This weekend, Barcelona becomes the stage for a royal revolution as Six: The Musical makes its highly anticipated debut at the Teatre Coliseum.
Running from April 24 to May 11, 2025, this West End sensation reimagines the six wives of Henry VIII as pop divas, each telling her story in a high-energy, 90-minute concert-style show.
Performed in English with subtitles in Catalan and Spanish, Six offers a fresh, feminist take on Tudor history, blending humor, empowerment, and a chart-topping soundtrack.
Six The Global Phenomenon Lands in Barcelona
Since its inception, Six has garnered over 35 international awards, including two Tony Awards, and has been performed simultaneously in six cities across four continents. Its soundtrack has surpassed a billion streams, featuring songs inspired by pop icons like Beyoncé, Shakira, and Lizzo. The musical’s creators, Lucy Moss and Toby Marlow, have been lauded for their innovative approach, with Moss becoming the youngest female director on Broadway and Marlow being the first non-binary Tony Award winner.
Experience the Queens Live
At the Teatre Coliseum, audiences will witness Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr take the mic to share their stories. Backed by a live band, each queen delivers a powerful performance that challenges historical narratives and celebrates female resilience. The show’s modern staging and vibrant costumes add to the electrifying atmosphere, making it a must-see event.
Secure Your Tickets
Don’t miss this limited-time engagement in Barcelona. The show runs from April 24-May 11 at the Colisseum Theatre (Gran Vía de les Corts Catalanes, 595, BARCELONA BARCELONA)
Tickets are available through the official site, balanaenviu.com, with prices starting from €44. For group bookings, discounts of up to 30% are offered for parties of 10 or more.
Experience the empowering stories of these historical queens as they reclaim their narratives in a show that’s as entertaining as it is enlightening. Join the revolution at the Teatre Coliseum—Six is here to reign!
We saw West Side Story at a matinee production last week at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and it was very well done. It was well worth seeing.
The musical is itself a re-telling of the story of Romeo and Juliet, set in New York in the 1930's, and adding a Latino/whites race war element.
It's one of the top musicals ever, with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Steven Sondheim and the book by Arthur Laurents.
This production is extra special, as it is a revival of the direction and choreography of Jerome Robbins, classic ballet and musical director.
Here's the promo reel.
As can be expected from the Lyric the voices were rich, the sets were well done, and the music was exceedingly well-played. The choreography was great (although my 10 year old son complained that the fight scenes were too dancy, but that was exactly Robbins point-- to use ballet in the fight scenes and to make them graceful.) Our modern sensibility demands realism, but when this production was first created in the late 1950's that was not the case.
Mikaela Bennet as Maria and Corey Cott as Tony. Photo courtesy of Lyric Opera website.
The thing that blew me away about this production was the acting. While I do expect the sets to be sumptuously designed and the voices to be great, the acting at the Lyric is not always up to snuff. And of course the songs are all great and recognizable. GET THE SOUNDTRACK ON AMAZON.
The beautiful voices often carry the acting. In this case, the acting is phenomenal, especially of the four main characters (Tony and Maria, the star crossed lovers (played by Corey Cott and Mikaela Bennett), and her brother Bernardo (Manual Stark-Santos)and his lover Anita (Amanda Castro.)
Usually when I've seen either this play or R and J (or really, any star-crossed lovers play) the lovers are seen as tragic figures, and their love is usually solemn. When Tony and Maria meet at the dress shop where she works, they are both positively giddy with love. They are loopy-- you can see the effect that their love has on them, and it shows. I 100% bought their love, (and when they start pretending that the dress forms are their parents, and what they'll say about each other, it's magical.) This sets up the whole set of strange optimistic bad decisions that they make.
Likewise, when Anita storms into Maria's room looking for Tony (he has just left) she immediately goes to the window to find him. When she turns around, she is angry and sad and she sings:
A boy like that who'd kill your brother Forget that boy and find another One of your own kind Stick to your own kind
A boy like that wants one thing only And when he's done he'll leave you lonely He'll murder your love, he murdered mine, just wait and see Just wait, Maria, just wait and see
I had chills.
