PicksInSix Review: Disney's Finding Nemo - Marriott Theatre

Get In The Swim Of Things!
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Regina Belt-Daniels

“Disney’s Finding Nemo,” the current Marriott Lincolnshire production for their Theatre for Young Audiences series, is a stunning staged musical remake of the 2003 Disney Pixar film with elaborately creative puppetry. The actors are resplendent in dabbled blues, yellows and purple colored onesies as they energetically and believably bring the adorable seafaring characters to life in the best visual display and use of puppets I’ve seen in my two decades of reviewing.

The familiar adventure story begins with Nemo’s mother’s death by a frightening barracuda before he is hatched. Nemo is one of 400 clownfish eggs, and the only survivor. From there, the staged musical quickly enters the evolving tale of Nemo and his overprotective father Marlin. Both face the unknown for someone they love—each other. Nemo dreams of venturing beyond their cozy anemone home into the vast ocean. But he is captured and taken to Sydney, ending up in an aquarium. Determined to bring Nemo home, Marlin pushes past his fears, and embarks on a daring ocean journey, aided by allies Dory, Crush the 150 year-old sea turtle, and the Tank Gang.

Directed and choreographed by the extremely gifted Amber Mak, with flawless musical direction by Ellie Kahn and a live band, the production boasts breathtaking puppetry design by Jesse Mooney-Bullock, costumes by Theresa Ham (wait till you see the jellyfish) and wigs, hair and makeup by Miquel Armstrong. A simple, easily manipulated Great Barrier Reef setting designed by Milo Blue with soothing oceanic lights designed by Brian Easton and sounds by John Johnson complements the talented ensemble on the intimate theater’s in-the-round stage.

And what an ensemble! Avelyn Lena Choi is an innocent and spirited Nemo, whose chemistry with Devon DeSantis‘s overly protective father clownfish, Marlin, is heart tugging. DeSantis’s Marlin is afraid of whales, sharks and leaving his home, but he is very good at delivering dad jokes and rescuing his son. The ever optimistic Dory, who can read, but is extremely forgetful, especially of Nemo‘s name—Elmo, Mosquito, Harpo, Lego, to mention a few misnomers—is wonderfully portrayed by Leah Morrow. Dory provides some of the show’s most hilarious moments and Morrow’s impeccable timing is a non-stop delight.

The ensemble plays an array of fascinating characters each with their own presence and personality. I especially loved Lorenzo Rush Jr. who among others, plays Nigel the pelican swooping in to narrate/move the plot along and entertainingly engage the audience (“Clap your fins if you think…”) I could easily list every single cast member, but other notables include, Andres J. Deleon (Gurgle, Crush, Moonfish), Adelina Marinello (Pearl’s mom, Chum, Peach, Jellyfish, Moonfish, Turtle), Tommy Rivera-Vega (Gil, Moonfish, Jellyfish, Turtle) and Maya Rowe (coral, Tad’s mom, Bloat, Anchor, Moonfish, Jellyfish, Turtle). The ensemble sings many of the most touching songs amplifying the show’s themes of resilience, courage, love and, especially survival, in “Just Keep Swimming.”

The audience was composed of babes in arms to grandparents, all enthralled with this fun filled production. Be sure to plan to stay after the show for a question and answer session with some of the cast members and production team engaging with the kids who not only say the darnedest things but ask them too! Get in the swim of things for Marriott’s production of “Disney’s Finding Nemo.” A magical journey under the sea is awaiting you!

Casting Note: Patrick Michael Tierney will play Marlin at selected performances.

Guest Contributor | REGINA BELT-DANIELS is a retired special education teacher who has acted, directed, and staged managed throughout Illinois and has reviewed theater for numerous publications for over a decade.
PHOTO|Justin Barbin

Marriott Theatre
presents
Disney’s Finding Nemo
‍10 Marriott Drive
Lincolnshire, IL 60069
though January 4, 2026

847-634-0200

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PicksInSix Review: Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars - TimeLine Theatre Company

An All Too Real Interstellar Experience.
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

“Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars,” the new play written by and featuring Sandra Delgado and directed by Kimberly Senior, opened Wednesday in a TimeLine Theatre Company world premiere production hosted by Lookingglass Theatre Company at the Water Tower Water Works. Set in Chicago in 2015 during the Obama era, the powerful premise of Delgado’s work revolves around issues and policies that reflect our fractured immigration and deportation system. On that score alone, Delgado’s insightful “Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars” is the most vitally important show to see in Chicago right now.

The combined force of longtime collaborators Senior and Delgado in such a stylized 90-minute drama is a perfect fit for TimeLine’s legacy of presenting works of historical significance. The production unfolds as a series of vignettes—memories from the mind of Delgado’s character Clara—that shape the backstory. Clara’s seemingly routine life is all at once upended as a result of past actions that would otherwise be dismissed to any American citizen. But Clara was an immigrant child who is now pursuing citizenship that will allow her to fulfill the dream of a trip to Paris with her daughter Stella (Charlotte Arias who alternates with Simona Gueglio-Saccone), until she is suddenly thrust into a situation that will ultimately impact every facet of her existence.

Clara is central to the support of her immediate family. She is caring for her recently widowed father Papi (Ramón Camín) and is in a co-parenting situation with her ex-husband, David (Brian King), to whom she also provides financial support. So, when we find that Clara has been unemployed for over a month and has been shielding it from everyone, there is clearly a reckoning to come. Clara first shares her plight with Ruben (Joshua David Thomas), an affable hospital professional who has a prosperous side hustle, and then, as she begins to consider what her future options might be, is stunned to discover that her path to citizenship is in serious jeopardy.

Delgado’s crisp writing style is evidenced throughout the interactions with her family, but shines brightly in a pivotal meeting with Vega (Charín Álvarez), an immigration attorney whose blunt assessment leaves few options ahead, and Clara’s own impassioned testimony in her own defense.          

There is an otherworldly element to “Hundreds”—a multiverse, a theoretical reality that includes an infinite number of parallel universes—that drives the narrative of Clara’s story, allowing the scenes to unfold as if unstuck in time. It is a fascinating concept accomplished through robust atmospheric projections (Eme Ospina-López), lighting (Christine A. Binder) and sound (Willow James) and the scenic design of Regina García. Director Senior artfully incorporates these interstitial moments that allow Delgado to remain present on stage nearly throughout as either player, observer or interstellar traveler. Collectively, these segments gather in intensity, an atmospheric representation of the unimaginable chaos of Clara’s situation.

