Category: Performing Arts

Theater Review: ‘This Beautiful Future’: Where Every Moment Is Precious

September 30, 2022
"This Beautiful Future"Arts & CultureAustin PendletonBrightFrancesca CarpaniniPerforming ArtsUly Schlesinger
0 Comment

NEW YORK—”The heart wants what the heart wants.” A time-worn cliché to be sure, but one all too true in Rita Kalnejais’s “This Beautiful Future” at the Cherry Lane Theatre. The play is a somber and surprisingly touching drama about the possibilities love can bring. The story takes place in August of 1944, in a…

Read More

Theater Review: ‘Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski’

September 24, 2022
"Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski"Arts & CultureBrightClark YoungDerek GoldmanJan KarskiLife & TraditionPerforming Arts
0 Comment

NEW YORK—Polish immigrant and Holocaust survivor Jan Karski (David Strathairn) may have thought of himself as “an insignificant little man,” but as “Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski” makes clear, he was far more. Written by Clark Young and Derek Goldman, who also doubles as the director, this one-person show at the Polonsky Shakespeare…

Read More

Theater Review: ‘Fiddler on the Roof’: A Grand Production of a Breathtaking Musical

September 22, 2022
Arts & CultureBarrie KoskyBrightfiddler on the roofJerry BockKomische Oper BerlinLife & TraditionPerforming Arts
0 Comment

CHICAGO—Enthralling, spellbinding, exceptional, extraordinary, remarkable, breathtaking! There aren’t enough adjectives to describe this incredible revival of “Fiddler on the Roof.” Based on Sholem Aleichem’s stories about Jewish life in the Pale of Settlement of Imperial Russia around 1905, “Fiddler on the Roof” was initially not well received by investors who were discouraged by the show…

Read More

Theater Review: ‘Ernani’: Early Verdi Opera Resonates With Male Voices

September 14, 2022
"Ernani"Arts & CultureBrightGiuseppe VerdiLyric Opera of ChicagoPerforming ArtsVictor Hugo
0 Comment

CHICAGO—With “Ernani,” Verdi’s fifth opera, his fame took a giant leap. The opera premiered in Venice in 1844, and then went on to world stages in London, Paris, and New York, making the Italian composer an international superstar in his own time. Based on the Victor Hugo play, “Hernani,” with the libretto by Francesco Maria…

Read More

Theater Review: ‘Murder on the Orient Express’: Agatha Christie’s Famous Mystery Comes Alive

September 11, 2022
Agatha ChristieArts & CultureBrightDrury Lane TheatreLarry YandoLife & TraditionMurder on the Orient ExpressPerforming Arts
0 Comment

OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill.—When Agatha Christie’s first novel was accepted by a publisher, he signed her to an exploitive five-novel deal for a pittance. The publisher believed that Christie was good for only a few books and thought after the five-book deal nothing would be heard from her again. It was the biggest publishing mistake in…

Read More

Theater Review: ‘Two Jews, Talking’: The More Things Change—

September 2, 2022
"Two JewsArts & CultureBernie KopellBrightEd. WeinbergerHal LindenPerforming Artstalking
0 Comment

NEW YORK—With a title that just begs for a punchline, “Two Jews, Talking” is exactly that. It’s also about two Jews kvetching, debating, discussing, questioning, and eventually being able to find a common ground in a changing world. This two-person, two-scene, world premiere comedy by Ed. Weinberger perfectly fits the term “lightweight,” yet still carries…

Read More

Theater Review: ‘Into the Woods’: What Happens When You Get What You Wish For?

August 27, 2022
Arts & CultureBrian d'Arcy JamesBrightInto the WoodsJames LapineLife & TraditionPerforming ArtsStephen Sondheim
0 Comment

NEW YORK—Every action has consequences, even if those consequences may not be felt until years later. This is the underlying message in the 1987 musical “Into the Woods,” as Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics) and James Lapine (book) examine just what happens after “happily ever after.” This latest revival is moving to Broadway after a…

Read More

Theater Review: ‘Zorro: The Musical’: An Enchanting Night of Swordplay and Heel-Clicking Flamenco

August 17, 2022
"Zorro: The Musical"Adrian Abel AzevedoArts & CultureBrightPerforming ArtsSpanish Flamenco
0 Comment

SKOKIE, Ill.—“Superman” was created by Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster in 1938, and “Batman” by Bob Kane and Bill Finger in 1939. But before there were modern superheroes, there was Zorro, the black-caped hero who fought for justice in a tyrannical world. Cisco Lopez as Diego/Zorro (L) faces Emmanuel Ramirez as Ramon in “Zorro:…

Read More

Theater Review: ‘The Kite Runner’: Coming to Terms With the Past

August 3, 2022
Arts & CultureBrightPerforming ArtsThe Kite Runnertheater review
0 Comment

NEW YORK—”There is a way to be good again” is the most telling phrase uttered during the Broadway drama “The Kite Runner.” Adapted by Matthew Spangler and based on Khaled Hosseini’s best-selling novel, the show is an involving, if somewhat flawed, tale of friendship, betrayal, familial relationships and rivalry, and class distinctions. In 1975, Amir…

Read More

Theater Review: ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’

July 26, 2022
"A Midsummer Night's Dream"Arts & CultureBrightMidsommer FlightPerforming ArtsPuckWilliam Shakespeare
0 Comment

Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is supposed to take place as a dream on a summer night in a wooded forest, so it’s befitting that Midsomer Flight is presenting the comedy in a park setting during mid-summer. What could be more appropriate than watching the laugh-filled fantasy of love gone awry among the verdant trees,…

Read More