Cast of White Christmas at Theatre at the Center (Michael Brosilow photo)
3 stars
Who doesn’t love a rousing tap number? If you do, then “White Christmas,” the holiday offering from Munster’s Theatre at the Center, is the holiday song-and-dance show for you.
The musical is the stage adaptation of my mom’s favorite Christmas movie starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen and Dean Jagger. Irving Berlin’s White Christmas was turned into a stage show in 2000.
Munster’s version stars Matt Edmonds as Bob, Justin Brill as Phil, Casiena Raether as Judy, Erica Stephan as Betty and Neil Friedman as General Waverly.
It follows the story of Bob and Phil, singers who served under “The Old Man” in World War II before gaining fame and fortune as entertainers. Looking for romance, they follow sisters Judy and Betty to Vermont where the women are slated to perform on Christmas Eve.
When Bob and Phil learn that the inn is owned by the General who is facing financial ruin because there’s no snow, they rally the old troops to save him.
Will Mobley (George Wickham) and Jennifer Latimore (Lydia nee Bennet Wickham) in ‘The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley’ at NOrthlight Theatre. (Phots by Liz Lauren)
4 stars
Audiences move below the stairs in “The Wickams: Christmas at Pemberley,” the second part of a trilogy that started with “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley.
Co-written by playwrights Lauren Gunderson (“Book of Will”) and Margot Mekon (former Marin Theatre New Play Development Director) Jane Austen fans will recognize some of the characters, their foibles and charm, as inspired by Pride & Prejudice.
Indeed, the troubles between Fitzwilliam Darcy (Luigi Scottile) and George Wickham (Will Mobley) start in the famed Austen story and reach another scandalous level in Part Two about the Bennets and the Darcys.
In a letter to her sister, Lizzy (Elizabeth Darcy played by Netta Walker), Lydia Wickham, née Bennet, portrayed by Jennifer Latimore, says she is coming to Pemberley for Christmas. Lydia’s husband, George, a gambler and unscrupulous womanizer, is not welcome at the Darcy estate.
left to right Ayanna Bria Bakari(Zoe) and Mary Beth Fisher(Janine) in The Niceties at Writers Theatre. (Michael Brosilow Photos )
3 stars
Racism isn’t always a clear, conscious choice but activism and outrage regarding racism are choices in playwright Eleanor Burgess’ “The Niceties,” now at Writers Theatre.
When a well-regarded Caucasian Ivy-league history professor meets one of her students, a smart African-American anxious to turn in her paper on the American Revolution ahead of time so she can organize a protest at the school, their discussion dissolves from quiet, academic points to heated confrontation.
L.R. Elaina Henderson, Guy Wicke, Stephen J. Bryant, Taylor Toms. (Photo by Stephen Bryant)
3 stars
It’s the 1940s and veteran detective Max Forthright (Guy Wicke) is throwing a lavish party to celebrate the publication of his upcoming memoirs.
Max has invited a number of distinguished guests including his best friend (the square jawed man of action) screen actor Roman Powell (Stephen J Bryant) accompanied by the lovely young socialite Ainsley Hyde (Taylor Toms) whose father is a well-known politician.
Brittany Bellizeare and Edgar Miguel Sanchez in Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s production of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” (Liz Lauren photo)
2 ½ stars
We already have “West Side Story,” a tragic love tale of feuding groups based on Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” Beautifully and emotionally interpreted with book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, it’s parallel to current gang wars was not lost on a tearful audience at Lyric Opera’s closing 2019 production.
That Chicago Shakespeare Theater Artistic Director Barbara Gaines would like to remind CST audiences that the problems Shakespeare dramatized and Bernstein put to music still exist, is laudable. However, given the set design, cast and costumes of the Gaines production, there probably should be a different title.
(L-R) Asia Martin, Andrew Knox, Adam Schreck, Mary Catherine Curran, Jordan Savusa, Sarah Dell’Amico in The Second City’s Do You Believe In Madness. (Photo by Timothy M. Schmidt.)
3 stars
The Second City began in Chicago in December of 1959, and will have its 60th anniversary next month. It was called “The Second City” because a journalist in New York had written a book titled Chicago: The Second City. Back then, Chicago was the second largest city next to New York City.
Now,six decades later, The Second City is still going strong with its 108th Mainstage Revue “Do You Believe in Madness?” The show is expected to run at least until the famed improv theatre’s 60th anniversary Dec. 16, 2019.
Directed by Ryan Bernier with musical direction by Nick Gage, the show is written and performed by six fabulous actors: Mary Catherine Curran, Sarah Dell’Amico, Andrew Knox, Asia Martin, Jordan Savusa and Adam Schreck.
Even though the production features several different scenes the format works because the transition is so smooth. One scene takes place in a high school where a teacher tells her most misbehaved students that they are the reason that all of the teachers went on strike.
Another scene deals with many people whose dogs and cats were lost or died, and the owners relate it to deaths of siblings. Then a human family has a bird in the house, and then a bird family has a human in the house – both are unsettling to the families.
(L-R) Sarah Dell’Amico, Andrew Knox, Asia Martin, Jordan Savusa, Mary CatherineCurran, Adam Schreck. (Photo by Timothy M. Schmidt.)
A scene with a dating couple asked each other why they were so normal. They felt that normal must be something wrong! The revue’s title, “Do You Believe in Madness?” seems very appropriate.
Most of these fun scenes include jumping around, dancing, singing, laughter, background music and more. Perhaps in the future, these professional actors and actresses may follow in the footsteps of those from The Second City many decades ago – Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd, Joan Rivers, John Belushi, Tina Fey, and others.
