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: Come From Away - Paramount Theatre

Paramount’s Heartwarming Hit Channels Friendship, Hospitality.
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Regina Belt-Daniels

A quandary—at least that must have been what the residents of the Newfoundland town of Gander were dealing with as 38 airplanes carrying 6,579 passengers from 100 countries landed at the Gander airport on September 11, 2001. “Come From Away” marks both Paramount Theatre’s season opener for the 25-26 Broadway Bold Series as well as the Chicago Regional premiere of the show based on hundreds of hours of interviews with the Gander townspeople and the “come from away”(a.k.a. stranded) passengers. The award-winning show, the work of playwrights Irene Sankoff and David Hein who are also responsible for the music and lyrics, originated at the Jolla Playhouse in San Diego on its way to earning three Drama Desk awards (including Best Musical) and seven 2017 Tony Award nominations, winning for Best Direction.

The 90-minute musical (no intermission) is masterfully directed by the multiple Jeff Award-winning Trent Stork, and joins a prestigious string of hits—27 in all—of outstanding Paramount productions including “Cats,” “Frozen,” “Kinky Boots,” and “School of Rock” among others. Stork has assembled a clever and creative production team including choreographer Kasey Alfonso, scenic designer Milo Bue, costume designer Izumi Inaba, lighting designer Greg Hoffman, sound designer Adam Rosenthal, projections Mike Tutaj, wigs hair and makeup designer Katie Cordts and dialect coach Susan Gosdick. Stage manager Amber R. Dettmers keeps the well-paced show running smoothly.

This production is in the capable hands of Music Director Kory Danielson with the very talented Associate Musical Director Kailey Rockwell conducting the performance on Sunday evening. The songs are heart-tugging, lively, energetic, determined and performed flawlessly by Danielson’s eight-piece band, some who are seated on stage and are included in the story. Most notable of the 14 songs are the company sung “Welcome to the Rock,” “Screech In,” “Something is Missing,” and the standout performances of “I Am Here” by Soara-Joye Ross (Hannah) and “Me and the Sky” by Andrea Prestinario (Captain Beverley), both of whom have amazing vocal ranges.

Each member of the ensemble of 18 create multiple endearing and vibrant characters celebrating friendship, compassion, and extraordinary hospitality. The themes of kindness, global community and resilience resonate in everyone, however, I did favor Russell Konstans’s Mayor; Nick Druzbanski’s Constable Oz; Abby C. Smith’s Gander citizen Beulah, and the already mentioned Soara-Joyce Ross’s worried mom Hannah and Beverley Bass, the first female American Airline captain played by Andrea Prestinario.

There is plenty of charming humor in both the songs and dialogue surprisingly in such a historically tragic event. In “Welcome to the Rock,” which introduced both the plot and setting, we hear “small place on a rock in the ocean, and you won’t understand half of what we say,” comments about the infamous Tim Horton’s where everything starts and ends, the six cardiologists dance and the reason why the planes were sent to Gander.

“Come From Away” is entertaining, educational and sings of miracles. There is something for everyone, even as we recognize and remember the tragedy of 911. You will be crying and dancing through the finale with the superb cast. You don’t have to ‘come from away’ to enjoy this heartwarming story and you have until October 12 to experience it yourself.

Postscript: There is another existing quandary in Aurora. The City Council of Aurora has cut Paramount’s budget impacting future shows at the Copley—which closed a critically acclaimed production of “True West” last weekend—and has already canceled upcoming productions of “Covenant” and “Ride the Cyclone.” Paramount Theatre is among the largest subscription series in the country and yet the theater now is facing an inevitable reduction to its overall programming from 900 to 700 performances annually. “Million Dollar Quartet” is thriving at the year-old Stolp Island Theatre even as additional reductions to the Riveredge Park and Paramount School of the Arts are on the table. Hopefully, the City Council will reconsider this key investment in the arts for the citizens of Aurora and the surrounding region.

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|Brett Beiner 

Paramount Theatre
presents
Chicago Regional Premiere
Come From Away
23 E Galena Blvd
Aurora
through October 12, 2025

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PicksInSix Review: 44 The Musical - Studebaker Theater

“Life Will Never Be The Same.”
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

As political parodies and impressionists go—there is a difference—one of the best ever, “The First Family,” a 1962 album of President Kennedy’s family life in the White House, won a Grammy Award and sold millions of copies. Comedians Rich Little, Frank Gorshin and Jim Morris made careers with their spot-on impressions of Nixon and Reagan—routines that evolved with the succession of daily events—a formidable task for the writers and impressionists who conceive them. Our fascination with the art form—parody being one of the most complex of all comic forms and impressions, of course, the sincerest form of flattery—hinges on how wide-ranging the comic imagination of the creator’s perception is in telling the underlying truth. If boundaries are imposed, how does the comedian know how absurdly far they can go to frame the familiar personalities and well-established story being told? And, what are the dangers when historical events change the comic margins of parody to something else? How will our comic sensibilities adjust to a new normal?

We age, of course, and our historical perspective—especially regarding events that we've lived through—shifts dramatically over our lifetime. The “First Family” album faded from our consciousness after JFK’s assassination. Little, Gorshin and other Nixon impressionists developed new comic targets after Watergate, as did Morris and his brilliant Reagan transformation—a sought after talent still and frequent guest for years on Jay Leno's The Tonight Show—all but disappeared for a time after the President was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Comedy, whether in political parodies or impressionists, like time, marches on and audiences find their humor as a reflection of current circumstances until those circumstances change.

“44—The Musical” played at the Epiphany Center in Chicago last year during the Democratic convention. I did not see that production but can imagine in the fervor of the presidential campaign that it would be a crowd-pleaser. Following a run in Los Angeles earlier this year with most of the original cast in place, the show has now moved to the Studebaker Theatre—a year of development that feels more like a decade in which the social and political landscape has changed dramatically. Writer/composer/lyricist/director Eli Bauman’s broad, no-holds-barred comic jab at both political parties circa 2008 to 2012, tests our boundaries on many levels. At this particularly unsettling political moment it’s a bit of a mixed and overstuffed bag.

No reflection on the worthy performances of a cast that includes T.J. Wilkins and Shanice as Barack and Michelle, the over-the-top antics of Chad Doreck as narrator Joe Biden, Chicago's own multi-talented Kelly Felthous as Hillary Clinton, and a cavalcade of supporting characters led by the atmospheric voice of Summer Nicole Greer as the Voice of the People and a cast that shakes (a saucy Summer Collins as Sarah Palin), rattles (Dino Shorté as Herman Cain), rocks—Jeff Sumner (Lindsey Graham) and Michael Uribes (Ted Cruz)—and rolls with Larry Cedar (Mitch McConnell) and Jevon McFerrin (brother Abe Lincoln). There is no doubt that this is a company whose investment in the show is as resolute as the desk in the Oval Office.

