Tag: Theatre in Chicago

Highly Recommended

Disappointment leads to despair

Picture four blues musicians sitting in a recording studio’s rehearsal hall examining their lives while waiting for the prima donna to perform. But be patient. The show is the very interesting, highly recommended Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom by August Wilson now on stage at The Goodman.

Ma Rainey, perfectly interpreted by E. Faye Butler, is the leading artist of a struggling Chicago based blues label owned by brothers Irvin (Marc Grapey) and Sturdyvent (Matt Decaro). The band consists of pianist, Toledo (Kelvin Roston); bassist, ‘Slow Drag’ (Cedric Young); trombone/guitar player, Cutler (David Alan Anderson); and horn player Levee (Al’ Jaleel McGhee).

Ma’s personal entourage also consists of her nephew,  a stuttering singer named Sylvester (Jabari Kaliq) and her young lover, Dussie Mae (Tiffany Renee Johnson).

Set circa 1927 at the height of the Great Migration, this tragic drama is rooted in personal trauma, systemic racism and economic exploitation. In true blues tradition each man reveals his inner self through storytelling. In the process there is a good amount of convivial, often dark, humor born of a recognition of shared experience with an undercurrent of shared pain.

The ambitious Levee is the pivotal character, representing a youthful progressiveness at odds with Ma’s traditional approach and controlling nature. He is also a subject of amusement for his more seasoned and philosophical bandmates who simply want to get on with their work at this point in their career.

Ultimately, Levee is overcome by personal trauma and disappointment. His recent acquisition of a new pair of stylish shoes becomes a symbolic component in the actions about to take place. They are the physical manifestation of his upward mobility, his hunger for attention and represent the persona of affluence and success he wants to convey to the world around him.

Written in 1984 this is clearly reminiscent of many great literary tragedies. Wilson understood that he was crafting an African American story rooted in Black experience, yet one that would be witnessed by white audiences as well.

His mastery of African American vernacular, speaks directly to Black audiences with familiarity and affirmation, while offering white audiences a window into a cultural world they may not know. In doing so, Black audiences find recognition and validation while white audiences gain insight.

Expertly directed by Chuck Smith with music direction by Harry Lennix, this is apparently a labor of love that manages the production with an honesty and care while paying tribute to the sensitivity of Wilson’s material.

The multi-level set design by Linda Buchanan emphasizes the dominance of Irvin and Sturdyvant as they observe the performers from their elevated vantage point in the control room. From there they bark commands, provide food and dole out the pay.

Faye Butler plays Ma with requisite bombast and over-the-top energy that makes her larger-than-life character unmistakably in command of her domain while belting the blues with an authority that proves she has the chops to back-up her formidable presence.

McGhee as Levee does a great job of methodically peeling away each layer of the onion slowly revealing his inner torment. Fellow musicians Young, Roston and Anderson display a measured maturity in their easy banter that makes me feel like I’m eavesdropping in a neighborhood barber shop with echoes of tales that are reminiscent of ancient fireside rituals.

Details: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom by August Wilson is at The Goodman, 170 N. Dearborn, Chicago through May 3, 2026. Runtime about 2 and a half hours with one intermission.  For tickets go to GoodmanTheatre.org/MaRaineys visit the Box Office or call 312.443.3800.

Review by Reno Lovison

For more reviews visit Theatre in Chicago

Highly Recommended

Coca-Cola may have codified our image of Santa but Victorian author, Charles Dickens taught the world about the spirit of Christmas. The Goodman Theatre has continued that lesson in Chicago for 48 years.

Part of the success and charm of this tale is its simple elegance. The story is easy to understand even by the youngest theater goers yet it does not talk down the audience. It’s a kind of secular parable with a strong moral lesson to change your ways before it’s too late.

Originally published as a novella in 1843, it was first adapted for the stage just one year later by Edward Stirling. Subsequent adaptations, including this one by Tom Creamer, do not stray far from the source including much of Dickens’ own original dialogue.

