Embedded
Shimberg Playhouse

Between October 2002 and June 2003, a group of rather cynical journalists are trained and put to duty in "Gomorrah" (code for Iraq), embedded with troops. Their progress evolves with that of several typical troopers from the time they patriotically leave spouses or parents. Embedded traces changes of experience and attitudes of all involved just before and during the war.

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
August 2008
Betrayed
Biltmore Hotel

Early in Betrayed, we learn that a young Iraqi working as a translator for the U.S. military after the ousting of Saddam Hussein literally is afraid of his own shadow -- and for good reason.

Julie Calsi
Date Reviewed:
August 2008
Fake Lake
Welles Park

So there's this young woman - freely disclosed by playwright Sharon Greene to be herself - looking for adventure and romance between dead-end jobs, to which purpose she embarks with some casual acquaintances on a camping trip to Lake Powell, Utah.

Mary Shen Barnidge
Date Reviewed:
August 2008
Birthday Party, The
Chopin

An elderly couple live by the seashore, where Petey works as a deck-chair attendant and Meg runs a boarding house for summer visitors. Their only tenant is a surly retired pianist named Stanley. One day, two mysterious men, one Jewish and the other Irish, arrive to rekindle what appears to have been a previous relationship with the reclusive transient, who becomes increasingly agitated by this unexpected reunion.

Mary Shen Barnidge
Date Reviewed:
August 2008
Bleacher Bums
Metropolis Performing Arts Center

All right, boys and girls, gather round now, and repeat slowly, "It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game." And really think about what you just said, because after you strip away all the nostalgia - for the American game of baseball, for the legendary Chicago Cubs, for Jack Brickhouse and Harry Carey, the iconic Organic Theater Company, the many and varied Wrigley Field customs, and your own memories of halcyon days spent in the last ball park with real grass and no roof - that's what this home-grown classic is all about.

Mary Shen Barnidge
Date Reviewed:
August 2008
Night of Burlesque, A
Mill at Stage Left

There's more to burlesque than nubile nymphets in scanty undies, though the eye-candy element is the most familiar component of its presentation. An evening of comme-il-faut burlesque begins with variety acts, usually with a risqué slant, as a prelude to a feature-length spoof of high-brow entertainment - opera, ballet, the Theatah - likewise engineered for good, clean, ribald fun.

Mary Shen Barnidge
Date Reviewed:
August 2008
Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswoman's Guild Dramatic Society's Production Of Macbeth, The
Patio Playhouse Community Theater

This is by far the very worst Macbeth ever performed. It doesn't help that The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Dramatic Society produced this fiasco. This group of women even brought in theater expert George Peach (Jim Clevenger) to give his expert opinion. Not only that, they made him perform in drag. Good grief! Being a woman's club, they're short of men, so they cast goateed Henry (Steve Stetak) in a prominent female role.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
July 2008
Damn Yankees
City Center

The devil himself, in the form of a human male, transforms a tired old geezer into a paragon of youth, vigor, and beauty, promising to make all his dreams come true in return for eternal possession of his soul.

Michael Portantiere
Date Reviewed:
July 2008
Ensemble Studio Theater One-Act Marathon 2008
Ensemble Studio Theater

Ensemble Studio Theater's annual One-Act Festival is now on, and, as usual, it's a major treat of the year; they select a variety of good plays, and the level of acting is always high.

Series A of Marathon 2008 had two surprises: a musical, A Little Soul Searching by Willie Reale, a humorous sketch lightly skewering Earth customs, with the outstanding Karen Trott, and a well-directed (by Kathleen Dimmick) play with no words, Wedding Pictures by Quincy Long.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
June 2008
Ensemble Studio Theater One-Act Marathon 2008
Ensemble Studio Theater

Ensemble Studio Theater's annual One-Act Festival is now on, and, as usual, it's a major treat of the year; they select a variety of good plays, and the level of acting is always high.

Series B has a special reward: Laila Robins, radiant in a Neil LaBute domestic squabble, The Great War. She's nicely matched by Grant Shaud and well-directed by Andrew McCarthy. Lloyd Suh's Happy Birthday William Abernathy is an interesting view of racial mixing with an old white man (Joe Ponazecki) and his Asian grandson (Peter Kim).

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
June 2008
Beyond Therapy
Williamstown Theater - Nikos Stage

Nicholas Martin has taken over the helm of the Williamstown Theater Festival, and the first show of his first season is as good as can be.

