Reviews – Page 2 – Chicago Theater and Arts

Exceptional performance helps us know Frida Kahlo

Vanessa Severo is Frida Kahlo at Writers Theatre (Photos by Zach Rosing taken at Indiana Rep)

4 Stars

You don’t often see costume changes right on stage against a backdrop of apparel hanging on clothes lines. But then, you don’t often see a highly charged, exceptional, one-person performance such as the one that opened in Writers Theatre on Jan. 31, 2025.

It is Frida-A Self Portrait directed by Joanie Schultz and written and performed by Latino actress Venessa Severo.

You may start off thinking you know who Kahlo is. But by the end of the show you will also think you understand how this famed Mexican artist saw herself.

Upon entering the lobby look at the board near the entrance to the Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Theatre, Writers’ main show space, to read the happenings and accomplishments chart during Kahlo’s short life.

Born July 6, 1907 to Guillermo, a German father, and Matilde, a Mexican-Purepecha-Spanish mother, she died July 13, 1954.

During that time she married artist Diego Rivera in 1929, painted, tried to carry their offspring (see tiny clothes on the line), painted, divorced, remarried Diego and painted.

The show’s premise is that Kahlo is being interviewed by a writer from an architecture magazine. (The house later became a museum)

You hear her explain her life but Severo also speaks to the audience. She shows her left hand with its missing fingers (a congenital disorder), as a way to express how she relates to Kahlo. (Kahlo had polio that affected her legs and also survived a bus accident that left her severely injured.)

However, by the show’s end you really do feel you have met Kahlo and better understand her life and how she saw herself.

BTW, in 1990 Kahlo’s painting Diego and I became the first work by a Latin American artist to sell for more than $1 million ( US dollars). In 2001, Kahlo becomes the first Hispanic woman on a U.S. postage stamp.

DETAILS: Frida-A Self Portrait, is at Writers Theatre, 325 Tudor Ct. Glencoe, IL now through Feb. 23, 2025. Running time: about 75 plus minutes. For tickets and more information Visit Writers Theatre or call 847-242-6000.

Jodie Jacobs

For more shows visit Theatre in Chicago

Love is fragile and often transparent

Recommended

Is love like glass? Can you recognize and embrace love when you see it? This is a story about getting in touch with our better nature, rejecting a poor self-image, self-doubts, negative inner dialog and indeed the opinions of others based on their view of us.

Also, what are you willing to sacrifice to be the light in someone else’s life? Are you able to look past the superficial and artificial barriers that cause us to disregard and reject those who may be deserving of affection?

These themes are wrapped in a fantastical dramady written by Chicago-based playwright Reina Hardy and directed by City Lit Executive Artistic Director Brian Pastor.

Now on stage at City Lit Theater, “Glassheart” is a modern-day reimagining of the well-known tale of Beauty and the Beast.

Aiofe (Cailyn Murray) is a young woman from Michigan newly arrived in Chicago. She’s moved into an apartment managed by Elaine Carlson who, unbeknownst to her new tenant, happens to be a witch.

Aifo’s new neighbors are a cheerful woman about her own age living with a disagreeable, reclusive and unsightly brother.

In actuality, the brother or “the Beast” (Mark Pracht) is a European prince who has been put under a spell that has resulted in his overall repulsive countenance and behavior. The sister aka “Only” (Kat Evans) is in fact a former lamp that has been animated with human qualities to act as his servant and overall caregiver.

Only has taken it upon herself to move them to America in order to seek a fresh start in finding someone who might love the prince, thus freeing them both from the curse they are under.

City-Lit has assembled an all-star cast to introduce this Chicago Premier.

Mark Pracht’s beastly performance was perfectly sorrowful and requisitely aggressive providing much needed contrast in volume to the otherwise mostly conversational tone.

Kat Evans literally lights up the stage with her ebullient optimism and pleasing nature. Generally, I was not sure about the need for two short songs she sings, which seemed a bit out of place in this non-musical. But Evans’ angelic voice make the interludes more than worthwhile.

Cailyn Murray, new-to-Chicago having moved from Washington DC in 2023, is hereby invited to stay. Though I hope she has found, less eccentric lodgings.

Elaine Carlson as the witch was both humorous and menacing, think Aunt Clara (Bewitched) meets Rosemary’s Baby.