Joe Biden's entertaining narrative begins as Barack Obama is planning a run for the White House in 2008 and follows his presidency to the 2012 election. Major turning points in Obama’s first term serve as markers—Obamacare, Congressional obstruction, Race in America, Barack and Michelle at home in the White House, Dr. Suess, Bin Laden, and Sandy Hook— and musical touchstones at times crisply overlapping each other—many with Green’s magnificent soaring vocals—all under the musical direction of Anthony “Brew” Brewster. Throughout the emotional arc of the show is the steady hand of Wilson's Obama—a commanding presence nearly as charismatic as the original—not like Rich Little’s famous impressions, but rather Jim Morris’s soulful embodiment of the man.

In the end, though, Bauman’s effort appears to be existing in a time warp of its own making that abruptly evaporated on November 5, 2024. There is a lot of potential and a fair amount of too-much-of-a-good-thing content wise that is often blue—a comedian's reference to rude language, off-color jokes and sexual innuendo, not the political party. “44” is definitely mature fare that, in its’ current form, puts the risk in risqué for general audiences. With an eye focused on the upcoming New York debut, it’s not too late to streamline the show and thereby accentuate the Obama legacy. For the curious who cannot wait, I encourage you to attend “44” and bask in the silliness and extravagance of the one line that summed up the show for me: “Life will never be the same.”

PHOTO|Michael Brosilow

Monica Saunders-Weinberg
and
Eli Bauman
present

44 The Musical
Studebaker Theater
Fine Arts Building
through September 21

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PicksInSix Review: Side By Side By Sondheim - Oil Lamp Theatre

Sondheim Sings With Sincerity in Glenview
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Sarah Frances Fiorello
On A Sunday Afternoon in Chicago’s Northern Suburb of Glenview, Stephen Sondheim’s music and lyrics shine vividly in this storefront production of “Side by Side by Sondheim,” playing now through September 14th at Oil Lamp Theater.

“Side by Side” premiered at London’s Mermaid Theatre in 1976 and holds the distinct honor of receiving a Tony Award nomination for Best Musical and Best Featured Actor/Actress in a Musical for every member of its original 1977 Broadway cast. The revue twists and turns through Sondheim’s early contributions to the American Musical Theatre canon. With most selections from “A Little Night Music,” “Company,” and “Follies”—and with fly-by appearances from “Forum,” “Gypsy,” “Evening Primrose,” “West Side Story,” “Anyone Can Whistle,” “Pacific Overtures,” and others—you’ll be hard pressed to leave the theatre without toe-tapping your way through one or more of your favorite songs penned by arguably the most prolific contributor to the artform, whose shadow, lyrics, and melodies loom large over the hearts of aspiring and seasoned music theatre actors alike.

Nestled into an intimate 60-seat space replete with oil lamps in the theatre and fresh baked cookies in the lobby, the cheerful and capable quartet of performers carry the sold out audience through two acts of heartfelt ballads and tongue-in-cheek comedic up-tempos, deftly beelining through two patter songs for which Sondheim won the Best Lyricist of A Musical (“Company” 1971) the one and only year it was separated from Best Score (which he won as well). Christina Ramirez’s direction and choreography fit nicely on this cozy stage, shared with music director and pianist, Amy J. Branahl.

The “Side by Side” quartet sparkles vocally from the first downbeat. From air-tight harmonies in “You Could Drive A Person Crazy” to the “Did we miss your favorite number? Not to worry!” Act Two medley “Conversation Piece,” this ensemble moves in lockstep from start to finish. Individually, each performer finds their moment and settles into an honest and sincere moment in the metaphorical spotlight. Abbey Loria’s warm, classic soprano is in top shape during “I Remember” and shows off her acting chops in “Losing My Mind.” Daria Koon, who seamlessly stepped in as understudy for opening weekend, shows us their comedic timing in numbers like “The Boy From…” after confidently pattering their way through “Getting Married Today” and “Another Hundred People.” Jacob Alexander’s lyrical interpretation and effervescence brings Sondheim off the page and into our hearts in numbers like “I Never Do Anything Twice,” while Tommy Wells’ understated and genuine “Send In The Clowns” confidently leans on what’s on the page and nothing more: a beautiful and refreshing homage to one of Sondheim’s most popular songs.

The quartet also serves as narrators, stitching the songs together with both personal reflections on the work as well as dramaturgical footnotes. More personal reflections can be found in the Director’s Note, where Christina shares a story that most Sondheim lovers are sure to relate to: a moment his music and lyrics served as a floatation device through life’s biggest storms.

Sondheim’s dry wit, deep emotional quotient, and laser sharp vision into the human condition is on full display in this intimate production of “Side by Side by Sondheim,” reminding us of the power and joy of storefront theater in (or just north of) our great city. I found myself inspired to revisit other masterful turns of selections from the show: Mandy Patinkin’s wildly frenetic “Buddy’s Blues” from “Follies In Concert” (1985) and Elaine Stritch’s “I’m Still Here” (take your pick - my favorite is Stritch, at 85 years’ young, holding the audience in the palm of her hand during “Sondheim! The Birthday Concert” in front of a backdrop of Broadway divas with whom she shares the stage in this legendary performance). Sondheim’s philosophical questions—traveling over the footlights for over six decades now—quietly ask us to consider, and often reconsider, the beliefs we carry out into the world when the lights come up. And on occasion we're lucky enough to leave the theatre as I did, thoroughly charmed and delighted, with only one question remaining: "does anyone still wear a hat?"

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|Gosia Photography

Oil Lamp Theater
presents
Side by Side by Sondheim
1723 Glenview Road
Glenview, IL
through September 14, 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: Sentinels - CPA Theatricals - Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre

Big Issues Lack Depth in “Sentinels”
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Catey Sullivan
In theory, “Sentinels,” a “new play with music,” is a good idea. But Marilyn Campbell-Lowe’s 70-minute play-with-one-song-tacked-onto-the-end feels sadly half-baked in its present form. Directed by Christopher Pazdernik, the showcase co-production between CPA Productions and Theatricals and Evanston’s Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, follows the women of the titular secret society, which is kind of like Yale’s mythical Skull and Bones, minus the lethal kings-of-the-universe misogyny.