Over the course of the past ten years while much has changed, all too much has stayed the same. When the decriminalization of marijuana became law, the remedies afforded to American citizens imprisoned on minor offenses did not apply universally to everyone. Today, with the situation magnified three-fold, the sweeping effect of immigration enforcement activities, that have been largely indiscriminate and intensified in real time in neighborhoods across Chicagoland and the nation, have ripped families apart and sent shock waves of fear through entire communities. The searing and staggering heart of this piece beats loudly as if it was written yesterday. Delgado’s bold, endearing and powerful “Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars” lays bare how our evolving policies so completely impact one family caught up in our fraught immigration system.

PHOTO| Brett Beiner

TimeLine Theatre Company
presents
World Premiere
Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars
Hosted by
Lookingglass Theatre
Water Tower Water Works
168 Pearson Street at Michigan Ave.
through November 9, 2025

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FEATURE: CONVERSATIONS: Kimberly Senior and Sandra Delgado

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Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars - Kimberly Senior and Sandra Delgado

A Love Letter To The City
Kimberly Senior & Sandra Delgado
CONVERSATIONS | Ed Tracy

According to director Kimberly Senior, Sandra Delgado’s new play “Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars”—produced by TimeLine Theatre and currently in previews at Lookingglass Theatre in Water Tower Water Works—“lives in an interstitial space that is neither here nor there and takes place in the memory of the main character, Clara” played by Delgado. The longtime friends and collaborators date back nearly three decades to the inception of Chicago’s Collaboraction Theatre Company when Senior, the founder and now company member emeritus worked with founding company member Delgado, who now serves on the Board.

Senior directed the Broadway production of the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-nominated Disgraced  by Ayad Akhtar. Among dozens of notable award-winning productions at theaters across Chicagoland and beyond, Senior has been lauded for her innate storytelling abilities in over 30 Collaboraction productions, a decade as an administrator and Resident Artist with Steppenwolf, her work with Goodman Theatre’s Artistic Collective and with TimeLine where she is an associate artist.

The captivating Delgado, a writer, producer, actor/singer/dancer is best known for her award-winning musical anthology “La Havana Madrid” based on true stories framed from within the famous 1960s Caribbean Latino nightclub. Her play, “Felons and Familias,” was part of Theatre on the Lake’s 2018 season and Goodman Theatre’s New Stages Festival under the new title, “Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars.” Moving into the 2025 TimeLine schedule last fall, the show is presented through a special arrangement at the Water Tower Water Works theater.

We all had a minute on a Zoom call to talk about the play during final preparations for the first preview performance last week. It was a wide-ranging discussion with two of Chicago’s top creative powerhouses who are telling the heartfelt story of a mother and daughter navigating our challenging immigration system. If it sounds like it might be of the moment, consider that Delgado’s play is rooted in Chicago and set in 2015 during a very different, but nonetheless compelling, inflection point in a national policy debate that has been smoldering for decades.

It is a “love letter to the city,” Delgado says, “that I hope is as satisfying for our audiences that love the city as much as Kimberly and I do.”

The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

Sandra Delgado: “My entry into the performing arts was through music, through singing, but also through dance. La Havana Madrid was definitely an expression of the singing part of me. And with Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars, I get to express more of my movement background. So, one of the elements that we're using to tell the story is, I wouldn't say dance, but it is a heightened movement.  

In 2015, Obama was president and he enacted immigration policies. The original title of the play was called Felons and Familias because in the speech that he gave when he enacted these new immigration policies, one of the things he said was: ‘We're targeting felons, not families. We're targeting the drug dealers, not the mom who's working hard to take care of her kids.’

I heard this story on NPR about a man from Guyana who had come as a toddler to the United States with documentation. He had always been a legal permanent resident of the United States. And in his thirties, a couple of past drug convictions caught up with him and he was deported because of the new immigration policies. And that really struck me. As a mother, I was like, “In what world does it make sense to split this family apart?” At the time, his son was ten years old and now this man is going back to a place where he doesn't have anyone and his son is growing up without his father.

For some communities, Obama became known as the “deporter-in-chief,” but I would say, by and large, especially with our theater-going community, which tends to be a liberal community, they don't know that this has been happening way before Trump and even before Obama. We've always had problematic immigration policies. But I think in a way, setting (the play) in 2015 is just enough of a space for us to really look at where we were and where we are now, especially, as things have really escalated.”

Ed Tracy: And the laws have changed, decriminalizing marijuana and some of those kinds of things might not happen to American citizens. But as we are now, if there is anything there, it is coming to the surface.

SD: “That is really interesting to bring up because, of course, cannabis became legalized in 2020, but if you are not a citizen—and I am not saying an ‘undocumented person’—if you are a person who has a visa, who is a green card holder, you don't have those protections. I also wanted to examine this hazy gray area where a lot of what we see on the news is about undocumented people. It is binary, right? You are either a citizen or you are undocumented, as far as the stories that we are seeing surrounding immigration and deportation. But there is this whole other subset of people who are not citizens, but they are documented. They don't have protections either. So, this play is also examining that, because even today, for example, when (Governor) Pritzker a couple years ago pardoned all the people that were in prison for low level drug offenses, if you were a citizen, you got to leave prison. If you were a legal permanent resident, you were still there doing your time.”

ET: So how do you tell this story? How does art help you to tell this story so that it has the kind of universal reach that you are going for? 

Kimberly Senior: “Well, you tell a story through people, right? This is a story about a family, right? So, there are three people on this Zoom, and we are three different people, and we all have different things that affect us. We have things that are in common, and we have different things that are not in common. And some of them are legal, some of them are historic, some of them are whatever, right? But that, like everything, affects different people. The true things that motivate us are the things that we love and the people that we love. That is how we make our decisions, based on our values, and based on what drives us are the people that we love.

This is really a story about a mother and a daughter and also this family and the people that surround them. There is an intergenerational story. It is a story of Clara. It is a story of her and her daughter. Her father is also in the play. I am very moved by that relationship in the play as well and the ties that bind us. And so, when these things are happening around us, how did that impact this family?

Sandra tells about hearing the story of this father from Guyana. It's not the law that is moving Sandra. It is the story about this father. This law is unfair, but no, what about this family? How does this law impact this family? I think where storytelling is so exciting, and so many of the stories that both Sandra and I have been interested in telling throughout our careers, is who are the people at the center of these stories? Because you can read history books and you can read news articles, but who are the actual people.

