Chicago Stage Review

By Venus Zarris

“Less is more” is a statement that more often than not holds true but it appears that the creators of Cirque Dreams Illumination never got this memo. Comically contrived and chaotically cluttered, Cirque Dreams Illumination plays like a Broadwayification of the brilliantly conceptualized shows that have made Cirque du Soleil (no relation or connection to this production) an international phenomenon.

I seldom compare one show to a completely unaffiliated production, but Cirque Dreams takes the concepts of Cirque du Soleil and turns high art into to flashy product. Other than the name starting with Cirque, the similarities are obvious. Amazing international aerial and acrobatic acts are compiled and then framed by a loose atmospheric narrative that is helped along by original music, colorful costumes and creative sets. But despite the glaring similarities and impressive acts, Cirque Dreams Illumination is the poster play for the phrase “often imitated but never duplicated.”

There is a great deal of incredible talent on stage and the show is unquestionably entertaining, but its lack of subtlety and its over-the-top cheesy delivery detracts from the gifted acts that it presents. Let’s talk cheese for a minute. Cirque Dreams Illumination is like a family size pack of processed American cheese food slices, compared to the fine aged and imported Brie that is Cirque du Soleil.

The music is Broadway pop, Each song is belted out without nuance or sincerity. Janine Ayn Romano has a lovely voice and strong presence, but her narrative Reporter/Singer needs to tone down the maudlin interpretation in order for the audience to actually connect. The costumes are gaudy. The set is enticing but far too busy, as is the entire show. Just as you are captivated by an exceptional circus act, fluttering minutia prances across the stage by way of pointless dances or worse yet, performers costumed as giant inanimate objects such as fire hydrants or painter’s overalls. These cartoonish visuals resemble Sid and Marty Krofft’s 1970’s Saturday Morning Kid’s shows, such as Lidsville or H.R. Pufnstuf and make no sense whatsoever.

The Cirque Dreams creators should trust the fact that their gifted aerial and acrobatic acts don’t need the peripheral razzle-dazzle. If left as the focus, the impact of their talent would be far greater.

Still, there are enough of these great acts to make the evening a fun ride. Standing out in this extravaganza of over stimulation are the Percussion Juggler playing a set of drums with bouncing balls, the Director of Passer-byes audience member participation clown act, the Strap Flyer beautifully drenched in water, the Hand Balancers and most impressively the Cube Aerialists. These four women move with spider-like peculiarity, breathtaking grace and unbelievable agility as they form geometric shapes with their combined bodies while hanging from a suspended cube. The only thing wrong with this act is that we only see it once in the first act. This is a show that has never heard the word restraint and so since “more is more” is the theme, why not give us an encore of the most hypnotizing act?

Cirque Dreams Illumination is a lot. It is a lot of visual excess. It is a lot of showy silliness. It is a lot of stealing focus but it is also a lot of incredible world-class circus talent and a lot of fun.

2 ½ STARS

(“Cirque Dreams Illumination” runs through June 6 at the Bank of America Theatre (Shubert), 18 W. Monroe. 800-775-2000)

Cirque Dreams Illumination 2010 (Chicago) Tickets - Broadway in Chicago

Cirque Dreams Illumination

Cirque Dreams Illumination will turn everyday ordinary into bright and extraordinary. Audiences of all ages will marvel as city dwellers reinvent familiar objects, balance on wires, leap tall buildings and redefine the risks of flight in a story filled with astounding occurrences. One of a kind artists populate the streets of this magical metropolis and breathe energy into its landscape with urban acrobatics and never before seen phenomenal thrills of disbelief. Cirque Dreams critically acclaimed dazzling costumes come alive to the sounds of jazz, ballroom, pop and more in this original score.

