Porchlight Music Theatre presents the Chicago Premiere of END OF THE RAINBOW. I saw Judy Garland last night in this play about her final days. I experienced her as both a tragic trainwreck and a superstar diva. The extraordinary Angela Ingersoll (Judy) embodies the iconic legend. It’s December 1968 in London. After several major set-backs ...
The Fourth Walsh
Theatre with a side of life
Category The Fourth Walsh
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Review “Fun Home” (Broadway in Chicago): Get Your Ticket Quick!
Broadway In Chicago and Producers Fox Theatricals and Barbara Whitman present the groundbreaking, Tony Award-winning Best Musical, FUN HOME. This is a musical about real life. Graphic novelist Alison Bechdel (played by Kate Shindle) struggles to tell her father’s story in drawings. Always present, Shindle muses poignant moments in Bechdel’s life. She looks back at herself ...
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Review “Longer! Louder! Wagner!” (Lyric Opera and The Second City): A Genius Roast for a Genius
© Todd Rosenberg Photography 2016 The Lyric Opera and The Second City present LONGER! LOUDER! WAGNER!. I love these mash-ups between The Second City and a Chicago theatre icon. This time, it's a comedy-opera duet. This show follows-up the very successful “The Second City’s Guide to the Opera”. The roasting tribute to Richard Wagner is a hoot. ...
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Review “Pirandello’s Henry IV”: Montgomery is Crazy Great!
Remy Bumppo presents the Midwest Premiere of PIRANDELLO’S HENRY IV. Mark L. Montgomery (Henry IV) is the reason to see this show. His madness is palpable. Montgomery plays a man who fell off a horse and woke up believing he is the 11th Century German Emperor Henry IV. For twenty years, his family has perpetuated the ...
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Review “Hamilton” (Broadway in Chicago): My NEW Favorite Musical
Broadway in Chicago presents the Tony Award-winning HAMILTON. I saw this blockbuster sensation on Wednesday night. It’s a life-changer! Since experiencing the biographical musical, I’ve been pondering the revolutionist, now and then. I’ve been musing about how future generations will interpret this tumultuous moment in U.S. history. I’ve been wondering how my life looks from a ...
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Review “Saturn Returns” (The Neo-Futurists): Intellectual Lampoon
The Neo-Futurists present the World Premiere of SATURN RETURNS. Tif Harrison sets out to prove the astrological correlation of living 29 years and Saturn’s solar orbit of 29 years. She confidently rolls out her theory in a classroom setting. Harrison reveals her own sequential loss at 29: mom moves, dad dies, partner leaves. She then draws ...
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Review “How We Got On” (Haven Theatre): Upbeat, Uplifting and Unexpectedly Poignant
Haven Theatre presents the Chicago Premiere of HOW WE GOT ON. Playwright Idris Goodwin sets his coming-of-age story in the 80s. The hip hop movement has just started. In the suburbs, three midwestern teenagers struggle to find their artistic voice. As they develop their craft, they must confront limited technology, family dysfunction, and jealous rivalries. Goodwin ...
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Review “Das Rheingold” (Lyric Opera): Shiny, Solid Gold Treasure!
The Lyric Opera of Chicago presents DAS RHEINGOLD. The Lyric simultaneously launches its 2016-2017 season and their new production of The Ring Cycle. DAS RHEINGOLD is the first of the four Wagner operas to be presented at the Lyric. Director David Pountney introduces a solid gold Ring. Wagner’s imaginative adventure of gods, dwarves and giants explodes ...
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Review “The Room” (A Red Orchid Theatre): Pinter’s Puzzler
A Red Orchid Theatre presents THE ROOM. Playwright Harold Pinter puts us in a small room. He dumps out pieces of a colorful and warped puzzle. The challenge is to fit them together within the absurd constraints of this room. Is the space a sanctuary or a prison for Rose (played with distinction by Kirsten Fitzgerald)? ...