Winter WishList

Other Desert Cities @ The Goodman Theatre

When Brooke Wyeth arrives at her parents’ Palm Springs mansion on Christmas Eve 

with the manuscript of her tell-all memoir in tow she unearths a devastating family secret—

throwing her parents into a panic that threatens to rip the clan apart. 

With biting wit and razor-sharp insight, Other Desert Cities 

“has the appeal of a Broadway hit from another age” (The New York Times).

I’ve been looking forward to this one for awhile. Other Desert Cities debuted Off-Broadway in 2011 & hit the ground running. The play (written by Jon Robin Baitz) earned five 2012 Tony nominations (with Judith Light winning the Award for Best Featured Actress) & was a 2012 Finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The story is that a woman returns home after writing a tell-all, autobiography; her homecoming is the catalyst for some huge family secret to be exposed & drama ensues. It’s always fun to see a play without knowing the storyline & The Goodman nails those highly dramatic but authentically contemporary scripts exceptionally well.

Runs Until Feb. 27

The Final Balloon @ The Annoyance Theatre

"Welcome to Maggie's Bar, home to a ragtag band of drunks who each year, on the exact same day at the exact same time, are inexplicably tortured by a mysterious visitor known only as "Balloon Boy."

The first thing I thought when I read the description of this production was BAT BOY: The Musical. For those of you who don’t know BAT BOY, it was an awesome musical based off the Weekly World News “character” that opened Off-Broadway in 2001. I saw it & it was on of the Top Ten Best Theatre Experiences of My Life.  This similarly satirical musical centers around a man who randomly appears at a  bar once a year to hand out balloons. [P.S. The musical debuted in 1992, 19 years before that whole other Balloon Boy situation].

Runs Until Feb. 23

Pygmalion 
by BoHo Theatre & Stage Left @ Theatre Wit

Shaw's classic tale of wiley Cockney flowergirl Eliza Doolittle & her transformation 
into a high-society woman at the hands of the arrogant phonetician Henry Higgins. Higgins' takes on a bet to train Eliza to pass for a duchess at an ambassador's garden party 
by teaching her to assume a veneer of gentility, the most important element of which, 
he believes, is impeccable speech. 
The story was adapted into the musical My Fair Lady, but Shaw's original tale 
is not one of romance, but of beauty, class, and power. A comedic and satirical today as it was then,
Pygmalion will have you wondering what truly makes a person beautiful.

I am much more familiar with My Fair Lady than Pygmalion & that needs to change. It is the first time BoHo  Theatre has teamed up with Stage Left to produce a production & I think this is a match made in Heaven. Stage Left's mission focuses on political issues, so hopefully this version of the staple of a story will incorporate a fresh, contemporary insight while highlighting new thematic applications.

Runs Until Feb. 14 

Fillet of Solo @ Lifeline

This solo performance & storytelling festival is in its' 16th year 
and features the following performers:

2nd Story, enSOLO, GayCo, the kate, The Lifeline Storytelling Project, Stir Friday Night, Story Club, 

Sweat Girls, Tellin' Tales Theatre (featuring Tekki Lomnicki), Write Club, You're Being Ridiculous

Runs Until Jan. 20

lady M @ the side project

To sleep no more, perchance to dream just once. Ambition begets bloodshed begets mental anguish. 
A psychological, disjointed, minimalist re-visioning of Shakespeare's "Macbeth" 
in which Lady M. lives and relives the events of that fateful night.

MacBeth is one of my favorite Shakespearean scripts (with Lady MacBeth also serving as one Shakespeare's most intriguing female roles) & this seems like a smart way to re-visit this awesome, ageless story. Plus, the side project theatre looks like a cool & up-&-coming, hole-in-the-wall company. 

Runs From Jan. 14-Feb. 6

Hellcab @ Profiles

Hellcab presents a day in the life story of a cab driver in for the longest night of his life 
as he transports a bizarre and mysterious collection of customers through the gritty streets of Chicago. 
Playwright Will Kern draws from personal experience as a former cab driver to create this 
alternately frightening, hilarious and poignant journey. Throughout his long shift, 
the eclectic collection of passengers includes a trio of drug-addicts, a smug lawyer, a born-again couple, 
and a randy couple on their way to a motel. Set during a bitter cold Christmas Eve,
 Hellcab presents a rear-view image mirroring the passing parade of humanity.

I’ve never been let down at Profiles, but some of their shows are a little dark [Bachelorette, A Behanding in Spokane, reasons to be pretty]. The premise is promising for something a little more upbeat. It is also exciting that the show features an ensemble of 34 actors since Profile‘s performance space usually cannot accommodate huge casts. . 

