All stories by Ted C. Fishman on BroadwayStars

Friday, May 19, 2023
Thursday, May 11, 2023

Stiff Upper Lip: A Review of “London Road” at Shattered Globe by Ted C. Fishman

This British musical seems to pull off the impossible. The mesmerizing but highly complex score requires singers and musicians who can manage its intricate rhythms with precision and still a…

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM
Tuesday, May 9, 2023

Modern Family: A Review of Definition Theatre’s “Fairview” by Ted C. Fishman

An incisive, suitably atonal but pitch-perfect Chicago premiere of Jackie Sibblies Drury’s 2019 Pulitzer Prize-winning play that leads, relentlessly, to unexpected heights of humor and dra…

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM
Thursday, May 4, 2023

A Story of Possibilities: A Review of “From the Mississippi Delta” at Lifeline Theatre by Ted C. Fishman

Lifeline’s funny, poignant, zippy production of Endesha Ida Mae Holland’s 1990 play about the writer’s life-long journey from the Jim Crow South, through the Civil Rights Movement of t…

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM
Wednesday, May 3, 2023

Right Is Right: A Review of “Big River” at Mercury Theater by Ted C. Fishman

"Big River" is a musical based on Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, with songs by Roger Miller. Mercury Theater’s production is crisply moving, superbly sung and highly entertaining.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM
Tuesday, May 2, 2023

The Time Is Now: A Review of “Into the Woods” at Broadway in Chicago by Ted C. Fishman

Get downtown and see this show. It may change you for good. It will certainly raise your standards on what to expect from a musical, including one direct from Broadway.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM
Thursday, April 27, 2023

Revolutionary Practice: A Review of “We are Proud to Present” at Theatre Y by Ted C. Fishman

The playwright messes with the rituals and conventions of theater to get deep inside messy interlocking themes, including ethnicity, bias, justice, empathy and creativity.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM
Thursday, April 20, 2023

A Measure of Peace: A Review of “Galileo’s Daughter” at Remy Bumppo Theatre by Ted C. Fishman

The title character of Jessica Dickey’s play is also the subject of Dava Sobel’s bestselling book of the same name. Sobel’s book about the great scientist’s brilliant, illegitimate c…

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM
Wednesday, April 19, 2023

Against Great Odds: A Review of “Last Night and the Night Before” at Steppenwolf by Ted C. Fishman

A full and convincing portrait of a family that works against great odds to stay together and give its members the support and tough love they need.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM
Thursday, April 13, 2023

Emotional Mercury: A Review of “The Cherry Orchard” at Goodman Theatre by Ted C. Fishman

For Goodman's current production of Anton Chekhov’s "The Cherry Orchard," Robert Falls has adapted the classic for speed and to make the laugh lines snap so wickedly hard that they elevate…

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM
Tuesday, April 11, 2023

Batter Up: A Review of “A Soldier’s Play” at Broadway in Chicago by Ted C. Fishman

In the current, riveting, too-short Chicago run of this forty-two-year-old Pulitzer-winning play, the young Black infantrymen play on the best baseball team in the U.S. Army.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM
Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Modern Misery: A Review of “Proximity” at Lyric Opera by Ted C. Fishman

"Proximity"’s deeply emotionally affecting scores, a cast of universally fine vocal leads and kinetic, video-centric staging add up to jarring, hard-to-shake work that will stir audiences …

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM
Friday, March 10, 2023

Shining Star: A Review of “Reasons: A Tribute to Earth Wind and Fire” at Black Ensemble Theater by Ted C. Fishman

What makes a tribute show work? Watch "Reasons" and learn while swaying, clapping, cheering and ultimately rising to your feet to dance and sing.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM
Wednesday, March 8, 2023

Where We Stand: A Review of “Signed, Sealed, Delivered: A Stevie Wonder Experience” by Ted C. Fishman

Backed by a seven-piece band, John-Mark McGaha performs in a concert filled with stories and music.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM
Tuesday, March 7, 2023

The Promised Land: A Review of “The Mountaintop”at Invictus Theatre by Ted C. Fishman

The play is set in Room 306 of Memphis’ Lorraine Motel, the setting of Martin Luther King’s assassination in 1968.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM
Friday, February 24, 2023

Walk Beside Me: A Review of Steppenwolf’s “Chlorine Sky” by Ted C. Fishman

The moving production is author Mahogany L. Browne’s adaptation of her verse novel. Sky, is the thoughtful, athletic, resilient character at the center of this young-adult play.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM
Friday, November 18, 2022