By the way this is not a child’s version of the popular tale.

“Glassheart” is a bit cerebral as it does not hit you over the head with its message. Indeed, I overheard two attendees saying, “I am not sure what it was all about” as they exited the theater. The other commented they were not certain of the name “Glassheart” and why it was not revealed until the end. I have my own thoughts on that, but it might be a criticism worth reflecting on as the writer and production team take notes.

This is essentially a one-set drawing room production, well written and well directed with solid performances by everyone.

Details: GLASSHEART at City Lit Theater, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr, Chicago, now through February 23, 2025 (on the second floor accessible via elevator of the Edgewater Presbyterian Church). Running time: about 2 hours with one 10-minute intermission. Tickets available online at www.citylit.org or by phone at (773) 293-3682.

Reviewer: Reno Lovison

For more theater reviews and info visit Theatre in Chicago

Academy Awards update

Due to the LA fires the 97th Oscar nominations were postponed. According to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, they are now finalized for January 23, 2025 beginning at 5:30 a.m. PST and then continued at 8:30 a.m. EST / 1:30 p.m. GMT / 9:30 p.m. CST.

The 97th Oscars will air as originally scheduled for Sunday, March 2, on ABC and Hulu.

The announcement said: “The nominations in all 23 Academy Award® categories will be announced in a live presentation from the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater, on Thursday, January 23, via global live stream on Oscar.com, Oscars.org and the Academy’s digital platforms (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook), NY and LA Switch pool ports and satellite downlink feed, national broadcast news programs, including ABC’s Good Morning America, and streaming on ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu.”

The first (5:30 a.m. PST) nominations are as follows:

Actor in a Supporting Role
Actress in a Supporting Role
Animated Short Film
Costume Design
Live Action Short Film
Makeup and Hairstyling
Music (Original Score)
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Writing (Original Screenplay)

At 5:41 a.m. PST

Actor in a Leading Role
Actress in a Leading Role
Animated Feature Film
Cinematography
Directing
Documentary Feature Film
Documentary Short Film
Film Editing
International Feature Film
Music (Original Song)
Best Picture
Production Design
Sound
Visual Effects

It may sound early but remember to add two hours to Central Time and three hours to New York.

Jodie Jacobs

Show review roundup from Chicago Theater and Arts

Reno Lovison picks for 2024

#1 – “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” at Goodman Theatre was best all around and also best new musical. Great energy, scenery, music, dance and general performance.

#2 -“Jersey Boys” at Mercury Theater is best revival. Well written story with awesome retro music well performed.

#3 – “Wells and Welles” by local playwright Amy Crider presented by Lucid Theatre was best two person play. Difficult choice because I also liked “Dear Elizabeth” and “Reclamation of Madison Hemings.”

#4 – “English” at Goodman was most thought provoking. Nice cross-cultural story. “The Long Christmas Dinner” by Thorton Wilder at TUTA Theater is a close second.

#5 – Best individual performance goes to Harry Lennix for “Inherit the Wind” at Goodman.

* Best new venue is Bramble Arts Loft, 5545 N. Clark Street, an unusual light and airy second floor loft space with elevator.

“Natasha, Pierre & the Comet of 1812” at Writers Theatre

Picks from Jodie Jacobs

#1 – “Natasha, Pierre & the Comet of 1812” at Writers Theatre as a complete, entertaining production. It had it all from great vocalizations and costuming to story line and exceptional acting.

#2 -“Every Brilliant Thing” at Writers Theatre. Jessie Fisher Fisher is brilliant in this one-persons show and so is the play written by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe. It likely touches many lives as it balances depression with hope.

#3 – “1776” as best revival at Marriott Theatre. Audiences might wonder what there is to say about the Declaration of Independence, a document written by Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, modified by some of the delegates to the Continental Congress and whose wording we presumably learned in elementary school. But under Nick Bowling’s direction the scene comes alive with terrific acting by a well-chosen cast and Tanji Harper’s choreography.

#4 -“Silent Sky” by Lauren Gunderson at Citadel Theatre, as most thought provoking. The well-acted play is about Henrietta Leavitt and other 19th century female astronomers who were not recognized at the time for their work because they were women.

