Review by Ed Rubin, member of American Theatre Critics Association, NYC’s Drama Desk, and the Outer Critics Circle; photo by Marc Brennner “I have often been asked how my plays come about. I cannot say. Nor can I ever sum up my plays, except to say that this is what happened. That is what they […]
Review by Karen Topham, ChicagoOnstage, member American Theatre Critics Association. Photo by Glitterati Productions. So you were hunting for a campy drag murder mystery comedy that pays tribute to old Hollywood stars? I don’t know why you have such specific needs, but look no further: Glitterati Productions has exactly what you seek in Who Killed […]
Review by Joe DeRosa; photo by Elliot Mandel The audience waited in silence for what must have been thirty seconds as the final notes hung in the air like a memory. Some leaned forward, hoping for more, watching closely as Maestro Scott Speck gently lowered his baton. Others sat back and let the beauty of […]
Review by Karen Topham, ChicagoOnstage, member American Theatre Critics Association. Photo by Steve Graue. One of the problems with adapting any of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories for the stage is that they are not inherently theatrical, as they are told through the perspective of Dr. Watson as he “recorded them” and they sound […]
Review by Karen Topham, ChicagoOnstage, member American Theatre Critics Association. Photo by Time Stops Photography. Based on the novel by Daniel Wallace and the film by Tim Burton, Big Fish (with music and lyrics by Andre Lippa and a book by John August), is such an uplifting musical that I really want to see it […]
Review by Karen Topham, ChicagoOnstage, member American Theatre Critics Association. Photo by Evan Hanover. The first time I drove down to Theatre Wit to see Deborah Zoe Laufer’s Be Here Now, my evening was cut short by a near-accident that left me too shaken to do anything but go home: I had stopped concentrating for […]
Review by Karen Topham, ChicagoOnstage, member American Theatre Critics Association. Photo by Michael Brosilow. Waking up with a purring cat next to your head One of the most uplifting plays you will ever see is now playing in the South Loop, and it is about suicide. Actually, Every Brilliant Thing at the Windy City Playhouse […]
Review by Karen Topham, ChicagoOnstage, member American Theatre Critics Association. Photo by Brett Beiner. The zany sketches that comprised the 70s hit series Monty Python’s Flying Circus, as well as the movies that it spawned, provided some of the most hilarious moments of my young life, as they did for millions of other fans. So […]
Review by Karen Topham, ChicagoOnstage, member American Theatre Critics Association. Photo by North Shore Camera Club. Many of us can remember watching the Peter Pan musical with Mary Martin (and later Sandy Duncan) in the title role in our childhoods. J.M. Barrie’s story of the boy who wouldn’t grow up has, over the years, spawned a […]
Review by Karen Topham, ChicagoOnstage, member American Theatre Critics Association. Photo by Emily Schwartz. The first time I saw Peter Shaffer’s award-winning psychological drama Equus was in its initial production in Chicago back in the late 70s, not long after its 1974 Broadway premiere. If memory serves, Ken Howard of TV’s “The White Shadow” played […]