Category Archives: Reviews

Review: NBC’s Awake

Leave a reply

When I first heard about Awake, I was equally one part thrilled and one part apprehensive. Awake appeared to me to be a series that would require a lot of thinking, a lot of analysis, and a lot of patience. Precisely my cup of tea…

ABC’s Lost was much in the same vein… except after the first episode I lost interest, whileas with Awake, I actually wanted to know more. Unfortunately time was not on my side as me free time started to dry up considerably, so I stopped watching with the intent of reading up on the episodes online.

What I dislike about television is that when a show is just getting good, they cancel it due to the overall slide in ratings. A lot of time a show needs more than just one season to find it’s legs, a big example of this would be Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Unfortunately, cancellation is exactly where Awake is headed. *sighs* Depending on how the first season ends will decide on whether I could handle simply owning one season of a television series that I enjoyed, no matter how minor.

If you haven’t heard of the show the premise is this: A detective is a survivor of a car accident that claimed the life of either his wife, or his son. Neither the detective nor the audience knows who had passed, because he is living two totally separate worlds now. The detective could be living in a world where his wife is alive and his son has passed away, but then when he goes to sleep in that world he’ll wake up in another reality where his son is alive while his wife had passed.

Which reality is real? Well, we as the audience don’t know for sure, and part of the joy of the series is discovering bits and pieces of the story as it is told between the two realities.

Jason Issacs portrays the detective, and if anyone is a Harry Potter fan and has seen the movie adaptations… well you should recognize him as the patriarch of the Malfoy family: Lucius.

Personally if this show makes it to DVD, I may actually purchase it just to enjoy the storytelling. In some ways the concept of two parallel realities colliding reminds me a lot of a favorite movie of mine: Sliding Doors starring Gwyneth Paltrow. But that’s another post for another time.

I sincerely hope this show does make it to DVD with a lot of extras explaining what would have happened in future seasons, or even still have an additional episode that helps tie every up in a neat little package. Hell even if a book series would make me happy… but anyway, I’m crying over spilled milk. C’est la vie.

Visual Art Commission: The “Expanded” Genres by Tony Akins

Leave a reply

Disney has ruined fairy tales for me, well for all of us really. I mean we grow up thinking that there is a happily ever after, except when we start reading the original fairy tales that the Disney versions are based off of, we end up with a rude awakening. Namely that the fairy tales don’t really have a ‘happily ever after’ in fact they usually have a warning label or a lessons learned disclaimer on the back.

Interestingly enough, I started to really enjoy the original fairy tales and soon started to look for other tales from various other cultures to satiate my thirst. That was when I was introduced to “Fables”.

You see, Fables is a comic series from Vertigo that takes all the beloved fairy tale characters and sends them to live in New York City, far from their Homelands where a singular enemy has turned all these beloved characters into refugees on the Earth or Mundy as they like to all it. Not only is this a witty conglomeration of every beloved fairy tale that you can possibly think of, but the creator of the series: Bill Willingham, has quite intelligently combined fairy tales and nursery rhymes together when necessary.
– Take the Big Bad Wolf for example (also known as Bigby Wolf in the series), he is a singular character in the Fables universe, but he is the same major wolf character in a variety of stories.
– Snow White is widely known as the beloved princess of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, but she is also the sister to Rose Red in the fairy tale of Snow White and Rose Red. In the Fables universe she is also introduced as the uptight, strict deputy mayor of Fabletown.
– Little Boy Blue isn’t quite so “little”, rather he is not only Snow White’s right hand man in the mayor’s office, he also has a hell of a military back story from back in the Homelands
What Bill has done is very creatively and realistically tied together stories to create a richer back story to these beloved characters in such a realistic and natural way that you can’t help but love them even more.

Then Bill did something new, he expanded upon the universe and created a world of Literals beings who were essentially the personification of literary themes and terms. The Editor became Mr Revise, Deus Ex Machina became Dex, and the various fictional categories became The Genres. All of these characters found in the spin-off series: Jack of Fables.

Continue reading →

TV Show Review: The Voice Season 2

Leave a reply

Typically for new shows that have come on the air, I watch for a season and then I lose interest. This happens more often with reality competition shows. Which is odd since I blog for a bunch of them as well, but that’s a different story. Ever since American Idol, there hasn’t really been much competition in the reality singing competition, and even then American Idol had the distinct feel of being very manipulative behind the scenes, which didn’t help me in wanting to like it any more. So I stopped watching after the first season.

So when the premise of The Voice came about, I was skeptical and intrigued. In the end I decided to give it a shot and see what happens. Next thing you know, one show continued to another episode and then another. Then I started downloading some of the music, and eventually I ended up watching the entire first season and anticipating the second season.

