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All stories by Dan Jakes on BroadwayStars

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Wednesday, August 7, 2019

The One: The Matrix Musical Parody is a show behind the times by Dan Jakes

The sight gags score, but the music falls short in this spoof/homage of the Wachowskis’ sci-fi classic. Ready to feel old? The Matrix—a movie that, upon its …

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Speaking ill of the dead in Roast by Dan Jakes

A comedian requests a roast in lieu of a wake in Harry Wood’s debut play. In lieu of a traditional funeral service, a young comedian asks for a livestreamed, n…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM

Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Ms. Blakk for President celebrates a great queer pioneer by Dan Jakes

When Joan Jett Blakk told us to lick Bush in '92 Neon shades of violet—not rainbows—radiate from Tarell Alvin McCraney and Tina Landau's world-premiere docu-…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 05:00PM

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Organic Theater takes a bold stab at The Memo, Václav Havel's absurdist satire by Dan Jakes

Bureaucracy, sweet bureaucracy! Despite having one of the most radical and inspiring biographies of any theater artist, playwright-turned- prisoner-turned-Czech …

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 12:00PM

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

The Crowd You're in With is trapped in 2007, both dramatically and politically by Dan Jakes

Why do people always turn into sneering jackasses during dinner parties in plays? A group of politically engaged Chicago north siders gets together for a casual …

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Set on a Metra train, Amicable picks up steam as it chugs along by Dan Jakes

Thankfully, the plot and performances become more compelling halfway through. Ross Compton’s world premiere one-act dramedy ends as a wholly different play tha…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM

Thursday, April 25, 2019

Djembe! The Show works much better as theater for kids than inspiration for adults by Dan Jakes

The drumming is fun, but the corporate-speak is not. Everything about Djembe! The Show starts to make more sense when you imagine it out of its current context�…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM

Thursday, April 11, 2019

Small World imagines a disaster on Disney’s most annoying ride by Dan Jakes

New Colony's production dances around juicy subjects without fully committing to any of them. Three Disney World cast members find themselves trapped in the smol…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Despite the legally mandated nudity, there’s no happily-ever-after in Afterglow by Dan Jakes

"No one ever wrote a fairy tale about polyamory!" Inclusion of full and frequent nudity is so vital to the gay throuple drama Afterglow that, according to playwr…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM

Thursday, March 28, 2019

For 30 years, puppeteer Blair Thomas has been creating visual spectacle on and off Chicago’s stages by Dan Jakes

“If you’re doing something associated with puppetry in Chicago, you have to think about Blair.” If anybody knows puppets—like really knows puppets—it'…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

This Melancholy Play is also twee as hell by Dan Jakes

Sarah Ruhl’s contemporary farce crosses the line from self-awareness to self-parody. Playwright Sarah Ruhl is on the record as not loving the words "quirky" or…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM

Thursday, March 14, 2019

Remember the Alamo has more quirks than purpose by Dan Jakes

Where true confessions meet Texas history and Phil Collins trivia It's a dubious honorific, but the press release for Nick Hart's metatheatrical, deadpan, quirkt…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM

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