Cupid Has a Heart On
Stage 773

There's no shortage of you're-all-losers sketch comedy, but from its inception in 2000 (under the title “Cupid Misfires His Eros”), the mission of "Chicago's longest-running musical comedy" has been to declare us all losers. Instead of extolling giddy infatuation or resigned contentment, Brian Posen and his ensemble have made it their goal to assure us that we are not alone in our insecurities or imperfections.

Mary Shen Barnidge
Date Reviewed:
January 2015
As You Like It
Florida State University Center for the Performing Arts - Cook Theater

There’s something for everyone to not only like but love in Florida State University/Asolo Conservatory’s production of As You Like It. Set mainly in a magical Arden, a forest of colorful aerial silk trees, story themes blend in a three-ring circus. The political situation of the ducal court gets tamed; peasants and old servants are applauded; love swings to its proper targets. Winter changes to spring, and romance and righteousness will reign in all the land.

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
January 2015
Strandline
A Red Orchid Theater

Abbie Spallen's Ireland is so rarely seen amid that country's U.S. exports that audiences may be forgiven departing the theater unsure of what they have just seen. Instead of an Emerald Isle where time stopped before 1948, the problems faced by the small coastal town along the Irish border that provides the setting for Strandline are more associated in our minds with those of Eastern Europe or the recently disbanded Soviet Union.

Mary Shen Barnidge
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
Twist Your Dickens, or, Scrooge You
Goodman Theater

A rite of passage on the road to maturity is to deny the power over your emotions exercised by childhood icons—acts of defiance including, but not restricted to, posing Barbie dolls in provocative postures or flipping off Mickey. For adults seeking liberation from the perceived vulnerability engendered by Charles Dickens' Christmas parable, there are such seasonal humbuggeries as Inspecting Carol, Scrooged, Mrs.

Mary Shen Barnidge
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
Clean House, The
The Greenhouse

Sometimes a play needs to be separated from its author—or, to be more specific, from audiences' expectations of the author. How many years passed before Neil Simon was perceived as more than a-laugh-a-minute, Beth Henley as more than Dixie-ditzy stereotypes, and Tracy Letts as more than bloody criminal creeps? In 2004, Sarah Ruhl was the go-to playwright for misty musings inspired by classical myths expressed in estrogenic abstractions.

Mary Shen Barnidge
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
Cafe Society Swing
59E59 Theaters

If there was one nightclub that stood out as it also stood for something quite unique during the 1930s and 1940s, it was Cafe Society. It was there, beginning in 1938 and for the next eleven years, that many of the finest and most celebrated black and white jazz singers and musicians as well as theatre comics and satirists not only shared the spotlight but shared their artistry with an integrated audience. This nightclub was a dream that was to be fully realized for its entrepreneurial former shoe salesman from New Jersey, Barney Josephson.

Simon Saltzman
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
L'Hotel
Pittsburgh Public Theater - O'Reilly Theater

L’Hotel joins the ranks of interesting plays about characters being dead and not knowing it: Outward Bound, where a group of seven passengers meet in the lounge of an ocean liner and have no idea where they are bound. And Anne Meara’s After Play,where two couples arrive at a trendy Manhattan restaurant having just come from an evening at the theater.

Cross-pollinate this with the assembling of famous people from the past, as in Steve Allen’s “Meeting of the Minds” and Steve Martin’s Picasso at the Lapin Agile.

Steve Cohen
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
Elf
Paper Mill Playhouse

“Elf,” the 2003 film starring “Saturday Night Live” comedian Will Ferrell as a 30-year-old human who was raised by Santa and his helpers to believe he was an elf, if an overgrown one at over six feet tall, has become a cult classic. Adapted by Thomas Meehan and Bob Martin, with music by Matthew Sklar and lyrics by Chad Beguelin, the stage musical ran on Broadway in 2010 and again in 2012, each time staying for the duration of the holiday seasons.

Simon Saltzman
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
Holiday Inn
Goodspeed Opera House

In October 2014, Goodspeed Musicals and Universal Pictures collaborated on producing a stage musical based on the legendary Irving Berlin film from 1942, Holiday Inn. The saga of how this developed is fascinating.

