Theater

R. U. R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots) – City Lit Theater – Through June 15, 2025

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If you’re into science fiction, you know that this 1920 Czech play by Karel Capek introduced the word robot into the vocabulary, and that it’s been a wild ride ever since, with famous examples such as R. Daneel Olivaw, Gort, Robby the Robot and Marvin the Paranoid Android, to name but a few.

As terminology has developed, androids have been designated as a subset of robots that are designed to look like humans, deriving from the Greek andro, for man. Therefore R2-D2, visually, is not really a droid, as in “these aren’t the droids you’re looking for,” but 3-CPO is. Of course, these entities existed “a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away,” when there was no Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction or Wikipedia to consult.

A cyborg, a portmanteau of cybernetic and organism introduced by a couple scientists in 1960, is a being with both organic and biomechatronic body parts, like RoboCop, the Borg in Star Trek, and arguably anyone who’s had knee or hip replacement surgery, especially if the new joint comes with microprocessor control.

City Lit’s production, with significant alterations, for better or worse, from the original, has some humor and initiates some interesting discussions, but, in the end, becomes tedious, and would be better as a shorter, one act play. Though it may have been the forefather to much that followed, its themes are addressed more satisfactorily elsewhere, such as in I Robot and in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode The Measure of a Man, which features a trial to determine whether or not Data is sentient and should have the right to make his own choices.

The best line in the show, “progress is the root of all evil,” was put to better use as a song in L’il Abner in 1956.

Porchlight Music Theatre – Chicago Sings 30 Years of Porchlight- House of Blues – May 12, 2025

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Twenty-one songs, played by a top-notch band and performed by an extraordinary cast of 20, not counting, though I should, the additional eight “Youth Performers” who joined in for They’re Playing Our Song, as a prelude to the irrepressible auctioneer Greg “G-man” Dellinger once again doing his thing by racing around the room to help unburden willing attendees from any up-to-that-point unspent charitable contributions weighing them down.

The room was too cold for my comfort, making me think of the book I’m currently reading – FROSTBITE: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves – but the music was hot, especially, for me, starting right before intermission, when the legendary E. Faye Butler resurrected her award-winning Mama Rose.

First act rabbit hole for me – I had to look up the show Closer Than Ever (and its song – Fathers of Fathers), which apparently came out in 1989, with music by David Shire, who I knew had previously given his name to Talia Shire, née Coppola, but who, I didn’t know, has long been married to Edith Bernstein – Didi Conn of Grease fame.

You know you’re in for a great show when three of the Five Guys Named Moe (Court Theatre – 2017) are in the cast. One of them, Lorenzo Rush Jr. provided one of the evening’s highlights when he used his performance of Honeysuckle Rose, from his award-winning performance in Ain’t Misbehavin’, to further honor the evening’s Guy Adkins Award winner Heidi Kettenring, presenting her with a long-stemmed beauty.

Having thus resurrected the rose theme, Erica Stephan did the same for the mama through line, giving us Don’t Tell Mama from her award-winning performance as Sally Bowles, and making me glad that I hadn’t listened to Randy Newman’s warning in Mama Told Me Not to Come.

Hadestown – CIBC Theatre – May 6-18, 2025

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Hadestown is good enough to see at least once. The cast is good, but no one jumped out at me. The music is good, if mostly unmemorable (at least to me), except for the catchy Way Down Hadestown. (Loved the band, however, and agree with reviews that have singled out the trombone player.) Also, I’m not a big fan of recitative shows.

Seeing Hadestown completed a musical triple play of sorts for me, having previously seen Wonderful Town and Urinetown. (I’ve never seen a theatrical version of On the Town, which is a pity, as in a town without.)

As far as Hades, the character, goes, I preferred the devil in Damn Yankees and the devil disguised as the snake in The Diary of Adam and Eve (in the Apple Tree), though the devil in Randy Newman’s Faust, which was so good that I left at intermission, left much to be desired. (The Devil Wears Prada doesn’t count, and is best forgotten.)

At the point in Hadestown when Orpheus is asked by Hades to play a song, I hoped he would break into The Devil Went Down to Georgia, but no such luck, just a lot of la la las.

The show can definitely make you think about serious things going on in the world today, but don’t I go to musicals to get away from that? I thought the song When the Chips Are Down was particularly relevant – “Now that the chips are down, Help yourself, to hell with the rest, Even the one who loves you best”.

The ending of the show differs from the classic versions and is a total sellout. Virgil or Ovid or whoever (other than Tony voters) is turning over in his grave, though, spoiler alert, Orpheus and Eurydice aren’t.