Members of the Sentinels are women whose connections and genius (“she-nius” in the chipper dialogue) are secretly the force behind everything from moon launches to world-changing judicial decisions. But as “Sentinels” visits pivotal society meetings in 1945, 1951, 1973 and the present, the story quickly falls into a large plot hole, never to fully re-emerge. Actually, the plot has more holes than a mesh bag. One example: “Sentinels” would have us believe that NASA—stumped by an equation that must be solved by EOD if the moon launch is to happen—calls a secret phone in a condemned university building and turns over critical intel to five undergrads because they are NASA’s only hope of getting the math right and the rocket off the ground.

It’s a nice idea but one that’s also ridiculous. It might work if “Sentinels” had more of a fantastical edge, or if the secret midnight caller was hoping for help with a Mathlete competition rather than spilling secrets from a highly classified space race. But in its present form, we’re to believe that a chalkboard in a condemned university building is where the race to the moon was really won, by a group of women as brilliant as they are anonymous.

The real women who were pivotal in the space race—celebrated in the book (and later movie) “Hidden Figures”—don’t warrant a mention. Neither does the fact that for all their prowess in straightening out NASA, none of the Sentinels ever ask to get paid—or even discuss it—from the multi-billion dollar governmental agency that apparently won’t survive without them. 

So it goes as the Sentinels take on big issues over the decades, laboring forever behind the scenes. In addition to saving the moon launch, the Sentinels are pivotal in feminizing the post-WWII labor force, defusing the Cold War and getting Roe passed. All of these worthy topics are regrettably plumbed to the depth of a footbath. Pazdernik’s ensemble of five plays roughly 20 different Sentinels over the years. And while the ensemble is earnest, Pazdernik has the women over-emphasizing almost every emotion on stage. Nuance is not a thing here.

“Sentinels” could be a fascinating portrait of women who changed the world. Instead, we get an etch-a-sketch story: Fleeting, two-dimensional and bearing the most superficial resemblance to the history it purports to delve. The song at the tail end is pleasantly upbeat, but it feels like it belongs in an actual musical. 

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| Time Stops Photography

CPA Theatricals
Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre
present
Sentinels
Howard Street Theatre

August 1-10, 2025

WEBSITE

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PicksInSix Review: PARADE - National Tour - Broadway in Chicago

The Weaving and Unravelling of Murder.
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

The national touring production of the 2023 Tony Award-winning musical revival of “Parade,” an arresting examination of the grisly rape and murder of a thirteen year-old girl in a Georgia pencil factory on April 27, 1913, opened Wednesday at the CIBC Theatre. You may ask why it is vitally important to experience this brilliant Alfred Uhry/Jason Robert Brown work, directed by Michael Arden, about a deplorable act, the subsequent miscarriage of justice and rush to judgment in a case that the facts of which are still being examined to this day.

You might also be curious why a show that received Tony Awards for both Uhry (Book) and Brown (Score) in the 1998 Hal Prince Broadway debut despite a run of only two months. I know I still am, not having seen the original and only introduced to the show through a memorable regional production at Writers several years ago. I suspect that “Parade” either fell into a category that may be considered too sad and dark a topic for audience members or at the time seeking more of an uplifting escape than a truly emotional jolt to the soul. It may also be that “Parade” was ahead of its time all those years ago, before we became a nation that was—and is still—reckoning with its past, the direction of our collective moral compass and in many ways, our uncertain ability to affect lasting change in a social climate that feels much like the crowd mentality of the time that demanded justice whatever the cost.

The opening night audience was captivated by the plight of the Brooklyn-born Jewish factory supervisor Leo Frank (Max Chernin) who skipped spending the Confederate Memorial Day festivities with his wife Lucille (Talia Suskauer) to spend a Saturday in the factory and was charged and convicted for the death of Mary Phagan (Olivia Goosman) on largely fabricated and coerced testimony. The extraordinary cast includes a number of the original Broadway company and provides what can only be imagined as one of the closest, and most compelling, staged versions of the revival you will ever see and hear.

Visually, the action unfolds on a Dane Laffrey set that features a massive, raised platform center stage serving multiple purposes as courtroom, jail cell, and various interior and exterior locations that are aided by stunning projections (Sven Ortel) that support each scene and also aid in advancing the historical progression, all with virtually no transition time from scene to scene. On either side of the main area are embellishments and staging areas for the cast who often form a phalanx to the action as the compelling court and public rallies occur.

In addition to the extraordinary work of Chernin and Suskauer, there are many noteworthy, featured performances including: a heart rendering turn by Jenny Hickman as Mrs. Phagan, Andrew Samonsky as prosecuting attorney Hugh Dorsey, Chris Shyer’s Governor Slaton and his wife Sally played by Alison Wing (who has THE line of the show), Michael Tacconi’s relentless newsman Britt Craig, Griffin Binnicker as the evangelical Tom Watson, the fine “A Rumblin’ and a Rollin’” by Prentiss E. Mouton (Riley) and Oluchi Nwaokorie (Angela), and a chilling Ramone Nelson as Jim Conley, the Black factory worker who testified that he was an accomplice with Frank but is speculated to be the actual murderer.

We may never know the answer to the ultimate question of who took Mary Phagan’s life that day. Frank maintained his innocence and was in the years-long process of an appeal for a reexamination of the proceedings when an unruly gang abducted him from jail and lynched him in Mary’s hometown of Marietta, Georgia in 1915. This sad period of racial injustice and antisemitism became a national story sparking an examination of the resurgence of the lawlessness of the time. Now, over a hundred years later, “Parade” challenges us to face our own prejudice and has become a constant reminder that the search for truth and justice never ends.

PHOTO|Joan Marcus

Broadway in Chicago
presents
National Tour
PARADE
CIBC Theatre
18 W Monroe
through August 17, 2025

WEBSITE

NATIONAL TOUR WEBSITE

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PicksInSix Review: Les Misérables - Broadway in South Bend

‘Will You Join In Our Crusade!’
PicksInSix® Gold Review | Ed Tracy

Cameron MacKintosh’s “Les Misérables,” the juggernaut of North American tours, opened at the historic Morris Performing Arts Center in South Bend to an exuberant audience which, by all appearances, was equal parts lifelong fans and first-timers, including an aspiring Cosette or two at every turn.

It is no surprise. The 1987 Tony Award-winning musical (eight total including Best Musical) that has had two revivals on Broadway and several tours that preceded this 2022 reimagined version, has, as a result, remained in the public consciousness for nearly 40 years. You can be sure that the current edition still has all of the spit, fire and brimstone of the original. Quite simply, “Les Mis” is a soaring musical masterpiece, centered on a brilliant story by Victor Hugo and bursting with magnificent performances.

And while the music—a memorable score that includes a cavalcade of anthems, ballads and rousing company numbers including “Bring Him Home,” “I Dreamed A Dream,” “On My Own,” “Do You Hear the People Sing,” “One More Day” and “Master of the House”—is among the most recognizable and beloved in musical theater, the true test of the longevity of the show is how it matures over time, capturing the essence of the original and staying relatable for modern audiences.