Read the review here: Cirque Dreams Illumination – REVIEW - Chicago Stage Review

Jun 2 - Jun 6, 2010

@ Bank of America Theatre

Price:$25-$75

Show Type: Performance Art

Box Office: 312-902-1400

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Cirque Dreams Illumination 2010 (Chicago) Tickets - Broadway in Chicago

Cirque Productions

By Venus Zarris

The road to hell is paved with good intentions or in some cases great concepts. Although Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps can’t really be considered hell, it is an evening of purgatorial waiting for laughs that never come.

To call The 39 Steps clever would be an understatement. This conceptually darling send-up of Hitchcock’s 1935 thriller is a tour de force of acting dexterity, as a cast of only four delivers all of the characters. It is also an impressive example of minimally stylized whimsy, as the locations and visual drama is rendered using the least amount of sets and props and a delightfully fast paced degree of creativity. The results are amusing, not amusing as in hysterical but rather amusing as in the lukewarm connotation of the word.

The 39 Steps is all gimmicks with no connection. The gifted ensemble flawlessly runs through the obstacle course with confidence. Director Maria Aitkin acts more as a traffic controller for the ingenious stage movement, rather than a conduit to the potentially captivating content. The audience is drawn into the spectacle but never cares about the characters or the story, and without this connection the humor is lost.

Everything is played so large that there is no room left for nuance and without subtlety the enormous potential for hilarious camp is lost to the overacting. There’s not much scenery to be gobbled up but the talented performers seem to be in competition for the meager meal. It quickly becomes cartoonish, as if Lonney Tunes is recreating a Benny Hill episode and thereby creating a one-dimensional chase scene that gets old in the first act and becomes a drudge in the second.

The enthusiastic actors are so likeable that you are routing for them to hit the mark. Some scenes are so inventively choreographed that you are momentarily thunderstruck by their successful execution. Sadly, there is no spontaneity to the hyper telegraphed shtick and there is no chemistry between the characters. This is a theatrical concoction with wonderfully delicious ingredients that never come together to create a satisfying dish. You leave the table with some interesting flavors in your mouth but ultimately you are hungrier than when you started.

Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps is an impressive exercise in creative theatrics but the production proves to be so emotionally detached that you feel as if you are watching wind-up toys being sent through an intricately detailed game. If the focus were shifted to include some reality, either the reality of the characters in the story or the reality of actors existing in the struggle to create something from virtually nothing, The 39 Steps could prove to be a sidesplitting show. As it stands, it feels like tediously climbing 39 steep steps to nowhere.

1 ½ STARS

(“Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps” runs through May 30 at the Bank of America Theatre (Shubert), 18 W. Monroe. 800-775-2000)

The 39 Steps 2010 (Chicago) Tickets - Broadway in Chicago

The 39 Steps

THE 39 STEPS features a cast of four actors who, against all odds, breathlessly and hilariously attempt to reenact all of the characters, locations and famous scenes in Hitchcock’s 1935 film thriller with just a few props and a lot of theatrical ingenuity and split second quick changes.

Read the review here: Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps – REVIEW - Chicago Stage Review

May 19 - May 30, 2010

@ Bank of America Theatre

18 W. Monroe Chicago

Price:$20-$72

Show Type: Comedy

Box Office: 312-902-1400

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The 39 Steps 2010 (Chicago) Tickets - Broadway in Chicago

39 Steps NY - Official Site

ONLY 4 SHOWS LEFT – DON”T MISS!!!!!

By Venus Zarris

I published a plug for Avenue Q on Chicago Stage Review and then posted the plug on Facebook. Here are the comments it generated:

Kenneth: “aw, puppets that say “fuck”

Tracey: “Who doesn’t love cussing puppets?! Dead people. If done right, everybody in their right minds would enjoy puppets saying “fuck” and such. I know I do.”

Tracey is most definitely onto something here. I can imagine no one in their right, or wrong for that matter, minds that wouldn’t delight in the irreverent hysterics of Avenue Q. It has been a long time since I laughed this hard at a show and even longer since I witnessed so many people around me incapacitated as well. Two women at the end of my row were almost falling out of their chairs from laughter!