#5 – “Rigoletto”at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Yes, opera is theater. It is drama, great voices, good staging and costuming even if you don’t care for the story. And even non-regular opera goers would recognize “La donna è mobile,” translated as “Woman is fickle.”

Dazzling Lights

Light up the night at Lightscape

Stroll a path you haven’t quite taken in the Chicago Botanic Garden. (Photo credit: Chicago Botanic Garden)

It’s just over a mile but it’s a December night so the air can be brisk. Bundle up or pick up hot chocolate or coffee along the way. Parts of the path may be familiar. However, that won’t matter. There are signs and helpers guiding the route.

The path is the Chicago Botanic Garden’s annual Lightscape event that seems to wander past and amidst multi-lit trees, pastures and geometric shapes. Opened Nov. 15, 2024 and continuing through Jan. 5, 2025. the path is glorious!

The Cathedral at Lightscape. (J Jacobs photo).

But the route is also practical. Just about two-thirds through when you could use a whatever break, you reach the education building with its restrooms, snack bars and tables.

Then, continue past more beautifully lit landscapes to the finish after walking through the”Cathedral,” a multi-lit archway kind of tunnel.

What you need to know: The event is by timed entry that begins at dusk – 4:30 p.m. and goes usually to 9 p.m. depending on the date.

For tickets and more information visit Lightscape | Chicago Botanic Garden.

Jodie Jacobs

An infinite and universal family story

L-R: Huy Nguyen, Matt Miles, Charlie Irving, Wain Parham, Alexis Primus. (Photo by Josh Bernaski)

Highly Recommended

Holidays have a unique way of punctuating our lives causing us to come together on an annual basis. Through this activity we assess alliances, trade information, and mark the passage of time.

In The Long Christmas Dinner by Thorton Wilder presented by TUTA Theatre and directed by co-artistic director Jacqueline Stone, we join an affluent Midwestern family at their Christmas table sometime in the not-too-distant past.

But this is not just one dinner, it is a sequence of similar dinners seamlessly stitched together in a linear fashion showing the progression of events that affect this family over multiple generations.

Christmas dinner is the thread that unites the changing timeline but it all occurs in the same place. Over time, characters enter and exit each adding their individual stitch to the tapestry that is the story of this family.

Wilder is the master of the mundane, that is to say, the commonplace and earthly, but not necessarily boring. In The Long Christmas Dinner, like with his well-known play, Our Town, he illustrates that it is the seemingly trivial day-to-day activities that make up life.

He also suggests that families are not created only by blood relations but also through shared memories and shared experiences. These are the ties that bind.

In spite of the confined point in space represented, we are reminded of a larger world through the Alaskan adventures of Uncle Branden (Wain Parham), the European dreams of Genevieve (Charlie Irving), and Young Roderick’s (Matt Miles) entry into WWII.

Likewise, the wives who have entered the family weave in stories of their own including the matriarch Mother Bayard (Joan Merlo), Lucia (Alexis Primus) and Leonora (Seoyoung Park).

As a playwright, Wilder felt challenged to find devices that could compress time in order to tell a very large story within the limitations of a theatrical performance.

The characters blend time by referencing past events and by doing so showing us how they have a hand in shaping our present thoughts. We think what we think because of what we have learned from those who have passed before us and shared their lives with us. In that way the past is always with us.

Wilder does not shy away from death. He wants us to see that death, as well as new life, is part of the process. Life is happy, sad, and ordinary. There are conflicts large and small but things resolve in their own way in good time.

The Long Christmas Dinner is like a river we have stepped into at some point. It was clearly flowing before we entered and it and its tributaries will continue to flow after we leave its shores.

The relatively new Bramble Arts Loft in Andersonville is the chosen venue for this production which features an excellent ensemble expertly directed by Jacqueline Stone.

The light and airy facility is refreshing with two performance spaces. This takes place in the Beatrice Theatre configured as a half round of about 100 stadium style seats with good sightlines for all.

The stage is a platform with no wings or backstage area. It spotlights an early 20^th Century formal table setting on an oriental carpet with an opulent chandelier festooned with hundreds of tiny crystals hanging above. The room makes you immediately feel like you have been invited for dinner.

Details: The Long Christmas Dinner is presented by TUTA Theatre at the Bramble Arts Loft, 5545 N. Clark Street, Chicago, through December 26, 2024. Running time: 75 minutes with no intermission. For tickets and information visit www.tutatheatre.org.

