Spotlight on Reviews

**** Recommended **** Watching “Dear Evan Hansen” is a gut-wrenching experience. It’s like watching a train wreck – you know it’s coming so you just sit back and wait for the fall out. On the other hand, it’s a hauntingly beautiful musical about a troubled teen complete with redemption in the end. By the way, the actor who plays Evan Hansen, Ben Levi Ross, has a gorgeous voice! In case you haven’t figured it out, I thought it was magnificent, and I’ll even admit to a tear or two, too. 4 BIG Spotlights

**** Highly Recommended **** There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the Paramount Theatre has a huge hit with “The Producers”, the outrageously funny musical based on Mel Brooks’ 1968 Academy Award winning black and white cult classic film. An outrageous plot, fast-paced dialogue, clever lyrics, slapstick comedy, pratfalls and sight gags, guarantee you’ll love this show. No matter how many times I’ve seen “The Producers”, it always makes me laugh. It’s totally worth the drive to Aurora. 4 BIG Spotlights.

**** Highly Recommended **** Are you a fan of old-fashioned thrillers? I’m not talking about the stories about monsters that go bump in the night. I’m talking about stories with a slow build-up leading, leading, leading to some kind of a terrifying incident. You know, stories about odd people or eerie happenings, punctuated with sudden noises or shriek-y music which makes you gasp out loud. I love those stories, so I loved “The Woman in Black”, which made London audiences “shriek in fear for 30 years”. 4 BIG Spotlights

*** Recommended *** After a couple of weeks off, I always look forward to Pegasus Theatre’s Young Playwrights Festival which is almost always the first theatrical opening of the year.  This is a chance to see the future of Chicago theater – maybe the future of American theater.  If you go, you’ll see three very different plays written by three young women who happen to be all high school students so you also get some insight into the things on kids’ minds.  3 Spotlights