A Political WishList.

Julius Caesar @ Chicago Shakespeare Theatre 

When men feel they can no longer trust their elected leader, where is the line between patriotism and personal ambition? Acclaimed British director Jonathan Munby—whose work has graced the stages of Royal Shakespeare Company and Shakespeare's Globe—ignites the fiery power of the most enduring political assassination in history. Within the uniquely personal setting of CST’s Courtyard Theater, audience members feel each spark of emotion as words are wielded like knives in Shakespeare’s epic tale of ambition, betrayal and consequence. 

Closes March 24

Divided Man: Pilate's Story @ Overshadowed Theatre 

Around two thousand years ago, there was a trial that changed history. Jesus Christ was dragged before the Roman politician who had to make the fateful choice that would place the Messiah on the cross. Who was this man, Pontius Pilate? The life of Pilate dramatically comes to life in this world premiere. Judea was a difficult part of the Roman Empire and part of Pilate's responsibility was to keep peace and stability in the land that he governed. Filled with danger, political intrigue, love & history- this story will grip you and bring you face-to-face with the politician, the husband, the servant, the man: Pontius Pilate.

Closes March 9

Crime Scene: A Chicago Anthology @ Collaboraction

Crime Scene: A Chicago Anthology is a timely new theatrical reaction to Chicago’s history of violent crime and a call to discover what it might take to create lasting change in our city. The show, a Collaboraction world  premiere conceived and directed by Anthony Moseley, couples nonfiction source material such as interviews, articles, and online comments with three true Chicago crimes to raise critical questions surrounding segregation, poverty, the news media, popular culture, and our numbness to it all. Crime Scene: A Chicago Anthology features immersive staging, audience participation and stylized dramatizations of three real Chicago crimes:The 2000 mistaken identity killing of Orlando Patterson, a 12 year old boy playing ball in front of his house in the 6900 block of South Perry Avenue; The attack on 13-year-old Lenard Clark by white youth in Bridgeport, leaving him in a coma; & The savage beating of Stacy Jurich and Natasha McShane just blocks from Collaboraction in Wicker Park in 2010

Closes  March 10

The City & The City @ Lifeline Theatre 

Inspector Tyador Borlú of the Extreme Crime Squad is assigned to a seemingly open-and-shut case: an American student found dead in the gutters of the city of Beszel. But soon this deceptively simple crime reveals ties to powerful political and corporate factions at the heart of both Beszel and its twin city, Ul Qoma. Forced to cross the divide between two city-states coexisting in the same geographical space yet separated by irreconcilable cultural differences, Borlú must bring to justice the mastermind of the most unusual and dangerous case of his career. A thrilling crime story set in a location both fantastical and eerily real, in a world premiere adaptation.

Closes April 7

Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo @ Lookingglass 

The lives of two American Marines and an Iraqui translator are forever changed by an encounter with a quick-witted tiger who haunts the streets of war-torn Baghdad attempting to find meaning, forgiveness, & redemption amidst the city's ruins. Rajiv Joseph's groundbreaking new play explores both the power & perils of human nature. The New York Times writes, "This boldly imagined, harrowing, & surprisingly funny drama is wonderfully daring." 

Closes March 17

Thrifty Theatre-Goer: Part III

I have found that customer loyalty always pays off. 

Buying season tickets is a great way to save money, but there are other customer-loyalty incentive programs 

that can offer a greater amount of savings and/or bonuses that are worth exploring. Here are three such programs: 

Steppenwolf RED Card

If you are under 29, $100 will get you get a card worth 6 tickets to use however you'd like (that comes out to less than $17/ticket & a 78% savings). You can use the tickets for yourself and friends, but it can't be given as a gift. RED holders also get $1 off any drink at any of the theater's bars & will receive special offers such as social events & 2-for-1 ticket offers in the e-mail updates. You can visit the RED card member page for more information & check their Facebook & Twitter pages for updates. The card expires when the holder turns 29 & can be re-filled after seeing 6 shows. 

Broadway in Chicago Audience Rewards Network

Audience Rewards turns your ticket purchases into points like an airline frequent flyer program. This program offers more incentive for Broadway than Broadway in Chicago, but hopefully that will change as Broadway in Chicago continues to flourish. Once you join, you can earn ShowPoints by buying tickets, looking for bonus point offers, or getting (minimal) bonus points by playing theatre trivia games (my favorite part), telling friends about a show, or shopping at a variety of stores by visiting AudienceRewardsMall.com. The points can be used to earn free tickets, save on tickets, upgrade seats, & buy Broadway merchandise. 

Rogers Park FlexPass 

For $50, you get 4 tickets to any show at Theo Ubique, Lifeline Theatre, Raven Theatre, or  side project theatre company. Considering that 1 full-price ticket at Lifeline costs $40, this is a really great deal. The FlexPass also comes with year-round the following discounts @ nearby restaurants: 10% off @ Act One Pub,Charmers Café/Dagel & Beli, Gruppo di Amici, & Morseland AND 15% off @ The Heartland Café. The passes expire on August 31, 2013.