Bernardo didn't have a stand out scene per se, but he commanded every scene that he was in, and embodied that young male rage and sense of injustice. He sings, he dances, he acts. He is great!
In this production, it is clear that the cops and the Jets have it in for him and his gang, and his outrage and anger are palpable throughout.
That leads me to the other point about this musical, is that its themes of racism, antagonism, and xenophobia still ring true 70 years later. Not sure if that points out that people haven't changed that much or that we just still have a long way to go as a society before "Justice For All" becomes a reality.
For all these reasons, I highly recommend seeing the show before it closes on June 2.
Performances run through June 2, 2019 at the Lyric Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive, Chicago. Tickets are on sale now starting at $29 and can be purchased at lyricopera.org/wss or by calling 312-827-5600.
West Side Story is a coproduction with Houston Grand Opera and Glimmerglass Festival.
We saw the touring production of Fiddler on the Roof at the Cadillac Palace Theatre (now through January 6, 2019) and it is really great.
When seeing a classic show like this, the quality of the story and the songs are already a known item. It's the execution of it that makes all the difference, and in this case, the music is strong, the actors are great, and the choreography is outstanding. The video below says it's fresh and exciting, and this is truth in advertising. It's well worth seeing.
The opening of the show was particularly exciting for me.
Yehezkel Lazarov as Tevye
photo by Joan Marcus
Israeli actor Yehezkel Lazarov plays Tevye, and he appears on the stage wearing what appears to be a hoodie. He starts by reading a few lines from a book, and as he reads I'm wondering what's going on. This isn't part of the play. He's reading what appears to be the first few lines of the book on which Fiddler is based Tevye the Dairyman by Sholom Aleichem (well worth reading if you haven't).
As he finishes reading, the song Tradition starts up, and he pulls down his hoodie and it turns into a prayer shawl. And we are onto the musical! But the stage is completely blank, and the characters (the mommas, the poppas, the sons, the daughters, etc.) all appear from behind these door panels that are quickly carried on and off via choreography. The dancing is all very physical and kind of quirky, and there's almost no set, and I am entranced! It's a completely non-traditional way to do this song, which is ironic because the song is Tradition. The empty stage and the panels appearing remind of Peter Brook, and the dancing is like Merce Cunningham, and I am super excited. I wonder if the whole production is going to be like this. And how daring that would be!
The song ends, there's rousing applause, and then the sets fly in, and to my slight disappointment they are pretty traditional-- a house and a tree. And they look like a house and a tree. I am not disappointed for long, as the production values are high, and the production itself is great. The dancing throughout is exceptional, and all of the cast members do a fantastic job of making the play memorable.
A traditional bottle dance as part of the Wedding. Photo by Joan Marcus.
Photo via Instagram
The show is full of classic comedy moments and great songs. I particularly loved all of Tevye's asides to God, or asides to the audience. SPOILER ALERT (but really, you don't know the story? It's been since 1964!) In the first act, Tevye convinces his wife that he dreamed a bad omen, and his daughter can't marry the butcher. The dream is fantastic, with weird stilt people dancing around, and with lights, sound and dance they create a very realistic nightmare. His wife is convinced. Later, his second daughter wants to marry a poor student, and Tevye finally agrees, saying that he will convince his wife Goldie somehow. He then turns to the audience and says, "Another dream?" It got a huge response.
In this rendition of If I Were A Rich Man, you can see how well they get the feeling of a daydream which really got the daydream feeling "What would I do if I won the lottery!" (video via Instagram)
There's also a lot of sadness in the show. The Jewish community is eventually forced out of the little town of Anatevka, and the family gets ready to move to America. I realized that this might have very well been my ancestor's story. My great great grandparents came to America in the 1870's fleeing the Russian pogroms. It touched me in a way that I hadn't realized, despite the fact that I have seen different productions of the show three or four times.
The music and acting are great, the dancing is phenomenal, and the story is a classic. You should definitely not miss this production!
Here's another montage of the show through the FiddlerBroadway Instagram. (Which by the way, has a lot of great behind the scenes content.)