The strength of the 19th century set piece—music by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Lyrics by Herbert Kretzmar—centers on the conflict between Jean Valjean (Nick Cartell), the former prisoner ‘24601’ turned fugitive who seeks peace and redemption, and his captor Javert (Nick Rehberger), whose sole purpose is to return Valjean to stand trial for his criminal past. While Valjean rises to a prominent position in society as a factory owner and mayor, he is ultimately exposed and must reckon his own well-being and the fate of others under the threat of Javert’s single-minded fury.

As the story unfolds, Valjean comforts the dying Fantine (Lindsay Heather Pearce) and promises to seek out and care for her young daughter Cosette (Emerson Mae Chan) who is under the stewardship of the Thénardiers (Matt Crowle and Victoria Huston-Elem), a pair of clever despots whose livelihood hinges on deception, theft and wickedness at the expense of everyone except their own daughter Éponine (Greta Schaefer).

Valjean rescues Cosette and raises her as his own. Years pass and the threat of revolution is in the air in Paris. Now young women, Cosette (Delany Guyer) and Éponine (Mya Rena Hunter) are in the company of student revolutionaries including Enjolras (Christian Mark Gibbs) and Marius (Jake David Smith), who is attracted to Cosette. Against her own true feelings, Éponine aids in bringing the two lovers together as tensions rise, the barricade is formed, and the bloody revolution begins.

Cartell’s powerfully moving Valjean—a masterful performance of “Bring Him Home”— and Javert’s soul-searching “Soliloquy” are among the many highlights, as is Hunter’s beautiful and touching “On My Own,” which very nearly stopped the show on opening night. Gibbs and Smith are phenomenal in “Red and Black” followed by Gibbs and the company’s inspirational “Do You Hear the People Sing.”  Delivering comic gold all night long, Crowle and Huston-Elem are terrific in the wily Thénardiers blistering “Master of the House” and in the reprise parody “Beggars at the Feast.”

The entire production is under the direction of Laurence Conner and James Powell and sports a full orchestra, under the superb direction of Glenn Alexander II. Every aspect of the technical elements is meticulously executed, electrifying the massive Morris stage with colossal moving scenic elements, state-of-the-art lighting effects and stunning projections inspired by Hugo’s original paintings, that make the climactic Act II barricade battle and sewer scene visually spectacular.

It is astounding that after nearly four decades, “Les Misérables” feels even more timely and relevant today with a new generation of performers. The sheer magnitude of this superb production is sure to leave you breathless.

PHOTO|Matthew Murphy

Broadway in South Bend
presents
National Tour
Les Misérables
The Morris Performing Arts Center
211 N. Michigan Street,
South Bend, IN
through August 10

WEBSITE

TICKETS

FEATURE: CONVERSATIONS|On the Road with Matt Crowle
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PicksInSix Review: Amélie - "A Feeling of Absolute Harmony" - Kokandy Productions

Amélie - "A Feeling of Absolute Harmony"
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

The Chicago premiere of “Amélie: The Musical,” now playing in an exquisite Kokandy production at Chopin Theatre that opened Saturday in the intimate Downstairs Studio, is based on the 2001 award-winning French film written by Jean-Pierre Jenet and Guillaume Laurent. It was adapted for the stage—book by Craig Lucas, music by Dan Meese and lyrics by Meese and Nathan Tysen— and debuted in 2015 at the Berkeley Repertory Theater followed by a brief Broadway run in 2017, a UK tour in 2019 moving to the West End for a summer 2021 run.

The Kokandy production is directed and choreographed by Artistic Director Derek Van Barham with music direction by T. J. Anderson and Anna Wegener. The already lush and whimsical score has been enhanced with additional instrumentation that, in the talented and capable hands of twelve superb actors/singers/musicians, create a glorious experience of sight, sound and song. “Amélie” fits perfectly in the Chopin space and has all the makings of a colossal hit for Kokandy.

Amélie Poulain is a dreamer who overcomes early childhood isolation, and unimaginable loss, using all she has learned for good, to approach the world with wonder and spreading playful joy to everyone around her. Along the way, she builds confidence and develops a circle of friends and mentors who help her gain her own independence, ultimately, revealing the elusive love and affection she has yearned for all her life.

Aurora Penepacker is simply mesmerizing as Amélie, displaying a captivating stage presence that is only surpassed by her stunning vocal abilities. Penepacker, whose star shone brightly last season in Writers “Great Comet,” delivers a multi-layered performance, bursting with enthusiasm and beguiling charm, that is delightful to watch. True to the original story, Penepacker’s Amélie leads us through the mystery of a 40 year-old tin treasure box; the forging of romantic relationships at the café where she works; healing the broken heart of a co-worker; and, bringing peace and solitude to her grieving father.

All the while, the evolving relationship with Nino Quincampoix (Joe Giovannetti, in top form), the object Amélie’s desire, becomes her passionate focus. It is not just how Amélie attracts Nino, the shy and earnest collector of discarded subway photo booth images, but the interconnecting paths of all of the unique characters who serve as narrators to move the story along. Even though this feels very much like a collaborative ensemble experience throughout, Amélie’s parents Amandine (Rachel Carreras) and Raphael (Kelan M. Smith, who also covers Bretodeau), Sonia Goldberg’s Gina (“Window Seat”) and Jon Patrick Penick (Collignon/Julien Dufayel) and the company’s Act I closer “Goodbye, Amélie” leave memorable impressions.

The fine work of dialect coach Carrie Hardin is evident. The vast instrumentation—I lost count at twelve—and the quality of the musical performances is a credit to every member of the company—backed up by Kara Olander and Anna Wegener—who contribute to the exquisite harmonies. “Amélie: The Musical” has it all from an outstanding, energetic cast to an accomplished technical team—sound design by Matt Reich, mixed and engineered by Lynsy Folckomer and Mackenzie Hahn, set and lights by G “Max” Maxin IV and costumes by Rachel Sypniewski—all combining for a rich and robust vocal and instrumentation mix that is in a word: Magnifique!  

PHOTO|Michael Brosilow

Kokandy Productions
presents
Amélie
Chopin Theatre
Downstairs Studio
1543 W. Division Street
through September 28, 2025

WEBSITE

PROGRAM

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LES MISÉRABLES - On The Road with Matt Crowle

On The Road With Matt Crowle
CONVERSATIONS | Ed Tracy

Spend any amount of time with the engaging Matt Crowle and it is easy to see why he is one of the most sought after performers on stage today.

