Chicago the musical is at the Cadillac Palace Theatre. (Photo by Catherine Ashmore)
3 stars
”Chicago,” the sardonic, jazzy, vaudeville-style musical written by lyricist Fred Ebb, composer John Kander with book by Ebb an Bob Fosse, is in its namesake town for just a week as it continues to make the rounds.
Fosse’s choreography in conjunction with Ann Reinking’s choreography in Fosse’s style for the 1997 New York production are skillfully performed by the company and the two female leads, Dylis Croman as Roxie Hart and Lana Gordon as Velma Kelly.
The Fosse style, Croman’s big number “Roxie” plus “When You’re Good to Mama,” sung by Jennifer Fouché and “Mister Cellophane” sung by Paul Vogt as Amos Hart make the current touring show worth seeing.
Just don’t expect quite the high level of razzle-dazzle of the original 1975 show or the 1996 revival or the 2002 film version that won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Eddie George who has moved from the NFL to acting in Nashville companies, is an OK Billy Flynn but not in the same personality category as Richard Gere in the movie or at the song and dance guy level of Jerry Orbach in the Broadway production.
This version needs to turn up the heat on its famed “Cell Block Tango” which seemed a bit going-through- the-motions tired.
However, the show is fun to watch. The orchestra, conducted by Andrew Bryan, is still on stage as the main set-design element and its vaudeville-style, bring-them-on performances across the front of the stage is still entertaining.
“Chicag0” is at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph St., Chicago through May 12, 2019. Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes with one intermission. For tickets and other information visit Broadway In Chicago.
(left to right) Sam Shankman (Lucky), Sierra Schnack (Joan), Kelly Felthous (Ruby) and Todd Aulwurm (Dick) at Theatre at the Center, (Photo by Brett Beiner)
3 stars
What’s not to love about a show that opens with a rousing tap number? Nothing, it turns out. “Dames at Sea,” the newest production at the Theatre at the Center in Munster, IN, is pure campy fun, from the first minute to the last.
It follows the story of Ruby. She’s fresh off the bus from Utah and in search of a career as a dancer on Broadway. She hasn’t eaten in three days, forgets her suitcase on the bus in her rush to get a job as a dancer, falls into a job dancing on a chorus line in a Broadway production, and catches the eye of a sailor who pledges his love for her — all in the delightful course of her first day in New York.
“Dames at Sea” is a long-running, Off Broadway hit that made Bernadette Peters a star in 1969. Kelly Felthous, the tiny blond firecracker who plays Ruby, channels her inner Bernadette Peters in this production, complete with spunky tapping, high-pitched voice and impish smile. (Ashley Lanyon takes over the role of Ruby from May 22-June 2.)
It was impressive that the young dancers onstage for A&A Ballet’s May 4th performance of“Sleeping Beauty” were not thrown off by a cell phone ringing throughout the first half.
A stage manager solved that problem after intermission by asking audience members to turn off their phones completely, not just set them to silent. That was because the cell phones were interfering with the wireless systems in the Studebaker Theater, he said.
Whether that was true or not, it resolved the issue of the rude audience member so the rest of us were able to fully focus on the beauty onstage.
The matinee performance of the A&A Ballet featured a multi-cultural and multi-generational cast of impressive ballerinas, including some tiny tots who couldn’t have been cuter in their sheep costumes.
Mikaela Bennett and Corey Cott in West Side Story at Lyric Opera. (Photo by Todd Rosenberg)
3 1/2 stars
If you go to see “West Side Story,” now at the Lyric Opera through June 2, 2019, you are likely to think about how culture clashes have changed or not since Leonard Bernstein wrote the show’s dramatically descriptive music, Stephen Sondheim did the very memorable lyrics, Arthur Laurents penned the book based on William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” and Jerome Robbins directed and choreographed it.
When West Side Story opened as a Broadway musical in 1957 it received six Tony nominations including Best Musical but a feel good show, “Music Man,” won the Tony Award for Best Musical. “West Side Story” was not meant to make audiences happy. Even the show’s single funny scene/song “Gee, Officer Krupke” sung by the Jets pinpoints societal problems.
Anyone who reads Shakespeare’s tragedies, knows the Bard is very good at portraying motivations and clashes.
If you know your Shakespeare, you will find some similarities between the “Romeo and Juliet “ of the 1590’s and Broadway musical of the 1950s.
Graffitti art in NYC from the 70s and 80s celebrated in musical Graffiti Kings. (Photo courtesy of Jonathan Gross)
If you take a train, “L” or bus in Chicago you are likely to see murals, words and names painted on the sides of overhead passes and buildings. Some tell a story or express moods and feelings but you might miss that if your vehicle isn’t stopped long enough. Sure there are also gang territory and identification words.
Would you lump all of it together as graffiti? Or would you think of any of the work as art, as cultural expressions?
