The cast of Strawdog’s “Great Expectations” Oh, Pip. That poor orphaned protagonist from Charles Dickens’ classic 1861 novel Great Expectations. The one who moves fro…
SOURCE: Chicago Theatre Addict at 07:00PMDavid Cromer, Patrick Andrews and Mary Beth Fisher in Timeline’s “The Normal Heart” Watching David Cromer as gay rights activist Ned Weeks storm the stage, with his hands o…
SOURCE: Chicago Theatre Addict at 08:01AMYou’d be hard pressed to think of anything more intimate than the act of making music. Through music, one exposes themselves in a way that transcends mere talking or movement. It’…
SOURCE: Chicago Theatre Addict at 07:50PMHigh hopes surrounded Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Cyrano de Bergerac, the 1897 play by Edmond Rostand translated for the stage by Anthony Burgess. This is Harry Groener’s retu…
SOURCE: Chicago Theatre Addict at 01:47PMMillicent Hurley Spencer and Mike Boone in Raven Theatre’s “The Trip to Bountiful” One of the things I’ll never understand about society is how we treat those who are…
SOURCE: Chicago Theatre Addict at 10:26PMEvita is a touchstone in the modern musical theater canon. When the sung-through rock opera debuted in the late ’70s, it broke many rules. A musical about a polarizing political icon f…
SOURCE: Chicago Theatre Addict at 08:45PMAlexander and Adrian Aguilar harmonize in Porchlight’s “Double Trouble” Donald and Gene. Bing and Danny. Adrian and Alexander. What do these three pairs have in common? Why…
SOURCE: Chicago Theatre Addict at 06:21PMPerhaps you heard the cheers, sobs and stamping feet coming from Southport street? Well, that was the sound of the opening night audience at Mercury Theater’s The Color Purple, a seari…
SOURCE: Chicago Theatre Addict at 09:01PMNora Dunn knows how to tell a story. Particularly when she’s telling it from the perspective of a character. From an old-school Hollywood agent to a precocious girl who attends a schoo…
SOURCE: Chicago Theatre Addict at 11:39AMI’ve recently started a new blog: Mental Cocktail. Where Chicago Theatre Addict will still be all about theatre, Mental Cocktail will be devoted to another big passion: writing. ItR…
SOURCE: Chicago Theatre Addict at 10:00PMAlex just wants to dance! When asked to describe how she feels about dance, she chooses one word: passionate. She “is the music.” She looks good in a skimpy two-piece dance suit …
SOURCE: Chicago Theatre Addict at 01:50PMHedwig and the Angry Inch is a show that either resonates deeply, or you walk away slightly disoriented. For me, Hedwig is one of the best rock musicals written in the last 45 years, rank…
SOURCE: Chicago Theatre Addict at 01:49PMWalt Disney’s “The Jungle Book” is one of those movies I’m sure I’ve seen, but I don’t recall much from it – aside from the jaunty tune “The B…
SOURCE: Chicago Theatre Addict at 07:58AMF Karmann Bajuyo, Kate Garassino and Kevin Matthew Reyes in Bailiwick Chicago Theater’s world premiere of production of “Mahal” “Mahal” is Tagalog for “love.&…
SOURCE: Chicago Theatre Addict at 09:16PMVincent L. Lonergan and Don Bender in The Side Project’s “Lives of the Pigeons” Sometimes after seeing a show, I leave the theatre feeling more than a little disoriented. T…
SOURCE: Chicago Theatre Addict at 05:39PMMy best friend is Catholic. I remember having a particularly pointed conversation with her asking if she believed I was going to hell because I was gay. While her response was “no,R…
SOURCE: Chicago Theatre Addict at 08:43AMEvery year around this time I take my parents to The Second City. Dad loves the irreverent and topical comedy, but cringes when they break the fourth wall for a surprise audience interactio…
SOURCE: Chicago Theatre Addict at 04:38PMThe cast of Theo Ubique’s “Smokey Joe’s Cafe” As a powerhouse songwriting duo, Jerome “Jerry” Leiber and Mike Stoller cranked out some significant hits in…
SOURCE: Chicago Theatre Addict at 12:07PM*Well, mostly since 1995, when I started watching the Tony Awards religiously. Every year. Without fail. In fact, the year I lived in Germany (2001, the season The Producers swept the award…
SOURCE: Chicago Theatre Addict at 11:30AMWriter, director and performer Ben Rimalower knows a thing or two about high belting. No, he’s not a singer per say, but he does appreciate the finer belts in life — including th…
SOURCE: Chicago Theatre Addict at 08:42AMActor and playwright Sentell Harper feels trapped. As a gay black man, he’s disinterested in “throwing shade,” lip syncing for your life or being on the DL as a way to surv…
SOURCE: Chicago Theatre Addict at 10:30AMHave you ever been so enraged that you’ve almost lost it? I’m talking the kind of red-hot rage that creeps behind the eyes, makes you tense and sweaty, brings you right up to the boi…
SOURCE: Chicago Theatre Addict at 09:54PMLinkedIn Dear Ella, The following email address you have with LinkedIn has bounced: [email protected] Please follow this link to verify your email address. © 2012, LinkedIn Corp…
SOURCE: Chicago Theatre Addict at 09:29PMAnything Goes is one of those shows that never takes itself too seriously. It isn’t afraid to get a little bawdy and bend the rules — but it always comes out on top, full of clas…
SOURCE: Chicago Theatre Addict at 09:53AMSusie McMonagle in Porchlight Music Theatre’s “Pal Joey” “They just don’t write ‘em like that anymore!” That classic turn of phrase kept running thr…
SOURCE: Chicago Theatre Addict at 12:50PMWho doesn’t enjoy a good story? It’s why we love the theatre. Through words, music, dance and imagination, theatre helps shape a shared moment. It transports us to another place …
SOURCE: Chicago Theatre Addict at 11:38AMBrutal honesty. That’s playwright Samuel D. Hunter’s razor-sharp focus in his deeply significant play, The Whale. And through Charlie, a 600-pound gentle giant played by the supe…
SOURCE: Chicago Theatre Addict at 07:53PMSometimes all you need is a star-making performance to make a show. The fresh-faced and ideally cast Stephen Anthony, who plays infamous con man Frank Abagnale Jr., offers such a performance…
SOURCE: Chicago Theatre Addict at 12:41PMP.T. Barnum knew how to put on a show. With some manipulative marketing and a dash of spectacle, he could sell you a wooden nickel for a dollar. The 1980 musical Barnum, which features a jov…
SOURCE: Chicago Theatre Addict at 10:43PMI’ve never met Roger Ebert. However, I felt like I knew him. I’ve been reading his blog, his tweets and his reviews for many years. The man personified prolific. Robbed of his sp…
SOURCE: Chicago Theatre Addict at 01:23PMI’m all for firsts. And Artistic Home’s very solid production of Tennessee Williams’ The Night of the Iguana presented a whole world of them. It was my first time seeing an…
SOURCE: Chicago Theatre Addict at 03:05PM