In Chicago, you may have seen him as Leo Bloom in Mercury Theatre’s “The Producers,” Cosmo Brown in “Singin’ In The Rain” at Drury Lane, or Hysterium in “A Funny Things Happened on the Way to the Forum,” Charley Kringas in “Merrily We Roll Along,” and the entire D’Ysquith Family in “A Gentlemen’s Guide To Love And Murder” all at Porchlight Music Theatre. There are many other roles that have earned Crowle three Josph Jefferson awards among his ten nominations.

What you may not know is that Crowle had a two-year stint in Monty Python’s “Spamalot” on Broadway and toured with Tommy Tune in “Dr. Dolittle.” Along the way, he has been carving a brilliant career as a chorographer and director of shows like “Crazy For You” and “Holiday Inn.”  We talked about this in our memorable 2016 Conversation at a time when the world was a very different place.

And then came the pandemic and all of that came to a sudden stop as it did with the rest of the performing arts community. Those uncertain times that followed came with the frustration of not knowing what, if anything, would come next.

All that is in the past and for the last three years Crowle has been crisscrossing the country as Thénardier, the cleverly wicked innkeeper in the US National Tour of “Les Misérables.” We caught up with him in Knoxville, TN—where the show will be playing through August 3 prior to moving on to South Bend, IN for a run from August 5-10—to talk about the production and life on the road for Matt Crowle, the Master of the House!   

The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

ET: It has been three years this August since you were cast in Les Misérables. Almost three years on the road. That's an amazing accomplishment.

MC: It surprises me and also doesn't surprise me every day. I don't know where the time has gone, but then I look back in my log at where I've been, what I've done, who I saw, and the different hikes I've taken, and think that I've actually packed it into three years. I miss my home. I miss my wife. I miss my dogs, but this is what we call the short term sacrifice for the long term benefits.

ET: It was eight years ago that we spoke on the record. You were in the middle of a whopping career in Chicago. You talked about two years in Spamalot on Broadway, how frenetic your audition was and how all of that happened. How do those two years compare to three years on the road?

MC: Well, there are a lot of differences, not the least of which is I'm about 17 years past where I was then. With the passage of time—and how you sort of quantify the passage of time—it is like doing my best floating around in outer space to still feel tethered and have a really good hose back to the spaceship. That's kind of how it feels a lot of the time. On Broadway, and when I worked in Chicago, you go to work, then you go home at night. That is not the same out here trying to make a home wherever you land. I try to keep certain routines like bedtime, a certain amount of exercise every day, finding the right places to eat. I cook a lot. I've become quite the cook in a hotel room with a hot plate.

ET: I'm sure the menu is not beans and franks, though.

MC: It's not far off.

ET: I was looking at the tour schedule and there is an anomaly happening. You are usually moving from one location to the next in three days. It's almost like you're getting out of bed and the next show is opening in another city. But after South Bend, Indiana, which is a week away, you've got a nice little chunk of time off.

MC: Oh, it is. For the first year we were out here, I don't know how many consecutive weeks, but it was well over a full 52 week calendar where we had zero breaks. Then, into the second year, we actually had most of the month of July off. It is just how the seasons work out. Our producers were able to cobble together some layoffs because it's beneficial to everybody to get a break at the same time. It's one thing to go away on vacation and come back, but another for everyone to just take some space at the same time and all come back collectively rested. It's good for morale. It's good for the production.

ET: Is it a challenge to come back after that long a period and be show ready?

MC: After this kind of break, we will come back and do a full run through of the show. We'll be in Tucson, Arizona, do a full run through of the show on the Tuesday that we arrive, and then open that night.

ET: The original Les Mis tour was amazingly long. Has the new tour changed a lot?

MC: The turntable production is legendary and iconic and was retooled around 2009, 2010, where they officially took the turntable out. We were progressing in technical theater where projections were becoming more routine and reliable. Instead of the turntable, we have a lot of automation. A lot of huge moving pieces. There are three or four central pieces with platforms and staircases that are reconfigured and retooled so much that they are unrecognizable from scene to scene. They have turned it more into a puzzle. And the backdrop is all these gorgeous projections, many of which are actual paintings from Victor Hugo himself. Technically speaking, it's still a behemoth. Our two directors, Lawrence and James, went measure for measure through the show, reimagined it and found some very creative new ways of fully embodying the story that honored what it has always been. It shows very clearly why it's still very successful. The fluidity and the seamlessness of the transitions is a stunning feat every night.

ET: Do you find that some theaters are better equipped to deal with the size of the show?

MC: Some theaters definitely come with their inherent challenges. We are now in Knoxville. It's a very tight fit. There is not much space in the wings. For me, in my very privileged space as an actor, I don't really deal with those challenges. I marvel at the fact that I leave the stage in Durham at nine or ten at night on a Sunday and go to bed and our crew is working tirelessly until about three in the morning until everything is broken down and loaded up. Then they get on a sleeper bus and by Tuesday at 5:30, I walk into a brand new city, sometimes after a 10 hour drive, and I see exactly the same thing I saw on Sunday night. It's a disservice to the crew to say that it's a magic trick, because it's certainly not. It is a lot of work. But, from where I stand, it feels like an absolute magic trick that they are able to pull that off week to week. And they have never come in short. It's marvelous!

ET: I'm looking at your resume and I have seen at least six of the shows you were in. It was a pleasure to see your Jeff Award-winning performances. At some point, as a performer, entertainer, actor, director, thespian, you're going to find something that brings you more joy than anything else. Looking at this resume, everything you do is bringing joy to the stage. And during COVID when we were all locked down, you were tapping away on videos.

MC: That was my salvation. I go down there and just put something together.

ET: What did it feel like coming out of that experience, which for all of us was devastating, and then coming on to this great opportunity, an amazing, career changing event.

MC: It has truly been a boon. I had some real traction going there from 2016 up to the pandemic. I felt like I was starting to find my niche in Chicago theater. Chicago has really been my focus. I love working there. I love the variety. I love the community. So, the pandemic was deeply, deeply devastating. I had a couple of big things I was to direct and I had booked this really exciting job in town and that just went away. Over the next year plus, when no one knew what it was going to look like on the other side, or if we were going to get to another side, I was thinking when we come back, what does a rebound look like after this? And how long does it take and what is the landscape? We went through some cultural upheavals, some social upheavals. There were a lot of reckonings that happened and if you are going to make responsible, thoughtful theater, you have to consider all that. I didn't know what it was going look like, but what I did know was that I was sick of submitting auditions on tapes from my basement!