The show runs at the Cadillac Palace Theatre (151 W. Randolph) through January 6, 2019.
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
Tuesdays at 7:30PM (no performance on Dec. 25)
Wednesdays at 2:00PM & 7:30PM (no matinee performance on Dec. 19)
Thursdays at 7:30PM
Fridays at 7:30PM
Saturdays at 2:00PM & 8:00PM
Sundays at 2:00PM and 7:30PM (no evening performance on Jan. 6)
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets are currently on-sale to the public and range in price from $25-$98. Discounts for the show ($39-$79) are available on Goldstar. (affiliate link)
We saw Caroline or Change last week at the Den Theatre and it is fantastic.
It runs through October 28 at the Den Theatre in Wicker Park.
The show, is a collaboration between two companies: Firebrand Theatre company, which is a musical theatre company committed to empowering and employing women theatre artists on and off the stage.Their partners in this project, Timeline Theatre has as its mission to present stories inspired by history that connect with today's social and political issues. The show is itself sponsored by Michael and Mona Heath of the HeathFund who are sponsoring the entire Firebrand season. (Now that's philanthropy!)
Rashada Dawan (Caroline) (front) with Emma Sipora Tyler and Tyler Symone(Radio singers) in Firebrand Theatre and TimeLine Theatre Company's production of CAROLINE, OR CHANGE directed by Lili-Anne Brown. Photo by Marisa KM.
For both their purposes, this play could not be better. Set in Lake Charles, Lousiana at the end of 1963, the show tells the story of Caroline Thibodeaux, a black woman, mother of four, and the maid to a wealthy Jewish family. They are in fact so wealthy that their house is one of the few in the area that actually has a basement.
(As is explained in the lobby timeline, much of Port Charles is below sea level, so having a basement is mostly not practical.)
The play deals with racism, classism, the upcoming civil rights movement, and lots more. It's also a play about parenting and growing up. The show was written by Tony Kushner, author of Angels In America, and has an autobiographical bent It's also a musical-- well, musical is the wrong word-- it's more like a gospel opera, with lots of songs throughout, but also many sung lines that aren't really songs, but fit into the world that the theatre artists have created. The music was written by Jeanine Tesori, who also wrote the music for Fun Home.
Rashada Dawan (Caroline) and Alejandro Medina (Noah)in Firebrand Theatre and TimeLine Theatre Company's production of CAROLINE, OR CHANGE, directed by Lili-Anne Brown. Photo by Marisa KM.
The show centers on the relationship between Caroline and the family she serves. There are some absurdist elements in the show (the father is never seen without his clarinet, there are three characters who play various characters from the radio, there are a few dreams that come to life, and even the Washing Machine and Dryer are humorously voiced. (and played with reckless abandon.)
Rashada Dawan (Caroline) and Blair Robertson(Rose)in Firebrand Theatre and TimeLine Theatre Company's production of CAROLINE, OR CHANGE, directed by Lili-Anne Brown. Photo by Marisa KM.
Every actor in the show is terrific, but special kudos have to go the lead. played by Rashada Dawan. From the moment she enters the stage, she inhabits the role, foot tired, bone tired, doing laundry and menial tasks in the very hot basement in the middle of the deep South. Her voice is stellar, her acting is phenomenal, and her ability to display the love and hate that she has for her employers are palpable.
I'd like to shout out everyone in the cast, but I have to especially mention Alejandro Medina, who is 12 or 13 years old and handles himself like the professional actor he will one day be. He's a great singer and dancer, but his ability to project his character and stay in the scene with the other actors was really wonderful. I also thought that Micheal Lovette, who plays the Bus/Dryer was funny, moving, and has a tremendous voice. And Blair Robertson who plays the mother Rose does a great job as well. She's not Noah's mom, she's a step-mom, and she plays that awkwardness perfectly.
I also want to shout out the live band, who plays gospel, klezmer, show tunes, and just about everything else perfectly. They are out of sight, underneath the stage, but you know they are working it. They sound fantastic.