Like Sandra was pointing out, what we see on the news and what is presented to us are rarely the human faces. And, in fact, so often I think those things are being presented to us in a way where we are not connecting with the people so that we don't actually understand. And that is the role of the arts and how exciting and vital and how good it feels, especially in this moment, to be able to present a character like Clara who looks and behaves and who is just like any one of us walking around Chicago, who eats hot dogs and loves the 4th of July, and went to college and, goes to a mall and does all the things that we think are just American. Just like us, but yet the same rules don't apply because she wasn't born at Swedish Covenant Hospital but looks just the same and speaks with unaccented perfect English. I think it is a really interesting thing to put that face on it for our audiences.“

SD: “And, I think especially in this age where so much of the news that we are getting is in these little, viral soundbites, that viral video, where things are just reduced. It is so important to present a story of these fully, three-dimensional human beings. At its heart, this is a love story between a mother and a daughter. This is the story of a Chicago family. This is the story of an American family. And that is where art lives. You are getting to spend ninety minutes with these people and getting to know them as people. I have an IMDB credit called ‘crying Hispanic woman.’ It is not that soundbite of, or that viral video of, that crying Hispanic woman. You are getting to know these people as people. And as far as free speech, yeah, theater is free speech. We are holding on. And it is more important than ever.”

Currently in previews, the world premiere of the Timeline Theatre production of Sandra Delgado’s “Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars” directed by Kimberly Senior opens October 15 and runs through November 9, 2025 at the Lookingglass Theatre at Water Tower Water Works, 163 E. Pearson Street, Chicago.

PHOTO | Emma Schoenfelner
COVER | Joe Mazza brave lux inc.

TimeLine Theatre Company
presents
World Premiere
Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars
Water Tower Water Works
through November 9, 2025

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PicksInSix Review - AVA: The Secret Conversations - Studebaker Theater

Stardom In and Out of Limelight
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Ronald Keaton

Downtown at a jewel of a performance space, the renovated Studebaker Theater located in the Fine Arts Building, the latest bill of fare stars the elegant Elizabeth McGovern in “AVA: The Secret Conversations,” her adaptation of the book by Peter Evans, a character in the play portrayed by Aaron Costa Ganis. The show plays in Chicago through October 12, after runs at the Geffen Theatre in Los Angeles and then at New York's City Center.

In 1988, Ava Gardner has summoned the British journalist to ask him to ghostwrite a memoir or a full autobiography. At first Evans hesitates, being quite experienced in writing unauthorized biographies in real life. In fact, it's interesting that the first character we see onstage is not Ava Gardner, but Peter Evans. He nevertheless conceives an idea of a North Carolina girl picking herself up by the proverbial bootstraps of her upbringing and moving to Hollywood. Indeed, she was 18 in her first film in 1941. In fact, Ava wants to concentrate on sharing her views on her film career, thinking that the stories behind the making of such work would be entertaining for an audience. Evans, with constant pressure from his agent ("Get her to talk about the penis story!"), relents and walks a very difficult tightrope between making sure his agent is satisfied and adhering to what she wishes to talk about.

As the story progresses, we see a rather unique dramatic device that playwright McGovern utilizes in making the writer also stand in for her three husbands—Mickey Rooney, jazz legend Artie Shaw and Frank Sinatra. Slowly, Evans (Ganis valiantly assumes the persona of each husband in the storytelling), tries to convince Ava that he has her best interests at heart, while satisfying his agent's penchant for the gossip simultaneously. Rooney was at his performer's height during their marriage and, as is told, they constantly had sex, wherever and whenever they could. It disguises the fact that they were married only a year, and none of it affected his career—all to Ava's chagrin, as she really was not yet a star. Evans continues to accumulate material with Ava in constant catfight interviews and late-night exchanges, many enveloped in profanity and verbal offense. Then came her marriage to Shaw, one of the most famous jazz musicians in the country, in 1945 at the end of WWII. In time, Ava described him as "emotionally abusive" and yet another marriage lasted hardly a year or so.

In the meantime, Ava finally gets proper attention for her role in The Killers (1946), which turned both her and Burt Lancaster into major stars. And this is what Ava wishes to talk about—her various films, which include: Showboat (1951), Mogambo (1953), and The Barefoot Contessa (1954). It was during this career height that she met and married Sinatra. She was proud of the fact that she used what influence she had to help Sinatra land his Oscar-winning role in From Here To Eternity (1953). The marriage was tumultuous and passionate and the talk of Hollywood for six years, the length it lasted. All of this is fodder for Evans in writing for Ava. Lots of other affairs, including with Howard Hughes, followed. Ava remained true, in her eyes, to the fact that she did what she wanted and ignored judgment on it all.

So now we come closer to the time of the Gardner/Evans breakup and the entire project being shelved. It seems that Evans conveniently forgot to tell Ava that he was involved at one time in a lawsuit for publishing rights to a story about Frank Sinatra, whom she had told was her ghostwriter. He warned her. She confronted Evans, who tried to laugh it off to no avail. A final shouting match ends with Ava, putting on her coat and walking toward the stage apron into a stunning special effect of her disappearing into film.

There's a lovely drawing room set designed by LA scenic designer David Meyer. Projections abound here, too, covering the entire set in neon and streetlights and old film clips, all designed and assembled by Alex Bosco Koch. The entire experience was directed by Broadway veteran Moritz von Stuelpnagel. And as for the actors, well, it's basically a two-hander and a real challenge for any performer. Mr. Ganis offers a huge versatility and gameness for tackling what could have been a thankless role to play and even gets to sing a Sinatra staple, Fly Me To The Moon. Ms. McGovern, always the star here and playing almost the entire show barefoot (as was Ms. Gardner's real habit), has a real gift for dialogue and scene creation as a playwright and a proud Southerner from the beginning.

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR | RONALD KEATON received an Equity Jeff Award for the performance of his one-man show CHURCHILL. www.solochicagotheatre.org  Coming soon, his new solo play about Ben Franklin, THE FIRST EMBASSY.

PHOTO| Jeff Lorch

Elizabeth McGovern and Aaron Costas Ganis
AVA: The Secret Conversations

Studebaker Theater
Fine Arts Building
410 S Michigan Avenue
through October 12, 2025

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PicksInSix Review: Big White Fog - Court Theatre

Court’s ‘Fog” A Lesson in Time
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Ronald Keaton

The theatre pioneer Theodore Ward's ambitious “Big White Fog” is the latest offering at Court Theatre, playing through October 12. It is directed in unabashedly huge strokes by Court Resident Artist Ron OJ Parson and, in many ways, is both a grand story of impact and resulting fallout and a lesson in time. There is an inevitable connection/comparison between Mr. Ward's opus and the delicate, powerful classic “A Raisin In The Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry. They are two plays in dialogue that address family and, more pointedly, the Black experience in America. They share the same soil but blossom differently in their individual stories. The period in which the Ward play is written—the edge of the Great Depression into those years of unrelenting economic challenge and unending—magnifies that painful reality.

