Chicago Lifestyle Podcast & Video Blog
This is a film review of “The Light of Truth: Richard Hunt’s Monument to Ida B. Wells following the Chicago artist’s creation of a monument to the civil right champion and woman’s suffrage leader. The film premiered at the 60th Annual Chicago International Film Festival …
The Chicago premiere of Amélie the Musical by Kokandy Productions based on the popular motion picture is a highly recommended musical mosaic, composed by Daniel Messe, whose colorful jagged pieces eventually come together into an enjoyable if not perfectly clear image. Not a musical in …
Buddha’s Birthday, is a story of academic prejudice and unresolved anxiety written by Amy Crider produced by Lucid Theater at The Edge Theater, 5451 N. Broadway, Chicago through August 17, 2025. Run time 2 hours with no intermission. Visit www.lucidtheater.com for tickets and more information. I recommend this to those who enjoy intelligent dialog with a good dose of humor and self reflection.
In Sentinels by Marilyn Campbell-Lowe a group of super smart mid-century co-eds poised to enter positions of power vow to use their influence to see to it that more women have a seat at the table where big decisions are being made. Sentinels is at Theo Ubique Cabaret Theater, 721 Howard Street, Evanston through August 10, 2025. Runtime is 75 minutes with no intermission. Visit https://theo-u.com for information. The cast of Sentinels includes: Arwen-Vira Marsh, Dani Pike, Joryhebel Ginorio, Sophia G. Dennis, Maliha Sayed and Anne Sheridan-Smith.
Tom & Eliza is a fairly brilliant example of absurdist theater written by Celine Song, expertly directed by Aileen Wen McGroddy and beautifully performed by Clifton Frei as Tom and Seoyoung Park as Eliza. EXTENDED: TOM & ELIZA will take a two-week hiatus after its …
Podcast review of FOREVER PLAID by Reno Lovison. Presented by MadKap Productions at Skokie Theater, the performance is reminiscent of a nightclub act from the fifties channeling the sounds of singing groups like the Four Freshmen, Four Aces or The Crew Cuts. * * *EXTENDED …
MadKap Productions live up to their name in this production of Stephen Sondheim’s ridiculous musical “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” at the Skokie Theatre outside Chicago, directed by Wayne Mell.
The story ostensibly takes place in ancient Rome spoofing the absurdities of life, particularly romance and sex then and now. Using broad humor, slapstick shtick and endless innuendo this is very much like an extended skit, with music, that might have been performed at a Catskill’s resort.
Listen to this entire podcast review by Reno Lovison.
This is indeed madcap humor and a lot of good old fashioned nonsensical fun.
Skokie Theater has a summer vacation vibe making it a comfortable casual night out for those with easy access to the North Shore community.
Featuring Ed Rutherford as Pseudolus, with Mark Anderson, Erin Renee Baumrucker, Aidan Espinosa, Owen Espinosa, Beth Fine, Katie Kotila, Daniel Leahy, Emily Lewis, Tyler Lord, Max Perkel, Mitchell Shaw, Gayle Starr, Anna Rose Steinmeyer, Jubilee Tai, Raymond Cam Truong and Andrew Buel as Hysterium.
Directed by Wayne Mell. Music Direction by Jeremy Ramey.
Choreography by Abby Glaws.
I recommend making an effort to see “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” by MadKap Productions at the Skokie Theatre, 7924 N. Lincoln Ave., Skokie, IL playing through August 3, 2025. For tickets visit SkokieTheatre.org or call 847-677-7761
Highly recommended. Extended through August 3, 2025 Tragic, hilarious, loud, energetic, fun and heartwarming, The Color Purple on stage at Goodman Theatre is nearly three hours of nonstop entertainment featuring an outrageously talented cast. Full Company of The Color Purple The Musical (in alphabetical order)Directed …
Steppenwolf Theatre Company, concludes its 49th Season with Noah Diaz’s whimsical, wild, unpredictable and deeply moving Chicago premiere of You Will Get Sick, directed by Artistic Director Audrey Francis extended through July 20, 2025 in Steppenwolf’s Downstairs Theater, 1650 N. Halsted St. in Chicago. Tickets …
A laugh-out-loud comical attack of geopolitical humor invades Lookingglass Theater in “Iraq but Funny.” Playwright / performer Astra Asdou recalls the history of the Assyrian people through this semi-autobiographical story of five generations of the women in her family.
The production has an improvisational vibe, brilliantly directed by Dalia Ashurina.
Asdou herself skillfully takes on the persona of a ridiculous, uniformed, pith helmet wearing, mustachioed British army officer who in a stand-up comedy style acts as narrator.
Four other actors (Susaan Jamshidi, Gloria Imseih Petrelli, James Rana, Sina Pooresmaeil ) rotate through multiple roles, presenting a series of vignettes that ultimately reveal, the more things change the more they remain the same.
Highly Recommended.
The ultimate court jester, Asdou reveals how absurd those in power appear when viewed from a distance.
Iraq, But Funny, at Lookingglass Theater through July 20,2025 in Water Tower Water Works at Michigan Ave., 163 E. Pearson St., Chicago. Running time is 2 and a half hours with one 15 minute intermission. Lookingglasstheater.org
Feeling controlled by outside forces, two people on the opposite ends of life are each trying to manage their own destiny in the Chicago Premiere of Charles Smith’s “Golden Leaf Ragtime Blues” at American Blues Theater. Isolation is a concern that often goes unaddressed. Details: …
The world premiere of Neighborhood Watch at Jackalope Theatre is a humorous look at what can happen when curiosity leads to suspicion. Recommended. “There is a lot to enjoy in this sitcom style production that relies heavily on broad humor and predictable stereotypes.” Written by …
What if robots take over the world? What would be their relationship to humans? Would it be a carefree utopia with happy automatons cheerfully laboring away while people enjoy a life of leisure or will the robots develop ideas and aspirations of their own, eventually viewing their human creators as archaic inferior predecessors, in-fact outdated models?
This is the concept behind Bo List’s R.U.R. a world premiere production, freely adapted from the play Rossum’s Universal Robots by Karel Capek, directed by Brian Pastor, at City Lit Theatre, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Chicago (on the second floor of the historic Edgewater Presbyterian Church) through June 15, 2025. Running time is 2 hours with a 10-minute intermission. For tickets and information visit www.citylit.org or phone 773-293-3682.
Highly recommended lighthearted with a sense of urgency. – Reno Lovison