PicksInSix Review: Dear Evan Hansen - Paramount Theatre

The Struggle to Feel Less Alone.
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Kaitlyn Linsner

We are chronically online. Profit-maximizing algorithms fuel our social media compulsions. Phones serve as digital pacifiers to distract us from discomfort, inconvenience, and simple boredom. Poor teenagers face a growing mental health crisis thanks in large part to excessive screen time. How strange yet commonplace it is to feel isolated in a world where you can connect with others via email, text, a phone call, FaceTime, TikTok, you name it.

Amidst this shared experience backdrop, “Dear Evan Hansen” touches on relatable and noteworthy topics like distorted online realities, loneliness, grief, self-acceptance, and navigating mental health struggles. But, to me, despite its overwhelming appeal, the musical format does not serve the message well. This is not a critique specific to Paramount Theatre’s new staging of “Dear Evan Hansen” directed by Jessica Fisch which is the first produced by any Chicago-area theater since the musical’s national tour. Rather, this is a critique of a plot that fails to take a deep and constructive look at issues that need that level of care and attention. Especially considering the entire story centers on Evan Hansen (Cody Combs) exploiting the suicide of a high school classmate for social clout.

What could have been a heartfelt dark comedy or biting satire is instead a confusing, sometimes funny, but mostly serious, journey through arguably misplaced sympathies for a historically beloved, socially anxious protagonist who lies with good intentions. Perhaps that is the point of “Dear Evan Hansen.” For the audience to explore moral complexities and the gray spaces of loss, compassion, and forgiveness through song and dance. How much of this meaning, though, is a projection of the audience’s own desire to connect and be seen?

The music and lyrics by Benk Pasek and Justin Paul do offer some resonating emotional depth, and the Paramount Theatre company sings each anthem beautifully, namely in “You Will Be Found.” The production’s notable performances include Evan (Combs) in the powerful and revealing “Words Fail,” Zoe Murphy (Isabel Kaegi) in the honest and raw “Requiem” and Evan’s mother Heide (Megan McGinnis) in the tender and heartfelt “So Big/So Small.” Heide ultimately saves Evan from his unraveling and McGinnis’s display of strength and vulnerability in the difficult moments is inspiring.

The impressive and digitally-heavy set by scenic designer Andrew Boyce, lighting designer Greg Hofmann and projections designer Anthony Churchill elevates the narrative and does well to display the chaos of our tech-driven lives. Director Fisch’s staging also aptly places the characters in the foreground to bring us closer to real life and the tangible experiences not available on the internet.

All in, Paramount's “Dear Evan Hansen” is polished, entertaining, and highly recommended for those who love this musical and want to experience it again and for those interested in seeing a talented company deliver an emotionally charged and bittersweet performance. For everyone else, depending on who you bring along, be prepared for a frank discussion on the way home.  

Editor’s Note: Paramount’s content advisory: This show contains mature and potentially triggering content centered on mental health issues and teenage suicide. If you or someone you know is facing mental health struggles, emotional distress, alcohol or drug use concerns, or just need someone to talk to, the caring counselors at 988 Lifeline are available for you. Call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org. You are not alone.

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR | KAITLYN LINSNER serves as an Assistant Attorney General in the Public Utilities Bureau of the Office of the Illinois Attorney General.

PHOTO | Boris Martin

Paramount Theatre
presents
Chicago Regional Premiere
Dear Evan Hansen
23 East Galena Boulevard
Aurora, IL
through March 22, 2026

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PicksInSix Review: Catch Me If You Can - Marriott Theatre

Marriott’s Whopping “Catch” Is A Winner!
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

If you are wondering what you get when you put a real-life copper caper in the hands of a master storyteller like the late Terrence McNally and the musical team of Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, make a date to see the sensational revival of “Catch Me If You Can” now playing at the Marriott Theatre. Directed with panache by Jessica Fisch featuring the equally stylish choreography by Dierdre Goodwin, the show features an outstanding company led by the effervescent JJ Niemann as Frank Abagnale Jr., the 60s era con artist and international fraudster who amassed $2M before the age of twenty-two. Niemann is a remarkable talent whose power-packed performance and engagingly youthful persona—yeah, he gets that a lot—belies an artful ease and ever-present synergy with the plum role of making a jet-setting swindler the most likable guy in any room.