It is about three generations of the Mason family, who live on the South Side of Chicago. It's the 1920s, and the economic disparity between races is never more pronounced. The family itself is split across ideological lines. There is a fussy, battling matriarch Martha (Greta Oglesby is a strong, appealing presence) who shuttles from one location to another to find peace. Victor, a construction worker and the head of his family (Joshua L. Green, magnetic and powerful) is exhausted by the frustration of the family's economic woes, so he turns to Marcus Garvey and the “Back to Africa” movement for a kind of guidance. Meanwhile, brother-in-law Daniel (Amir Abdullah, ever present and antagonistic), wants to beat society at its own game, so he's diving into capitalism full-bore. He even buys a building to turn into apartments. And the problem for Victor is that Daniel seems to always have just enough money, which makes the more difficult philosophical stance in following Garveyism even more pronounced. The family is constantly battling to hang onto each other.

Meanwhile Lester (effectively understated by Patrick Newson Jr.) is about to go to college and waiting on scholarship money. When the money is denied to him because of his race, it begins in Lester's mind a long-range consideration in banding groups together with his Jewish friend Nathan (Artem Kreimer, quiet and appropriately supportive) to solve the family's issues. Ella (the marvelous Sharriese Hamilton) is constantly pushed to the brink, trying to hold onto a family that seems more and more bent on self-destruction. Ella has a breakdown about husband Victor where she finally shares her frustrations. Yet she continues to be a stoic presence and will not bend to the pressure, no matter how it affects her personally. Family, first and foremost.

When the Great Depression hits, the family is one of many facing eviction. In time, there are officers sent to make sure the eviction is carried out, becoming a behemoth that the Masons simply cannot fight. Lester, in the meantime, has gathered his friend Nathan and several others to make sure that the family stays in the house. The ending is still a surprise in its violence, and Victor pays the ultimate price for his will to keep the family moving forward.

The seventeen-player ensemble is exactly that—an actor's ensemble to the end. They feed off each other well, and each leaves a strong, individual mark. Ayanna Bria Bakari (Wanda Mason), Saran Bakari (Claudine/Sister Gabriella), Jada Jackson (Caroline Mason), Ronald L. Conner (Percy Mason), Alanna Lovely (Juanita Rogers), and John McBeth III (Philip Mason) are the family unit. Other strong contributions come from Anthony Irons and Lionel Gentle as the officers who help Victor in his adaption to Garveyism; Brandon Dahlquist as the Lieutenant in the eviction; and Nathan Daniel Goldberg as Bailiff.

Mr. Ward was a playwright and writer of strong leftist stance and allowed it all to reflect in his work. The “fog” is both literal poverty and figurative uncertainty about the right path forward. The "dream deferred" from the Langston Hughes poem is a reflection of how Ms. Hansberry viewed the same experience, some twenty years later, in her own activist outlook. In a way, she stands on Mr. Ward's shoulders. Both deal with dreams, with housing, with systemic racism. Both the fog and the dream deferred represent the same frustrating viewpoint. And both stand out loud in their own ways to shout the virtues, and the very tightness, of the family unit.

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 about Ben Franklin, THE FIRST EMBASSY.

PHOTO | Michael Brosilow

Court Theatre
presents
Big White Fog
5535 South Ellis Avenue
though October 12

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PicksInSix Review: Ashland Avenue - Goodman Theatre

"Ashland Avenue" Examines A Passing Era
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Ronald Keaton

At work, with relationships, in our very existence, we all are forced to come to grips with the end of something, a traumatic and daunting wall to climb. In playwright/filmmaker Lee Kirk's new play “Ashland Avenue,” now playing at the Goodman Theatre through October 12, everyone involved meets their own kind of 'ending' which then translates—as we all hope it will—into a new beginning in which to invest our energies.

In this story, it's about family dynamic. Pete (Francis Guinan), a widower, is the entrepreneur of what used to be a string of popular shops selling televisions, but now is down to one store, the original on Ashland Avenue. His television commercials from the old days made him a kind of Chicago legend, which inspires a life achievement award on his behalf. So, he has to make a speech. Pete's also quite a talker, as good salespeople should be, and he's had to sell off or close his other stores to survive. He remains stuck in sales methods that, with the advent of the internet, make him a bit of a dinosaur in the business world. Hence, his bad luck at a time in life when he is being urged to rest on his laurels, so to speak.

Now Pete has a daughter, Sam (Jenna Fischer), whose entire youth saw her involved with Dad's business. When not at school, she helped whenever possible in various ways; she kept the store clean, helped with record-keeping and whatever else needed to be done. All this time, Sam is developing her own dreams of being a novelist. Her husband Mike (Chiké Johnson), who helps out in the store, is a frustrated graphic artist and writer with three novels to his credit that just don't seem to help him find career traction. Sam and Mike are preparing for a move to Los Angeles and have struggled to find the words to tell her father.

To complicate things further, Pete has taken in a former employee, Jess (Cordelia Dewdney) and her two children, in an unusual stew of family concern and seeming romantic leanings that do not pan out.  And Jess is moving to Naperville, because her ex-husband Charlie has supposedly cleaned up from his drug habit. Pete doubts it all, of course, and continually tries to talk her into staying at his house, as he says, "for the children."

And this is all Act I. When Act II comes, the fruits of all the labor at last pay off. We see the essence of the give-and-take between Pete and his daughter, Sam and Mike in the welcome career news from LA, and Jess in a kind of "come-to-Jesus" realization about her irresponsible ex-husband. When all is said and done and Pete can sit quietly, reflecting on his last couple of days, he breaks down emotionally. To top it all off, the junkie Charlie (Will Allan) shows up at the store, wanting to sell a cable box for drug money. Pete realizes who he is and calls him on it, prompting a wild breakdown from Charlie and a not-so-surprising reaction of care and concern from Pete. That relationship at the end of the story prompts thoughts of what THAT play might be like.

The story becomes a thought-provoking combination of sitcom and morality tale about change and how such elements affect someone facing retirement, let alone what to do next in life. Mr. Kirk's script is well considered and interesting. Goodman Artistic Director Susan V. Booth offers this story in intimate, loving strokes. The thick, yet simple set design by Kevin Depinet has both nostalgia and the reality of existence in it. Ms. Fischer is a delicate surprise, and her work with the marvelous Mr. Johnson is fun to watch. Ms. Dewdney inhabits an appropriately desperate Jess, while the ex-husband literally explodes on Pete in Charlie's scene at the end. And Mr. Guinan, a real Chicago treasure who offers an actor's master class here, shares with us all a performance of eloquence and substance in all the fodder that Pete has to face. Pete's not Willy Loman, nor should he be. He's quieter and more introspective. But his Waterloo is just as valid and vital.