There's a moment in the play where Caroline has to make a decision. Her employer, Rose Gellman (played by Blair Robertson) is trying to teach her son Noah (Alejandro Medina) a lesson about responsibility (and assuage a little white liberal guilt.) She tells Noah that if he leaves change in his pockets, then Caroline gets to keep it. Caroline generally ignores this change, but one day she finds a much more substantial amount in his pocket. Can she keep that? What will that money mean for her family? And for her relationship with the Gellmans? This moral dilemma is at the heart of the play, and
Micheal Lovette as the Dryer and Rashada Dawan as Caroline in Firebrand Theatre and TimeLine Theatre Company's production of CAROLINE, OR CHANGE, directed by Lili-Anne Brown. Photo by Marisa KM.
The show also has a large Jewish element. At Channukah, Rose's dad comes up from New York. He's a civil rights activist, and is predicting and fomenting for revolution and change. Caroline's daughter (helping to serve that night) is taken to task for engaging with him and talking about Dr. King.
The Gellman family at Chanukkah with the grandparents. Blair Robertson, Jonathan Schwart, Rosalind Hurwitz, Kevin M. Grubb, Michael Kingston and Alejandro Medinain Firebrand Theatre and TimeLine Theatre Company's production of CAROLINE, OR CHANGE, directed by Lili-Anne Brown. Photo by Marisa KM.
In short, this play is well worth seeing and you should definitely see it before it goes away. It will entertain you, make you think, and will give you new awe for the power of voice and words to move emotions.
WHEN: The show runs Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 3 pm through October 28 WHERE: The Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee in the Wicker Park neighborhood. COST: Tickets are $45 each, with student and industry rush tickets available day of at the box office (if available) Tickets can be purchased (and more information can be had) on http://www.firebrandtheatrre.org
What do you get when you mix the members of the cast of three hit musicals, all performing their favorite songs on the same stage? Some would say the best of all worlds!
If you are in that group, you should know that members of the national touring companies of WICKED and BEAUTIFUL – THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL, as well as the HAMILTON Chicago company members, are combining efforts for charity.
The cabaret, entitled “We Three Shows: A Broadway Holiday Benefit,” is produced by the company members themselves, and will benefit two charities: Chicago House & Social Service Agency and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
The benefit will take place at Thalia Hall (1807 South Allport Street) on Monday, December 11, 2017 at 7:30PM. Doors open at 6:00PM for VIP ticketed guests and 7:00PM for general admission.
General Admission tickets are available for $65 (main floor) and $85 (balcony seating). VIP tickets are available for $150 and include a pre-show reception with the performers at 6:00PM, reserved premier seating, catered light hors d’oeuvres, and complimentary drinks. A limited number of premium opera boxes are available for $550 which includes seating for six at the foot of the stage.
The evening will include a live auction featuring backstage tours – including costuming, makeup and “watching from the wings” opportunities, performance tickets, and an opportunity for walk on roles. You can also expect a lot of great songs sung by the cast members (although sadly, there will be no mashup entitled Wicked Beautiful Hamilton, about a sincere green-skinned patriot trying to change the world by writing songs about a mythical place called America. (I wish!)
Net proceeds raised from the benefit will support adults and children living with HIV/AIDS as well as those at risk for HIV through wraparound services provided by Chicago House, including housing, employment services, medical linkage and retention, and prevention services.
ABOUT THE BENEFICIARIES
Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDSis one of the nation’s leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations. By drawing upon the talents, resources, and generosity of the American theatre community, since 1988 BC/EFA has raised more than $300 million for essential services for people with AIDS and other critical illnesses across the United States.
Chicago House and Social Service Agency has been on the forefront of reducing barriers for those affected by HIV/AIDS since the early years of the epidemic. Founded in 1985, Chicago House was the first HIV housing provider in the Midwest. Chicago House provides integrated programs inclusive of housing, employment services, medical linkage and retention services, HIV prevention services, trans specific services, and supportive programming to those who are disenfranchised by HIV/AIDS, LGBTQ marginalization, poverty, homelessness, and/or gender nonconformity.