I went back to my first audition, I don't remember what it was, but I was a disaster. My hands were sweating. That one thing I've always loved was auditioning. I liked the challenge of walking into a room and taking hold of it and taking them on a journey. And suddenly I was faced with my worst nightmare, which was like, I'm terrible at this. The second time my agent called me and said, “Hey, we've got an in-person audition for you.” I said, “I don't care what it is, I'm going!” They said, well, it was this and I was like, ‘Oh, that's great, because I'm not going to get it.’ There is a certain image that I always thought Thénardier had… a kind of a bloke, and I am a song and dance man. You can put certain costumes on me, but at the end of the day, I worship under the “Tree of Danny Kaye!”

But I put my all into it for two solid weeks. I didn't really know the song (Master of the House) a six-minute patter song, and they wanted the whole thing. So I was just singing it over and over and over again, because my philosophy is you don't walk in just kind of prepared. I can't walk into a room and hold papers. It was a big one, but I didn't feel any pressure because I was like, I'm not right for this. I'm just going in there and have a great time and get over these nerves that I've suddenly developed. Went in, felt great. My agent calls to say, ‘They want you in New York.’ I said, ‘You sure you got the right Matt?’

I went to New York and again, I didn't expect to get this, but I thought, this is great. For the first time in years I've flown to New York, had a terrible night's sleep on a friend's couch, and then waddled into a studio at 10:00 am and auditioned. So, this is good. Let's just get these legs back under me.

I walked in and did not realize that Cameron Macintosh was going to be there. And, again, without the pressure I usually put on myself. I was like, let's have a really good time, and then we can check this off, fly home and then we'll really get back to work. And when I'm at the airport, my agent calls to say, ‘Well, you got it.’

ET: That's a thrill.

MC: Yeah. But, I'll say that it was a real shift of gears. I felt the speed I was making to the total dead stop for almost two solid years, and then suddenly I'm on the road, which I haven't done since 2006.

ET: It takes a certain amount of stamina and you have the resume for it. If I was Cameron McIntosh, I would cast you, too. And he's not seen all the things we've seen in Chicago.

MC: I miss Chicago. I will be back. That's home.

ET: What's the next dream come true?

MC: I want to get back and get my hands dirty in Chicago again. I have been very lucky to have played a lot of mine. Someday I would love to find a theater that wants a fun little take on Fagan in Oliver. That's definitely something I feel like that's kind of Thenardier adjacent. What I love so much about Chicago area theater is that I have found a way to diversify my career. I would really love to get my feet wet in some more dramatic stuff in Chicago, too. I am putting together a little pipe dream list while I'm out here. In the meantime, it's just one foot in front of the other.

ET: And that is what you are doing every week. This two-day turnaround is just extraordinary. I can imagine how hard it is to come out every night, make it fresh, make it new. It's a special talent that actors have. I think I'm speaking for almost everyone we know, and probably most of the people who have seen you in Chicago, that we're all pretty proud of what you have done in the last three years.

MC: Thanks, Ed. I do feel a strong sense of community. There's no place to me like Chicago. I feel encouraged there. I feel supported there. I feel like I'm part of something bigger than myself and that means and matters a lot.

PHOTO|Matthew Murphy

LES MISÉRABLES
US Tour

TENNESSEE THEATRE
Knoxville, TN
through August 3

MORRIS PEFORMING ARTS CENTER
South Bend, IN
August 5 -10

US TOUR WEBSITE

CAST

2016 CONVERSATION PODCAST
MATT CROWLE-CRAZY FOR CROWLE
on AUDACY and APPLE PODCASTS

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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

WEBSITE

Saturdays 7pm
Sundays 3pm

TICKETS

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PicksInSix Review: She Loves Me - Dunes Arts Summer Theatre

At the Dunes, Love Conquers All!
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

The Chicago-based Artistic Director Steve Scott has been creating a unique and highly developed string of productions, youth programs and cabarets in recent years at the Dunes Arts Summer Theatre in Michigan City. Scott, with the able leadership of Managing Director Elise Kermani, has attracted and developed talent during the summer season at the theater in the woods on Shady Oak Drive that now guarantees a level of entertainment unmatched in the region. It is all translating into higher visibility, a growing subscriber base and a long range plan that has been enhancing the nearly 75 year-old venue just in time for next season’s Diamond Anniversary.

The facility has gone through a steady transformation that is immediately apparent when you settle into the comfortable and cool theater that is now featuring the Scott-directed musical “She Loves Me” which is running on select dates through August 10. Based on the 1937 Miklos Laszio play “Parfumerie,” it is a familiar story for those romantics among us, adapted and starring James Stewart in the 1941 film “The Shop Around the Corner” and in 1998 was the basis for the hit film “You’ve Got Mail.”  

And it was in 1963 that the story of star-crossed lovers who meet through the Lonely Hearts Club and end up coworkers in Maraczek's Parfumerie became the Broadway musical “She Loves Me,” with a book by Joe Masteroff, music by Jerry Bock, and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. The show was revived in 2016 and has been widely produced in recent years—a mid-sized musical that fits perfectly in the Dunes on a wonderfully functional set by longtime designer Michael Lasswell, whose investment in the quality of the Dunes stagecraft is one of the theater’s signature elements, along with stunning period costumes by Emily Chidalek and Arturo Pozos lighting design.

At the heart of the story is the budding relationship between Mr. Maraczek’s right hand, Georg Nowack (Tristan Haberland) and a new, strong-willed salesperson, Amalia Balash (Kate Turner), each yearning to meet the mysterious special friend they know only from the letters that they write to each other. We quickly learn that something is troubling Mr. Maraczek (Khyel Roberson) and with no one to turn to except the ambitious delivery boy Arpad Laszio (Jackson Mikkelsen), he looks elsewhere for the answer. Along the way, there is another on again, off again relationship between two other coworkers: the womanizer Steven Kodaly (Tommy O’Brien) and the steamy Illona Ritter (Emmie Reigel). Of course, nothing happens in the shop or gets by Ladislav Sipos (Jake Busse) who has a keen eye for the young lovers especially as the truth about another relationship emerges.

Director Scott has brought together two fine performers in Haberland and Turner. Haberland’s charming demeanor and superb vocal range is perfectly, right-sized for the Dunes stage. He is a terrific singer/actor, light on his feet with a sincerity that effortlessly alarms, then charms, Turner’s Amalia. Turner, who has matured into an amazing vocalist and actor of considerable talent, matches Haberland at every turn, glowing with innocence and displaying a magnetic stage presence. The chemistry between these two is something to see.

Mikkelsen, Reige, Busse and O’Brien each have strong featured numbers. Music Director Katelyn Leonard-White leads the talented ensemble and musicians expertly through the score to the heartwarming Christmas Eve revelation that confirms love conquers all.