DETAILS: “Do You Believe in Madness?” is at The Second City Mainstage Theater. 1616 N. Wells St., Chicago as an open run. Running time: 2 hours with one intermission. For tickets and other information, call (312) 337-3992 or visit Second City.
William Brown (center) stars as aging pickpocket Fagin in “Oliver!” at the Marriott Theatre. (Liz Lauren photo)
‘Oliver!’
3 stars
Marriott Theatre’s “Oliver!” is among the best productions of a Charles Dickens-based show that, unlike “A Christmas Carol,” has few redeeming factors.
Lionel Bart’s 1960 musical based on Dickens’ Oliver Twist, an 1838-39 novel revealing England’s brutal underbelly at the time, contains the excellent “Where is Love?” “As Long as He Needs Me” and “Consider Yourself (one of us)” musical numbers.
The story features Fagin, an aging thief characterized by Dickens as a Jew who teaches youngsters how to pick pockets. However, Marriott has dropped stereotyping the character which is well-portrayed by William Brown as an elderly, caring person who now depends on his possessions and on others to take care of him in his old age.
But its sub-theme of domestic violence has Bill Sikes (Dan Waller), a dangerous adult thief, beating (later murdering) his girlfriend, Nancy, a sympathetic character delightfully interpreted by Lucy Godinez.
It also portrays how Oliver, the son of a high-born, unwed mother fares in an unforgiving society.
L to R Kayden Koshelev, (Oliver) and Patrick Scott McDermott (The Artful Dodger). (Liz Loren photo)
The star/s of Marriott’s production are the two young boys who alternately portray Oliver, Kai Edgar and Kayden Koshelev. It doesn’t matter whom you see when you go, they are both outstanding.
A fine, atmospheric mist and Sally Dolembo’s period costumes transports audiences to mid-19th century London.
Directed by Nick Bowling, the acting is on the mark. My problem is not the cast but the musical, itself.
“Oliver!” is at Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Dr., Lincolnshire, IL, through Dec. 29, 2019. Running time: 2 hrs, 20 min. with one intermission. For tickets and other information visit Marriott Theatre.
Cast of Howard’s End, a Remy Bumppo production at Theater Wit
4 stars
E.M. Forster’s 1910 literary classic is a sprawling novel about rank, morals and love among three English families from different social classes
His novel offered an insightful portrait of England at the height of its imperial world influence just prior to World War I. Through the lives of three diverse families, he showed how fast progress was happening and shaping Edwardian England.
In light of the sweeping changes taking place, Forster seemed to ask who would eventually inherit England? Which class would ultimately define this powerful nation?
Through this tale, we come to know the wealthy, capitalist Wilcox dynasty, the idealistic, intellectual upper middle class Schlegel sisters and the ever struggling, financially impoverished lower class Leonard and Jacky Bast.
Douglas Post’s faithful theatrical adaptation is truly eloquent and makes E.M. Forster’s novel accessible in a two-and-a-half hour production. This is a beautiful, carefully constructed play commissioned by Remy Bumppo Theatre, and currently enjoying its world premiere at Theater Wit.
Sons and Lovers at Greenhouse Theater. (photo courtesy of On the spot Theatre Company)
2 1/2 stars
It’s true that the very best writers use experiences from their own lives to inspire their writing. English author D.H. Lawrence, whose early twentieth century novels like Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Women in Love, Mr. Noon and The Rainbow shocked and entertained readers during this “Age of Innocence.” It’s also true that his stories are all very intimately bound up with his own life. But none of his novels is more autobiographical than Sons and Lovers.
This is Lawrence writing about his life and recreating scenes from his own experience, but fictionalizing it. He began writing the book in 1910, finishing the novel two years later.
The story underwent lots of revisions, including the title, and was influenced by many personal crises that occurred during this period. Lawrence ended a long relationship with Jesse Chambers (who’d serve as the model for his character, Miriam Leivers).
He became engaged to, and then broke up with Louie Burrows (who would be the inspiration for the character of Clara Dawes). He lost his mother to cancer, became seriously ill with pneumonia, gave up teaching and moved away from his birthplace. But this is a story that’s derived from the author’s own Oedipus complex.
When Lydia was a young woman, she lost her first love to another woman. She settled for Walter Morel, a boorish, yet passionate lower class man who worked long hours down in the Midland mines.
As sons William and Paul grew up, Lydia doted on them to the point where Walter is brow-beaten and practically ignored and she redirects all of her ardor and passion to her sons. They, in turn, become her lovers and as they grow to manhood they aren’t able to love any other women because their mother’s hold over them is so strong.
Casa Valentina a Pride Films and Plays at Broadway Theatre. (Photo by Cody Jolly)
3 1/2 stars
As part of Pride Films & Plays’ exploration of all things gender related, we travel back to the Chevalier d’Eon Resort in the Catskill Mountains. It’s 1962, and a secret world is revealed to 21st century audiences that actually existed during those more innocent, post-war years.
For at least one weekend during the late Spring, a group of happily married men with families, highly-respected in their chosen, white-collar professions, gather in this secluded Garden of Eden to express their alter-egos.
These men are not homosexuals, nor do they harbor a hidden desire to undergo surgery in order to become full-time women. They’re cross-dressers who, in private, simply enjoy (sometimes) being a girl.
In this remote setting, several longtime friends and a couple of new acquaintances, are provided the freedom to express themselves as feminine, girly girls in their own private, woman’s world.
