I love Chicago!
Chicago is the new “It City”, the place to check out as a tourist or as a native exploring the myriad sights and attractions, the wonder that is Chicago. Chicago is vibrant, subtle, sassy, and elegant from seasons of flowers along the Mag Mile to the almost hidden Lily Pond right next to a world-famous Zoo in Lincoln Park.
Chicago is tasty. Culinary delights greet curious diners in every neighborhood or nook. Chicago is North Side vs. South Side rivalry of Sox and Cubs, the rugged challenge of the gridiron for the Bears.
Chicago is proper with shopping at its best along a revived State Street, that Great Street. Chicago is culturally sound and the museums abound from the Field Museum to the Art Institute to the Smart Museum.
Chicago is topography, a remnant of the ancient glaciers, geographically significant, with a river with branches and a Great Lake.
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Reviewed by Ken & Gail Jackson
ClickAroundChicago.com
Even today, I remember the 1956 performance of My Fair Lady on Broadway. I was ten and to this day, it is imprinted on my mind the magic that Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews worked on that stage. My Fair Lady, based on Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, went on to become a classic with lyrics and music by Lerner and Lowe. The play takes place in London, 1912 with a one Professor Higgins who is an expert in language, making a bet with a cohort that he can pass off a common flower girl from the streets of London as royalty.
Consistent with Marriott Theatre Productions, the play has a fine cast that delivers a professional performance sure to please. While not Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews of old, the lead actors played by Kevin Gudahl and Heidi Kettenring brought back many happy memories of that first Broadway production while creating new memories for us with their own compelling interpretations of Professor Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle. Both Gudahl and Kettenring give sound performances and in great voice. We especially liked Heidi Kettenring in the dreamy, “I Could Have Danced all Night” and the spunky number, “Show Me”. Kevin Gudahl sang “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face” in a touching scene and he delivered “Ordinary Man” with great gusto. We found it interesting that the harshness of the Henry Higgins character in his language and treatment of Eliza (circa 1912) drew audible gasps from the Marriott audience….perhaps a statement of our enlightened times.
David Lively plays Colonel Pickering, a proper English gentleman. It is Pickering who made the bet with Henry Higgins. He later begins to regret his involvement as before his eyes he is beginning to see the apparent natural beauty, grace and brilliance of Eliza Doolittle.
The entire ensemble deserves recognition. While too many to mention here, there were a number of dance scenes and musical moments that were executed with such great style and high energy that they collectively held the show together. We especially liked the Cockney Quartet. We howled at Don Foryston ‘s Alfred Doolittle. As Eliza’s conniving, irresponsible and charming Dad, he has a presence on stage that is irresistible. He brought down the house on “Get Me to the Church on Time”. Kudos to Eliza Doolittle’s admirer, Freddy Eynsford-Hill played by Max Quinlan. His voice is superb and “On the Street Where You Live” received a well deserved large round of applause.
The scenes at Ascott and at the ball where Eliza is introduced to high society are both elegant and hysterically funny as situations transpire. Given the theatre in the round, the staging was tricky but done with no distractions and full use of the theatre and aisles as players enter and exit the stage. There was minimal scenery that did not detract at all from the story. The colorful and beautifully coordinated costumes of the period were absolute eye candy…..….fabulous!
The Museum’s new temporary exhibit, The White House: A Look Inside, offers an unprecedented up-close look at America’s most famous and beloved landmark. It takes you from the East Wing to the West Wing, through notable moments in history to the White House as it is today, in grand dimensions and true-to-life scale. Like the home that inspired it, this exhibit offers an awe-inspiring experience for the young and young-at-heart
Funny Girl, set in New York City, revolves around Ziegfeld comedienne Fanny Brice and her rise to fame in the early ‘20s. Told mostly in flashbacks, the musical shows her from the start as a gawky Brooklyn teen, fast-talking her way into show business and her first triumph in the Zeigfeld Follies, to becoming the toast of New York, to the unraveling of her personal life and marriage to gangster Nick Arnstein.
This is an unforgettable tale of love, magic, and mischief set in the mystical forest outside of Athens. When the forest becomes a hideout for four hopeful youths and a group of amateur performers, the fairies cast spells that mix up everyone’s affections with hilarious and delightful results. This new adaptation is designed to introduce young people to the joys of Shakespeare and his language.
Mary Beth Fisher gives of a masterful portrayal of Joan Didion in another hit from Court Theater. The play manifests in drama the turmoil and grief of what the author wrote about in her memoir, The Year of Magical Thinking. Faced with the sudden death of her author husband and the mysterious illness and subsequent demise of their only daughter, Fisher captures the sadness and grief of Didion along with the sheer surprise and absurdity of the realization that this was actually happening to her. At the beginning of the play she warns the audience that this could happen to you, and will. Her character explores the steps that ultimately lead to survival through humor and irony, vignettes that highlight the ups and downs of a longtime marriage, questions about motives, and a strong spirit that prevails.
Simple and subtle, yet skillful lighting effects pervade the performance and propel it through the changes in mood and expressions of the Didion character. This is serious mature drama and well worth seeing.
Clickaround Chicago Reviews
Profiles Theatre’s Killer Joe
Reviewed by Bernard C. Turner
Hold on to your cowboy hats, fans! You’re in for a rough ride at Profiles Theatre’s production of Killer Joe, by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Tracy Letts. Directed by Steppenwolf ensemble member, Rick Snyder, Killer Joe ignites the atmosphere with the story of the Family Smith, a hard-core Texas, raucous, vicious family, hell bent on murdering the alienated mother of the family to get her insurance money. Brought in to help them commit the dirty deed is Joe Cooper, cop by day—contract killer by night. What ensues is a comedic, yet bizarre plan that goes awry with twists and turns and eye-popping events. The audience in the intimate setting of Profiles Theatre is almost aghast at the skilled portrayals and riveting drama that ensues.
Don’t miss the revealing first scene!
Learn how to protect and nourish the body with exercise and fresh, healthy food choices. As you consider changes you’d like to make in the new year, see the grim statistics about health challenges faced by many African Americans, including asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and stress. Taking Charge of YOU! features lectures, panel discussions and workshops—for all age groups—that emphasize healthy living.
Elyot and Amanda call it quits after three tumultuous years of marriage. Five years later, they are trapped on adjoining terraces, honeymooning in the same French hotel with their new partners in hand. Commiseration turns into reminiscence. Bathed in moonlight and distant music, their passion reignites and, heedless of the consequences, they decide that they belong together though destined to relive what drove them apart the first time.
In Hughie, high-rolling gambler Erie (Brian Dennehy) and Hughie, the credulous night clerk at a single-occupancy hotel, were confidants. Hughie admired Erie for his bold lifestyle and Erie considered Hughie his good luck charm. When Hughie dies unexpectedly, Erie's luck changes for the worse and he finds himself in dire straits. Then Erie meets the new night clerk (Joe Grifasi), who reminds him enough of Hughie that he takes the gamble that his luck is about to change. Krapp's Last Tape is Samuel Beckett's classic one-act, one-man show. Every year on his birthday, Krapp (Brian Dennehy) records the important—and the banal—moments of the last year. As he prepares to record a new tape on his 69th birthday, he begins to listen to his archives. This immersion in his own history leads Krapp to question, with growing regret, whether his present lives up to his past
Egeon has sailed the seas for five long years in search of his son. Landing in Ephesus, where Syracusans are forbidden, Egeon is arrested on sight and sentenced for execution that same day—unless he can pay a hefty ransom.
