide”—often done as an opera and rightly so—is who will […]
Imagine “West Side Story” without any songs. Or the Jets and the Sharks, wearing their trademark leather jackets, in a rumble with swords, but their names are Montague and Capulet. That’s only the first scene in Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s stunning production of “Romeo and Juliet,” which opened in its Courtyard Theater on Navy Pier Wednesday […]
If your parents loved “Jersey Boys,” you’ll love “Rock of Ages.” It’s the 80s rocking answer to the swooning crooners. The show is fast paced and super high energy, with a sweet but simple story that link songs by Journey, Styx, Pat Benatar and REO Speedwagon. Two innocents—Drew, “a city boy born and raised in […]
Stephen Sondheim unites mothers, music and art in a controversial classic. While running over two hours and fifteen minutes (with intermission) and featuring dangerously eclectic song structures among its more traditional musical numbers, Porchlight Music Theatre’s pastel sparked production of Stephen Sondheim’s Pulitzer Prize winning Sunday in the Park with George (inspired by French painter […]
The director of the Broadway hit musical “Rock of Ages,” isn’t anything like you’d expect. First, she’s a she. Not an aging, wannabe male rocker with a few inappropriate tattoos. Instead, Kristin Hanaggi is a 33-year-old, lovely, articulate artist. She started her directing career with the show “Pussycat Dolls Live at the Roxy” in L.A. […]
Hey suburbanites, listen up! The sliding doors to the backyard barely open and the patio is uneven. Plus, since human nature is the same everywhere, even beyond the city limits there are—surprise!—human problems. That’s what Lisa D’Amour‘s new play, “Detroit,” which opened at Steppenwolf Saturday, Sept. 18, is trying to tell us, though her method […]
Stephen King never wrote a musical. Probably because he can’t one-up Sweeney Todd—The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’s ability to simultaneously sicken, entertain and enthrall, as the Drury Lane Theatre’s current offering of the Stephen Sondheim classic does. An all-star ensemble cast near-flawlessly performs the stunning Sondheim score, led by Chicago native Gregg Edelman as […]
You might think that you have to go downtown to see a big spectacle musical, but thanks to the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, there’s thrilling singing and dancing to be enjoyed right here in the suburbs. Known for its Broadway revivals, the Marriott has mounted “A Chorus Line,” which—at a reasonable two and a half […]
Ah “Godspell,” you crazy minx, you, with your rag tag group of free spirits rocking out with Jesus. Hailing from the early 1970s, which saw an uptick in rock musicals based on Bible stories, “Godspell” features a cast of twenty-somethings reenacting parables primarily taken from the Gospel of Matthew. In terms of controversy, it’s definitely […]
