Month: January 2019

Year in Review — 2018’s Best Non-Musicals

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#1. Indecent (Victory Garden)

indecent_victory gardens

The Chicago premier of Indecent was just as triumphant as the Broadway production (which I made a specific trip to New York to see in 2017). The play spans more than 30 years and travels to two continents in telling the story of a Yiddish theater troop performing the controversial play The God of Vengeance. One aspect that particularly stood out to me on this second viewing was the conviction held by every member of the troop that art (and theater in particular) must be continued even when society turns its back.

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Year in Review — 2018’s Best Non-Musicals

Year in Review – 2018’s Best Musicals

theaterinchicagoreviews3 Comments

This list focuses on local Chicago productions as opposed to the traveling companies, which also provided some exceptional offerings in 2018 (most notably Miss Saigon at the Cadillac).

#1. Haymarket (Underscore Theater)

Haymarket

Thank goodness Chicago audiences embraced this musical about the city’s infamous Haymarket Affair of 1886. The folk music score by Alex Higgin-Houser and David Kornfeld is a fitting tribute to labor leaders like Albert Parsons (Erik Pearson), Lucy Parsons (Bridget Adams-King) and August Spies (T.J. Anderson), who were in the process of unifying working people around the cause of an eight-hour workday when a bomb destroyed their peaceful protests. I was able to see Haymarket on its second extension at its second theater; hopefully we’ll see another remounting in the near future.

Continue reading “Year in Review – 2018’s Best Musicals” →

Year in Review – 2018’s Best Musicals