Shifting Morality: A Review of Among the Dead at Jackalope Theatre by Ted C. Fishman

The work explores the shifting morality—most of it horrifyingly immoral—that overcomes nations, young adults and abandoned children in wartime.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM
Friday, November 4, 2022

Let The Good Times Roll: A Review of Blue Heaven at Black Ensemble Theater by Ted C. Fishman

Twenty-four songs in ninety minutes, all stirringly sung, played and arranged. That’s Black Ensemble Theater for you.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM
Tuesday, November 1, 2022

Divide and Conquer: A Review of Julius Caesar at Invictus Theatre by Ted C. Fishman

Director Charles Askenaizer proves again that Invictus commands its small stage with strong, energetic performances and with emotionally potent productions.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM
Wednesday, October 19, 2022

State of Mind: A Review of Swing State at the Goodman Theatre by Ted C. Fishman

The Wisconsin here is the Dairy State, not fighting, but ruminating. What swings aren’t the politics but the states of mind.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM
Thursday, September 22, 2022

Knuckle Sandwich: A Review of Clyde’s at Goodman Theatre by Ted C. Fishman

Lynn Nottage sets "Clyde’s," her ninety-minute, laugh-out-loud funny, poignant play, in a grimy truck stop diner somewhere near Reading, Pennsylvania.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM
Wednesday, September 21, 2022

Universal Power: A Review of Fiddler on the Roof at Lyric Opera of Chicago by Ted C. Fishman

Fiddler's universal power emerges from how the show portrays the details that are particular to the lives of the characters.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM
Thursday, September 15, 2022

Scaredy Cat Friends: A Review of Manual Cinema’s Leonardo! at Chicago Children’s Theatre by Ted C. Fishman

"Leonardo!" adapts two acclaimed children’s books by former Sesame Street animator Mo Willems. The books and the play feature two young monsters who fail at scaring children.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM
Tuesday, September 6, 2022

Dream of a Better World: A Review of A Raisin in the Sun at American Players Theatre by Ted C. Fishman

The play famously takes place in a part of the city’s African-American South Side where the five-person Younger family occupies a small, decaying kitchenette apartment. There, they dream o…

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM
Friday, September 2, 2022

Rhythm and the Rain: A Review of Love’s Labour’s Lost at American Players Theatre by Ted C. Fishman

Shakespeare set the action in the French Kingdom of Navarre where young Ferdinand, the king, and his three student pals make their pledge.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM
Thursday, September 1, 2022

A Brazilian Folktale: A Review of The River Bride at American Players Theatre by Ted C. Fishman

It tells the story of a river dolphin that emerges on land every year for three days as a nattily dressed young man.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM
Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Fools With Heart: A Review of The Rivals at American Players Theatre by Ted C. Fishman

"The Rivals" has burrowed deep into the culture thanks largely to the inspired character of Mrs. Malaprop, the ignorant, but intellectually confident rich aunt who continually chooses words …

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM
Tuesday, August 30, 2022

What Is Chicago Talking About? A Conversation with Susan Booth, Incoming Artistic Director of the Goodman Theatre by Ted C. Fishman

Booth, like Robert Falls, whose role she is taking at the Goodman, has shown how a strong, visionary director can keep a creative whirlwind in motion for decades. Over the last twenty-one ye…

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM
Wednesday, July 20, 2022

A Love Letter to a Love Letter: A Review of Dear Jack, Dear Louise at Northlight by Ted C. Fishman

Before the two lovers met in person, they knew each other only through letters traded during the final two harrowing years of World War II.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM
Monday, July 11, 2022

A Feeling So Strong: A Review of Pearl’s Rollin’ with the Blues, A Night with Felicia P. Fields at Writers Theatre by Ted C. Fishman

Fields and her ensemble are a superb mix of musicians and entertainers. Fields, a Tony nominee ("The Color Purple") and local favorite, is a commanding contralto with a powerfully sweet rasp…

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM
Friday, July 8, 2022

Free As a Bird: A Review of Where We Belong at Goodman Theatre by Ted C. Fishman

Madeline Sayet, a Mohegan writer/performer brings her autobiographical one-woman show, "Where We Belong," to the Goodman’s intimate Owen Theatre.

SOURCE: www.newcitystage.com at 08:00AM

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