Jonathan Gross not only sees much of the paintings as cultural art expressions, he is writing two booksabout that; “Four Studies in Graffiti” and “Cure for the Common Core: Arts Education in the Public schools.”
But what theater goers, musical lovers and arts aficionados should know is that Gross is putting the finishing touches on an earlier show he wrote, “Graffiti Kings: A Musical.”
Originally written on New York’s graffiti of the 1980s based on “Graffiti Kings” by Jack Stewart, “Subway Art” by Henry Chalfant and Martha Cooper and “Training Days” by Chalfan, the revised musical will be slightly expanded.
Still titled, “Graffiti Kings: A Musical,” the version coming to a Chicago venue in late May includes research into artist Martin Wong’s social realism of ethnic and racial identities works and collection and will fictionalize graffiti collectors into a composite of characters.
The revised show, now an hour long, will be performed at 7 p.m. on Stage 773, May 30, 2019.
“Graffiti Kings” had premiered in April 2016 at the Old Town School of Folk Music with student performers from DePaul University’s renowned theatre department; formerly the Goodman Drama School. It was backed by musicians Gross and Vincent Buoncore.
DePaul University English professor and playwright Jonathan Gross. (Photo courtesy of Jonathan Gross
You see, the playwright is DePaul University English Department’s Professor Gross. His area is Nineteenth-Century Literature; World Literature. No ivy-tower escapist, Gross worries about students in schools that under-fund the arts.
But during a recent phone interview, what emerged was this is the Gross who co-wrote such popular children’s musicals as “The Dragon’s Tale,” The Blue Dog” and “Snoops and Schnozzles” with Jacqueline Russell back in the 1990s. Russell is now artistic director of the Chicago Children’s Theatre.
Also revealed was that Gross studied piano and trumpet, and played in a jazz trio with Buoncore and Kim Healey called Lush Life.
A long-time admirer of Ethel Waters and Duke Elington, Gross wrote “Harlem Renaissance Remembered” (Brilliance Audio) and “Eye on the Sparrow: Afterlives of Ethel Waters and Bessie Smith.” He sees “Graffiti Kings” as the third part of his trilogy.”
“The play and songs for “Graffiti Kings” were written by me, inspired by the voices of graffiti artists Blade, Seen, Zephyr, Lady Pink, Lee Quinones and Martin Wong (graffiti collector whose work is compiled in NYC’s Museum of the City of New York),” said Gross in a follow-up note.
The show celebrates their characters in his original songs: “Open Book,” “Train,” “When I Said Goodbye,” Sheila,” “ Look Back in Anger,” and “Passenger.”
“Graffiti wasn’t a crime in the 70s and 80s. I’m trying to get people to see it as a culture contribution, to be admired and not as vandalism,” said Gross.
For tickets and more information on the show call (773) 327-5252 and visit. Stage 773/Graffiti Kings.
Arts and Crafts Adventure in Park Ridge. (Photo courtesy of American Society of Artists)
Two festivals open the spring/summer arts season, one downtown Chicago, the other in Park Ridge. They are the second weekend of May so let’s hope our rainy/snowy April won’t extend into May.
Manifest Urban Arts Festival
Held by Columbia College, long known for its arts programs and degrees the festival is a day-long, free arts celebration//demonstration May 10 from noon to 9 p.m. along the Wabash Arts Corridor May 10 from 9th to 11 Streets.
The festival features bands, fashion and art exhibitions, dance and theatre performances and hip-hop star Kweku Collins, For time and specific location of each highlight visit Manifest Urban Arts Festival. As an example “Documenting Truth in an Era of “Fake News” features photographs and film trailers from noon to 9 p.m. at 1104 S. Wabash Ave. 8th floor. Animation Showcase is in the same location from 4 to 7 p.m.
Arts & Crafts Adventure
Presented by the American Society of Artists, the show feature paintings, photography, jewelry, glass, wood and other hand-made items and some artists demonstrations. Look for it on May 11 in Hodges Park, 101 S. Courland near Prospect and Vine across from Park Ridge City Hall. It is near the uptown Park Ridge Train Station. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free admission. For more information visit Arts & Crafts Adventure call (847) 991-4748 or visit Arts & Crafts Adventure.
Christina Gorman and Lawrence Grimm in Shattered Globe Theatre’s production of Hannah and Martin. (Photo by Michael Brosilow)
4 Stars
Can a brilliant Jewish philosopher and her celebrated German professor, turned lover, exist on two opposite tracts? The answer, of course, is no.
But the production of “Hannah and Martin” by Shattered Globe Theatre takes the audience through an ideological and moralistic journey with deep, thought-provoking, dialogue.
Written by Kate Fodor, the play is based on the clandestine love affair between German-Jewish political theorist Hannah Arendt and her teacher, the well-known German philosopher Martin Heidegger. After the war, Arendt was considered one of the most important political philosophers of the twentieth century.
On a collision course with politics and destiny, this powerful drama takes place in Germany from 1924 – 1946. Disappointment looms when Arendt discovers that her beloved Heidegger is working to promote the goals of the Nazis.
