“Stop trying to be what everyone else wants you to be, man. Just be you.” Antonio Edwards Suarez recounts that his childhood best friend, Curtis, said to him growing up. This sentiment becomes in many ways the mantra for ANTONIO’S SONG: It’s a deeply human exploration of identity — and specifically Suarez’s identity — and all the elements that make us who we are. In ANTONIO’S SONG, Suarez and co-playwright Dael Orlandersmith share vignettes from Suarez’s upbringing that reflect the complexities of his identity. This is a touching, if not groundbreaking, solo show. Ultimately, theater reflects our humanity, and ANTONIO’S SONG reinforces that we turn to art to better understand ourselves. Structurally and thematically, this is well-trod territory. 

Continue reading “Review: ANTONIO’S SONG/I WAS DREAMING OF A SON at Goodman Theatre” →

I was intrigued when Mercury Theater Chicago announced that Artistic Director Christopher Chase Carter would be staging BIG RIVER, a 1984 musical adapted from Mark Twain’s ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN. It seemed like an odd and bold choice given that it’s rarely produced and also given that it’s questionable if that novel ever needed to become a musical (but so it is, with book by William Hauptman and music and lyrics by Roger Miller). Watching BIG RIVER, I was struck by how oddball of a show it is. While Mark Twain’s novel was considered ahead of its time for depicting the adventures of plucky young Huck Finn and the runaway slave Jim, it’s still undoubtedly fraught. It’s hard not to watch the show and think that Huck has a strong case of “white savior” syndrome, and obviously for 2023 audiences, watching Huck’s moral dilemma about running away with a slave and worrying about Jim as “stolen property” is uncomfortable. In keeping with Twain’s novel, the musical also has frequent use of the “n-word.” That’s true to the source material, but it’s tough to hear nonetheless (Mercury’s lobby display helps explain the context of the show’s language and setting, but that underscores why BIG RIVER is a strange choice to stage). 

Continue reading “Review: BIG RIVER at Mercury Theater Chicago” →

LAST NIGHT AND THE NIGHT BEFORE explores the in-between, the murkiness of transitioning life stages and fraught family relationships. Donnetta Lavinia Grays drew inspiration for the play’s title from a playground hand game. Hand games are smartly a thematic thread in the play. Protagonist ten-year-old Sam Mcloud revels in them as a way to amuse herself or by teaching her father Reggie the tricks of the trade. While there’s a childlike innocence to Sam’s play, she’s also on the verge of entering puberty and has had some experiences that are tragically beyond her years. This contrast between childhood play and the darker, all too complicated realities of adulthood becomes the dual strands of the play. Grays’s writing has a distinct rhythm to it, and the unique syncopations of the hand games become additional poetry unto themselves.

Continue reading “Review: LAST NIGHT AND THE NIGHT BEFORE at Steppenwolf Theatre Company” →

Alanis Morisette’s iconic music and lyrics come to theatrical life in JAGGED LITTLE PILL. This jukebox musical is a well-structured and entertaining example of the art form. Book writer Diablo Cody’s storyline nicely weaves Morisette’s narrative-driven songs into the plot. Diane Paulus’s direction keeps that story moving—though the choreography and movement from Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui aren’t a natural fit—particularly in disconnected stretches of interpretative dance). 

Continue reading “Review: JAGGED LITTLE PILL National Tour Presented by Broadway In Chicago” →

It’s only fitting that for his swan song at Goodman Theatre Artistic Director Robert Falls has adapted and directed Anton Chekhov’s THE CHERRY ORCHARD, a play that’s also very much a swan song. With this staging, Falls has completed the cycle of directing all four of Chekov’s full-length plays for the Goodman stage. Fall’s take on THE CHERRY ORCHARD is surprisingly comedic and strips the play of the more obscure Russian references (though it’s still a period piece), which also demonstrates an artful understanding of the text and how 2023 audiences are best primed to receive it. THE CHERRY ORCHARD’s central character, estate owner Lyubov Ranevskaya, desperately clings to her glamorized version of the past even as the world around her moves inexorably forward. It’s a farewell, indeed, and a lesson in learning when to hold on and when to let go. 

Continue reading “Review: THE CHERRY ORCHARD at Goodman Theatre” →

A SOLDIER’S PLAY is a solid and well-structured play by Charles Fuller that explores the deep-seated roots of American racism. Centered on a Black regiment in 1944 Fort Neal, Louisiana, the play takes the form of a murder investigation when Captain Richard Davenport arrives on the scene following the death of Sergeant Vernon C. Waters. While Fuller’s 1981 play is no doubt an indictment of the racist systems embedded in the American military—and the country as a whole—the piece now feels prescient, rather than revelatory. I imagine that it must have been quite radical when it debuted over forty years ago, but now it reads like a reinforcement of the truth. It’s an effective one, and audiences who enjoy the procedural format will appreciate the play’s series of interviews and flashbacks. Director Kenny Leon’s production keeps it moving at a brisk pace, but neither material nor staging are groundbreaking.

Continue reading “Review: A SOLDIER’S PLAY National Tour Presented by Broadway In Chicago” →

I was curious about the changes to Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, and Matt Stone’s THE BOOK OF MORMON, which underwent revisions before its post-pandemic return to Broadway in 2021. I imagined a substantial overhaul of the material, along with input from co-director/choreographer Casey Nicholaw (Parker also co-directed). After seeing the show, I can state the changes are minimal. All of the musical numbers are the same, and some of the dialogue may have been altered. But I don’t buy that the Ugandan characters have been given more agency or power. 

Continue reading “Review: THE BOOK OF MORMON National Tour Presented by Broadway In Chicago” →

Chicago Shakespeare Theater Artistic Director Barbara Gaines cleverly marries play and production concept in THE COMEDY OF ERRORS for her final production. 

Continue reading “Review: THE COMEDY OF ERRORS at Chicago Shakespeare Theater” →

With a musical like TINA THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL, I come in expecting two primary elements: Big hits and star power. Fortunately, this first national tour delivers big-time on the star power with Zurin Villanueva in the title role. Villanueva is a definitive STAR: She has an immensely powerful belt, she emulates Tina Turner’s distinctive, gravelly belt, and she has boundless energy. I was exhausted watching Villanueva (who alternates the role with Ari Groover) perform it all without batting an eyelash. Villanueva has iconic performer energy in spades.

Continue reading “Review: TINA THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL National Tour Presented by Broadway In Chicago” →

Martin Yousif Zebari’s LAYALINA is a heartwarming multigenerational family play that spans from Baghdad to Skokie. While Zebari doesn’t shy away from portraying the family’s trauma and the challenges of their immigrant experiences, LAYALINA is the opposite of many other family plays. It’s about how the central family tries to reconnect and find commonalities, despite their generational and cultural differences. I first saw LAYALINA at Goodman Theatre’s New Stages Festival in 2021, and I thought it was beautifully structured and touching at that time. The structure remains the same, but now it’s even more hopefully optimistic. 

Continue reading “Review: LAYALINA at Goodman Theatre” →