My previous encounter with Beyond Therapy was the workshop production at the Manhattan Theater Club, starring Sigourney Weaver as Prudence, in 1981. It wasn't very good, weighed down by the playwright's apparent anger at its satiric targets, and a leaden comic touch by all involved.

David L. Steinhardt
Date Reviewed:
June 2008
Some Kind of Bliss
59E59 Theaters

"Brits Off Broadway" at 59E59 offers Some Kind of Bliss, a one woman play by Samuel Adamson performed by the British actress Lucy Briers.

An energetic, fast-talking contemporary woman describes an ill-fated walk through London to Greenwich, at times playing several characters, each with a new voice and attitude. She experiences a toke of spliff, a bit of sex with a kid, a mugging.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
June 2008
Ensemble Studio Theater One-Act Marathon 2008: Series C
Ensemble Studio Theater

Some brief notes on Ensemble Studio Theater's Marathon 2008 Series C:

Piscary by Frank D. Gilroy, crisply directed by Janet Zarish. A squabble including fish. Good acting by Mark Alhadeff and Diane Davis. Good writing, too.

In Between Songs by Lewis Black gives us the essence of stoned, as it really captures the idiotic brain trips of old stoners. As directed by Rebecca Nelson and performed by Jack Gilpin, David Wohl and Cecilia DeWolf, it's truly funny.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
June 2008
Antony and Cleopatra
Sidney Harman Hall

It was unfortunate that before seeing this production, quite a few members of the American Theater Critics Association, being hosted by The Shakespeare Theater Company, were required to listen to a lengthy canonization of STC founder/artistic director Michael Kahn, followed by Kahn's wordy acceptance of the nomination and expansion of details of his accomplishments. Kahn directed this Antony and Cleopatra, and it turned out to be a chore to sit through.

Herbert M. Simpson
Date Reviewed:
June 2008
Corpus Christi
Diversionary Theater

Normally when the theater doors open, you see a curtain or a darkened stage. When Diversionary Theatrer doors open, the 13-member cast are busy setting the stage. Rachael VanWormer is behind a broom. The others, when not gossiping, are moving the risers (two 2 X 8 footers and two 4 X 8 footers), which are used to create various scenes in Terrence McNally's Corpus Christi.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
May 2008
Catered Affair, A
Walter Kerr Theater

A Catered Affair, based on Paddy Chayefsky's teleplay, now with a book by Harvey Fierstein and with music and lyrics by John Bucchino-- what a pleasure! A show with content, clever counterpoints of action, sweet lyrics with non-obvious rhymes, engagingly constructed music, and a great cast.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
May 2008
Substitution
SoHo Playhouse

I didn't want to review Anton Dudley's mis-constructed play about grief, Substitution, because: why knock a new theater company's sincere effort? But I have to because of a great performance by a totally empathetic Jan Maxwell.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
May 2008
Gypsy
St. James Theater

Arthur Laurents obviously knows his material so well, he can innovate on his original innovations as he directs Patti LuPone in Gypsy, for which he wrote the book about a century ago. Music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim give us memorable tunes that are is a pleasure to hear in the theater and to hum as we leave.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
May 2008
Aunt Rudele's Family Reunion
Historic Asolo Theater

A few decades back at Florida A & M University, Nate Jacobs disguised himself as a busy-body black aunt and regaled fellow students with "her" monologue. Aunt Rudele is older, even wiser-cracking now, and busier than ever setting her family straight before and during their annual family reunion.

Her monologue benefits greatly not only from continual development but from talented Carolyn Michel's infusions of structure and of variety in pacing. There are now distinctive scenes, with appropriate suggestive props, lighting, sound.

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
May 2008
Blithe Spirit
Coronado Playhouse

The Condomines' (Ruth and Charles) home in Blithe Spirit is luxurious even by 1940's Hollywood standards. Their living room has light sconces, a view of the garden, a lovely draped archway to the servants' areas, and elegant furnishings. Yet their tale is quite simple. The Condomines and guests, Dr. and Mrs. Bradman (James E. Steinberg and Renee Gandola), are entertained by Madame Arcati (Ashley Gardner). She, quite by chance, conjures up the former Mrs. Condomine, Elvira (Victoria Mature), who passed seven years prior.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
May 2008
Spamalot
Marcus Center for the Performing Arts - Vogel Hall

The Tony Award-winning musical, Monty Python's Spamalot, made its Milwaukee debut as a recent stop on the show's national tour. Lovingly "ripped off" from the 1975 film, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," the musical takes audiences on a journey of the absurd.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
May 2008
Don't Dress for Dinner
Sunshine Brooks Theater