That is powerful stuff.

There are a few secrets to Avenue Q’s brilliance. One is simply good writing. Avenue Q parodies the style of Sesame Street and infuses the cheerleading children’s educational format with adult situations. This absurd contrast of mature content inside of a kid’s show creates that “that should be happening there” sensation. When something naughty happens in the midst of something so tamely familiar, the joke is escalated.

Imagine Kermit on the Muppet Show telling Miss Piggy, “You can take your narcissistic, domineering, needy bullshit and shove up your ass, pork chop!” … Come on, you know he’s thinking it.

Another aspect that works so well is also actually the title of one of the musical’s delightful songs, “Schadenfreude.” This notion of pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others is a recurring theme from the song “It Sucks to Be Me” to the very end. In fact, Avenue Q firmly stands as the feel good play that makes no bones about the fact that life’s a bitch. It is one grand celebration of all of our faults, foibles and fumbles. Avenue Q makes it a joy to be flawed.

Perhaps the brightest brilliance of Avenue Q are the puppets. In almost every incarnation, puppets allow for a suspension of disbelief and an alteration of reality that is unique. Scenarios that would be sort of funny and kind of compelling performed by people become totally hilarious and completely evocative when delivered by puppets.

People having sex with wild abandon = not necessarily funny and possibly uncomfortable. Puppets rutting like banshees = sidesplitting joy ride.

When the story of the puppet Rod (a closeted homosexual Republican investment banker) unfolds, audience members are actually emitting audible sounds of empathy for his struggle to come out. Had a person played Rod, that emotional connection would have been much harder to make.

But most of all Avenue Q is deceptively darling, conceptually clever and GREAT FUN! The songs are charming and wrong. The characters are silly stereotypes that you can’t help but love. The story is a children’s show treatment of adult disappointments that makes loosing a little less catastrophic.

And then there are the Bad Idea Bears. I can’t remember the last time, if ever, that I wanted to run up on stage and cuddle with a character but these two sadistically devious darlings make poor life choices some of the best fun you can have. They are a tag team of devils, always enthusiastic about sitting on the opposite shoulder of your conscience and drowning out reason by encouraging good times at the expense of common sense. Plus, they are demonically adorable!

The human cast consists of an ensemble of gifted singer-actor-comedians who knock the show out of the park! Avenue Q is a Laugh-Out-Loud riot that should not be missed by anyone with a pulse! Trust me, you need to see this show!

4 STARS

(“Avenue Q” runs through May 9 at the Bank of America Theatre (Shubert), 18 W. Monroe. 800-775-2000)

Buy Tickets

ONLY 4 SHOWS LEFT – DON”T MISS!!!!!

Sat, May 8: 2:00pm & 8:00pm

Sun, May 9: 2:00pm & 7:30pm

Avenue Q 2010 (Chicago) Tickets - Broadway in Chicago

Avenue Q on Tour | Buy Tickets (official tour site)

Avenue Q production photos by John Daughtry.

Avenue Q

Avenue Q tells the story of Princeton, a bright-eyed college grad who moves to NYC with big dreams and a tiny bank account. The only apartment he can afford is way out on Avenue Q, where everyone’s looking for the same things he is: a decent job, a stable relationship, and a “purpose.” Eventually, Princeton learns to embrace the ups and downs of city life and realizes that “the real world” isn’t so bad, after all!

Read the 4 STAR review here: Avenue Q – REVIEW - Chicago Stage Review

Thru - May 9, 2010

@ Bank of America Theatre

18 W. Monroe, Chicago

* Recommended for ages 13 and up. *

Show Type: Musical

Box Office: 312-902-1400

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Avenue Q 2010 (Chicago) Tickets - Broadway in Chicago

Avenue Q on Tour | Buy Tickets (official tour site)

Playing THIS WEEK ONLY! DON’T MISS!