It all starts at the end where the FBI, led by agent Carl Hanratty (a rock solid Nathaniel Stampley) and his minions Agents Dollar, Cod and Branton (the hilarious team of Justin Allbinder, Alex Goodrich and Karl Hamilton) have cornered Abagnale at gunpoint in a Florida airline terminal. As he begs for one last chance to plead his case, everything transforms into the show within the show, a flashback forward to the early days in a subdivision in New Rochelle, New York with his charismatic, but flawed, father, Frank Sr. (Sean Fortunato) and French mother, Paula played by the captivating Jessie Fisher. Fortunato is brilliant as the suave, sophisticated shyster who mentors Frank Jr. on the ins and outs of his street game. It is in these early scenes— wonderfully crafted by these two fine actor/singer/dancers—that the hook is set for McNally’s father/son experience that runs as the subplot to the main adventure story.

Things don’t work out so well for the couple, however, and Frank Jr. is soon off on his own, quickly advancing his special brand of check fraud and impersonation schemes as a lawyer—yes, he passed the bar—pilot and a pediatrician supervisor in a hospital emergency ward where he falls hard for Brenda Strong (the lovely and talented Mariah Lyttle). Brenda’s love and affection leads him to consider giving it all up, settling down and proposing marriage at dinner with Brenda’s parents Roger and Carol (the delightfully comic pairing of James Earl Jones II and Alexis J. Roston). It looks like things might turn out okay for our high-flying hero, but then Hanratty is as persistent as a dog with a bone and isn’t about to give up.

The nonstop momentum of “Catch Me If You Can” comes courtesy of the talented and versatile ensemble, filled to the brim with newcomers, who cover dozens of supporting roles and a bevy of flight attendants, Playboy bunnies, and attending nurses, all glammed in Sully Ratke’s dazzling array of costumes. Under the music direction of Ryan T. Nelson and the marvelous melodious mayhem of conductor Christopher Sargent and the orchestra, Niemann and company takeoff at full speed with “Live in Living Color” and set the flight path for the fun and frivolity right from the top. The company numbers “Jet Set” and act II’s “Nurses” are crowd favorites, along with Fortunato’s “The Pinstripes Are All That They See.” The buddy numbers “Butter Outta Cream” and “Little Boy, Be a Man” are balanced with Stampley’s introspective theme “The Man Inside the Clues” and Niemann and Lyttle’s lush “Seven Wonders.” The solo performance of the night belongs to Lyttle for the soaring confession of love “Fly, Fly Away.”

The ingenious stage design of Andrew Boyce and Lauren M. Nichols, awash in Jesse Klug’s evocative lighting, incorporates a pair of multi-functional set pieces that glide effortlessly on a circular track that mirrors the video diorama above showcasing Anthony Churchill’s fascinating video/projection design. This is one of the most creative and functional uses of Marriott’s challenging in-the-round configuration ever. A visual stunner!

Abagnale’s bold musical crime spree is sure to be another big hit for the popular regional theater at the Marriott Lincolnshire Resort celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year. Paired with the delicious and affordably-priced pop-up cuisine of the Three Embers Pan Am Grille inspired by First-Class Menus of the Pan Am Clippers, you can show up early, park for free, and stay for the show. It doesn’t get better that this!