Ross Lehman with pianist Chuck Larkin n Sentimental Journey at Citadel Theatre. (Photo by North Shore Camera Club)
3.5 stars
If you see “Sentimental Journey: A Musical Tale of Love and War” at Citadel Theatre, you may want to ask you parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles about their lives during WWII or Vietnam.
The show is actor Ross “Robbie” Lehman’s ode to his parents, Katey and Ross Lehman.
By telling their story through such 1940’s songs as “I May Be Wrong (But I Think You’re Wonderful),” “I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now,” “Sentimental Journey” and “We’ll Meet Again” with some Irish roots thrown in with “Molly Malone” and “Danny ‘Boy,” and by reading their letters in the voice of the writer, you learn about their meeting, dating and enduring the uncertainties and traumatic emotional and physical toll of war.
Lehman, whom theater goers know from seeing him at Chicago Shakespeare, Steppenwolf and Goodman, easily adopts the voices and mannerisms of Katey, a writer with a cigarette in one hand and a drink nearby, and Ross, a pipe (later cigar) smoker who loved to sing and was often chosen as an event’s emcee.
The first act, about 55 minutes, is filled with charming stories..The second act of about 35 minutes, turns emotional as you learn about his father’s horrific war experiences.
He takes his father’s bomber jacket out of its frame on the set to show the holes made by German flak and in a video close-up you see the medals, including the Purple Heart, that are also framed.
Ross Lehman in Sentimental Journey at Citadel Theatre. (Photo by North Shore Camera Club)
The frames are on a wall that even with a video screen on one side showing parents, family members and bombers, gives the set created by Timoth Mann, an intimate feeling. To one side is the piano played for some shows by co-musical director Chuck Larkin and other times by co-musical director Mark Weston.
Lehman credits his granddaughter Carlyn Hudson with the choreography (also shown in a video) so you know that the love of music and performance is passing down to another generation. BTW, Lehman is a faculty member at Loyola University and has taught acting, musical theatre and Shakespeare at DePaul and Northwestern Universities.
Directed by Mark Lococo who knows the Lehman family, the play is a way to better understand the War Years.
“Sentimental Journey: A Musical Tale of Love and War” is at Citadel Theatre, 300 S. Waukegan Rd., Lake Forest, through May 26. Run time: 100 minutes including one intermission. For tickets and other information call (847) 735-8554 and visit Citadel Theatre.
Nate Strain. “The Devil and Daniel Webster,” one-half of Two Days in court. (Photo by Steve Graue)
3 Stars
As the baseball season begins, City Lit is ending their 39th theatrical season with “Two Days in Court: A Double-Header of Classic One Acts.”
The two plays are “The Devil and Daniel Webster” by Stephen Vincent Benet, and the farcical Gilbert & Sullivan operetta “Trial by Jury.”
In “The Devil and Daniel Webster” a young farmer turned senator Jabez Stone (Nate Strain) has literally sold his soul to The Devil “Scratch” (Lee Wichman) in exchange for his success. The agreement comes due coincidentally at midnight on the day of his wedding to Mary Stone (Laura Resinger).
Luckily for the Stones one of their wedding guests is the famed orator of-the-day and prominent attorney Daniel Webster (Bill Chamberlain) who agrees to represent Jabez against Scratch in front of a “jury of the damned” to get the young Senator released from this most egregious contract.
Webster reminds the jury who have each sold their soul for advantage over others and short term gain, that they have sacrificed the simple pleasures of life.
After a seven-week strike, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s musicians and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association’s board have agreed to a new five-year contract. The new agreement was ratified this weekend following negotiation sessions mediated by Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
Retroactive to September 2018 and going through September 2023, the agreement covers working conditions, a 14 % wage increase over five years plus changing to a Defined Contribution Retirement Plan from a Defined Benefit Pension Plan.
“The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has been a cultural treasure for this community for 128 years,” said CSOA Board of Trustees Chair Helen Zell. “Our Trustees recognize and honor the exceptional artistry of the musicians. This new agreement reflects the excellence of the Orchestra and ensures that the musicians receive the outstanding compensation they deserve, while securing their and the CSOA’s long-term financial sustainability through the retirement plan transition,” said Zell.
Begun April 2018, negotiations between the association and the musicians’ had expired March 10, 2019 after a 6-month extension.
The musicians were represented by Chicago Federation of Musicians Local 10-208 President Terryl Lynn Jares and legal counsel Robert E. Bloch of Dowd, Bloch, Bennett, Cervone, Auerbach & Yokich. The association was represented by legal counsel Marilyn Pearson of McDermott Will & Emery LLP.
The 2018/19 season, including a Symphony Center Presents Chamber Music concert with violinist Itzhak Perlman and pianist Evgeny Kissin, and the CSO subscription concerts conducted by Music Director Riccardo Muti, are resuming. For program details visit CSO.org.