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 about Ben Franklin, THE FIRST EMBASSY.

PHOTO|Todd Rosenberg

Goodman Theatre
presents
World Premiere
Ashland Avenue
Albert Theatre
170 N Dearborn Street
Extended
through October 12, 2025

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PicksInSix Review: The First Lady of Television - Northlight Theatre

Sherman’s Marvelous, Articulate Plunge Hits Home!
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Ronald Keaton

This is the story of a grand storyteller named Gertrude Berg. She is the subject of James Sherman's marvelous, articulate plunge into show business history, “The First Lady of Television.” It's the latest production from Northlight Theatre currently at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie and now playing through October 12. Given the subject matter within the play—dealing with McCarthyism, the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s and the blacklist known as Red Channels—what unfolds are unsettling, almost frightening precedents of today's politics. Artistic director BJ Jones comfortably guides his ensemble through Mr. Sherman's encompassing wallop of a script, complete with meticulous research and loving dialogue.

Gertrude Berg was a pioneer of classic radio. She was one of the first people to create, write, produce, and star in a long-running hit when she premiered her comedy-drama "The Rise Of The Goldbergs" in 1929, as network radio was in its infancy. NBC ran her series, which eventually settled as "The Goldbergs," for seventeen years. Molly Goldberg was a big-hearted matriarch of a Jewish family in The Bronx. And that family—husband Jake, the always supportive Uncle David, daughter Rosalie and son Sammy—comprised a tight-knit group that went through common issues that all families experience: love and loss, celebrations of all kinds, personal growth and family discussion. It was a 15-minute show on radio. In 1949, Gertrude was able to transfer the show intact to television for a nearly ten-year run on CBS and DuMont.

The episode in question here they are shooting really doesn't matter. Molly is preparing for a July 4th celebration at home. The real drama is from outside the studio, where HUAC is making its presence known on the set. Suddenly the director Walter Hart (Joe Dempsey in a purposeful, strong turn) calls out "Hold, please!" for the umpteenth time in the rehearsal. The actor playing Loeb/"Jake" has learned that he has been listed in the pamphlet called Red Channels, along with 150 other show business types. The show's sponsor, Sanka, began to pressure Ms. Berg and the network to fire Mr. Loeb, however it got done. But such action was delayed. And delayed for well over a year. Finally, Gertrude is placed in the untenable position of deciding, on the set right then and there, whether or not to fire Mr. Loeb.

And that sets off, from the actor's reality in losing his job and fearing he'll never work again, a remarkable monologue from Mr. Sherman's pen. Mr. Loeb (the absolute best work ever from William Dick as Loeb/"Jake") takes us on an emotional, staccato journey about life. Union friendships. Family failure. Stories of literal survival at a time in America when hate filled the walls of Congress and threatened the very life of the country. Sound familiar? And Mr. Dick expertly takes us through all this with a deft combination of dread and confusion and, when it was all said and done, some inner panic for an artist who "just wants to work."

Mark David Kaplan shares such a gentle Eli Mintz/"Uncle David", so accommodating and helpful, as he becomes a kind of staff for Philip. Sarah Coakley Price as Arlene McQuade/"Rosalie" says yes, fire him. She emotionally forces a real wrench into the story with the fear that she doesn't want to lose HER job either; she just wants to move on and become what Gertrude is—star, writer, director of her own show. Ty Fanning (Larry Robinson/"Sammy") plays it all smarter than we know in showing how simply Larry negotiates his own path through the maze.

And at last, there's the great Cindy Gold in the title role. Gertrude/"Molly" is fully committed to this process. She says, in fact, that this cast is her family and she cannot abandon family for any reason. So, she gives everyone a strong boost in looking at their own stead—even Philip, the obvious tool to put away. Yes, Gertrude stays loyal right to the end. And Ms. Gold is simply wonderful in her consistent, charming take on a woman much more accomplished than people knew. It's all done within the guise of family loyalty, in a world turned upside down outside the studio, by a movement of hate ironically prescient to what many experience today. This is an ensemble play built on purpose and earnest leanings, as playwright Sherman shows us all, despite the history we think we know, what was still good in that time and place.

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 “Teddy’s Last Ride.”
PHOTO | Michael Brosilow

Northlight Theatre
presents
World Premiere
The First Lady of Television
North Shore Center for the Performing Arts
9501 Skokie Boulevard
through October 12, 2025

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PicksInSix Review: Dial M for Murder - Drury Lane Theatre

Betrayal, Deception Abound In Classic Thriller!
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Regina Belt-Daniels

What comes to mind when you hear or see the title “Dial M for Murder?” The popular Alfred Hitchcock film starring Ray Miland and Grace Kelly, correct? Well, that may be no more; the production currently running at the Drury Lane Theatre Oakbrook is the one to remember now. Written in 1952 by English playwright Frederick Knott, Drury Lane’s chilling production—a tight, carefully orchestrated, thriller—has gone one step farther with Jeffrey Hatcher’s compelling adaptation.

Set in the 1950s, “Dial M for Murder” tells the story of the fractious marriage of the wealthy socialite Margot Wendice (Amanda Drinkall) and her husband, Tony (Erik Hellman) who plans to murder her for her fortune (rather than lose her money to divorce) after discovering her affair with American murder mystery writer Maxine Hadley (Alexandra Silber). Tony blackmails a former Cambridge acquaintance into committing the murder while he establishes an alibi with his BBC radio interview. Of course, the plan goes astray.

Making his Drury Lane debut, Director Adam Immerwahr’s production is suspenseful, engaging, and extremely well-paced as he skillfully weaves the plot together navigating its many dramatic twists and turns with a creative flair for the genre. Upholding a unified vision and mood, Paige Hathaway’s detailed set design of the Wendice’s elegant London living room is plush, lush and gorgeous. All of the technical elements are effective and focused from the lighting design by Emma Deane, the sound design and music composition by Joshua Schmidt, and the beautiful era-appropriate costume design by Nicole Boylan, to the wigs and hair by Bridget Rzymski, and properties by Cassy Schillo. The strong performances of the ensemble benefit from the work of intimacy/violence choreographer David Blixt and dialect coach Julie Foh.

Immerwahr has assembled an incredibly charismatic ensemble of five—in roles that feel tailor made for them—focusing on the intricacies and interactions while heightening tension and suspense. The dialogue is sharp, and precise, revealing the character motivations with themes aplenty: betrayal, deception, justice, greed, love and loyalty.