Steve Cohen
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
Much Ado About Nothing
Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey - F.M. Kirby Theater

The era is World War II. A soldier sits forlornly alone peeling potatoes in the barracks. Behind him on the wall is a large poster, a reminder to "Buy War Bonds." Weary, he falls asleep. It looks as if he has fallen down on his KP duties. But it isn't long before he's up on his feet not only on leave but also back in his home town as a guest in the Governor's mansion just in time for a Christmas party.

Simon Saltzman
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
Airline Highway
Steppenwolf Theater

The most inconsequential encounters can suddenly assume an aura of high adventure when they occur in certain cities that continue to cast a romantic spell on American imaginations. San Francisco, Las Vegas and New Orleans all share images largely based in visitors' impressions, but though Lisa D'Amour purports to flout the Crescent City's reputation as a sodom-and-gomorrah fantasyland in Airline Highway, her invocation of the nostalgie de la boue long-associated therewith inadvertently winds up affirming it.

Mary Shen Barnidge
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
Hot Georgia Sunday
The Den

A sweltering day in the rural Deep South, when the temperature exceeds 100 degrees and the air conditioners crash, can make for volatile environmental conditions leading otherwise rational citizens to seek escape from the irritations, big and small, engendered by the torpid climate. Too often, however, their methods of achieving gratification are rooted in plans founded on impulse rather than rational premeditation—especially when the six narrators recounting the events of the fatal Sabbath giving the play its title don't set much store by that trait, nohow.

Mary Shen Barnidge
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
Dee Snider's Rock and Roll Christmas Tale
Broadway Playhouse

Paula Killen's Music Kills a Memory features a simultaneous harmony medley of "Superstar" and "Piece of My Heart"—a feat relying on the melodies sharing the same chord progression. After Dee Snider discovered similar structural parallels existing in certain traditional Christmas anthems and his own hit-making compositions for the 1980s rock band Twisted Sister—well, what could be more logical than a nostalgic mash-up combining both musical genres?

Mary Shen Barnidge
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
Shining City
The Den

Conor McPherson's first play written after his near-death experience in 2001 acquaints us with three troubled marriages, as recounted by three troubled husbands. One account takes up perhaps 10 minutes of onstage time; another's disparate segments add up to maybe a total of 30 minutes.

Both of these husbands, you see, are closer to resolution than the third, whose epiphany requires nearly an hour before achieving its purpose.

Mary Shen Barnidge
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
Q Brothers Christmas Carol, The
Navy Pier

Whatever else can be said about rap/hip-hop music, there's no denying its relentlessly regular rhyme and meter. The discipline imposed by this form, as poets will attest, forces the rapper to express his emotions verbally, rather than through simple vocalizations or physical actions—but measured words, while useful for articulating anger, passion and defiance, are less fitted to conveying vulnerability.

Mary Shen Barnidge
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
Desperate Dolls
Strawdog Theater

From the earliest tales of foolish maidens who ventured out to the Fair/the Ball/the Big City/Hollywood and, later, to the Prom/Rock Concert, only to be seduced by Satan's homeys, entertainment engineered to titillate has trumpeted its value as a morality fable. Consumers of soft-core porn, you see, don't want to see a bad girl doing naughty things—they want to see a good girl doing naughty things.

Mary Shen Barnidge
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
Train to Zakopane
Edgemar Center for the Arts

The distinguished indie filmmaker Henry Jaglom (“A Safe Place,” “Festival in Cannes”) has, in recent years, also made his mark as a playwright.

Willard Manus
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
Elf
Paper Mill Playhouse

Tired of Charles Dickens’s “Christmas Carol?” How about a singing/dancing Elf up in Central Park? Those folks who loved Will Farrell in the movie treatment of “Elf” may think James Moye is, perhaps, trying too hard to re-Farrellize in the current, colorful Paper Mill Playhouse revival. Fortunately, Moye’s energetic, even manic, overgrown Elf—called Buddy—is just what is needed to make this manufactured Santa Story come to life.

Glenn Loney
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
Santaland Diaries, The
WaterTower Theater

Joe Mantello's stage adaptation of David Sedaris's hilarious tale of his Christmas season stint as an elf in Macy's Santaland, first produced in New York on November 7, 1996, has lost none of its zing. Enacted with precision and rib-tickling--make that side-splitting hi-jinks--provides one hour of non-stop laughter by Garrett Storms channeling Sedaris.

