.jpg)
Our relatives swear we exaggerate, our colleagues know we do not. Every month in Chicago, the curtain goes up on between 20 and 30 opening nights. How to cull the scene stealers from the scenery chewers in 2009’s 240+ productions? Dear reader, you do not have to. We’ve done this dirty work for you, via a formula that (not unlike our SAT strategy) involves roughly 93 percent background preparedness and 7 percent overly-educated guesswork..
Here (in chronological order) are Chicago shows that – short of, being abducted by Thetans and sent to Xenu for reprogramming – we will not be missing.(And should you be so inclined, you can find a list of 2009's Most Notable Suburban Shows here )
1. Macbeth, Jan. 2 – March 8, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, 800 Grand Ave., http://www.chicagoshakes.com
Wicked may be going, but something wicked this way comes. And it’s about bloody freaking time. For 20 years, we’ve been irritated by Chicago Shakespeare’s surly unwillingness put the Scottish play on the mainstage. Apparently director Barbara Gaines is wholly, finally embracing Shakespeare’s more twisted side. Our spies at rehearsal tell us this Macbeth includes a dungeon’s worth of S & M in the classic story witches, superstition and appeals to Hecate. That Lady M. always was a domineering wench.
2. Top Dog/Under Dog and True West, Jan. 15 – March 18, theAmerican Theatre Company and Congo Square at the ATC, 1909 W. Byron, www.atcweb.org
Now this is what rotating rep is all about: Two bruisingly vivid shows and a core cast of four that switches roles every few nights. You need an ensemble of Herculean strength and major acting chops to pull off such a stunt. If anyone can do it, it’s the rough-and-ready old school craftmasters of ATC and Congo Square. Suzan Lori-Parks’ TD/UD and Sam Shepard’s TW both offer violent portraits of family values gone beyond wrong and American Dreams twisting in the wind. And just to keep things interesting for the crew: Shepard’s stage directions call for the True West brothers to completely destroy the set at every show.
3. Desire Under the Elms, Jan. 17 – Feb. 22, Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn, www.goodmantheatre.org
For 20 years, the potent combination of the director Bob Falls, actor Brian Dennehey and playwright Eugene O’Neill has been shattering hearts. With Desire Under the Elms, we’re ready for yet another epic of emotional tragedy, unchecked lust, and murderous greed. Bonus: “Entourage’s” Carla Gugino gets to stretch beyond the constricted world of sitcoms. And maybe Adrien Grenier will show up at the opening night after-party.
4., 5. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Feb. 11 – 15, Chicago Theatre, 175 N. State St., www.chicagotheatre.com
and
Mary Poppins , opens March 11, Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph, http://www.broadwayinchicago.com
If we had to choose between a flying car and a flying nanny in real life, we’d go for the car, mostly because traffic in the Eisenhower has been jammed since, well, Eisenhower. And frankly, but we like to think we don’t need adult supervision so much anymore. Ah, but musical theater is not real life. So we’ll be indulging in both the singing version of P.L. Travers’ dry, witty and sophisticated children’s books as well as Ian Fleming’s musicalized story of a car we’d trade in our beloved hybrid for.
(PS - And how weird is it that Dick van Dyke starred in the movie versions of both Chitty Chitty and Mary Poppins??
6. S-e-x-Oh! March 5 – 25, Teatro Luna at the 16th Street Theatre, 6420 16th St., Berwyn, http://www.16thstreettheater.org
In Teatro Luna’s glorious ensemble, we find the perfect antidote to the relentless bombardment of all those photo-shopped, cellulite-free hipless wonders that fill the pages of the lady mags. Hilarious, irreverent, brash and filled with the kind of brutal honesty you’ll never see on a Victoria Secret runway, S-e-x-OH! is kind of like Naomi Klein’s “The Beauty Myth,” only up close, totally personal and way more fun. (And for a related story on the tyranny of body image playing out RIGHT NOW in the indie-record industry, check this out)
7. Wait Until Dark, March 5 – April 5, Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis, www. http://www.courttheatre.org
Watching the film version of Frederick Knott’s spine-tingler as an impressionable 7th grader in 1975, we were permanently traumatized. The premise remains as horrifying as ever: A blind woman is stalked in her own home by psychopaths in search of a heroin-stuffed doll. With Ron OJ Parsons directing, you can be certain the screams and shocks will come in all the right places. And we guarantee that you will never again be able to look at a garment bag again without feeling a profound sense of unease.
8.Talk Radio, April 2 – May 31, Gift Theatre, 4802 N. Milwaukee Ave., http://www.thegifttheatre.com
“A country where culture means pornography and slasher films, where ethics means payoffs, graft, insider trading; where integrity means Iying, whoring and intoxication. This country is in deep trouble, people.” So begins Eric Bogosian’s incendiary look at radio in the days of the last, truly independent DJs. In the world of a riveting shock jock, disembodied tragedy and in-your-face violence offers testimony to the notion that video did not, in fact, kill the radio star.
9. Old Times, April 23 – May 31. Remy Bumppo Theatre at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., http://www.remybumppo.org
The great Harold Pinter may have left the world as we know it, but his plays remain as haunting testimonies to a writer who could capture an entire universe of terror in a single, wordless pause. With Old Times, an uneasy band of three old friends – or, perhaps rivals – play a malevolent chess game involving memory, delusion, and the queasy murk in between. In this sexually charged triangle, each point is bayonet-sharp and ready to kill.
10. Rock ‘n’ Roll – May 2 – June 7, Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn, http://www.goodmantheatre.org
Pink Floyd, The. Greatest. Band. Ever. (Do not argue with us. You will lose) teamed with the world’s greatest living playwright? We can only issue forth an Everlasting Yes. Tom Stoppard uses Floyd (and especially Syd Barrett) as a metaphor to examine the brutality of history from Prague Spring to the fall of the Berlin Wall. When we saw RNR in New York, it was an ear-drum rupturing slice of rapture. Here’s hoping director Charles Newell is similarly in tune with the Piper at the Gates of Dawn.
Top photo : Chitty Chitty Bang Bang takes flight. (photo by Ian Ibbetson).
Bottom photo. Ashley Brown as Mary Poppins. (photo by Joan Marcus.)
Comments