ABOUT THE SHOWS
WICKED is at the Oriental Theatre (24 W. Randolph) now through January 21, 2018.
Returning to Chicago by popular demand, BEAUTIFUL – THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL plays through January 28, 2018 at the Cadillac Palace Theatre (151 W. Randolph).
HAMILTON is currently playing at the CIBC Theatre (18 W. Monroe) with tickets on sale for performances through September 2, 2018.
Tickets for all three shows are available at their respective theatre box offices, the Broadway In Chicago Ticket Line (800-775-2000) and online at www.BroadwayInChicago.com.
We saw Aladdin last week as part of my son's perfect day. Since then, I realized I haven't reviewed it!
To make a long story short: It's awesome and you should definitely see it!
And here's the rest of the story.
Aladdin the musical has a pretty hard job-- it has to take a beloved animated musical, full of all kinds of crazy special effects, cartoon animals, pitch perfect and very distinctive songs (Hello, Robin Williams as the Genie!), and a pretty strong love story, and turn it into a live in front of you Broadway Musical.
It does it, and more. I think it does a great job of transforming the movie into a Broadway show, and a Broadway show that is appealing to lots of different people.
Here's a clip to give you an idea of the all out Broadway glitziness of the show. (This clip is from the musical's website, and contains some of the New York actors)
In Chicago, the lead actor Aladdin is played by Adam Jacobs, the same person who opened the show on Broadway. He is fabulous, as are all of the actors in the Chicago production.
I'd be remiss not to mention four of the actors by name:
Jonathan Weir as Jafar. The perfect villain!
• Isabella McCalla, who does an amazing job as Princess Jasmine, managing to be sexy, childlike, brash, and spunky all at the same time. We can see why Aladdin falls in love with her.
•Jonathan Weir as Jafar, who has a thundering voice, and can turn on a dime to be overly obsequious and imperious.
•Reggie DeLeon as Iago, who absolutely kills it as Iago, the bloodthirsty henchman. He is hilarious, and didn't quite steal every scene he was in, but made me want to see a whole play just about Iago.
•Anthony Murphy as the Genie, who also kills every scene he was in. He had particularly big shoes to fill, both substituting for Robin Williams (the movie Genie) and James Monroe Iglehart, who won the Tony for his original portrayal of the Genie and is now moving to Hamilton to become Lafayette/Jefferson. Murphy does stuff his own way, and it works! He's funny, real, and makes the part his own.
Here's a video clip of the end of the knockout song Friend Like Me. After this number there was a standing ovation for about a minute before people sat down. In fact, that might be my one quibble, after this song, they should have just had the intermission, but instead there's a a finale song that does nothing but simmer down the audience.
I mentioned earlier that they made some adaptations to make it better and more suitable for Broadway
In the movie, Aladdin has a pet monkey Abu, and Jafar has his pet parrot Iago. Rather than mess around with animatronics, or try to match the movie note for note, the musical wisely casts Iago the parrot as a person and the monkey as three people, Aladdin's best friends.
As I mentioned above, Iago is fantastic, and the three friends and Aladdin get a buddy song "Babkak, Omar, Aladdin, Kassim" (to introduce themselves to us (and it's where Jasmine and Aladdin meet for the first time) During the song they sing about their unbreakable friendship, as well as repeating their names a bunch of times for people who might be saying "But they are not in the movie!" . (As Princess Jasmine later notes in the show, "I know your name, you sang it like 50 times!")
Aladdin and Jasmine together for the first time.
From the musical/ story perspective, this works out better than the monkey, both because there's a lot of opportunity for comedy and jokes (I especially liked Babkak, who made a number of funny puns about food during the show) and because it sets up Aladdin not as a weird creepy thief/loner, but as someone with a community who is loved. I think one of the essential problems for Aladdin is always, "He's a criminal, but he's the hero."
By giving him a community to fit into, that makes it easier for us to accept his criminality. It also gives a bigger storyline when Aladdin becomes a Prince, and seems to forget his friends. More is at risk.