Sometimes a farce is the only amusement that will cure an otherwise bad day. That being the case, Robin Hawdon's translation of Marc Camoletti's charming French bedroom comedy, Bon Anniversaire, does the job. Don't Dress for Dinner, the English version, is meant to keep an audience in tears from laughing so long and so hard.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
May 2008
Always...Patsy Cline
Florida Studio Theater - Keating Mainstage

In FST's first of many local productions, Always...Patsy Cline dramatized the singer's life through her musical performances and her records, as seen through the eyes of devoted fan Louise Seger. Though insistent and sometimes sassy in promoting Cline, southerner Louise was basically nurturing type of woman. After Cline stayed with her one night following a show in her hometown, they became fast friends.

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
May 2008
Another Midsummer Night McGivern
Milwaukee Repertory Theater - Stiemke Theater

The world may have its Tom Hanks, but only Milwaukee can lay claim to John McGivern. Although he looks nothing like the famous Hanks, McGivern evokes the same "everyman" character audiences can easily identify with.

Although John McGivern is best-known locally for his work in the comedy Shear Madness and, more recently, The Mystery of Irma Vep, he seems more at home with these 90-minutes monologues that tell familiar tales of his youth. McGivern grew up in a small house on Milwaukee's East Side, with five brothers and sisters, two parents and one bathroom.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
May 2008
Passing Strange
Belasco Theater

Passing Strange, with book and lyrics by Stew and music by Heidi Rodewald and Stew, starring Stew and directed by Annie Dorsen, is basically an engaging music concert with the four-piece band on stage. The show starts with a few chairs and elevator pits as its set. p> Stew is a charismatic performer/narrator with a mellow but strong singing voice, and it's a pleasure to hear him.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
May 2008
Big Bang, The
North Coast Repertory Theater

Entering the North Coast Repertory Theater, one is presented with a single yellow sheet of paper. On it is a list of songs such as "Free Food and Frontal Nudity, to be sung by Adam, Eve, God, and the Snake;"One Helluva Job" by Mary and Mrs. Gandhi; "The Dating Scene" by Pocahontas and Minnehaha, "Loving Him Is Where I Went Wrong" sung separately by both Eva Braun and Laura Bush, and "A Stain on My Character" vocalized by Monica Lewinsky.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
May 2008
In the Heights
Richard Rodgers Theater

This jubilant celebration of life in the barrio has been hailed as groundbreaking in the same way Rent was so honored a decade ago. Winning a handful of 2008 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, the show is a tribute to the work of newcomer Lin-Manuel Miranda. Not only did Miranda come up with the concept and write the music and lyrics, he also stars as the show's central character, Usnavi (pronounced oos-NAAHV-ee).

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
May 2008
Thirty Nine Steps, The
Cort Theater

Rarely (perhaps never before) has a "straight" film been so miraculously transformed into an absolutely hilarious comedy. But that's what theatergoers will find upon arriving at The 39 Steps, based on the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
May 2008
Body of Water, A
American Heritage Center for the Arts

Lee Blessing, who built his reputation on finely wrought plays fraught with ethical dilemmas, turns existential in A Body of Water, in which a mature couple awake in a comfortable home with a view of water and no clue as to what it is or who they are. Is that a bay or a lake? Are they married? Happily so? And what about the clothes in the closet? And the young woman who eventually arrives: A daughter? A lawyer? Something else? And why would they need a lawyer?

Julie Calsi
Date Reviewed:
May 2008
Blithe Spirit
First Unitarian Universalist Church

Blithe Spirit, playing only this weekend at the First Unitarian Universalist Church, is my second witnessing of Noel Coward's classic in a week. The interpretations were totally different. This version stays close to the original, obviously placed in England. The cast is older by ten years.

Gregory Cox and Garry Posey's set is a simple suggestion of the sitting room of Charles and Ruth Condomine's (Kenneth Gray and Cheryl Livingston) home featuring an elegant divan and companion chair as well as occasional tables and chairs.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
May 2008
Barefoot in the Park
PowPAC

February, 1963...Manhattan...East 48th Street...Five-story walkup...Newlyweds.... Barefoot in the Park, Neil Simon's longest-running Broadway show: 1530 performances.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
April 2008
Les Ephemeres
Cartoucherie - Theatre du Soleil

As the title, “The Ephemerals,” implies, scenes played by actors from recollections of their own experiences pass like vignettes set in changing times. On a runway between two galleries where spectators become like mirroring Daumier sketches, roll out petits mondes ("little worlds") from one to three at a time. Actors, crouching, propel and constantly turn the rectangular or circular mini-sets on wheels.

