In 2017 when “Falsettos” returned to Broadway, it was nominated for five Tony Awards, including the Best Revival of a Musical. Now two years later, this fabulous musical is in Chicago, directed by playwright James Lapine with music and lyrics by William Finn.
Taking place in New York in the 1970s, we meet a charming, neurotic gay man, Marvin, played by Max Von Essen; along with his 10-year-old son, Jason, played by Thatcher Jacobs.
We also meet psychiatrist, Mendel (Nick Blaemire) and Marvin’s wife Trina (Eden Espinosa)whom he leaves for his lover, Whizzer (Nick Adams).
“Falsettos” second act introduces two lesbian neighbors of Marvin’s, Dr. Charlotte (Bryonha Marie Parham) and Cordelia (Audrey Cardwell).
Performed by phenomenal voices, “Falsettos’ ” wonderful songs tell the story throughout the show.
Outdoor art fairs are a summer activity in suburbs and Chicago. (J Jacobs photo)
Whether seeing art shows outside or exhibits inside, summer is a great time to check on what artists have been doing in their studios. Also, it’s a chance to find just the right piece for over the mantle or to spark conversation in a sitting area. Here are a few shows tovisit in June or until they disappear.
Chicago Artists Coalition is sponsoring “Far from the distance we see,” an exhibition of new works by Mev Luna. Opening May 31 with a reception from 5 to 8 p.m., the exhibit continues through July 11, 2019 at 2130 W. Fulton St., Chicago. For more information visit Chicago Artists Coalition/events.
Gold Coast Art Fair, a huge annual show that attracts 300 exhibitors, moved to June 1-2 this year at Butler Field in Grant Park at South Lake shore Drive and Monroe Street behind the Art Institute of Chicago. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information visit Amdur Productions/Gold Coast.
57th Street Art Fair in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood, near 5631 S. Kimbark June 1-2.. Hours: Saturday 11 a.m. – 6 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Considered the oldest Midwest juried art fair it has about 250 exhibitors. For more information visit 57th Street Art Fair.
MoniqueMeloche a fine art gallery at 451 N. Paulina St. is showing “Basking Never Hurt No One” by artist Cheryl Pope, June 6 through Aug. 17, 2019. He opening reception is June 6 from 5 to 8 p.m. For more information visit Moniquemeloche.
Old Town Art Fair runs June 8-9 this year. Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. June 8 and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. June 9. The main entry is at Lincoln Avenue at Wisconsin in the Old Town triangle District. Suggested donation is $10. More information is at Old Town Art Fair.
The Art Center (TAC) summer exhibits are “Undercurrents” and “Inside/Outside,” June 14 through Aug. 3, 2019. TAC is at 1957 Sheridan Rd., Highland Park. The artists reception is June 14 at 5:30 p.m. For more information visit The Art Center/Exhibits.
North Shore Art League’s “Art in the Village” is June 22 – 23, 2019 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days in Hubbard Woods Park, 939 Green Bay Rd., Winnetka. For more information visit North Shore Art League.
Festival of Fine Arts takes place June 22-23 on Sheridan Road on the north east side of downtown Highland Park. Hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. For more information visit Amdur Productions/Highland Park.
From L. Kyrie Courter (Natalie )Keely Vasquez (Diana) David Schlumpf (Dan) and Liam Oh (Gabe). (Photo by Michael Brosilow)
4 stars
“Next to Normal” brilliantly and unerringly brings to the stage what life is like in a home where a family member is mentally ill.
Penned by Brian Yorkey who also did the lyrics and with music by Tom Kitt, the show took three Tony awards in 2009. It also won the Pulitzer Prize for drama because even though it has highly expressive musical numbers, it is not a feel-good musical.
“Next to Normal” is a heart-wrenching drama about a husband who keeps trying to help his wife combat what has been diagnosed as bi-polar depression triggered by the death of their young son early in their marriage and about their teenage daughter who no matter how successful she is in school, can’t get the attention she deserves and craves.
Jeanne (Spring); Édouard Manet (French, 1832 – 1883); France; 1881; Oil on canvas; 74 × 51.5 cm (29 1/8 × 20 1/4 in.); 2014.62 (Photo courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago)
If you are only familiar with 19th century French artist Édouard Manet’s early and middle period styles you are likely to find quite a few surprises in “Manet and Modern Beauty,” a wonderfully extensive, new exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago that showcases his later works.
Before he died in 1883 at age 51 from complications from syphilis and rheumatism, Manet was influencing other painters as he moved from a transgressive style in the 1860s to Impressionism in the 1870s and from historical and religious subjects to modern life and what he could capture “plein air” as influenced by Berthe Morisot.
Now, get to know his late 70’s and early 80’s works plus see some earlier, important Impressionism pieces. “Manet and Modern Beauty” is the first Art Institute show to focus just on Manet in more than 50 years.
Tricia Rogers (Director Gross) in ‘The Mem.’ (Photo by Anna Gelman)
3 Stars
“The Memo” is an interesting if not important piece of theater as it was written by Vaclav Havel who went on to become a player on the world stage in the role of reformer. Havel served as the last President of Czechoslovakia, then as the first President of the Czech Republic from 1993 to 2003.