There are some special effects including a flying carpet that is nice, but no great shakes. It does give the actors the opportunity to sing their love song "A Whole New World" up in the air, and that was pretty spectacular.
All in all, you should definitely see this show. The show has been extended at least until September 10. This is the first leg of the national tour, so you should see it before it must move. TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets for Aladdin at the Cadillac Palace Theatre range from $44 – $153. In Chicago, tickets are available at all Broadway In Chicago Box Offices (24 W. Randolph St., 151 W. Randolph St., 18 W. Monroe St. and 175 E. Chestnut), the Broadway In Chicago Ticket Line at (800) 775-2000, all Ticketmaster retail locations and online at www.BroadwayInChicago.com.
A select number of Premium Ticket Packages, which include a prime seat location, a commemorative souvenir program and an exclusive merchandise item, are also available for many performances.
Ticket buyers are reminded that Broadway In Chicago theatres and http://www.BroadwayInChicago.com are the only official retail ticket outlets for all performances at the Cadillac Palace Theatre.
Ticket buyers who purchase tickets from a ticket broker or any third party should be aware that Broadway In Chicago is unable to reprint or replace lost or stolen tickets and is unable to contact patrons with information regarding time changes or other pertinent updates regarding the performance.
PLEASE NOTE: this post contains adult content not typical of the rest of my blog. If that kind of stuff is offensive to you, you should probably skip the post.
There's nothing objectionable per se, but I am discussing transgressive behavior, and I do mention porn.
Scroll down to read. Thanks!
This is the Broadway program, not
ours, but ours didn't have an image.
We went on a date night recently to see Hedwig and the Angry Inch. It was a date night at the lovely Oriental Theater, currently on tour and starring Euan Morton as Hedwig, formerly Hansel, a transsexual singer who has had a botched operation (hence the Angry Inch) which is also the name of his/her band, and is now in a liminal state of being simultaneously man and woman physically as well as emotionally and is stalking his former lover/babysittee as he became a national rock sensation.
I'm sad to report that I didn't like the show very much, although I thought it was well acted and well played.
Morton prances around the stage with a lot of energy, has some funny one-liners, as does his now husband, Yitzkak, who is played with a very comic sad sack quality by Hannah Corneau. And the band all does what they do just great.
But the show itself failed in allowing me into the story, and as a result, I was just kind of uninterested in what was going on. I said to my wife after the show that I felt like I was at a rock concert where I didn't know any of the songs. There was a lot of energy, but without a connection, it signified nothing.
Some of that has to do with the architecture. The Oriental Theatre seats 2200 and I was way up in the balcony. I could imagine feeling more involved in a tiny theatre, where the actor was in front of me, sweating on me, getting me involved, where I could get immersed in the show. Part of that was the overly loud sound, the relentless strobe lights, and the set design, which was great for filling this giant theatre with everything except for true connection.
Some of it has to do with me. I can't like every play that's out there, and for whatever reason, I didn't connect/care too much about the story. I'm sure others had a different reaction. The place was full and people were laughing and cheering at the end. I guess I'm just not a Hedwigian.
Tim Curry as Frank N. Furter in Rocky Horror.
On the way back from the theatre, my wife and I had a great conversation about transgressive musicals.
When I was a kid, the thing that turned you on to "alternative lifestyles" was Rocky Horror. It broke the norms of sexual behavior, and as a teen that was what was exciting and forbidden. It opened up (for me) a whole new exciting world that I knew nothing about. I think for the era before me, it might have been Hair that did the same. I think Hedwig was the transgressive musical of the 90's. And maybe 50 Shades was it during the 2000s? (Although as far as I know it is not a musical. Which is a transgression in and of itself!)
Anyway, we started talking about what was going to be transgressive now, when transsexualism and BDSM are mainstream, when Burlesque is available just about everywhere, and when all sorts of lascivious pleasures are available to anyone with half a brain and the gumption to say that they are over 18.
And the fact that kids who are watching hardcore porn have a very misleading idea of what sex is, should be, can be, and what their roles are within it.