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
April 2008
By the Bog of Cats
Venice Little Theater - Pinkerton Stage II

With its Medea theme obvious from the start, there's little doubt what will happen in By the Bog of Cats. A gypsy-like bog denizen, Hester Swane (Sara Trembly, powerfully pagan) has been Carthage Kilbride's lover for years. She's killed to make him a success. She's had and raised his child , Josie (restrained, at ease Alexa Ditaranto), 7. Now Carthage (Mike DeSantis, well spoken but not old enough for the part) is about to marry young Caroline (beautiful, sensitive Chelsey Panisch), daughter of rich Xavier Cassidy (imposing Tom Bahring).

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
April 2008
Underpants, The
Florida State University Center for the Performing Arts - Cook Theater

When an adaptation is true in substance and effect to the original play while the adaptor both cuts and adds matter so as to make the play work for a contemporary audience, it's cause for celebration. Celebrate Steve Martin's way with Sternheim's roccoco-style German farce! Not only are all the essentials intact, so is the spirit of the time (about 1911).

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
April 2008
Armadale
Milwaukee Repertory Theater - Quadracci Powerhouse Theater

Who says there aren't any good parts for women anymore? Playwright Jeffrey Hatcher has created a brilliantly villainous femme fatale in Armadale, an elegant mystery based on a novel by Wilke Collins. The thriller had its world premiere at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater.

Collins' Victorian novel comes stunningly to life in this engaging play. With more twists and turns than a boa constrictor, Armadale keeps audiences guessing until the very end.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
April 2008
Little Flower of East Orange, The
Public Theater

Stephen Adly Guirgis' The Little Flower of East Orange, now at The Public Theater, has clear overlaps with his earlier, Our Lady of 121st Street. Both are vivid slices of working-class speech and behavior. Here, an old woman, beautifully portrayed by the radiant Ellen Burstyn, prepares to leave Earth. She's wonderful in a complex role as she drifts in and out of consciousness and dreams and memories.

Guirgis captures the poetic rhythms in the colorful speech of her dysfunctional, hysterical son and daughter, the nurses, the doctor and others.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
April 2008
Becky Shaw
Actors Theater of Louisville

With Becky Shaw, playwright Gina Gionfriddo scathingly brings to life a most memorable character to add to the female monster gallery. Becky Shaw, the second of six full-length plays to open this year's 32nd annual Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theater of Louisville, devastatingly depicts a cunning devious loser who wrecks her own life and the lives of others while quietly relishing her victimization.

Charles Whaley
Date Reviewed:
March 2008
Bad Dates
Geva Theater - Mainstage

This slight play has enjoyed a number of successful performances across the country because it is good fun, and, despite the rather elaborate stagings that I know of (Playwrights Horizons 2003, San Jose Repertory 2004, and Geva's large, handsome production), economically employs only one actor. Theresa Rebeck's consistently engaging plot is both thin and conventional until she decides upon a concluding shaggy-dog-story twist that gives the actress room for a variety of showcasing moments and sends the audience out shaking their heads with disbelieving amusement.

Herbert Simpson
Date Reviewed:
March 2008
break/s, the
Actors Theater of Louisville

African-American Marc Bamuthi Joseph, who wrote and performs the break/s, the fourth full-length play at this year's 32nd annual Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theater of Louisville, sets out to tell us what hip-hop is. He does this through a dramatically delivered but disjointed account of his own life as he bounces around the wooden platform that is his stage, sensationally contorting his body and propelling himself hypnotically to the monotonous beat. The man is a mesmerizing dancer.

Charles Whaley
Date Reviewed:
March 2008
Bleacher Bums
OnStage Playhouse

A Cubs fan is a strange beast. I have a Chicago-raised, Los Angeles-living friend who travels to Chi-town to see a game or two. This special breed of homo sapiens has cheered the team on to defeat year after year. One year after the first pitch of the first game, a fan waved a banner that read, "Wait 'til Next Year." Oh, they have won the World Series twice: 1907 and 1908. As the season opens, a true Cubs fan is always saying, "This will be the year."

Baseball has more statistics than anything else in life, and the Bleacher Bums, true Cubbies fans, know them all.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
March 2008

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