By Patrick O’Brien Insofar as any theatrical institution can have “business as usual”, Highland Park’s Performer’s School had just that on their hands in March 2020. They had two shows in the hopper — Disney’s Beauty and the Beast Jr. for the fourth and fifth graders; Les Misérables School Edition for the sixth through eighth graders. They were
Chicago Opera Theater’s ‘Hija de Rappaccini’: an intoxicating promise for site-specific opera?
By Patrick O’Brien Call it making the best of a last-minute change of program; call it community outreach in the midst of a pandemic; call it testing the waters for future site-specific productions. At least call it what it is: a dang good showing. Chicago Opera Theater intended to mount a production of the late Daniel
Chicago Opera Theater’s ‘Taking Up Serpents’ stings (and sings) so good
By Patrick O’Brien I wasn’t quite sure what to make of TAKING UP SERPENTS, Chicago Opera Theater’s latest streaming offering, a potent creation where the barrier separating religious ecstasy and deadly poison is so fluid. Literal, even, considering it’s about the fallout of a Pentecostal snake handler’s ministry. So I did something I hadn’t really
The only thing wrong with Underscore’s hilarious ‘Ballad of Lefty & Crabbe’ is its inevitable ending
Penned by visiting Missourians Ben Auxier, Brian Huther and Seth Macchi, and directed by their cohort Rusty Sneary, this gag-a-second, mile-a-minute romp just goes to show that sometimes, the oldest jokes in the book are still in the book for a reason.
