The Second City presents its 102nd Revue DEPRAVED NEW WORLD. The new Mainstage show at Second City is tight! The scenes flow. The laughs roll. The cast soars. Chelsea Devantez, John Hartman, Mike Kosinski, Tawny Newsome, Emily Walker and Steve Waltien are terrific. They are the writers, the performers but first and foremost they are ‘the ensemble.’ There ...
The Fourth Walsh
Theatre with a side of life
Category The Fourth Walsh
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Review “Road Show” (Chicago Shakes): Dark Musical, Sobering Comedy
Chicago Shakespeare Theater presents ROAD SHOW. Composer Stephen Sondheim has immortalized the real life shenanigans of the Mizner brothers in this musical tribute. Sondheim tells the tales of the ambitious brothers chasing fame and fortune from the Alaskan gold rush to Florida’s real estate boom. ROAD SHOW chronicles their colorful escapades. The show starts at the death of one of ...
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“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” (Broadway in Chicago): Skimpy but Joyful
Broadway in Chicago presents JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT. For a story about the early days of human trafficking, this musical makes merry. The plot is dramatic: Joseph, his father’s favorite, is sold into slavery by his brothers. His ability to interpret dreams helps him ascend to prominence. A famine reunites him with his estranged family. ...
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“Venus in Fur” (Goodman Theatre): Wickedly Pleasurable Flirtation
Goodman Theatre presents the Chicago Premiere of VENUS IN FUR. This is a play about a play about a book. In 1869, Author Leopold von Sacher-Masoch penned a novella of erotica. His controversial writings about sexual domination resulted in a new word. Masochism, used to describe finding sexual pleasure from pain or humiliation, is derived from the ...
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“Good Boys And True” (Raven Theatre): Disquieting
Raven Theatre presents GOOD BOYS AND TRUE. A leaked sex tape is scandalous. Knowing the participants are minors is disturbing. Realizing the girl is a victim escalates it to unconscionable. Playwright Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa penned a thought-provoking tale. At the crux of the play is a demoralizing sex tape making the rounds at an elite boys’ prep school. Aguirre-Sacasa ...
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Review “Salome” (Right Brain Project): Lusty Erotica
The Right Brain Project presents Oscar Wilde’s SALOME. Director Nathan Robbel used a phrase in his press packet Q&A that perfectly states my experiences of Right Brain Project. Robbel describes their brand of theatre as ‘epic minimalism’. Exactly! I’ve seen several RBP productions over the years. I’m always impressed by their commitment to artistic expression. In their ...
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Review “Rock of Ages” Broadway in Chicago): High-octane Cast Rocks it Out
Reviewed by Tom Lawler The long-running Broadway musical Rock of Ages, now touching down in Chicago for just a week in a new touring production featuring a cast of mainly fresh faces, gets off to a scintillating start as we meet ROA’s narrator for the evening, Lonny. As embodied by the lewd, ultra-confident Andrew Sklar (he ...
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Review “American Myth” (American Blues Theater): Riveting Factual Puzzler
American Blues Theater presents he World Premiere of AMERICAN MYTH. Mick Weber (Doug) opens and closes this play with soliloquies about John Adams. Initially, the effervescent Weber describes Adams at the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Weber vividly recounts the sights, the sounds, the smells on July 4th, 1776. He places the audience in the actual ...
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Review “Ithaka” (Infusion Theatre): Redemption Play meets War Movie
Infusion Theatre presents the Midwest Premiere of ITHAKA. Playwright Andrea Stolowitz pens a tale of Marine Captain Elaine Edwards (played by Meredith Rae Lyons). Edwards returns home from a tour in Afghanistan. Her reentry to civilization isn’t going smooth. She can’t sleep. Her cat has run away. And her helpless husband offers no solace. The sudden appearance ...
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Review “Cock” (Profiles Theatre): Lasting Impact
By Sara Eisenbaum It wasn’t surprising to learn that there was controversy surrounding this play, especially when I realized that I was on the phone with my mother spelling the title c-o-c-k. After leafing through the director’s note there was a statement that confirmed I wasn’t alone as American audiences blushed their way through the title ...