Drinkall’s Margot is stunning—both in appearance and acting ability—all at once charming, naïve, kind, and with a quiet air of wealth. In Hellman’s Tony, we find a failed novelist who shows the conflicting emotions of a meticulous planner whose selfishness, arrogance, and jealousy run deep. Silber lands a skilled turn as the quick witted and plucky Hadley, the American murder mystery writer who is still in love with Margot. Ian Paul Custer is the man of many names, most recently Captain Lesgate, a shady, convicted criminal accomplice of Tony’s. Custer is very believable, starting out as a nice mustached, three-piece suited colleague who is soon willing to murder Margot for money. Chief Inspector Hubbard (Jonathan Wier) of Scotland Yard doesn’t appear until Act Two and may be a bit eccentric, but he is thorough and steady, thoughtful and intelligent. This is a delightfully strong, talented, and masterful cast.

“Dial M for Murder” is not a murder mystery; it is quite definitely a thriller. We know who’s doing what and what’s going to happen. The suspense is will he get away with it or will he get caught? You may be holding your breath for Margot as this Drury Lane thriller definitely keeps the audience on the edge of their seats— a fresh take on a classic thriller and, by the way, the ending will make you feel happy.

Guest Contributor | Regina Belt-Daniels is a retired special education teacher who has acted, directed, and staged managed throughout Illinois and has reviewed theater for numerous publications for over a decade.

PHOTO | Kyle Flubacker

Drury Lane Theatre
presents
Dial M for Murder
100 Drury Lane
Oakbrook Terrace
through October 26, 2025

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PicksInSix Review: Things With Friends - American Blues Theater

Well-Done: Absurdist Things, Euphemistic Friends
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Sarah Frances Fiorello

American Blues Theater kicks off its 40th anniversary season by kicking down the fourth wall with the world premiere of “Things With Friends” by Tony Award nominee, Pulitzer Prize in Drama finalist, Jeff Award Winner, and American Blues Theater Artistic Affiliate playwright, Kristoffer Diaz.  Diaz ushers us in voyeuristically, with the help of an immersive narrator, to this absurdist dinner party trapped in a Manhattan high-rise. Bring your metaphorical silverware and be prepared to dig in existentially: the menu includes (actual pan-cooked) steak, bottomless red wine, and never-ending euphemisms for the title of the play.

With a perfect view of the now-collapsed George Washington Bridge, Adele (Audrey Billings) and Burt (Casey Campbell) prepare for the arrival of their longtime friends, Vy (Cruz Gonzalez-Cadel) and Chabby (Jon Hudson Odom) against the backdrop of a real time climate disaster.  We watch as the two couples trade pawns in a twisted game of chess that reaches a boiling point just as a surprise visitor arrives. “Things With Friends” asks more questions than it answers, inviting its audience to think critically—not just as theatre goers but as global citizens.

Dexter Bullard’s direction is clear and specific, illuminating a string of pathway lights through the world of the play, telling us where to look, what to remember, and what to talk about on the way home. The direction also gives the ensemble of actors a well-defined sandbox in which to play, which they do with stamina and intention. Worth mentioning are standout performances by the quick-witted and slippery Jon Hudson Odom (Chabby) as well as the charismatic and irreverent Maya Lou Hlava (Joony), who rejoins the cast after appearing in the “Things With Friends” stage reading at American Blues Theatre in 2023, part of its Blue Ink Award recognition. 

Our narrator, NYC (played by Nate Santana) blurs the line between the audience’s role as observers and the actors’ role as storytellers, never allowing us to get too comfortable or judgmental of what we are witnessing. He comments on, and occasionally influences, the action while playing point-counterpoint to the more illogical and absurdist moments. He unpacks what the piece might otherwise leave to our imagination (or perhaps, confusion). Diaz’s inclusion of a narrator feels thoughtful: a nod to our effort of making it to the theatre to see something outside-of-the-box. A promise to leave us thinking about what we just saw, not wondering what we just saw.

“Things With Friends” is a slow burn, a methodical singe of the outermost sheen of these frenemies, while diving headfirst into the question American Blues Theater poses in its mission statement: “What does it mean to be American?” Who will we become as a society if we continue to crumble, like the bridges and tunnels of the ill-fated Manhattan of our play? What will happen when we are overrun with greed, selfishness, and fear—willing to sacrifice what arguably matters most?

Come ready to think and be prepared to leave wishing for more new works like this one: ingenious, thoughtful, and unafraid. This piece left me craving more original and daring art on our Chicago stages. That, and a perfectly cooked, medium rare steak.

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR | SARAH FRANCES FIORELLO is a graduate of Shenandoah Conservatory with a BFA in Music Theatre and a Chicago-based poet, writer, and performer. 
@writtenbysarahfrances

PHOTO|Michael Brosilow

American Blues Theater
presents
World Premiere
Things With Friends
5627 N Lincoln
through October 5, 2025

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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: Rachmaninoff and the Tsar - Writers Theatre

Hershey Felder’s ‘Rachmaninoff’ Scores at Writers
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Ronald Keaton

There really are few people in the theatre like the renaissance man Hershey Felder. Concert-level pianist. Producer in charge of his own fate. Actor with, in this case, a surprisingly high-quality Russian dialect, when many actors shy away from such things. Writer of a meticulously researched story and script. He has a strong influence on behind-the-scenes activity as well—scenic, projections, even a question-and-answer exchange with his audience AFTER ninety-plus minutes of a challenging performance that would intimidate others. And now, at Writers Theatre in Glencoe through September 21, Mr. Felder offers his latest in his series of solo narratives that concentrate on the great composers, “Rachmaninoff and the Tsar.”

Except in this one case, he has a partner onstage, the British-Italian standout actor Jonathan Silvestri, who plays Tsar Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia. The Tsar is a conjured character in the mind of Sergei Rachmaninoff, who helps the celebrated music icon near the end of his life to find common ground with his Russian roots again. The Tsar believed that he and family were "blessed by God" and thus being placed in a position of ruling Russia before the Bolshevik period began during the October Revolution of 1917. Almost the entire ruling family was murdered by the Lenin-led Bolsheviks nine months later in July 1918.

Meanwhile, Rachmaninoff and his family escaped Russia during the Revolution before first landing in New York City, beginning his fabled American and European concert tours. In time, the great man realized that his voice as a composer was missing and he yearned to be back in Russia. But most of his years through the rest of his life were lived out as arguably the most celebrated pianist of his day. He became close friends with his equally gifted compatriot Vladimir Horowitz. But to be precise, he and his wife Natalia lived in Switzerland for six years during this period in a kind of break from the grueling concert schedule until his health forced him to seek warmer climate. Hence, they moved back to the United States and settled in Beverly Hills. Rachmaninoff obtained his American citizenship in February 1943, roughly seven weeks before he died of advanced melanoma in March 1943.

