Solitary Solidarity: Theatre Reviews from the Present to the Past

     During March of 2012, I saw a performance of the Dale Wasserman play "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" when the Loop Players put on a production of the show at Harold Washington College in Chicago, IL.  I had never seen a stage production of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" before.  I had only seen the movie.  The production was not performed in a theatre or an auditorium, but rather a room that looked like it was usually used for college events.  I was taking a community college course at Harold Washington College at the time.  If I hadn't been, I probably never would have seen the play.      The play starred Joe Faifer as Randle McMurphy and Sidney Hill as Chief Bromden.  Two actresses shared the role of Nurse Ratched.  Their names were Nina Liewehr and Samantha Hermansen.  I don't remember which actress I saw play the part.  Being that I saw this play ten years ago, and I didn't keep the playbill, I have...

      On February 15th, 2019, I saw the opening night performance of the Bilal Dardai play "The Man Who Was Thursday" at the Lifeline Theatre in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, IL.  I lived just a few blocks north of the Lifeline Theatre at the time, but only saw two shows there while living in the vicinity from late 2017 to mid 2020.  If I remember correctly, tickets were slightly cheaper for the first few performances of "The Man Who Was Thursday," because they were considered preview performances.      "The Man Who Was Thursday" was an adaptation of the novel by G.K. Chesterton.  This was a non-equity production, made up of a non-equity cast.  I thought the cast did a great job.  Even during the climactic / anticlimactic scenes where nihilism was being explained in layman's terms.  The play was mostly about nihilism... that and a group of anarchists who turn out not to be anarchists at all (spoiler).  Parts of ...

      During June of 2013, I saw a performance of the non-equity touring production of "West Side Story" at the Oriental Theatre (now called the Nederlander Theatre) in Chicago, IL.  "West Side Story" was conceived by Jerome Robbins with a book by Arthur Laurents; music by Leonard Bernstein; and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.              This production starred Maryjoanna Grisso and Addison Reid as Maria and Tony.  There were over thirty cast members in this production,  showcasing their talent, as well as Jerome Robbins' original choreograph, in such musical numbers as "America."  One noticeable difference about this production in comparison to those of the past (I assume) and the movie is that "I Feel Pretty" was sung in Spanish.  During intermissio,,  I first criticized the souvenir program for being printed on card stock paper, and then criticized the production for having one of its songs sung in Spa...

     In March of 2012, I saw a performance of the Tom Kitt / Lin-Manuel Miranda / Amanda Green / Jeff Whity musical "Bring It On - The Musical" when the Pre-Broadway tour played a brief engagement at the Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago.  I hadn't seen any of the "Bring It On" movies prior to seeing the musical.   Okay, maybe I saw one or three.  My mom bought the tickets for the musical.  I saw so much theatre in those days.  That is something I am grateful for, yet at times take it for granted.  One of those times is when I recall "Bring It On - The Musical," because it wasn't very good.      The cast of "Bring It On - The Musical" included Adrienne Warren, Taylor Louderman, Ariana DeBose, Jason Gotay, Gregory Haney, Neil Haskell, Janet Krupin, Elle McLemore, Ryann Redmond, and Kate Rockwell.  The scenic design was pretty basic (maybe not by today's standards, in some cases).  But I thought it was neat how, u...