Sunny Afternoon: The Story of the Kinks – Chicago Shakespeare Theater – Through April 27, 2025

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As I was entering the theater, the usher handing me my program pointed to a jar containing plastic bags with two little orange items in each and asked “Do you need earplugs?”, to which I responded “Do I need ear plugs?”, to which she responded “I’ve been told that the music is pretty loud.”

I hesitated for a moment, concerned that I might not be able to hear the dialogue with the plugs inserted, but quickly decided that I probably wouldn’t be able to understand the British accents anyway, so I might as well wear the protection, while also berating myself for not going to one of the open caption performances.

In retrospect, I probably only needed the plugs twice, the first time being near the beginning of the show when the lads are trying to determine just how loudly they should play the first five signature chords of You Really Got Me, which reminded me of the movie The Italian Job when Lyle gets “speakers so loud they can blow a woman’s clothes off.”

I have read that, not surprising, a lot of creative license is taken with events depicted in the show, but the story is kind of secondary anyway. I’ve seen the tropes before in other behind-the-scenes stories. More importantly, the cast treated us to a highlight show of 1960s Kinks, augmented by a raft of energetic dancing emblematic of that era.

The crowd, which was on its feet for the closing medley, would have been alright with the music continuing all day and all of the night.

Titanique – Broadway Playhouse – March 25 – July 13, 2025

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Titanique has been running in New York for almost three years and in Sydney for almost seven months, so it should come as no surprise that it has already been extended in Chicago, despite just opening.

As earlier written, I have followed the progress of the joint Porchlight Music Theatre/Broadway in Chicago production since it began rehearsing. Now that I’ve seen the official opening, I’ll share some additional thoughts.

The show is an event that starts rollicking even before the Celine Dion character, played with swagger by Clare Kennedy McLaughlin, in full Celine Dion accent, and then some, makes her first announcement to the audience. There were attendees in costume and a buzz in the air.

Maya Rowe (as Rose) and Adam Fane (as Jack), show no limits to their comedic energy and are able to turn on a dime to deliver with their singing.

I’ve previously noted that a lot of the show’s jokes elude me, and though I’ve now been educated about some of them, I still wish I could appreciate them in the moment.

This is especially true in regard to Rob Lindley’s ranting, eat the scenery, tour de force monologue as Ruth, which contained numerous references I didn’t understand, leaving me to ride the wave of the howling appreciation emitted by a large segment of the audience. The only thing missing was for him to start shouting “Auntie Em!!! Uncle Henry!!! Toto!!! It’s a twister!!! It’s a twister!!!” ala the guy in the tower in Airplane!.

This may not be a show for everyone (I’m pretty sure it won’t be playing the Kennedy Center in the foreseeable future), but the production values are first-rate and the whole cast is top-notch, frequently bringing down the house with their fabulous voices, even in the guise of an iceberg.

Guys and Dolls – Music Theater Works – March 30, 2025 (closing night)

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Guys and Dolls opened on Broadway in 1950. Now I’ve finally seen it on stage for the first time. Of course I’ve seen the movie. But seeing this wonderful, live presentation has helped erase the painful memory of Marlon Brando as Sky Masterson. I look forward to the rumored forthcoming remake of the film, directed by Rob Marshall, who brought home the bacon with Chicago in 2002, which should further cleanse my palate.

Cecilia Iole, Jeffrey Charles, Callan Roberts and Kristin Brintnall were all terrific in the lead roles. And Cary Lovett as Nicely-Nicely was a treat, as were all the supporting players, the band, the choreography and the dancing.

The show also reminded me of how great a writer Abe Burrows was. Before Burrows won the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, he kinda, sorta won the 1951 award for Guys and Dolls, except, under pressure from the House Un-American Activities Committee, the Trustees of Columbia University capitulated and decided not to give the award to him that year. Fast forward to today and Columbia is once again viewed by many as agreeing to things they shouldn’t, to avoid rockin’ the boat.

Titanique Tech Run – Broadway Playhouse – March 23, 2025

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There was no The Show That Goes Wrong moment, so, as far as I could tell, the tech part of the rehearsal went fine.

I’m sure the cast was grateful to have a a group of people before whom they could strut their considerable skills.

And, for the most part, the attendees, unsurprisingly, seemed to be more clued in than I to the show’s references, even though I had already seen the designers’ run as previously described in an earlier post. I clearly am not the target audience.

For example, I caught allusions to Wicked, Chicago and Peter Pan, but didn’t catch them to, well, I don’t know, as Donald Rumsfeld would say.

