2,003 stories by "Scotty Zacher"
Playwright Noel Coward is known for his sharp, witty dialogue. This double-play goes from playful to impactful in 2.5 hours. It's all about letting go of the present and the past! Noel Co…
The music of Follies is heavy on the hooks, making the score pleasantly infectious. The cast is chockfull of heavy hitters who know how to use the power of their voices for maximum effect. I…
Playwright Seth Bockley uses sprightly playfulness to archly deconstruct society's contradictory extremes of conformity and celebrity worship. It's a satire that earns its stage. Recommended.
Werner Schwab's play is certainly fascinating, looking at obsession unchecked, wrapping up the deterioration of humanity through a well-paced bar brawl. A weighty message, yes, but it's sha…
Playwright Emily Schwartz has created a lovely diversion for the season of witches, ghosts and the truly hallowed Day of the Dead .
Strawdog has created a well-executed Harold Pinter production, taking us deeply into the interior lives of three characters played by Abigail Boucher, Michaela Petro, and John Henry Roberts.…
Under the stage direction of Catherine Malfitano, Susanna Phillips as Lucia delightfully transforms from sweet innocent to spurned lover to full-on bonkers. Every level of passion is brillia…
Den of Thieves is so poorly written that it never has the chance to be a good play. Though sometimes bordering on hammy, the performances are generally strong, partly resuscitating a few mom…
Through emotional writing by playwright Gregory Moss, effective performances and excellent scenery, The Argument paints a stark portrait of fear, determination and unselfish love - leaving t…
Schwartz' soaring music resonantly heals a couple on the precipice of divorce.
But, taken out of the context of their sources, not all the songs carry their original weight. Still, "Snaps…
A powerful team in their multi-decade collaboration, Rodgers and Hart combined light melody with words often gritty and grave. Thankfully, their songs live on and productions such as Rodgers…
While I appreciate The Plagiarists' ambition, at a fast-paced intermission-free 90 minutes, Caesura: A Butchery is interesting but exhausting " and has limited appeal, attracting a very spec…
Now that Eclipse Theatre has ended its 2010-2011 season of seminal works with "The Fever Chart: Four Visions of the Middle East," by the very committed playwright Naomi Wallace, it's easy to…
The flames have intensified since the first time Lookingglass Theatre tackled the great Chicago fire of 1871. With the company's remount of John Musial's 1999 piece, the blaze seems to have …
From a book by the same name, Carrie Fisher has created a tell-all one woman show, exposing her life - the good and the bad and in-between - for the audience to experience and laugh along wi…
Paul Czarnowksi's original play, Scott Janus: Monster Hunter, is an homage to the camp horror films of the 50's and 60's. Unfortunately, the most terrifying thing about this play is that it …
The Aristic Home's A Touch of the Poet captivates with timeless themes. Long after the curtain, one continues to contemplate playwright Eugene O'Neill's characters' outcomes. Recommended.
Violet's story has its holes, but seldom have songs served a story so strongly. Suiting the style to the singer, Jeanine Tesori's score offers a rich and unforced mix of blues, soul, country…
The play is not for the faint-of-'mind' (it's far too high-minded to touch the heart). It's unapologetic in its quick delivery and demands its audience participate with an attention as absol…
A carefully plotted acid bath of a story, A Red Orchid Theatre's 'Becky Shaw' traces the damage of a blind date so torrentially godawful that it ruins the marriage of the couple who set it u…
From the play's first moment " when Boxer (Ted Evans) reluctantly accepts a tearful embrace from sister Jean (Marsha Harman) " Burying Miss America feels achingly familiar and utterly authen…
As is The Lyric hallmark, The Tales of Hoffman is a visual spectacle. Set Designer Ezio Frigerio has constructed an over-sized metal framework complete with elevators and a smoke-puffing tr…
John Mossman's directorial choices make Sean O'Casey's 1923 Irish play feel like a genuine reenactment of a moment in history.
Though at times the rooftop shenanigans wear thin (feeling forced), the pell-mell, helter-skelter, take-no-prisoners daffiness of Ryan Landry's catty script and Director Matthew Gunnel's del…
MPAACT has consistently offered up an excellent and realistic portrayal of Black life in Chicago and America. Go see this play. You will learn what was most likely skipped in your civics cla…