PHOTO|Tony Martin

Dunes Arts Foundation
Summer Theatre
She Loves Me
288 Shady Oak Drive
Michigan City, Indiana
through August 10, 2025
(219) 879-7509

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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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PicksInSix Review: You Will Get Sick - Steppenwolf Theatre Company

Electric performances, Impressive Illusions, Frustrating Script. 
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Catey Sullivan

The irrevocable breakdown of the human body comes for all of us sooner or later, the inevitable manifestation of the most primal fear. Coping when you can no longer deny your end is nigh is a treacherous obstacle course of grieving, profundity, surrealism and gallows humor. Or so it is in Steppenwolf Theatre’s production of Noah Diaz’ “You Will Get Sick,” directed by Steppenwolf Co-Artistic Director, Audrey Francis. But for all its undeniable humor and electric performances, “You Will Get Sick” ultimately delivers a confused web of references that are more baffling than meaningful. 

The plot magically moves through time and space (terrific magic and illusion design by Skylar Fox) as a something-like-friendship develops between Callan (Steppenwolf ensemble member Amy Morton) and an unnamed man suffering from a  mysterious illness (Steppenwolf Ensemble Member Namir Smallwood). Smallwood makes the man rich, layered, and just cryptic enough to add a dash of mystery to the proceedings. His illness is never named, but his symptoms are horrific. His legs give way from under him. His smile has gone lopsided. He bleeds and vomits hay. To deal with telling his family, he plans a rehearsal. He’ll pay a stranger to call him, and to listen to him divulge his illness. Callan answers the flier he puts on a phone pole.

As Smallwood’s garish symptoms become more debilitating, Callan and the sick man form a singular bond. But this is no “Beaches.” Their relationship is as contractual as it is emotional. Callan charges every time she wipes the sick man’s brow. 

Diaz wraps a layer of magical realism around the bleak plot. Dinosaur-like birds are plucking humans up for dinner. A latter day snake oil salesman (Steppenwolf Ensemble member Cliff Chamberlain, quadruple cast and displaying comic brilliance as an overly earnest acting student) peddles “bird insurance.” Set designer Andrew Boyce pays a striking homage to Hitchcock’s 1963 masterpiece, “The Birds” (specifically the jungle gym scene where a playground is overtaken by winged predators). There are also repeated references to “The Wizard of Oz.” Late in the 85-minute drama, we see a replica of Dorothy’s costume in the 1939 movie, Raquel Adorno’s recreation detailed down to the bows on those iconic ruby slippers.

In addition to Royce’s towering web of a set (complete with massive reveal), “You Will Get Sick” is bolstered by Jen Shriever ’s lighting which veers from golden to blackout, all of it deployed with cinematic verve.

None of the above can stop the script from spiraling into whimsy. The final moments feel abrupt and incomplete. “You Will Get Sick” brings up a universally relatable existential crisis – but in the end, it is more nonsensical than not.

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|Michael Brosilow

Steppenwolf Theatre Company
presents
You Will Be Sick
Downstairs Theater
1650 N. Halsted St.
through July 20, 2025

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BOX OFFICE: (312) 335-1650

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PicksInSix Review: An Iliad - Court Theatre

Kane’s Mesmerizing Performance Returns To Court!
PicksInSix® Gold Review | Guest Contributor | Ronald Keaton

Bravura. That's the appropriate word for the Court Theatre production of “An Iliad,” running now through June 29.

It's a solo play based on the legendary epic poem by the Greek poet Homer, who also wrote The Odyssey. Both these poems form the foundation of Greek literature, even as there are continuous attempts to deny authorship, not unlike what the reputation of William Shakespeare occasionally experiences. This version is co-authored by Lisa Peterson and Denis O'Hare in an endlessly eloquent fashion.

The term 'bravura' is most often used to praise what musical elements are being presented, as well as to the skills of the performers sharing their wares. This play offers itself in such a way that it is quite easy to compare it to a musical motif. The play itself is a kind of verbally spectacular music on its own, and Ms. Peterson and Mr. O'Hare hold nothing back in what they offer.

As the audience watches and takes it in, the story becomes easily absorbed in each movement, much like a symphony or even an opera, with its tragic plotlines that challenge believability in today's terms but were comfortably accepted back in "the day". And each character—Achilles the god-like Greek warrior; Hector, the greatest soldier of Troy; Patroclus, the Greek second-in-command; Agamemnon and Paris, the two sons whose actions make them so vulnerable—has his/her own section of the story devoted to them. It really is symphonic itself, both tragic and grand.

This sounds odd, but all the almost fantastical elements that the great director Charles Newell has assembled are almost players in their own right. Scenic Designer Todd Rosenthal and his Associate Scenic Designer Lauren M. Nichols have created a dystopian-like shelter with a variety of levels and steps and holes in the back wall, as well as a very sharp raked platform that an actor can negotiate for any part of the play. Sound Designer André Pleuss and Associate Sound Designer Josh McCommon share an almost constant low-level drone that surrounds the storytelling with an enhanced tension, matching the language and character in its various and sundry auditory nooks that push the environs of the piece even higher.

Rachel Anne Healy's costume for the actor Timothy Edward Kane is a highly layered vision, where Mr. Kane takes off pieces as he goes in a compliment to the exposure of man's vulnerability to his thoughts and actions, one by one. Lighting Designer Keith Parham and his Associate LD Josiah Croegaert have done absolute yeoman work in "giving light to the dark," so to speak, with their angles and shafts of light and faded colors that enhance what is seen. All this expert technicality greatly heightens the elegiac authenticity and makes this truly a special ensemble experience.

And the conductor of this symphonic reality is Mr. Kane as The Poet. He sings. He speaks in an otherworldly language. He moves balletically across the stage. His seasoned command of the character—in rage and in vulnerability, with the entire range of the actor's voice and emotions—is one of the best this writer has ever witnessed. Yes, there is lots of purple prose here, but it's all well-earned. Mr. Kane takes us on a journey that, even if you've never read the original epic poem, you can easily understand and appreciate the flowing, heightened story—another bow to the authors. He has mined humor where it's a surprise, and his own relationship with the audience is at once intimate and grand. It's one of the great performances presented this year at Court and, dare we say, ever in Chicago.

A favorite actor, Robert Duvall, said once: "I remember something Sandford Meisner told us. When you create a character, it's like making a chair, except instead of wood, you make it out of yourself. That's the actor's craft—using yourself to create the character." This is indeed what Mr. Kane, Mr. Newell and the other fabulous artists of this exceptional orchestra have ultimately accomplished over the course of four productions of the piece dating back to 2011—unique, mesmerizing and an extraordinary accomplishment that is not to be missed.

