Solitary Solidarity: Theatre Reviews from the Present to the Past

      On July 28th, 2016, I saw a performance of  the Alan Menken / Jack Feldman / Harvey Fierstein musical "Newsies," when the National Tour played a two-week engagement at the Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago, IL.  The first time "Newsies" came to Chicago, it was for a four-week engagement down the street at the Oriental Theatre (now called the Nederlander Theatre) in 2014.  This time around, Joey Barreiro (Jack Kelly), Morgan Keene (Katherine), Andy Richardson (Crutchie), Stephen Michael Langton (Davey), Turner Birthisel (Les), Aisha de Haas (Meda Larkin), Steve Blanchard (Pulitzer), Michael Gorman (Mr. Jacobi), and Kevin Carolan (Theodore Roosevelt) starred in the production.  Tobin Ost was the scenic designer.             It has been six years since I had seen this musical (as of 2022).  But from what I remembered, it was great.  The dancing was amazing.  That credit goes to Christopher Gattelli ...

      On the evening of March 29th, 2022, I went to see a performance of the Toby Marlow / Lucy Moss musical "Six" at the CIBC Theatre in Chicago, IL.  This production is the Aragon National Tour of the musical, and the March 29th performance was opening night.  "Six" is no stranger to Chicago.  From May 14th through August 4th, 2019, the musical lunched its North American Premiere Production at The Yard at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre.  The World Premiere of "Six" took place at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and ran from July 31st through October 14th, 2017.  There was a U.K. Tour of "Six" in 2018, and an Off-West End production the year before that.  The West End Production has been running since 2019, unless you count two pandemic holds.  The Aragon National Tour, that I saw, performed in Chicago through July 3rd, 2022.        On the night I saw the show, the cast included Khaila Wilcoxon (Catherine of Arag...

      On April 7th, 2011, I saw a performance of the Trey Parker / Matt Stone / Robert Lopez musical "The Book of Mormon" at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre in New York.  The show had opened recently.  My mom had seen it while it was in previews, and got me a ticket to the April 7th performance.  The Eugene O'Neill Theatre is intimate as far as size.  My seat was in the back row of the mezzanine, but it was still close to the stage.        The cast included Andrew Rannells (Elder Price), Josh Gad (Elder Cunningham), Nikki M. James (Nabulungi), Rory O'Malley (Elder McKinley/ Moroni), Micheal Potts (Mafala Hatimbi), and Brian Tyree Henry (General.  I enjoyed the show, and believed it when my mom and other people talked about how big the show was going to be.  Sure enough, "The Book of Mormon" swept the 2011 Tony Awards, also winning the Tony Award for Best Musical.   Scott Pask was the scenic designer.  Wasn't...

      On February 8th, 2019, I saw the opening night performance of the Rebecca Gillman play "Twilight Bowl" at the Owen Theatre of the Goodman Theatre Center.  I bought a ticket for the balcony section, which at the Owen Theatre cost only $15.  I'm not sure if ticket prices have risen since then like they have in New York.   Anyway, back in 2019, I only had to pay $15 dollars.  This production was directed by Erica Weiss, with Regina Garcia as the set designer.      Now, judging by the Playbill cover for this production of  "Twilight Bowl,"  it looks like a play about a young lady who wakes up with bowling pins in her hair and says to no one in particular "talk about life in the fast lane..."  But you can't judge a book by its cover, as the saying goes.  The play is about six girlfriends who've just graduated high school in Wisconsin, and are preparing to each go their separate ways.  One of them is headed ...

      On February 23rd, 2019, I saw a performance of "Friends! The Musical Parody" at the Broadway Playhouse in Chicago, IL.  This production was the North American Tour and was playing at the Broadway Playhouse for a three-week engagement.  The original off-Broadway production began previews on October 13th, 2017, and officially opened on October 29th of that year.  It only ran until December 31st, 2017.        While this wasn't the best show I have ever seen (not by a long shot), I did laugh out loud a few times.  The actress who played Rachel did a great, though exaggerated, Jennifer Aniston impression.  She kept making these worried vocal noises between her lines that had me in stitches.  At the time I saw the show, I had never seen Vanessa Bayer's impression on SNL.  I should also mention that my standards for the production were pretty low.   This was the first show I won the ticket lottery for, a...

