Recent production doesn’t quite capture spirit of the original


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A Chorus Line set itself up for easy billboard praise the moment the lyric “one singular sensation” was included in its signature song, and when it opened on Broadway in 1975, that’s exactly what the musical deserved to be called. Picking up nearly every award that mattered, including a Pulitzer Prize and an embarrassment of […]

Females stand out in latest Chicago production


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“Hello, suckers!” cries Terra C. MacLeod’s sultry Velma Kelly at the beginning of Chicago’s second act. She’s speaking, of course, to us, the audience, and we chuckle because we know she’s right. Chicago — in ways far slinkier and shadier than we might originally think or expect — makes suckers of us all, and it’s […]

Colorful musical theater at its most interactive


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Theater is immersion. So when some chump a few rows over is making moment-killing noises during a show — whether that’s pneumonic coughs or ill-timed whoops of praise — standard protocol is to give them the stink eye. I have never known an exception to this rule. I like my theaters kept relatively silent, especially […]

Student production distorts time and morality


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Theater is definitely not entertainment for the everyday person that enjoys a good story. It’s more for an audience that appreciates the art of acting and enjoys a live performance, in addition to a good story. Unlike most untrained screen actors, theater actors have a deep love for the stage where they are able to […]

In Theaters Today


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The Lovely Bones: Peter Jackson helms his first project since 2005’s King Kong with this adaptation of Alice Sebold’s best-selling novel. Saoirse Ronan, fresh off her Oscar-nominated performance in Atonement, plays a murdered girl who attempts to communicate with her family from beyond the grave. The Spy Next Door: Borrowing its thematic elements from Vin […]