The unique contribution of The Goodman tradition has been to broaden the universality of the message through colorblind, gender neutral and mixed ethnic casting as well as incorporating the use of American sign language. It provides a chance for virtually everyone to see themselves in the characters on stage while reminding us that we are all a part of a larger world.

The central character is Ebenezer Scrooge (Christopher Donahue), a wealthy businessman of advanced years whose name through his actions and discourse has become synonymous with self-centered miserliness.

When asked to donate to the less fortunate Scrooge asks, “Are there no prisons? … And the Union workhouses, are they still in operation?” When told many would rather die than have to go to the various institutions, Scrooge replies, “If they would rather die, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.”

Dickens teaches us, through Scrooge, about the spirit of Christmas quite literally using spectral visitations. The first is the deceased former business partner of Scrooge, Jacob Marley (Daniel Jose Molina). He reveals that Scrooge is to be visited by three additional ghosts representing present (Bethany Thomas), past (Lucky Stiff) and future (Molina).

In each subsequent period we experience the life and fate of Scrooge’s long-suffering clerk Bob Cratchit (Jon Hudson Odom) who has been sorely used by his employer yet somehow manages to retain an optimistic view and joyful demeanor.

We also get a glimpse into Scrooge’s own personal life including his relationship with his own family and past acquaintances.

In the end, Scrooge is confronted with his own fate and the potential fate of those whose lives he affects, most notably the Cratchit family including the ailing youngster, Tiny Tim (Ella Boparai).

I am a Dickens fan and have read most if not all of his popular works and seen many film and stage adaptations.  What I love about him is his attention to detail. He was a keen observer of people and the world around him.

He was a quintessential chronicler of the Victorian period and a champion of human rights that made a significant impact by drawing attention to the needs of the lower classes in England and particularly the needs of poor and neglected children.

As a reviewer I find it difficult to comment on the interpretation of the individual players in this production because Dickens does such a fine job of defining his characters that a capable actor need only crawl into the suit and perform what he is given.

That said, it certainly can be done badly but when done well, as is the case with this cast, what we see is the actor’s own humanity bleed through.

Donahue’s Scrooge is not like every other Scrooge I’ve seen nor is Odom’s Cratchit. Rather what I see are the aspects of Donahue’s own personality that is most like Scrooge and likewise Odom’s personal relationship with Cratchit.

I suppose this is what every modern actor is hoping to achieve. Whether Hamlet, Willie Loman or Scrooge these characters are so well crafted that they meld together with the actor and in turn with the audience because we see ourselves in each of these archetypes.

It’s easy to say that in today’s political and social climate this year’s version has particular significance but the genius of this story is that the social ills that confront us have been here for time immemorial.

However, Dickens reminds us that we do not have to change the world we only need to reach out to the persons closest to us to affect a modicum of change for them.

Holocaust survivor and author Elie Wiesel helped to popularize the Talmudic phrase, “Whoever saves one life, it is as if he has saved an entire world.” Matthew 25:40 quotes Jesus as saying, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

A Christmas Carol is a familiar story to many who may have seen other stage versions or any of the popular movie versions including a number of modern adaptations and even animations.

For this reason, I consciously avoided The Goodman tradition for far too long, feeling I would rather not revisit this chestnut again. Well, I was wrong! The Goodman staging of A Christmas Carol is an exciting and satisfying visual extravaganza that incorporates all manner of stagecraft with technologies old and new, while retaining the essential aspects of the original.

In this way a modern audience will find what they desire while the purists (like me) will find their familiar favorite elements still intact. I guess I have discovered and transformed the Scrooge in me.

Marketing materials for various products often promise, “It will bring out the child in you.” This production absolutely does it. Likewise, it is indeed “fun for the whole family.”

Details: “A Christmas Carol” directed by Malkia Stampley is at The Goodman, 170 N. Dearborn Street, Chicago, IL through December 30, 2025. Runtime is about 2 ½ hours with one intermission. Visit goodmantheatre.org for tickets and information

Reviewer Reno Lovison

For more reviews visit Theatre in Chicago