I got some help from the Millennial sitting next to me, but even she had no explanation for some of the material.

There were a couple moments when I thought I alone, based on no reaction around me, got a joke, but maybe I was chasing windmills, which may become even tougher to do if they are outlawed.

I’ll have more to say after going to opening night, but, in case the author/director has nothing else to do and is reading this, I want to suggest, and others agreed with me, less eggplant. In putting the show together, he must have had a Steve McQueen in The Magnificent Seven moment, that is “It seemed to be a good idea at the time.”

Titanique – Porchlight Music Theatre/Broadway in Chicago – Broadway Playhouse – March 25-May 18, 2025

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This is the third musical I’ve seen that is based on a ship that sunk, previously having attended Poseidon! An Upside Down Musical and Ernest Shackleton Loves Me, but having missed, I think fortunately, Eastland: A New Musical.

I’ve attacked Titanique as I would have any long-term school project if I had ever done a long-term school project.

I went to the cast meet and greet, where I heard a couple of the show’s songs and some background from the director/co-author, Tye Blue, but mostly met and greeted a variety of cheese and crackers.

Then I watched the movie Titanic for the first time, clearing my calendar for an entire weekend to have time to do so.

As my final preparation, I attended the designers’ run at Porchlight’s rehearsal space, which confirmed for me that, except for two songs, I am unfamiliar with Celine Dion’s music (though familiarity is not necessary to enjoy the show).

The other thing I learned was that Titanique contains pop culture references about which I also am totally clueless. After the performance, I believe I heard one of my fellow attendees mention Dynasty (of which I’ve never seen even a single minute of the boot or reboot) as the basis for an allusion in the show.

Despite my ignorance, I was rapt by the performances and somewhat controlled insanity on stage (more on that after seeing the actual show), albeit somewhat embarrassed by the fact that everyone around me was laughing hysterically, even while I occasionally sat mystified, though entertained (I didn’t always understand Robin Williams or Jonathan Winters either).

Circus Quixote – Lookingglass Theatre – February 26, 2025

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My hope that the reopening of Lookingglass Theatre, featuring the world premiere of Circus Quixote, would lead me on a quest to see more of their productions, turned out to be an impossible dream.

Upon entering the building, the first thing that struck me was the spare feeling of the “vibrant new lobby,” as described by the architects.

If not for the juggling instruction going on in one corner, I might have thought that I had wandered into the wrong place.

The play itself wasn’t quite as monstrous a show as the theater’s production of Frankenstein in 2019, but I was ready to leave within the first 30 seconds, thereafter gritting my teeth and performing mental gymnastics to help me endure until intermission.

There were some laughs (not as many for me as for a few others in the sparse crowd – relatives of the cast?), though I feel like much of the humor must have been lost to me in translation. I did understand the sophomoric use of belching, but wasn’t particularly amused. If you’re going that route, go bigger.

Some of the choreographed scenes were lame, though not so the horse fantasized from a rocking chair.

The interactions with the audience struck me as inappropriate and somewhat desperate, as, all in all, I felt like I was watching a long-form improv show that was playing off of a suggestion to incorporate windmills into a scene.

Betrayal – Goodman Theatre – February 22, 2025

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A review I read before going to see Betrayal said that Pinter’s “plays famously include long pauses and silences that can feel interminable to audiences if not handled with care.”

Had I not read that review, I wouldn’t even have noticed any such delays. As it is, maybe one or two. Certainly never enough of an interlude to grab a snack in the lobby. Credit to the director and cast? Or difference of opinion as to what qualifies? I don’t know.

Before seeing the production, I was thinking that maybe I made a mistake in not pursuing an acting career, specializing in Pinter. Given a long enough gap between lines, I might have had time to recall my dialogue, or sneak a peek at crib notes on my sleeve, before my turn arose.

Moreover, the anguish in my expression as I tried to remember what to say might have been interpreted as, or confused for acting.

As an audience member, I could use long pauses when watching Shakespeare, as they would give me time to figure out, or look up on my phone, what I had just heard. Of course that would lead to interminably long shows, which was not a problem in this 75-minute production.

Helen Hunt and Robert Sean Leonard were the draws, and they were fine, but, frankly, not special enough to induce a recommendation from me. Fortunately, however, though the play is considered a drama, there were some good laughs, because I just didn’t care about the characters.

An interesting side note about this play with a backward timeline is that the audience wasn’t sure that it was over until a minor character walked onto the stage alone to take the first bow.