Spotlight on Reviews

**** Highly Recommended **** My friend Helen said that “Million Dollar Quartet” was 90 minutes of pure joy. It’s definitely an evening of in-your-face rock and roll. While Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley are rockin’ on Marriott’s intimate stage, audiences are rockin’ right along with them! “Million Dollar Quartet” is a blast from the past! 4 BIG Spotlights

****HIGHLY RECOMMENDED**** If you are a fan of classic operas presented in a very traditional manner and incorporating a mostly conventional approach to the narrative, then the current production of Lyric's "La traviata" is a must-see. Giuseppe Verdi's 1853 work, which is far and away the most romantic of his numerous creations, remains one of the most beloved and frequently performed operas in the repertoire of all of the major houses throughout the world. Verdi, working with a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave (the two men had an intense personal connection and are responsible for numerous successful operas) has taken the themes of disease and love and loss and forged them with a somewhat scathing critique of Parisian society's mores. The result is a timeless and powerfully beautiful achievement. 4 BIG SPOTLIGHTS

**** Recommended **** Windy City Playhouse’s production of “Noises Off” is getting big laughs. That’s because it’s a very funny play within a play in which a cast of second rate British actors is rehearsing/performing “Nothing On,” a lame comedy featuring mistaken identities, slamming doors, pratfalls, a pretty girl in her underwear and sardines. Playing comedy, particularly farce, requires split second timing – and the ability to take a fall – and this cast is brilliant. No matter how many times I’ve seen “Noises Off”, it always makes me laugh! 4 BIG Spotlights

***RECOMMENDED*** One of the characters in Aaron Carter's latest play "Swamp Baby" expressively states that, looking back upon one's own life, it's possible to reflect that is was all just a "convulsion of memory." This is posited by a man who, purported to be a physician yet perhaps without the credentials to prove it, seems to be more interested in the eccentricities of the human body than the pain and secrets contained within the human heart. Carter, the local writer whose work has allows been informed by his fascination with magic, sideshows and the circus, has fashioned a hauntingly poetic work detailing capitalistic gain versus scientific advancements as well as themes of miscegenation and one which allows us to embrace the sometimes unpleasant sensation of what it must feel like to be an outsider looking in. Under Lauren "LL" Lundy's sympathetic yet focused direction, this world premiere presented by MPAACT at The Greenhouse Theatre Center is radiant. 3 SPOTLIGHTS