Reno Lovison

No seasickness here

Beck Hokanson (Dick), Joe Bushell (Hennessy), Peter Kattner II (Lucky) and Elizabeth Bushell (Joan) in “Dames at Sea” at Citadel Theatre. (Photos by North Shore Camera Club.)

Highly recommend

Sometimes a show from the past that is not performed much now, is just what we need as a break from the usual holiday fare. Such is “Dames at Sea” a 1966 musical with book and lyrics by George Haimsohn and music by Jim Wise now on stage at Citadel Theatre.

Think of it as a spoof on the over-the-top 1930’s large dance movie productions of Busby Berkely and you will understand what may at first seem as over-emoting by some of the cast.

Also a spoof on “42nd Street,” it is filled with superb tap dancing and fine voices as it follows Ruby, (Melody Rowland) who comes to New York from Utah to, hopefully, star on Broadway.

She is accepted by producer/director Joe Bushell (Hennessy) because one of his chorus girls has just left.

Her just met boyfriend, Beck Hokanson (Dick) a sailor and songwriter is off a battleship in the harbor with sailor Peter Kattner II (Lucky).

To complicate relationships Lucky had met and likes Elizabeth Bushell (Joan) plus the production’s main star, Mona (Ciara Jarvis) really likes Dick’s songs and makes Ruby jealous.

The first half takes place in a tumbling down off Broadway theater that is going to be repurposed. When the roof literally caves in on everyone, the sailors decide they should move the production to the ship. Thus we literally have “Dames at Sea.”

Coincidences keep happening. When Mona gets seasick, Ruby does step in to the starring role.

What is amazing about this show is how choreographer/director Gregg Denhardt has fit the action, including the whole chorus line, onto Citadel’s tiny stage.

I even liked Dick’s funny attempts to keep a kicking girl’s leg out of his face when he “played” one of his songs on the upright piano in the corner.

The funny things is that when the show opened in 1966 in a Greenwich Village coffee house’s performance space, it starred the then, mostly unknown, Bernadette Peters as Ruby because the original star left. The show stayed there for 148 performances.

Peters went on to do regional performances in the 1970s including one at the Academy Playhouse in Lake Forest.

The show did eventually, officially open on Broadway, October 22, 2015 at the Helen Hayes Theatre.

Melody Rowland (Ruby) with soon to be boyfriend Beck Hokanson (Dick),

DETAILS: “Dames at Sea” is at Citadel Theatre at 300 S. Waukegan Road, Lake Forest, now through December 15, 2024. Running time: 90 minutes with a brief intermission. For tickets call 847-735-8554 or visit www.citadeltheatre.org.

Jodie Jacobs

For more shows visit Theatre in Chicago

Did you see Royko

In "Royko: The Toughest Man in Chicago," Mitchell Bisschop plays the hard-nosed newspaper columnist.

Mitchell Bisschop in Royko: The Toughest Man in Chicago. (Photo by Sarah Elizabeth Larsen)

Recommended

Mike Royko was an outspoken Chicago journalist, who in the 1960s through the ’90s railed against the political machine and championed the cause of the underdog with the same zeal he displayed toward his beloved Cubs.

Playwright and monologist Mitchell Bisschop has distilled thousands of Royko’s daily reflections of life in the Windy City to fashion a one-man show he wrote and stars in. It celebrates the person Bisschoph has dubbed, Royko: The Toughest Man in Town.

From the stage at the Chopin Theatre in Wicker Park, Royko’s written words come alive, reminding us of past political battles, every day joys and poignant personal dramas.

Royko had a sense for what was on the mind of Chicagoans. Many agreed with his observations and many did not, causing nearly everyone to say, “Did you read Royko?”

It’s safe to say that Royko disliked Richard J. Daley and his machine politics, catsup on hotdogs and deep-dish pizza, maybe as much as he appreciated Harold Washington, 16 inch softball and his favorite seat at the end of the bar at the Billy Goat Tavern near the newspapers (otherwise known as Royko’s other office).

Then of course there were the ribs. Royko loved to bar-b-que and felt his ribs were the best. This boast led to the establishment of the Royko Ribfest in 1982, a Chicago tradition that continues.

