Spotlight on Reviews

**** Recommended **** “Falsettos” is an unusual musical in that it defies classification.  It’s about the angst-ridden lives of six New Yorkers, but it’s not annoying – at least most of the time.  It has funny bits, but it’s not a comedy.  It has really sad bits, but it’s not a tragedy. The entire script is sung, but it’s not an opera or even an operetta.  It’s actually a musical soap opera about “homosexuals with children”, but it’s also a beautiful musical experience sung by six outstanding voices.  4 Spotlights 

**** Highly Recommended **** I was delighted when I read that Teatro Vista was restaging “La Havana Madrid”, this time at the Den Theatre.  Sandra Delgado’s well-researched play about La Havana Madrid, a nightclub which was located on the second floor of a building on the corner of Belmont and Sheffield, melds the sounds of mambo and salsa with some of the stories of the people of all ages who frequented the club.  “La Havana Madrid” is in my top ten favorite shows of all time!  4 BIG Spotlights 

****HIGHLY RECOMMENDED**** What a joy it is to have the supremely talented director David Cromer back at Writers Theatre. The North Shore native, who has been living in New York City for the past decade, returns to direct his sixth show (but the first in the new Writers Theatre building) with a touching and simply sensational rendering of the 2009 musical "Next to Normal." Chicagoland audiences once again have a chance to see the very special magic that a director as gifted as Cromer can bring to a show, and all of this only a year after Cromer's Broadway production of the musical "The Band's Visit" swept the 2018 Tony Awards ceremony, winning Cromer the coveted Best Director trophy.  4 SPOTLIGHTS

Highly Recommended **** Sometimes, I just can’t get to our local theaters on opening weekend, even though that’s always my preference.  Excuses, excuses, you might say, but I really couldn’t see the Towle Theater’s production of “Mama’s Boy” until later in the run.  On the other hand, I was there for a Talk-Back session with the cast, crew, and playwright, Rob Urbinati, who’d flown in from New York to see the show.  I wish I could have gotten this review written before the show closed, because it was so very well done.  Maybe because I remember watching Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvey Oswald on live TV, this play really resonated for me.  4 Spotlights