By Venus Zarris

Some shows survive long past the invisible date stamped on their package. Other shows are just shiny repackages of popular stories or successful ideas. Advertising and hype cover the stale smell of moldy goods. Truly original work is getting harder to find, as theatrical recycling has become a state of the art. But some shows are quite simply classics that last because the magic that they create is just that potent.

STOMP is one such show. It was initially produced in 1991 and almost twenty years later it still thrills audiences. The current touring production is no exception. With dazzling new segments added to the exciting classics, STOMP provides an evening of visceral delight!

The premise is basic and yet brilliant. A team of extraordinary percussionists creates vignettes of rhythm-based playfulness that take the enthusiastic mantra “ME PLAY DRUMS!” (Coined by Animal from the Muppet Show), turn it on its head, and shake every ounce of fun out of its pockets. The results are both delicate and explosive, both subtle and sensational and ALL GOOD!

The real genius of STOMP is the fact that it stimulates on a primal level. Before we tackle language, we play with rhythm. Give a baby a rattle and they’ll start to bang it on whatever is nearby. You can see them excited by the power to create noise but when you observe that epiphany moment where random sound becomes intended audio patterns, you are observing the unlocking of a whole new part of their brain. It is one of our first paradigm shifts. Organized repetition, mathematics, controlled pace and pressure are just some of the developmental discoveries brought on by the sheer joy of taking whatever you have and “playing drums.”

So STOMP is developmentally primary, but it is also evocatively primal. Throughout human history drumming has been used for celebration, ceremony, communication, catharsis and connection to the divine. STOMP gets its tribal exhilaration on and invites us to do the same. It is an invitation that is impossible to resist.

It starts out simple, one person sweeping the stage. That sweeping becomes rhythmic. That one person is joined by another and another and another. Janitorial turns tribal and explodes into euphoria. Creativity springs from the commonplace. Household items are turned into precision instruments. Trash is turned into treasures.

The cast is wonderful. Together they create sophisticated chorus lines of movement and percussion using trash cans, match boxes, brooms, newspapers, rubber tubes and just their clapping hands. Individually they create solo performances that rhythmically connect to the audience on grand and intimate levels.

Justin Myles opens the show, leads the ensemble and engages the audience with cleverly commanding sweetness and skill. Andrés Fernandez adds a level of clowning that is irresistible and hysterical. The rest of the cast is as loveable as they are gifted. They are casually inviting and completely committed, engaging and amazing.

The production values are as first rate as the classic conceptualization. STOMP mixes up the numbers, from subtle to sensational, to create the perfect pace for the production. Often imitated but never duplicated, STOMP continues to be the original purveyor of percussive genius.

STOMP is a fantastic show for kids of all ages, as it reminds us how to fall in love with the sublime joy of pure rhythm and it proves that there is magic to be both found and created all around us in the everyday minutia that we might just see as clutter. STOMP unlocks the beguiling notion of play. It also makes for a positively perfect evening at the theater!

4 STARS

(“STOMP” runs through May 2 at the Bank of America Theatre (Shubert), 18 W. Monroe. 312-902-1400)

Playing THIS WEEK ONLY! DON’T MISS!

STOMP 2010 (Chicago) Tickets - Broadway in Chicago

STOMP - Official Site

STOMP production photos by Steve McNicholas.

STOMP

Stomp is explosive, provocative, sophisticated, sexy, utterly unique and appeals to audiences of all ages. The international percussion sensation has garnered an armful of awards and rave reviews, and has appeared on numerous national television shows. The eight-member troupe uses everything but conventional percussion instruments – matchboxes, wooden poles, brooms, garbage cans, Zippo lighters, hubcaps – to fill the stage with magnificent rhythms.

Read the 4 STAR review here: STOMP – REVIEW - Chicago Stage Review

Apr 27 - May 2, 2010

@ Bank of America Theatre

18 W. Monroe, Chicago

Show Type: Performance Art

Box Office: 312-902-1400

STOMP 2010 (Chicago) Tickets - Broadway in Chicago

STOMP - Official Site