When Australian media magnate Rupert Murdoch bought the Sun-Times (the newspaper where he worked), Royko quipped that “No self-respecting fish would want to be wrapped in one of Murdoch’s publications.”

He proverbially held his nose in protest and reluctantly moved to the more conservative, right leaning Chicago Tribune.

The roughly two-hour performance at the Chopin Theatre serves as a reminiscence for those of a certain age and as an entertaining summary of our recent history for those of a younger generation who might not have first-hand familiarity with events related to the quickly fading recent past.

I tend to feel everyone has a story to tell, but we do not have a record of most of them. Indeed, there is an echo to history and lessons to be learned for those interested enough to listen.

Royko stood up for what he believed and pushed back against bullies like those who felt that they had a right to abuse him simply because he was courageous enough to share his thoughts. I guess this is why Bisschop calls him the toughest man in Chicago.

Details: “Royko: The toughest man in Chicago,” is at Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division Street, Chicago, IL now through December 22, 2024. Running time: about 2 hours with one 15-minute intermission. Find tickets at royko.brownpapertickets.com and more information at Chopin or call (847)920-7714.

Reno Lovison

For more shows visit Theatre In Chicago

The Royal Shakespeare Company adds music and dance to Pericles

Zach Wyatt plays the title role, with Leah Haile as the king's wife Thaisa, in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of "Pericles" now at Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

Zach Wyatt, center, is Pericles holding his bride to be, the king’s daughter Thaisa, played by Leah Haile in “Pericles,” a Royal Shakespeare Company production at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. (Photo by Johan Persson.)

Somewhat recommended

Maybe, I was in the mood for a solid Shakespearean play. In “Pericles,” supposedly half penned by William Shakespeare, members of the renown Royal Shakespeare Company flit around the stage as if in a remake of an 18th century enchanted forest dream complete with music and dance.

The production doesn’t get better until the last act which sounds more like the Bard’s thoughts and then it becomes a tearjerker.

Pericles, well depicted by Zach Wyatt, has been wandering the seas and islands with grief for Thaisa, his supposedly dead wife who died giving birth to daughter Marina. The daughter is supposed to be taken care of but isn’t.

He finds that long-lost daughter, nicely portrayed by Rachelle Diedericks, in a brothel. Then, he reconnects with his wife who has been brought back to life as a high priestess.

After everyone lovingly embrace, Pericles and Marina leave to find a suitable sacrifice to goddess Diana.

DETAILS: “Pericles” is at Chicago Shakespeare Theater now through Dec. 7, 2024. Running Time: 2 hrs, 40 minutes with one intermission. Chicago Shakespeare Theatre is on Navy Pier, 800 E. Grand Ave., Chicago.

For tickets and more information visit Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

Jodie Jacobs

For more shows visit Theatre in Chicago.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater | Where the World Comes to Play

Brilliant acting and script move into Writers small theatre

Jessie Fisher stars in “Every Brilliant Thing” at Writers Theatre. Photo by Michael Brosilow.

Four Stars

Number one on the “List” is ….” says Broadway regular Jessie Fisher who hails from the Chicago area. An audience member calls out “Ice Cream.” Fisher has passed out slips of paper with numbers on them and a phrase. They are her “List” and the audience interacts with her on various levels of participation.

By the end of the show, a short, intense 70 minutes of skipping several numbers while she grows up from a young, smart but worried child to a mature adult, she has reached one million things that, even if they sound little, bring joy.

The List which includes “having a piano in the kitchen” is what she writes for her mother who is suicidal but it is also how she copes as she moves through teenage, college years and beyond.

There is hardly a dry eye in the audience. Depression is a deep, real emotion and response. But in this play, there also is joy.

Directed by Kimberly Senior, Fisher is brilliant and so is the play. Written by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe it likely touches many lives as it balances depression with hope.

The set, accommodated in Writers’ intimate Gillian Theatre, is a back yard with grass, tables and lawn chairs for the audience. The casual setting is perfect for encouraging the level of understanding needed for tackling suicide.

DETAILS: “Every Billiant Thing” is at Writers Theatre, 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe, IL extended now through Jan, 12, 2025. Running time: 70 minutes, no intermission. For tickets and more information visit Writers Theatre.

Jodie Jacobs

For more shows visit Theatre in Chicago