Runs Until Jan. 27

November WishList

Ripper the Musical

The Annoyance Theatre

Entrails and one-liners fly when fiction's master sleuth and history's most elusive criminal go toe-to-toe in this black comedy set in the foggy slums and extravagant parlors of Victorian London. When a bored, out-of-work Sherlock Holmes is pitted against Jack the Ripper in a battle of wits, he's thrilled to be on the hunt. But even the seasoned pro is in over his head as he realizes that everyone is a suspect...and appearances are rarely what they seem in this bloody whodunnit.

Wednesdays through Nov 30

All the Girls Love Bobby Kennedy

Point of Contention Theatre Co. 

@ Prop Theatre

All the Girls Love Bobby Kennedy follows the story of college student Grace Bailey and her experience of the turmoil of the late 1960’s. At that time, for many people Bobby Kennedy was the embodiment of optimism. Here, Kennedy appears as the hopeful side of Grace’s conscience and just the thing she needs to break free of the status quo. While hope builds and life-changing choices are being considered, a war rages on the other side of the world, and one gun shot at a hotel in California is about to stun a generation.

Weekends through Nov. 20

Momma's Boyz

Chicago Dramatists

A humorous, dark, but ultimately uplifting look at what happens when a young man turns back the hands of time to save the life of his friend from the violence of dealing drugs

Through Dec. 4

Halloween WishList

Salem! The Musical!

Annoyance Theatre & Bar

New to the neighborhood, bumbling businessman Reverend Parris and his daughter get wrapped up in the most musical witch-hunt in history. Salem! The Musical is a bewitching musical set in the Puritan town of Salem in 1692 - just when things were getting interesting.

I used to live in the town next to Salem, so I will always have a soft spot for witch trials. I've never seen anything at Annoyance & they always seem to have clever ideas behind their comedic inspiration, so I have faith that the executions would be of equal quality.  

Fridays until Nov. 25

A BEHANDING IN SPOKANE

Profiles Theatre

In this darkly comical new work from the acclaimed playwright Martin McDonagh, the mysterious gun-toting Carmichael has been searching for his missing left hand for decades. Enter two bickering lovebirds with a hand to sell, and a hotel clerk with an aversion to gunfire, and soon life and death are up for grabs. A Behanding In Spokane turns over American daily existence, exposing the obsessions, prejudices, madness, horrors, and above all, the absurdities that crawl beneath it. A Behanding In Spokane, McDonagh’s first play set in America, received its World premiere on Broadway in 2010 starring Christopher Walken as Carmichael. For their version, the age of the character was changed to match the age of the actor, now in his middle 60s. Profiles’ production returns the character to McDonagh’s originally intended age, featuring Profiles ensemble member Darrell W. Cox (Fifty Words, Killer Joe) in the role.

I'm so glad that Profiles is so close to my apartment. I loved their production of reasons to be pretty, while also featured Darrell W. Cox. I also love Pinter's work, even when I don't especially like it, so I'm excited to see his newest piece.

Runs Oct. 16 -Dec. 4

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Noble Horse Theatre

Noble Horse Theatre presents Washington Irving's classic haunted horse tale at the last historic riding hall remaining in Chicago. This performance of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow features horses and riders from all over the globe, combining classical riding with amazing tricks. Noble Horse's production follows the classic Halloween tale with all the familiar characters including a real headless horseman on his majestic steed. The show also features magnificent white stallions, powerful Cossack trick riders and fire-leaping horses, making for a truly exciting production of the frightful tale of Ichabod Crane's encounter with the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow.

Noble Horse is located right down the block from where I work. So I have always been intrigued by the stables you can see from the Brown Line & the weird theatre company that performs plays on horseback. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow seems the perfect piece to be the first horse-back production.

On-Going Run

September WishList



Pornography

Steep Theatre Company

In Pornography, six stories intertwine to offer a portrait of society at the dawn of a new century and on the eve of a world tragedy. It is early July, 2005 and the United Kingdom is the center of the world: home to the G8 conference, site of the Live 8 concert, and recently announced host city for the 2012 Summer Olympics. On the morning of July 7, 2005, that center is shaken by three bombs in London's underground. Pornography was first produced in 2007 by Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg, Germany, and made its U.K. premiere at the Traverse Theatre as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Weekends Through Sept. 17

Alice's Adventures Under Ground

City Lit Theatre

Based on the writings of Lewis Carroll and employing Carroll as a character in the play, Hampton’s play uses episodes from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There as well as material from Carroll’s personal correspondence to explore the relationship between the Oxford mathematics tutor and the little girl who inspired his literary legacy.

Runs Through Oct. 9

Tiny Fascists - A Boy Scout Musical

Annoyance Theatre

Going to Philmont Scout Ranch is every Boy Scout's dream. Dying, however, is not. Two troops embark on what's supposed to be a fun camping trip only to end up in the middle of a disastrous plane crash, facing danger at every turn. Created by a cast of eleven actual Eagle Scouts, “Tiny Fascists’” characters speak from real-life experience.

Fridays Through Sept. 16