2,003 stories by "Scotty Zacher"
Though I'm not a Civil War buff, I was thoroughly engrossed by Killer Angels. It's excellent! The orchestration of this tale is one of Lifeline's highest achievements. (read more...)
In spite of its first act imperfections, Signs of Life, delivers a major emotional wallop. Though it celebrates the human spirit and strength of the interned Jews, it doesn't keep the actual…
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Twitter the Musical – how fun is that????
The Trip to Bountiful is a worthy production for Raven Theatre's focus on modern, primarily American, drama. Director JoAnn Montemurro and the talented cast communicate all the complex theme…
With Goodman Theatre's Pullman Porter Blues, we get an entertaining and engrossing history lesson in the Pullman Company. The lesson not only concerns transportation history but, more import…
Despite light touches, this riveting play is about the profundity of defining home. On a broad level, Playwright Steve Simoncic delves deep into economic clashes rooted in class, race and pr…
With a bit more polish, this production has the potential to engross an audience with powerful action and imagery. As it stands, Pains of Youth carries your attention, but doesn't really car…
4000 Miles is an enjoyable journey, thanks to the Amy Herzog's warm, human characters that director Kimberly Senior and actors Mary Ann Thebus and Josh Salt have brought to life. These are p…
BET's musical biography presensts us with the undiluted sound of "Chicago soul""and it's never sounded so necessary. These standards don't just resonate"they detonate. Musical director Rober…
Despite a stellar performance from Joan Allen (her first appearance since 1991), tight production values and excellent imagery, Tina Landau's rendition of Zinnie Harris' wartime epic is in d…
Godspell's s considerable strength lies not in its childlike (and sometimes childish) affectatios, but in the magnificent vocals the cast brings to Schwartz's score. Despite its sugary-sweet…
Obsessive Evita fans will notice that there's been a few scenes cut from the show. In their place is an additional song and dialogue from the 1997 film. Ultimately, however, Evita sounds goo…
The BenchMark's heart is (street)smart as it shines a light on Chicago's homelessness. Director Tara Branham's busy 9-person ensemble create a very cosmopolitan chorus. And as the bitterswe…
Overall, Coyote on a Fence is big on ideas and morality, but short on character and motivation. While there is some interesting dialogue around capital punishment and how effective it really…
A tasty time trip makes us "present at the creation" of a food icon and the loving husband who aided and abetted her savory saga. The play's ingredients may not always blend like Julia's Fre…
The best sequels manage to up the ante by not only reprising the favorite elements of the original, but also offering new and even more wondrous ones. The Crownless King fails to do this, bu…
It is in RUR: Rossum's Universal Robots that the word "robot" made its debut, coined by the playwright as a study on social justice. Here, Strangeloop Theatre presents a flawed but engaging …
Bawdy, rip-roaring comedy, scintillating drama and plot twists that involve vampires, werewolves and men in drag - The Mystery of Irma Vep serves up all this and more in a sidesplitting two-…
More molehill than mountaintop, this wholly preposterous and trivializing depiction of King's last night on earth is earnestly but hopelessly staged at Court Theatre by the excellent Ron OJ …
Full of visual and sonic beauty, PigPen Theatre's lush production maintains the narrative's pleasant intrigue. The ensemble is almost balletic in its graceful physicality, and its puppet pro…
Directed by George Keating, the gauche events drag on just like the bad date that it's meant to portray. Sullivan and Civetta never spark the chemistry necessary to make us root for their to…
In Barrie Cole's problematic play, scenes with no real purpose besides establishing character go on and on long past necessary, and this plodding is made worse by poor performances and the l…
Martin Zimmerman's 90-minute one-act world premiere focuses on two mixed-race Arizona brothers trying to find their way in the world. Director Edward Torres does a fine job of making the pla…
Other People's Money is swift-moving, tightly written and gripping to the bitter end. With a strong cast, along with Andrew Hildner's bifurcated set, this production lives up to its name. (…