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

Court Theatre
presents
An Iliad
featuring
Timothy Edward Kane

Abelson Auditorium
5535 S Ellis Ave
through June 29, 2025

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PicksInSix Review: Kimberly Akimbo - Broadway In Chicago

Achingly Touching Story Bursts With Joy!
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

The national tour of “Kimberly Akimbo,” directed by Jessica Stone with choreography by Danny Mefford, opened at the CIBC Theater on Wednesday. The recipient of eight 2023 Tony nominations, that won five including Best Musical, Best Book and Lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire (who also wrote the original play), and Best Score for Jeanine Tesori (“Fun Home”), “Kimberly Akimbo” is the achingly touching story of a teenager navigating a rare disease that has been aging her five years to one since birth. The cast is steeped in talent—many connected with the Broadway production—and stars the luminous Broadway veteran Carolee Carmello in the tender role of Kimberly. It is a story with abundant heart, bursting with joy and the promise of a life well-lived, even as the end is so crucially near.

It’s 1999 and Kimberly is trying to fit in with classmates who are focused on other aspects of their lives (read that: normal teenagers). There is one exception in the group, Seth (a terrific national tour debut for Miquel Gil), who plays the tuba and works at the local skating rink. Like Kimberly, Seth is a bit of an outcast, too, but he is wired just tight enough to stand out in a crowd as the keenly analytical guy with a penchant for anagrams. Seth and Kimberly team up on a class project that defines her medical situation and, as the show unfolds, their friendship and support for each other blossoms. While the rest of the world is closing around her, they each become the others anchor.

The clock is ominously ticking for Kimberly, her life plotting to pass her by as she turns sixteen still dreaming of having enough time to do the things she wants to do. At home, her dysfunctional family is another story. Her hilarious mom, Patti (Laura Woyasz), who is pregnant and nearly incapacitated with dual carpal tunnel, and a broken leg; her irresponsible dad, Buddy (Jim Hogan) who’s drunken lapses constantly add pressure to Kimberly‘s life; and then there is the boisterous Aunt Debra (Emily Koch) who barges back into their lives unannounced with yet another hare brained scheme to bilk people out of money, needing only a small crew to pull it off.

That crew—Grace Capeless (Delia), Darron Hayes (Martin), Skye Alyssa Friedman (Teresa), and Pierce Wheeler (Aaron)—are Kimberly’s delightfully engaging classmates who have a chemistry all their own, join forces and fall under Debra’s charms. After a joyous celebration of her sixteenth birthday, and as Kimberly‘s condition progresses, an event triggers the real sensibilities of everyone around her. It is then that Kimberly realizes it’s time to take charge of her own destiny and set out on the adventure of a lifetime.

The relationship between Carmello and Gil feels very much in the moment from their first encounter at the skating rink. As she navigates this challenging role with the wide-eyed innocence of a teenager, Gil immediately connects with the young woman inside, forming a strong emotional bond that melts away the darker aspects of the story unfolding around them. Tapping into the uncertainty of simply trying to get through their teenage years, being accepted for who they are and finding some joy in life together.

Some of this on one level or another could have only happened in 1999 when the skating rink was the place to be, kids played UNO, sang harmonies, played instruments and did dance routines for fun instead of being transfixed on a cell phone. One of those modern devices went off during Act 2, but even that reminder of the world we live in could not dampen the uplifting elements of this truly memorable and remarkable show coming to a theater near you.

PHOTO|Joan Marcus

National Tour Premiere
Broadway in Chicago
presents
Kimberly Akimbo
CIBC Theatre
18 West Monroe
through June 22, 2025

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PicksInSix Review: 42 Balloons - Chicago Shakespeare Theater

What Goes Up, Must Come Down.
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

It’s a simple premise, really. On July 2, 1982, a man named Larry Walters piloted a lawn chair attached to weather balloons to an astounding elevation of 16,000 feet over Los Angeles. Once Larry was airborne, all sorts of things began to happen. And there’s even more to the story when he returns, all playing out in Jack Godfrey’s Broadway-bound musical “42 Balloons” directed by Ellie Coote that opened in The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Tuesday night.

There is a mighty producing team behind Godfrey’s whimsical take on the delightfully odd and fascinating true story. It’s a curiosity all by itself to be sure: a sung-through collection of multiple, often brilliant, music styles including 80s pop and soaring ballads, clever lyrics, artful projections, and, a slam-bang ensemble supporting the superb performances of its two principal stars—Charlie McCallagh and Evelyn Hoskins—who plan and finance Walter’s adventurous dream and fall in love along the way.

As “42 Balloons” begins, Walter (McCallagh) enlists in the Air Force during the Vietnam era only to find his dream of being a pilot quashed by his poor eyesight. Walter will not be deterred, even though he lives civilian life as a truck driver. After meeting Carol Van Deusen (Hoskins), he starts making mathematic calculations for his dream flight. Carol is totally against the idea at first but eventually comes around and agrees to take out a $15,000 bank loan to finance the flight. That loan, and how it is repaid, becomes a pivotal turning point in the storyline, their relationship, and Walter’s peace of mind which begins to evaporate in Act II. All the while, the two are in hilarious cahoots with Carol’s mom Margaret (Lisa Howard) and Walter’s pal Ron (Akron Watson) to see things through.

It's a lively, fast-paced, funny story with some quizzical suspense early on as to how this is all going to play out. Despite the fact that I found myself thinking “in a lawn chair” well into the lofty middle of show, I was leaning in all the time. There are facts that cannot be disputed about the flight—which is cleverly done and the visual highlight among many in the show—and others that will not be revealed here. McCallagh creates a character yearning for something beyond what he has, reaching for the stars and falling short thanks to the atmospheric pressure that accomplished what his advance planning, and some missteps, could not.

Driven by his single-minded desire to take flight, Walter is ultimately guilty of looking past all the good that is right in front of him. The dilemma that the charming Hoskins wrestles with throughout “42 Balloons” is that she is trapped in someone else’s story: a woman who will do anything for the man she loves and who receives little in return. It’s a marvelous performance, despite the clouded revelation that her own dreams and aspirations will never be fully realized.

Walter’s lawn chair is now on display in the National Air and Space Museum for all to see. It was a gift from Jerry Fleck—the neighborhood kid played here in a terrific, featured performance by Minju Michelle Lee—years after Walter gave it to him when he landed. Recognizing the historical significance of Walter’s daring encounter in the wild blue yonder is perhaps what the producers of “42 Balloons” are hoping for when the show transfers to New York, and Walter’s star will twinkle even brighter.

PHOTO|Kyle Flubacker

North American Premiere
Chicago Shakespeare Theater
42 Balloons
The Yard
Navy Pier
through June 29, 2025

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