AMADEUS at Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a lively and sprawling production of Peter Shaffer’s play. Director Robert Falls, the recently retired former Goodman Theatre Artistic Director, makes his Steppenwolf directorial debut with one of the best uses of Steppenwolf’s Ensemble Theater I’ve seen. The open play space can pose a challenge because it doesn’t allow for a traditional proscenium staging, but it’s a great fit for AMADEUS. In Falls’s production, ensemble members flit in and out of the theater’s many entrances and exits, mirroring the cacophony of Habsburg high society. Todd Rosenthal’s sparse set design, replete with glimmering chandeliers that recall PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, allows Amanda Gladu’s opulent and colorful costumes to take center stage.

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HELL’S KITCHEN, the Alicia Keys jukebox musical now making its Chicago premiere as part of the first national tour, has a messy storyline wrapped in slick packaging. While the show is loosely based on Keys’s childhood in Manhattan, the storytelling is generic, and the songs are often awkwardly incorporated into the book. Admittedly, Kristoffer Diaz’s book is weak. It’s a flimsy vehicle for Keys’s song catalog. Huge Alicia Keys fans might enjoy hearing her biggest hits performed by musical theater actors, but the plot around them doesn’t hang together.

Continue reading “HELL’S KITCHEN National Tour Review: Alicia Keys’s Songs Wrapped in Lackluster Story” →