Written in 1965, it was originally translated into English as “The Memorandum” by British writer Vera Blackwell in 1967. The Organic Theatre production is using the later translation from 2006, encouraged and approved by Havel, written by Canadian Paul Wilson and re-titled “The Memo.”
This is an absurdist black comedy that might be described as Monty Python meets “Office Space” in the “Twilight Zone.”
Cast of ‘Six” at Chicago Shakespeare. (Liz Lauren photo)
3 Stars
The Chicago Shakespeare Theater presents the North American premiere of the energetic pop-concert musical “Six” by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss featuring the story of the six wives of England’s 16th Century monarch Henry VIII.
The fate of the queens are apparently remembered by English school children using the rhyme “divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived” which becomes the leitmotif of the opening number as the women introduce themselves to the audience.
A series of nine musical numbers centered around a common theme with virtually no dialog, this production is more of a pop-concert than what you think of as traditional musical theater.
Presented as a kind of musical competition, each of the “Six” wives takes turns telling her life story, including her relationship with the notorious Henry.
Walter Briggs, Cordelia Dewdney and Debo Balogun in Mary Shelly’s ‘Frankenstein’ at Lookingglass Theatre. (Photo by Liz Lauren)
3 stars
To understand director/playwright David Catlin’s production of “Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein” at Lookingglass Theatre, you probably should go back to the original story conceived during competitive ghost, story-telling sessions at Lord Byron’s Swiss Villa Diodati on Lake Geneva.
Eighteen-year-old Mary Godwin was at Byron’s retreat with lover Percy Bysshe Shelley whom she would marry after his wife, Harriet, died. Also there, aside from British romantic poet George Gordon Byron (6th Baron Byron), was Godwin’s stepsister, Claire Clairmont and Dr. John Polidori.
Mary, using the last name of Shelly before they’re married, directs the people at the Villa to join her in playing the characters in her competitive entry. It’s a clever devise.
Knowing all parts of her “Frankenstein” novel sahead of time will help explain Lookingglass’ opening scene in the arctic where Captain Robert Walton and crew are temporarily iced-in at the North Pole.
Cast of Miracle The Musical 108 years in the Making at Royal George Theatre. (Photo by Michael Brosilow)
4 stars
Audiences at “Miracle: A musical 108 years in the making” know the outcome of the 2016 World Series but they don’t know what will happen to the Delaney’s who own “Maggies,” a longtime, neighborhood friendly, Wrigleyville bar. Maggie is Pops’ deceased wife who is represented by a lit picture on the wall and the gravestone Pops visits.
Directed by Damon Kiely, the entire cast is so good that everyone gasps when it looks like Charlie (Brandon Dalquist) will sell the bar to Weslowski (Michael Kingston) because Pops (Gene Weygandt) missed a few property tax payments. Charlie worries that daughter Dani will grow up stuck in the family bar like he did.
Cast of Augie March at Court Theatre. (Michael Brosilow photo)
2 ½ stars
Free-Style Chaos Defines Augie March
This theatrical version of “The Adventures of Augie March,” at the Court Theatre perhaps serves to illustrate why the popular novel by Chicagoan Saul Bellow has never before been adapted to the stage.
The story line basically follows everyman hero Augie March (Patrick Mulvey) as he meanders aimlessly through life allowing the people he meets to shape his journey. In this way Bellow suggests the arbitrariness of life and is perhaps a cautionary tale of the dangers of undefined goals.
The play opens in the Atlantic Ocean with Augie and his maniacal companion (John Judd) floating in a lifeboat after the sinking of their merchant ship.
During a flashback, Augie’s odyssey begins in the 1930s depression era crowded apartment he shares with his mother (Chaon Cross), two brothers and an overbearing Russian Jewish grandmother (Marilyn Dodds Frank).
Along the way Augie meets an odd assortment of characters which is one of the hallmarks of Bellow’s writing as he reveled in the peculiarities and idiosyncrasies of humanity.
Blocks of tickets have periodically been put up for sale, thus extending the hit Broadway show’s Chicago run since September 2016. But the last block of tickets will go on sale May 17,2019 at 10 a.m.
Those tickets can be bought at the CIBC Theatre’s box office (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) at 18 W. Monroe St., on the Broadway In Chicago 800-775-2000 number and online at BroadwayInChicago.
“More people have seen “Hamilton” in Chicago than any other city, including New York,” said producer Jeffrey Seller. “Chicago has been a cornerstone of our mission to make “Hamilton” as accessible to as many people as possible. We’ve loved our time here, and you can bet that ‘we’ll be back’.”
By the numbers: The Chicago run will be 171 weeks, 1,341 performances, seen by more than 2.6 million attendees plus more than 32,000 Chicago Public School students and teachers have participated in the show’s EduHam, an American history education program.
The musical, “Hamilton,” is based on the book, “Alexander Hamilton,” a biography of the Founding Father by Ron Chernow. Lin-Manuel Miranda who wrote the musical’s lyrics, music and book won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Directed by Thomas Kail, choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler with music direction and orchestrations by Alex Lacamoire, “Hamilton” took 11 Tony Awards in 2016 including Best Musical, Score, Book of a Musical, Direction of a Musical, Choreography and Orchestrations. It’s produced by Seller, Sander Jacobs, Jill Furman and The Public Theater.