Not sure what's transgressive now, but from my experience last night, Hedwig wasn't it.
If you've got a pointer to transgressive musicals/media of 2017, please let me know! (I will not accept urine-soaked video of Donald Trump as an answer!)
Find out more about Hedwig and where it's touring to HERE
We saw The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Night-Time last night at the Oriental Theatre. It was great, and I highly recommend it.
I'd read the book a 100 years long time ago, and remember loving it. The story, about a brilliant boy on the autism spectrum, details the mystery surrounding the suspicious death of a dog, and the aftermath as the main character Christopher solves the problem.
The acting was superb all the way around , and the guy who played the boy was really pretty phenomenal. He's kind of a Youtube star, and he's really quite good and convincing. Most of the ensemble players had worked on the national tour of War Horse. They were a really good ensemble. It makes sense, it's produced in part by the National Theatre of Britain (same as War Horse)
The set and sound design were also amazing. The set, which was like a square grid, had LED lights all over it, and often when he got lost, he could follow his path like his pet rat. And the grid was on the floor as well as the backdrop, and they did all kinds of cool projections.
Here's a video/introduction to the show and some of the technical elements from the creators. (The actor playing Christopher on tour is different than the boy in the video.)
The sound/projection design, when he got lost on his way to the train station was also so good-- a barrage of information and loudness. You got the sense of overwhelming that he felt. There's also a harrowing moment when he is in the train tunnel with the Underground zooming on. The set design was so brilliant for that as well.
I thought the ending of the show was weird-- it kind of didn't end as much as wound down-- but as I recall the book was kind of similar.
I would have loved to have seen this in a small black box theatre-- it would have been much more powerful than seeing it from the top of the giant and ornate Oriental Theatre. Not that we couldn't see, but I feel like the immersive nature of the show would have been so much more powerful. But alas, alack, Broadway touring economics favors giant theaters.
I highly recommend the show (but it ends tonight in Chicago) If you have a chance to see it elsewhere, you should. (Hartford, Pittsburgh, Dallas are the next three stops. Full touring schedule here: http://curiousonbroadway.com/tour.php
We took our 8-year-old son, as we couldn't find a babysitter and we had 3 tickets. It was recommended for age 10 and over, but we figured it would have to work.
For the most part it was fine, although the first line is "Oh fucking shit!" Repeated a bunch of times.
I turned to my wife and said, "Oh no!"
But the language calmed down some. There were still lots of swear words, and some talk of sex. But there was also a lot of comedy and a lot of kindness.
The death of the dog was not shown on stage (although the set does start with a puppet dog with a large fork in it) , and SPOILER ALERT there was a very cute live dog in the show.
Overall, my son liked it and it kept his interest, Hopefully the swearing and the sex-talk went over his head. #badparents.
We saw STOMP last night. It's going to be at the Broadway Playhouse in at Water Tower Place through January 1, 2017.
DISCLOSURE: I received free tickets to attend this event in order to write about it. My review of the show is not influenced by the freeness of the tickets. I take my credibility seriously, and so should you!
The show is stellar. It's been performing on stages pretty much continuously since it opened in 1991. They currently have 4 productions of the show-- a NY show, a London show, a North American tour, and a European tour. They've won numerous awards, been on lots of television shows, and have won the hearts of just about everybody who's ever seen it.
For those who have been living under a rock, STOMP is a percussion show that features 8 performers who bang, hit, slide, and otherwise play on just about everything on stage that ISN'T a percussion instrument. A small sample of what they use in the production include matchboxes, brooms, wooden poles, Zippo lighters, hubcaps, mini-basketballs, plastic tubes, garbage cans, and shopping carts, just to name a few. The performers are immensely skilled, and can pull complex rhythms from just about anything.
Here's a video of the show. PLEASE NOTE: The performers in the current show are different than the ones in the video. Many of the acts/numbers however, are the same.
As you can see from the above video, not only are their rhythms great, their teamwork is also wonderful. They are so in synch with one another that even though they are playing really complicated counterpoints and rhythms , they all manage to stop, start, and switch it up multiple times in one number without missing a (pardon the pun) beat.