Rita Faye Smith
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
Wicked
Hollywood Pantages

Wicked is back, and L.A. loves it! The Broadway musical, which first played here nine years ago and then returned for a record-breaking run two years later, has checked into the Pantages yet again. This time, the cast is headed by Chandra Lee Schwartz (as Glinda) and Emma Raver-Lampman (as Elphaba). Note: Lampman is the standby for Emma Hunter, but she played the role on opening night.

Willard Manus
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
Elephant Man, The
Booth Theater

This is star casting, for sure. Bradley Cooper, called by People magazine "the sexiest man alive," stepped into the role of one of theater's most grossly deformed characters, the Elephant Man, at Broadway Booth Theater. Surprising many, is how Cooper forcefully drives his interpretation into the heart with sensitivity and humor. It is a performance to be remembered in a play that is often cumbersome.

Elizabeth Ahlfors
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
Who Killed Santa? / Neil's Dirty Shorts
Soulstice Theater

For a deliciously funny show that lampoons traditional holiday characters, it would be difficult to beat Who Killed Santa?

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
Blithe Spirit
Ahmanson Theater

It’s a one-joke play that hinges on a supreme improbability–the ghost of a man’s first wife showing up to rattle the underpinnings of his second marriage–but thanks to the superb comedic gifts of its seven-person cast, Blithe Spirit manages to light up the Ahmanson stage in its West Coast premiere.

Starring is Angela Lansbury as Madame Arcati, the eccentric spiritualist who helped conjure up Elvira the ghost. Lansbury, the old theater dog, digs her teeth into the role and gleefully chomps on it like a rag doll.

Willard Manus
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
Elephant Man, The
Booth Theater

Fans of Bradley Cooper may well be amazed by his performance as John Merrick in The Elephant Man; many hardened theater critics will be, too. As the abused, tormented man cruelly twisted by deformity and fate, Cooper is simply superb. He allows us to see his vaunted chiseled face and obviously well-cared-for body contort into the grotesque creature who sends a nurse running from the room. No makeup, no costuming is necessary for the transformation.

Michall Jeffers
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
Dancing Lessons
Florida Studio Theater

Mark St. Germain’s play is not about dancing lessons, as its name suggests. In fact, any lessons imparted are about autism, the hero, Ever’s, condition. At a National Autism Coalition banquet honoring him, he needs to perform a dance, preferably short, fast, and with little or no touching his partner. Will he learn how from neighbor Senga?

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
Sticks and Bones
Pershing Square Signature Center - Romulus Linney Theater

With every revival comes the obvious question: why now? Often, at least part of the answer is because an extraordinary cast has been gathered. That’s definitely the case with the new incarnation of David Rabe’s Tony Award-winning play, Sticks and Bones. Director Scott Elliott has assembled a dream cast of actors for this relic of the Vietnam War.

Michall Jeffers
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
Butterfly Hour
Theater for the New City

Butterfly Hour tells of veterans of the Iraq war and the personal war they endure after their return home. The broad outline of the plot: Matt struggles towards commitment with his girlfriend Bethany, while being lured into shady business dealings with his fellow veterans “Oats” and Rick.

Adam Frost
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
Great American Trailer Park Christmas Musical, The
WaterTower Theater

WaterTower Theater welcomed back set designer Rodney Dobbs, who designed a delightful eye-candy set for the production of The Great American Trailer Park Christmas Musical. The visuals are further enhanced by Hannah Law's kitschy props and Derek Whitener's whimsical costumes.

Rita Faye Smith
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Musical
Marcus Center - Todd Wehr Theater

Rudolph, the Red-nosed Reindeer: The Musical makes its triumphant return to First Stage. It was an overwhelming hit with adults and children alike when the production debuted in 2012. It has lost none of its holiday-themed luster the second time around.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
Dancing in the Street with the Prima Donnettes
Florida Studio Theater - Court Cabaret

A sequel to a show named for the “girl group” of the title, The Prima Donnettes, this edition has four pretty women dancing--not on the streets--but before the red-blue-purple curtained backdrop of Florida Studio Theater’s newest cabaret. No matter the title, the revue keeps the audience in its seats--but clapping, clapping, even as part of a song arrangement or two.

