Shakespeare Theater

The Rest of Theater 2017

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In other posts I’ve singled out some of the plays I went to in 2017. Here’s a quick survey of the rest of them to wrap up 2017 (you’ve probably received all your bank tax statements by now also).

I saw two plays at the Porchlight Theater, Scottsboro Boys and Woman of the Year (at the theater’s new location), where I discovered Meghan Murphy (see blog on Big Red and the Boys). Both are Kander and Ebb shows, but otherwise couldn’t be more different, one serious and based on a true story, the other lighthearted and not, like me.

When the Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre wasn’t underwater from flooding, I saw She Loves Me and Honeymoon in Vegas. Same usher, coincidentally. She remembered me because we discussed at length the need for me to keep my legs out of the aisle the first time (as my friends know, I always try to get an aisle seat). If the usher is reading this, I was just kidding about tripping the actors, really.

I saw Parade on my first trip to the Writers Theater. The play introduced me to the music of Jason Robert Brown, which is what led me to see Honeymoon in Vegas, for more music from him. That and the flying Elvises.

Five Guys named Moe (also my first time at the Court Theater) is not actually a show about five guys named Moe. What little story there is, is just an excuse for Big Moe, Four-Eyed Moe, Eat Moe, No Moe, and Little Moe to sing and dance. Worked for me. Give me Moe.

But not more King Charles III (Shakespeare Theater). I’m not an Anglophile. I just didn’t care about the characters. But I ran into an old friend at the show, who bought me a drink, so all was not lost.

The two characters in Mr. and Mrs. Pennyworth (Lookingglass Theater) are storytellers, which was appropriate given my foray into storytelling in 2017. But the best thing in the show was a giant, mythological boar (as opposed to the real bore in King Charles III).

The lead actress in Born Yesterday at the Greenhouse Theater was like a medium channelling Judy Holliday, but not in a cataleptic state. She was able to move about the stage.  Indeed, this medium was well done.

Q Brothers Christmas Carol – Chicago Shakespeare Theater – December 2, 2017

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I have now seen the Q Brothers’ version of A Christmas Carol at The Shakespeare Theater four years in a row. It never gets old. Last year I gained special insight into the show when I struck up a conversation with an usher, who turned out to be the Q Brothers’ high school drama teacher from years ago. She was very proud of the boys.

Despite my recommendation (or perhaps based on it) I have many friends who say they won’t go to this show because they hate hip hop – good, stay home – more room for me to see a high energy, intelligent, fun-loving, live performance of familiar, but reinvented material, where four actors play a dozen parts and I leave with a smile on my face, along with some glitter that rained down from the ceiling. I’m going to keep going every year until the seemingly indefatigable GQ runs out of energy.

This year the show moved into Shakespeare’s new space, The Yard. I was a little misled trying to interpret their online seating chart for the first time. Though we probably wound up with the best seats in the house, getting to them unexpectedly involved climbing stairs (raise your hand if you’re over 65 and have knee problems). There probably was an elevator somewhere but it wasn’t obvious (raise your hand if you’re over 65 and have trouble seeing in the dark) And the seats were right behind the balcony railing, which for someone like me, who isn’t fond of heights, even when they aren’t all that high, is a little disconcerting. So I had to avoid laughing and applauding too hard (not an easy thing to do at this show), lest I lose my equilibrium, tumble over, and interrupt the show to allow for cleanup in aisle 2.