Theatre with a side of life
Firebrand Theatre, in partnership with TimeLine Theatre Company, launches its 2018-19 season with a revival of the Tony Award-nominated Best Musical CAROLINE, OR CHANGE. This musical is a powerful tribute to the 1960s civil rights movement. We see race relations up close and personal. Caroline (played by the superb Rashada Dawan) is a black maid for a Jewish ...
TimeLine Theatre presents A SHAYNA MAIDEL. The translation for ‘shayna maidel’ is ‘pretty girl.’ The phrase has a sweet simplicity not traditionally associated with something as horrific as the holocaust. Well, that’s Playwright Barbara Lebow’s point. Her story doesn’t focus on the atrocities of the attempt to exterminate the Jewish people. Instead, Lebow narrows in on ...
Timeline Theatre presents the world premiere of TO CATCH A FISH. Playwright Brett Neveu knows how to filet a fish tale. He cuts and exposes guts immediately. Neveu drops us into a conversation between Geno Walker (Terry) and Jay Worthington (Ike). An aggressive Worthington is trying to impress and dominate over an enthralled Walker. The combination of Worthington's ...
It is my great fortune to live in a town that is bursting with so much theatrical talent. About seven years ago, I stumbled into reviewing the Chicago theatre scene. Every show enhances my understanding of theatre and life. I enjoy most every production for some aspect. The stinkers have been a single digit percentage ...
TimeLine Theatre presents The Apple Family Plays; THAT HOPEY CHANGEY THING and SORRY. Playwright Richard Nelson has penned a series of 4 plays about the Apple Family. Each play centers around the family’s personal connections to an event of national significance. Timeline has chosen to do #1 and #3 in Nelson’s saga. Both of these plays ...
Timeline Theatre presents the Chicago Premiere of MY NAME IS ASHER LEV. Art?! At what cost to the artist?! Award-winning novelist Chaim Potok explored a painter’s obsessive turmoil. A conservative Jewish boy must express his artistry despite its opposition to his religion, community, and parents. Playwright Aaron Posner boils down the essences of Potok’s novel into ...
Timeline Theatre presents the Chicago premiere of JUNO. This is only the second musical produced in Timeline’s history. Knowing the critics shut down the 1959 Broadway premiere after 16 performances, JUNO is a gutsy choice for Timeline. The company is new to musicals. The musical is new to Chicago. The story, based on the play Juno and the Paycock by Sean O’Casey, ...
TimeLine Theatre presents THE HOW AND THE WHY. Playwright Sara Treem masterfully intertwines the female reproductive system around a meeting of the minds. Two evolutionary biologists meet for the first time. They each have questions that only the other one knows the answers to. Treem lets the story unfold naturally. The professional banter turns personal as the ...