PHOTO|Michael Brosilow

Marriott Theatre
presents
Catch Me If You Can
10 Marriott Drive
Lincolnshire
through October 19, 2025

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PicksInSix Review: The Audience - Drury Lane Theatre

Brooks Holds Court in “The Audience.”
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Ronald Keaton

I had the unique opportunity of seeing the original Broadway production of Peter Morgan’s historical play about Queen Elizabeth II, “The Audience,” back in 2015, with the fabulous Helen Mirren and a host of excellent actors in support.  The research into the subject matter is meticulous and well-organized, and if you’re a history buff, you will absolutely love this wonderful creativity.  If you’re not and you keep an open mind, it will lure you in with a kind of picture-book approach of a history lesson, that couldn’t be more entertaining in its turns, and they’re offered by the fine actors seen here. 

“The Audience” takes place during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, specifically focusing on her weekly meetings with the prime minister in office.  It’s not told in a linear fashion, but in a kind of memory focus, so we get an interesting and full scrapbook of storytelling.  There’s even a narrator-on-staff, so to speak—the versatile Jürgen Hooper as the Equerry—to help guide us through the maze of time and place and, well, all the prime ministers, as well as a young Elizabeth (Omi Lichtenstein in an impressive turn) to whom the adult Queen can relate to on occasion.

All the meetings are held in what’s called ‘The Meeting Room’ in Buckingham Palace. It is very simple, accessible staging by director Jessica Fisch. Center stage are two chairs with a small table between them, where all the discussions take place. It might have helped a bit to have the prime ministers and/or the Queen get up and move more often to vary the scene, but that’s nothing that overcomes the fine storytelling.  Ms. Fisch also has created a smooth, absolutely silent scene change habit for those chairs and other set pieces, musically underscored, that actually entertains on its own, thanks to a wonderfully restrained, elegant scenic design by Andrew Boyce.

The entire play is owned by Queen Elizabeth II and taken into charge by the redoubtable Janet Ulrich Brooks, one of Chicago’s truly talented, fascinating actors. She plays Elizabeth from the beginnings of her reign in 1952 by meeting her first Prime Minister, Winston Churchill (an irascible, almost knightly Matt DeCaro), who detests and resists any turn from tradition in the meetings and, indeed, reinforces the Queen’s grandfather, George V, in his insistence on maintaining such structure. The Queen stands up to the great man with questions and methods of her own; they reach a shaky truce of sorts by meeting’s end, and one tips a hat to her resolve.

All the Prime Ministers are at once impressed, shaken and establish their own friendly joust with the Queen.  The first PM appointee Anthony Eden (excellently manipulative and fearful by Mark Ulrich) betrays his reputation with his mismanagement of the Suez Canal affair. Ron E. Rains offers a surprisingly full-bodied and humorous Harold Wilson, thanks to the playwright’s gift of three different scenes with the Queen. (Mr. Wilson did have two separate terms in office, thus justifying what we see.) Susie McMonagle clutches the expected aggressive stance as Margaret Thatcher in a gripping, properly uncompromising exchange with Brooks’ Queen. Both John Major (John Judd) and Tony Blair (Alex Goodrich) leave strong marks on their terms in the office for totally disparate reasons. The Scot, Gordon Brown (Raymond Fox) followed the Churchillian path of Chancellor of the Exchequer in stabilizing the UK’s economy, which led to his PM appointment.  And David Cameron (a second turn by Mr. Goodrich) led the first peacetime British coalition government that voted to leave the European Union in 2016, forcing him to resign.

The richness in history is handled by Elizabeth with varying degrees of attitude, but always in support of each charge. And the many physical changes in Ms. Brooks’ appearance onstage are deftly handled through those aforementioned scene changes with wig and dress by a hugely talented palace staff, both in the story and through the craft. This fine production of a rare play runs at Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace through October 20.  

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR | RONALD KEATON received an Equity Jeff Award for the performance of his one-man show CHURCHILL. www.solochicagotheatre.com  Coming soon, his new solo play “Echo Holler.” www.echoholler.com

PHOTO| Brett Beiner

Drury Lane Theatre
presents
The Audience
100 Drury Lane
Oakbrook Terrace
through October 20, 2024

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