And a warning...

I love Broadway in Chicago. So far, I've seen FELA!, Les Miserables, The Addams Family, Bring It On, I Love Lucy: Live on Stage & never paid more than $25 thanks to rush tickets. For some strange reason, I was really drawn towards the recent production of Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth. So, I searched the Cadillac Palace on Saturday morning, saw a bounty of available seats, & called the theatre to double check that student and/or rush tickets were available. NOPE! Not for this show. WHY? Who knows. This decision was in very poor taste, but I blame the production & not Broadway in Chicago. Rush tickets are an awesome deal, but apparently inconsistent. Moral of this story: call the theatre if you are planning to buy Broadway in Chicago rush tickets. 

The Thrifty Theatre-Goer Series:

HotTix & Goldstar // Chicago Theatre Week // Thrifty Theatre-Goer Part II

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

September WishList

The Fall of The House of Usher 

by The Hypocrites @ Chopin Theatre 

Terror! Suspense! Gothic cross-dressing melodrama! Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” is a highly tense and taut work of fiction that set the standard for American Horror for the past two centuries. This adaptation, which examines the psychology of a fractured personality, utilizes a cast of only three women to navigate the notorious House.

Illegal Use of Hands 

by American Blues Theatre @ Victory Gardens

 

In a small town where buzzards feast on a dead Chevy and the local Wal-Mart hires only college graduates, three men [ABT ensemble member Steve Key (Broadway tour of August: Osage County), ABT Artistic Affiliate Dennis Zacek (founding artistic director of Victory Gardens Theater) and Howie Johnson (award-winning Killer Joe at Profiles Theater)] wait out the night in the company of a high school football trophy they have rescued from obscurity. It’s a story about revenge, glory, and being a man—if only the characters could agree on what they can’t remember.

The Woman in White @ Lifeline Theatre

Trapped in a loveless marriage and threatened by a conspiracy of ruthless men, young heiress Laura Fairlie faces a future of sorrow and misery. Her only hope lies with her true love, the poor artist Walter Hartright, and her sister Marian Halcombe, both of whom will risk everything to protect her. Without the law, society, or money on their side, Walter and Marian must race against time to free their beloved Laura and uncover the truth behind the mysterious woman in white that shares her face. A dark tale of romance and suspense, in a world premiere adaptation. Based on the 1889 novel by Wilkie Collins (The Moonstone, Armadale), considered among the first mystery novels in the English language.

Sweet Bird of Youth @ The Goodman Theatre 

Into a tiny Gulf coast hamlet drifts an improbable couple: the Princess Kosmonopolis, a Hollywood legend fleeing the disastrous premiere of her latest epic, and Chance Wayne, a young actor-turned-gigolo who has brought his new benefactress to his hometown in hopes of reclaiming his former glory. But when a youthful mistake surfaces that threatens Chance’s plan, the pair are forced to confront their crumbling dreams. Laced with humor and Williams’ “characteristically gorgeous lyricism” (The New York Times), Sweet Bird of Youth is a sensual, haunting theatrical journey that will captivate and seduce you.

Sunday in the Park with George 

@ Chicago Shakespeare Theatre 

Sunday in the Park with George, inspired by Georges Seurat's most famous work A Sunday on La Grande Jatte-1884, on display and in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, unites Seurat and Sondheim in Chicago Shakespeare's Courtyard Theater. Griffin's musical production will transform the painting into a life-size masterpiece to tell the story of a painter's struggle between creating art and living life.

Metamporhoses 

Lookingglass Theatre Company 

Fourteen years ago Lookingglass debuted Metamorphoses, a play of such grace and beauty that the memory of it still lingers in the minds of audiences today. The critically-acclaimed, record-breaking Chicago engagement led to a Broadway production that garnered Mary Zimmerman the 2002 Tony Award for Best Director and catapulted Lookingglass onto the national stage. In the simple beauty of a rippling pool of water, Ensemble Member Mary Zimmerman conjured Ovid’s myths into gorgeous imagery, provocative moments and breathtaking storytelling. Metamorphoses’ long-anticipated Chicago revival will feature a number of Lookingglass Ensemble Members and original cast members.

BLOG: Ada Grey Reviews For You

Once upon a time, there was a seven-year old theatre critic named Ada Grey. In her blog, she covered everything: opera, musicals, dance, plays, CDs & cultural events. Her kingdom included Strawdog, Lifeline, Raven Theatre, Emerald City, Chopin Theatre, & Neo-Futurists. Miss Ada has some great insight & her perspective is refreshingly direct & obviously endearing. I’m also pretty jealous that she got to see Spiderman: The Musical since that legendary production will go down in Broadway’s Hall of Shame.

Ada Grey Reviews for You