The performances here are filled with virtuosity and humor. It's clear these guys (and girls) have been doing the show for a long time, and are expert at it. The interaction between characters and the audience is fantastic.
The show has virtually no words, although there is some grunting. There is a fair amount of call and response from the audience. and our audience was so into it that there was an extended encore.
This is a definite crowd-pleaser kind of show, and I believe that your crowd will be pleased.
It's great for kids of all ages, although probably 6+, as there are LOTS of loud noises that might frighten or startle a less experienced child. This would also make a great date night.
As we left the theatre and took the bus back, all the noises around us - the cars streaming by the bus stop, the little noise the bus stop makes, the horses clacking away in the background-- all started to organize themselves into an amazing STOMP-rhythm of their own.
Tickets for STOMP at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place are on sale now. A select number of premium tickets are available for many performances. Tickets range from $39-$84.
Group tickets for 10 or more are available by calling Broadway In Chicago Group Sales at (312) 977-1710.
Tickets are available at all Broadway In Chicago Box Offices (24 W. Randolph St., 151 W. Randolph St., 18 W. Monroe St. and 175 E. Chestnut), the Broadway In Chicago Ticket Line at (800) 775-2000, all Ticketmaster retail locations and online at www.BroadwayInChicago.com.
Many people have assumed that I am part of the first wave of publicity for it, because for a while I was talking about it NON-STOP. (which is also the title of one of the songs!)
I've realized that I am to Hamilton what 13 year old girls are to the musical Wicked, or what a bunch of NJ frat boys are to Bruce Springsteen. I am a super fan-boy. It's in my ear or on one of my devices nearly everyday.
I love the way it manages to meld history and story into music, the inventive and complicated rhymes weaving story, bravura, history, democracy, character and plot into a beautifully executed slip knot. I also love how it's old-fashioned and brand new all at once. It is an excellent piece of artwork.
Here's the video I watched first that made me fall in love with it-- the creator Lin-Manuel Miranda performing the first song in 2009 at the White House. At the time it was going to be just an album, but it turned into a full-fledged musical.
I haven't seen the show yet, and when I heard it was coming to Chicago (ostensibly from September to mid-October, but the run is now open ended), I immediately started planning how to see the show. I didn't want to Throw Away My Shot (another song from the show). If I missed this opportunity, I'd feel Helpless, never be Satisfied, and would feel as if The World Turned Upside Down (you got it, all songs from the show. Click each link to see the lyrics and hear the song at the same time on Genius.com . You are welcome!)
If you want to guarantee a seat to Hamilton, buy a season
subscription to Broadway in Chicago
Because I do often write about cultural events and get free review tickets, I am definitely pursuing that angle, but that will only give me two tickets, and my 7 year old son wants to see it too. (There's definitely some lyrics/situations that are above him/over his head, but overall he loves the musical too. And I don't want him to miss it!)
I then tried for group tickets, thinking I could find a group of 20 friends/relatives/neighbors/etc. that would like to get the hottest ticket in Chicago. But those are already sold out, I am on the waiting list.
After some hemming and hawing by my cheapo self, I decided to do the only thing that would guarantee me seats. I bought a 3 ticket season subscription to Broadway in Chicago.
Right now there are some season tickets still available, but the pickings are slim.
We ended up spending nearly $1000 to get a 5 show subscription. (to be fair, I'm pretty interested in four of them, and my son will be interested in at least 3-- the other shows include Hedwig,The Curious Incident of the Dog in the NightTime, Aladdin, and The Bodyguard) We don't have great seats- we are in the upper balcony all the way on the left. But at least we are in!
The thing that blew me away about this production was the acting. While I do expect the sets to be sumptuously designed and the voices to be great, the acting at the Lyric is not always up to snuff. And of course the songs are all great and recognizable. 
by Sholom Aleichem (well worth reading if you haven't).
We took our 8-year-old son, as we couldn't find a babysitter and we had 3 tickets. It was recommended for age 10 and over, but we figured it would have to work.