It's reasonable to assume that both Sergei and Nicholas felt a similar spiritual tie to the homeland. Indeed, Mr. Felder's tight script has two constant themes—the soul, which is what is frequently referred to in emotional exchanges between both characters; and home, where they both yearn to find peace of mind. To both characters, these two factors are inextricably bound in influence. Mr. Felder, in a long and emotional monologue detailing those last years, emphasizes that the great man left the 'soul' of his composing back home. And it is true that the vast majority of his compositions were done while still there.

Mr. Silvestri is an imposing Tsar Nicholas, trying to be controlled and authoritative throughout, until the story of his daughter Anastasia comes to light. Mr. Felder cleverly allows the Tsar to be told a tragic tale of how his family was murdered in a forest and how his daughter miraculously survived after the Tsar's death in 1918, as Sergei helped to finance Anastasia for most of the rest of her life. Then, in a bit of a surprise, Rachmaninoff quietly confesses that he had serious doubts about whether she actually was who she claimed she was.

Mr. Felder's consistency of character here is an achievement in itself. He carries the man with strength and conviction. The dialect is strong and articulate. The spacing onstage, thanks to economical and tight direction from an experienced-with-Felder hand Trevor Hay, maintains a lovely pace with the script. The scenic design is a grassy garden of sorts with the piano in the center, while elegant projections of both the Tsar's and Rachmaninoff's families reigned large behind the set itself in black-and-white and maybe even a little sepia. The entire production is a totally unique theatrical experience that encourages the audience to escape to another time.

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 “Teddy’s Last Ride.”

PHOTO|Stefano DeCarli

Writers Theatre
presents
Midwest Premiere
Hershey Felder's
Rachmaninoff and the Tsar

325 Tudor Court
Glencoe
through September 21, 2025

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PicksInSix Review: PASS OVER - Fleetwood-Jordain Theatre

Searing Performances Drive Poignant ‘PASS OVER’
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Ronald Keaton

There's a striking production of “Pass Over,” the tale of two lost souls trying to find their way, now playing in Evanston at the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, produced by the Evanston-based company Fleetwood-Jordain Theatre, through August 10. Stylishly directed by their producing artistic director Tim Rhoze, this provocative story of two young men looking for their own kind of 'promised land' comes from the hand and heart of Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu, whose creative juices here have seen this play go through an original production at Steppenwolf in 2017; a film recording of one of those performances headed up by Spike Lee; and a Broadway premiere, complete with a new ending, in 2021. So, this piece already has a high pedigree of regard.

Two young Black men, Moses and Kitch, live in a depressed part of town (could be Chicago, could be any large city, really), wondering about their next meal, and dreaming of the future.  They try to list all their friends who have died at the hands of the police—only to realize there are so many, they simply can't list them all. And what hangs over their heads on their street corner is the stark reality that one or both of them could be next. The stakes for survival are almost impossibly high.

Yet they continue to fashion, in their minds and their conversation, a future that shines for them, that gives them pause whenever it comes up. Moses (arguably the stronger influence between the two, given a wonderful fleshing out by Tyshaun Meekie) is talked into initiating a game they apparently play daily, the ‘Promised Land Top Ten,’ one might call it. This time Moses counts off while Kitch (an almost innocent character through the fine skills of Tyrone Norwood, Jr.) tells what he looks for. Air Jordans, travel, a girlfriend, on and on he goes. Both young men play the game fully, and it's lighthearted and smart, and full of hope... a hope always tempered by the reality of their conditions.

The two are interrupted by an impossibly naive gentleman called Mister, whose pseudo Little Red Riding Hood attitude shows him with a basket of food, an awful sense of direction and a really bad knowledge of the ghetto. Later on, we see an entitled, angry white police officer who shakes the men down every chance he gets. Both roles are played by Tiemen Godwaldt in distinct and individual manners. Fun to watch.

There is a strong influence here from other literary sources, especially Samuel Beckett. The ghost of his classic “Waiting For Godot” shadows heavily here—not inappropriately by any means. But Kitch and Moses both share similar outlooks in their own 'waiting' for the sun to figuratively shine for them. The rapport between Mr. Meekie and Mr. Norwood is thick with camaraderie and familiarity. It has to be; the language in the play is just as thick and almost poetic in its idiosyncratic creation, with sharp and poignant airs in the exchange between them.

Mr. Rhoze deserves special mention here.  He has directed the play with a deft delicacy in recognizing the moments at hand. Much of the work seems almost improvised, a tribute to the actors and the director who allows them to ride it as far as they can. Mr. Rhoze also has created a sparse set with a streetlight as a focus and suggested cityscapes lining the background. It reflects the simplicity of the scene and belies the intense complications that these men face daily. Oh, and the title becomes a kind of reverie between Kitch and Moses. "Pass Over" takes on several different guises throughout—from being the escape from the neighborhood to a surprising exploration of slavery, and then to a proposed suicide pact between them. It's quite an eloquent study of the dreams that these young men conjure and what they might be willing to do to make them come true.

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 “Teddy’s Last Ride.”

PHOTO|Basil Clunie

Fleetwood-Jordain Theatre
presents
PASS OVER

Noyes Cultural Center
927 Noyes Street
Evanston
though August 10

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Saturdays 7pm
Sundays 3pm

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PicksInSix Review: Billie Jean - Chicago Shakespeare Theater

BILLIE JEAN: Winners Find A Way.
PicksInSix® Gold Review | Ed Tracy

Earlier this month at the WNBA All-Star game, players donned tee shirts with a message to owners engaged in collective bargaining negotiations for better pay, upgrades in travel and accommodations, and other aspects for a new—and richly deserved—contract.

Back in the days of Billie Jean King, with no collective bargaining options, it was up to a few of the uber-talented competitors to lay it on the line, buck the status quo for women and galvanize the public and sponsors to force change, provide educational opportunities in sports camps and raise all boats to a more equitable level.

From the early moments of the world premiere of Lauren M. Gunderson’s fast-paced and superb biographical play “Billie Jean” that opened Thursday in Chicago Shakespeare’s Yard, there is no doubt that the life and times of tennis great Billie Jean King are safely, and most exquisitely, in the capable hands of Chilina Kennedy whose explosive interpretation is shoulder-to-shoulder with the iconic ground-breaking spirit of the competitor she portrays. A valiant crusade by a central figure who is a champion to many causes and a force that we can both admire and respect. Kennedy’s performance is a grand slam.