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
Santaland Diaries, The
The Working Stage Theater

Matt Crabtree as a solo elf in David Sedaris’s Christmas classic, The Santaland Diaries? What a great holiday present! Crabtree has a ball impersonating Sedaris who, when he was a 33-year-old unemployed actor (and dead-broke, to boot), took a job at Macy’s in Herald Square as one of Santa’s elfin helpers. Togged out in a ridiculous costume, he was required to somehow entertain the army of kids and parents awaiting their chance to meet Father Nick (yet another unemployed actor).

Willard Manus
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
Christmas Carol, A: The Radio Show
Bath House Cultural Center

One Thirty Productions opened A Christmas Carol: The Radio Show by David Alberts on December 3, 2014 at the Bath House Cultural Center. The premise of the show is that a small-town radio station is set to present a production of Charles Dickens's iconic A Christmas Carol.It is December 24, 1947, and station manager Bob Bennett (B.J. Cleveland) is about to announce the show when he receives a phone call telling him that all 24 cast members are snowed in by a blizzard.

Rita Faye Smith
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
Luna Gale
Kirk Douglas Theater

The Chicago theater world proudly struts its stuff in Luna Gale, the new Rebecca Gilman play now in an L.A. run at the Kirk Douglas Theater. Gilman wrote the play for Chicago’s Goodman Theater where she is an artistic associate. After a successful world-premiere run earlier this year, the production has been transferred to L.A., with the same cast, crew and director (Robert Falls) reprising their work. This explains why everything about the piece seems so well-honed, so crisp and sharp.

Willard Manus
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
My Son the Waiter: A Jewish Tragedy
Stage 72

My Son the Waiter - A Jewish Tragedy, written by and starring Brad Zimmerman, gives us very dry funny stories of his life. This includes his path to comedy performance as a waiter and playing the waiter and the customers in a very funny and clean delivery. He’s a mocker but always quite likable, and includes as his targets health food, a plane trip and fashion modeling. Some bits are profound, all are funny, with funny physical character moves, among them bits on golf, hairdo, dating, mother, and being bald.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
River, The
Circle in the Square

There are lots of big name actors on Broadway but very few real stars. Hugh Jackman has the rare ability to not only draw in an audience but to hold us in the palm of his hand throughout the performance. It has been said that in The River,Jackman withholds his usual charm. This is entirely untrue. Without his natural charisma, this soufflé of banality, pseudo-mystery, and excess verbiage would fall in on itself within the first ten minutes.

Michall Jeffers
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
Under Milkwood
Theatre de Nesle

A voice in the darkness quotes from a letter about the town of Llareggub whose story, in Under Milkwood, begins out of darkness. It becomes a tale of its inhabitants over a day and night. Dylan Thomas called it “a play for voices,” and the five Dear Conjunction actors render them all, distinctly and well, under varying lights.

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
December 2014
Le Jardin des Amours Enchantees
La Comedie Italienne

The modest-sized Comedie Italienne has had some exquisite settings on its stage and extravagant costumes on its actors, but its “Enchanted Garden” (Le Jardin des Amours Enchantees) reaches new heights of gossamer beauty. It’s as if playwright Goldoni has atypically conquered the realm of his arch rival, the rarely realistic Gozzi. Director Attilio Maggiulli has clearly had fun blending the traditions of the two, without de-emphasizing the influence of commedia dell ‘arte.

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
November 2014
Cudahy Caroler Christmas, A
Tenth Street Theater

The familiar gang of In Tandem revelers is back for another run of a Milwaukee Christmas classic, A Cudahy Caroler Christmas. This lively show revolves around a loosely knit plot regarding poor Stasch Zielinski (artistic director Chris Flieller), who attempts to reunite a community choir that disbanded five years ago. Hurtful comments between Stasch and his former best friend, Pee Wee (Nathan Wesselowski), were the main cause of the choir’s break up.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
November 2014
Novecento
Theatre du Rond-Point/Salle Renaud-Barrault

At the turn of the 20th Century, the titular Novecento, a baby abandoned under a ship’s piano and raised by a steward to age eight, became a great jazz pianist. A trumpeter, who befriended and got closest to him on many a Transatlantic voyage, tells Novecento’s story, punctuated by an onstage jazz band.

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
November 2014
How to Become Parisian in One Hour
Theatre des Nouveautes

He comes on like a chubby hayseed in overalls and farmer’s straw hat. The curtain closes. A voice asks you for preparations to clap. The curtain opens on Olivier Giraud, a young Frenchman. A stay in the U.S.A. has made him different.

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
November 2014

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