      During the summer of 2016, Kathryn and I saw the Doug Wright / Scott Frankel / Michael Korie musical "War Paint," which was performing its World Premiere at the Albert Theatre of the Goodman Theatre Center in Chicago, IL.  The musical starred Patti LuPone as Helena Rubinstein and Christine Ebersole as Elizabeth Arden--and featured Douglas Sills as Harry Fleming and John Dossett as Tommy Lewis.  The scenic designer was David Korins.  Before Kathryn and I saw the show (she texted me "War Paint" lyrics sung to the tune of "When You're Good to Mamma" from "Chicago."  "Ask any of the members in my crew... if you're gonna paint something... Always paint it blue..." I forget the next line but it ended with "... Because the system works... the system called... P-A-I-N-T......"                 Anyway,  Kathryn and I liked the show, but she didn't like the song "Donosaurs" in Act Two.  Other than that,...

      On March 23rd, 2022, I saw the matinee performance of "Moulin Rouge!" at the Nederlander Theatre in Chicago, IL.  This is the National Tour's first stop is in Chicago, so it is playing a two-month engagement.  Then again, the tour will be in Los Angeles most of the summer, and in San Francisco for a good portion of the fall.   I guess it's pretty neat Chicago is the location for the National Tour premiere of "Moulin Rouge!"  Then again, what does it even matter.  I won the ticket lottery and got to see it.    The production stars Courtney Reed (as Satine), Conor Ryan (as Christian), Austin Durant (as Harold Zidler), David Harris (as the Duke of Monroth), Libbey Lloyd (as Nini), Gabe Martinez (as Santiago), and Andre Ward (as Toulouse-Lautrec).  I previously saw Courtney Reed as Carla in the Broadway Production of "In the Heights" in 2010.  As far as I know, she was the only cast member who I saw in a show before....

      In November of 2011, my dad and I saw a performance of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival Production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber / Tim Rice musical "Jesus Christ Superstar."  We saw it at the Weiss Theatre of the La Jolla Playhouse in La Jolla, California.  My dad was living in San Diego at the time, and before my Fall 2011 visit to see him. I checked to see if any shows were in town.   I thought the Stratford ShakespeareProduction of "Jesus Christ Superstar" would be a good idea because it was a pre-Broadway Production.        It was only the year before that I heard the album of "Jesus Christ Superstar" for the first time.  The original concept album was available for checkout at my local library.  I wasn't a fan of the album at first, but soon it grew on me.  Before I knew it, I was seeing a live production of the musical.  After the production finished its run at the Weiss Theatre, it opened at the ...

      On March 13th, 2019, I saw a performance of the Chazz Palminteri / Alan Menken / Glenn Slater musical "A Bronx Tale" when the National Tour performed for a two-week run at the Nederlander Theatre in Chicago, IL.  The cast of this Broadway Tour included Joe Barbara (Sonny), Michelle Aravena (Rosina), Joey Barreiro (Calogero), Brianna-Marie Bell (Jane), Antonio Beverly (Tyrone), Richard H. Blake (Lorenzo), Frankie Leoni (Young Calogero), Mike Backes (Eddie Mush), Michael Barra (JoJo the Whale), and more.  I'd list more of the cast members, but the character names are ridiculous.        Looking back, I'm not sure why I decided to see this show.  The ads said that ticket prices started at $27.  I don't think I knew about the ticket lottery yet, because I opted for paying the $27 and sitting far back from the stage in the rear mezzanine section.  I'm sort of surprised I stated for the second act.  I was also surprise...

      On July 30th, 2009, Kathryn and I saw a performance of the Tim Rice / Elton John / Lebo M. / Mark Mancina /  Jay Rifkin / Julie Taymor / Hans Zimmer musical "The Lion King" at the Minskoff Theatre in New York, NY.  We were in town visiting my grandma, and though Kathryn had seen "The Lion King" already, she said she would love to see it again.   It was going to be my first time seeing the musical.  I almost saw it with my family back in 2003 when "The Lion King" had its Chicago Premiere, but the ads kept playing on the TV to an annoying extent, so my mom got a refund for the tickets.  I guess there was something about Rafiki screaming "Nants' ingonyama bakithi baba!!!!!!" over and over again that drove her up a wall.       My mom got us great seats.  They were located on the orchestra level, in the center  section.  Kathryn and I were up to our usual shenanigans.  Down the row from us was a tall g...