Directed with a sensitivity and purpose by Marc Bruni, the show transitions on a dime from the raw innocence of a driven young talent (a delightful and impulsive Julia Antonelli) to King’s early success to achieving the dream of competing, and winning, at Wimbledon and reaching the precipice of the sport as her generation’s most dominant star.

King was not alone in the emerging sport of women’s tennis, and she and those around her challenged the staggering imbalance in valuation between men’s and women’s tennis. That part of King’s professional development, and how she relentlessly focused her energy and support to affect change, is central to the “Billie Jean” storyline.

This all plays out in a blistering series of scenes that follow a linear path, winning at Wimbledon, meeting and marrying Larry King (a solid performance by Dan Amboyer), developing her reputation as a fierce, no-holds-barred competitor on the court, and, as an unstoppable personality in the public spotlight. Consistently challenging the male-dominated social atmosphere around her, many of her most critical public turning points have as much to do with the breakdown of the trust of others as it does with following her own feelings. Which brings us to that commitment to truth and her very public personal life that is one of the most powerful and moving elements of “Billie Jean.” Overcome and swept up in her whirlwind relationship and marriage to King, who would become her manager, she was at the same time questioning her own sexuality, which leads to an ill-fated relationship that hovers over the story until the public exposure leaves her personal life and professional career in shambles. Finding her own truth, and the relationship with her eventual life partner, Ilona Kloss (Callie Rachelle Johnson in a brilliantly understated performance), leads to the triumphant conclusion of “Billie Jean.”

Gunderson has constructed the play as an ensemble piece with all of the intersecting players moving in and out of Billie Jean’s public and private life as activist, champion and survivor. It all plays out appropriately on Wilson Chin’s stylized tennis court set with bleacher-like seating for the company on either side with an ingeniously incorporated turntable center court. The stage is framed with a backdrop of forty-five Wimbledon-like trophy lights serving many scenic purposes, and, modular screens with artfully produced projections by David Bengali intermingled with live video segments. Together with Jane Shaw’s versatile costumes, and the fine work of movement director Steph Paul, the entire production is a visual feast.

But, make no mistake, this is Kennedy’s show—an extraordinary performance that is compelling, heartfelt and richly-crafted, effortlessly navigating the highs and lows of King’s life from adolescent adulation, lover, mentor, friend to legend and allowing the legacy of Billie Jean King to land powerfully in our memory as a poignant reminder of how far we have come, and how far we have still to go.     

PHOTO|Justin Barbin

Chicago Shakespeare Theater
presents
World Premiere
BILLIE JEAN
The Yard
Navy Pier
through August 10, 2025

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PicksInSix Review: The Color Purple - Goodman Theatre

High Wattage Hit at Goodman Theatre!
PicksInSix® Gold Review | Guest Contributor | Catey Sullivan

It’s been 43 years since I first read Alice Walker’s Pulitzer-winning novel “The Color Purple,” yet I can vividly recall how stunned I was by its immersive, explosive power. Walker’s great American novel (arguably the Great American Novel) is a testimony to the unstoppable power of language and storytelling.

 The musical version of “The Color Purple” debuted 21 years ago in collaboration with Walker, featuring a score and lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray, with a book by Marsha Norman. Directed by Lili-Anne Brown for the Goodman Theatre, “The Color Purple” has the wattage of a thousand suns. Running through August 3 at the venerable Loop theater, Brown has shaped the musical into a tale of resistance, joy and humanity in a world that is systemically dehumanizing. The musical might be decades old, but its themes have never been more timely.

The Tennessee-set, sprawling plot spans from 1911 to the 1940s, and is centered on Celie (Brittney Mack), 14 and pregnant when “Purple” opens. Like the book, the musical doesn’t flinch from the brutality Celie endures for decades, first from her father, and then from her husband. Celie is an Everest of a role: The character evolves over the course of more than three decades. Mack delivers with relentless intensity that travels the emotions spectrum alpha to omega. Her barn-burning vocals blaze through a score that incorporates blues, jazz and demanding a cappella phrases—a live orchestra.  

Also unforgettable: Nicole Michelle Haskins’ Sofia, a strong-willed woman who carries herself like a queen and is proportionately respected. Haskins turns Sofia’s “Hell No” into the anthem of a revolution. 

As Celie’s heinously cruel husband Mister, Evan Tyrone Martin goes from despicable to something like compassionate, with a hallucinatory mental breakdown in between. Martin makes every note ring true. Celie’s world begins to brighten with the arrival of Mister’s lover Shug Avery (Aerie Williams), a juke joint chanteuse with the seductive powers of a Siren. Williams moves through the raucous, sex-positive “Push the Button” with a celebratory carnality that rightfully stops the show. 

Finally, there’s Sean Blake as Mister’s father Old Mister, the owner of land he was once enslaved on. Blake has been consistently excellent since his days playing Richie in “A Chorus Line” at the long-gone Pheasant Run dinner theater in the olden, Pre-Millennium days. He does not disappoint here. Listen for Old Mister’s, wrenching, blistering monologue toward the finale. In that one passage, Blake makes your entire perception of the character change. 

Breon Arzell’s wildly creative choreo is storytelling in motion, its vocabulary moving between Praise Dance, African traditions, burlesque, and ballet, plus dance hall blowouts that evoke Archibald John Motley Jr.’s “Nightlife.” At one point, Arzell puts his own spin on Bob Fosse’s iconic amoeba dance. It’s simply marvelous. 

Set designer Arnel Sancianco pays homage to Walker in the opening scene, text from the book faintly visible over a massive clothesline. Veils of Spanish Moss hang from above, the botanic signature of the Deep South’s singular climate. 

Brown’s sensitive, astute direction, paired with music director Jermaine Hill’s inspired work, makes the show seamless. As “The Color Purple” winds up toward its roof-raising finale, Celie leans into a climactic vocal moment “I’m Here” with a belt of galvanic force. Mack makes the number feel like a battle cry. “The Color Purple” was revolutionary way back in ‘82. It remains so at the Goodman, where Brown captures struggle and triumph with the fire of a preacher at a revival.

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR | CATEY SULLIVAN has been covering Chicago theater for more than 30 years. Her work has been published in the Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Reader, Windy City Times, Playbill, Chicago Magazine, Chicago Tribune and New City, among others. She has an MFA in creative writing from the University of Illinois. 

PHOTO|Brett Beiner

Goodman Theatre
presents
THE COLOR PURPLE
Albert Theatre
170 North Dearborn

EXTENDED through August 3, 2025

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