Needless to say I did the same with the second season, watching everything from day one and continued onward til the end.

What I really love is that the coaches don’t really bring addition drama, they are all very supportive and they are invested in the vocalists that come onto the show. So let’s look at the track record of the coaches from the only two completed seasons thus far:

Christina Aguilera has had an artist that has placed last in both seasons thus far. Whether that is just the nature of the beast or the artists on her team is anyone’s guess. I really love opera voices – being a huge fan of Il Divo, Josh Groban and Vittorio Grigolo – so to me Chris Mann is just right up my alley. However, I would have loved to have seen him sing a piece that is more out of his comfort zone and really make it his own as opposed to something that is typically tried and true. Still, I can’t wait to see where he goes from here.

Continue reading →

Literary Review: Soulless by Gail Carriger

1 Reply

Title: Soulless
Author: Gail Carriger
Series: Book One
Format: Audiobook

A friend of mine has been recommending this series (Parasol Protectorate) to me for months now. I finally checked the book out from my local library, only for life to get in the way and I never touched the book that was in my possession for almost a month and a half. So I sent the book back to the library and continued onward, meanwhile my friend recommended getting the audio book instead and listening to it while I worked.

Well, considering that I have borrowed audio lectures from The Teaching Company via the local library, one would have thought that I could have made the leap myself. Unfortunately, I did not… primarily due to my desire and love to sitting down and curling to a good book. However, as my time is fairly limited nowadays it became increasingly clear that I am better off listening to lectures and audiobooks as opposed to trying to find time to just sit down and read. *sighs*

In any case, I decided to begin listening to audiobooks by going for the series that has been recommended by my friend: The Parasol Protectorate by Gail Carriger… and the first of the series, Soulless.

Continue reading →

SPOILERS: Disney’s the Newsies the Musical

Leave a reply

There have been a lot of questions swirling about in regards to the changes between the original Disney film the Newsies and the stage musical production of the same name.

In my original review I made a point of glossing over any major plot / character changes that may reveal too much of what is going to happen in the stage production. However, I am sure that there are people out there that are curious about what changes were made in the musical and how was the storyline changed.

Well I am posting that for you… mind you this is a SPOILER and all bits about the changes in the show will be just beyond the break. You enter at your own risk and as thus you cannot blame me for spoiling the musical for you.

Continue reading →

Literary Review: The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury

Leave a reply

Title: The Illustrated Man
Author: Ray Bradbury
Format: Audiobook

Over the last weekend I listened to the audiobook version of The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury. This was given to me as a recommendation mainly because I was asked to provide ideas of a scripted series with a bit of a science-fiction touch in the vein of Serenity/Firefly and the Illustrated Man and Metamorpheses were recommended as a basis for what the creator was looking for the stage.

I didn’t know what to expect from this series when I sat down to listen to it while I worked. Whatever I was expecting, what I ended up getting definitely wasn’t it. The best way to describe this series of works is that every short story dives into a different aspect of the human psyche while setting it in a more science-fiction, futuristic environment. So in all honesty a lot of these short stories do not necessarily have a need for a science-fiction, fantasy component, but it does help to drive the purpose of the story across.

Because there were so many short stories, I’ll go through a handful that actually caught my attention:
– “The Veldt”: This short story seems to be Mary Poppins meets Star Trek’s the Holodeck. Parents with very busy lives have a high tech nursery built into their home to keep their children happy. If I were to take this to the present time, I would say substitute the high tech nursery with video games, computers, television, etc. This story (to me) is more of a cautionary tale for parents in regards to parenting their children or letting technology to become the parents. I understand that we all live such busy lives that it becomes very easy to just let the children sit in front of the television and have them watch cartoons or let them play video games, but sometimes kids just needs to get out and be with other people or spend time together with the parents. Nothing beats true parenting than the parents themselves.

Continue reading →

Review: Cats the Musical on Tour – Chicago Stop

Leave a reply

In the first week of May, the touring production of Cats the Musical opened for its week long stint in Chicago. For a little bit of history, Cats the Musical is based off a collection of poems from Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot, the musical itself was composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber with Lyrics by Trevor Nunn. On the Great White Way, Cats is currently the second longest running musical, surpassed only by Phantom of the Opera (another Andrew Lloyd Webber musical).

When Cats was on Broadway, I never got a chance to see it live, and I don’t believe I ever saw it live on stage. When the video of a stage production came out in 1998, I was more than content with that version that I could watch on my leisure, that is until I realized that there was a scene/song cut from the original production that was not in the film production. If you are a huge fan of Cats then you would know that I am referring to: Growltiger’s Last Stand, incorporating either ‘The Ballad Of Billy M’Caw’ or the Italian aria ‘In Una Tepida Notte’.

My understanding is that Cats is such a long show that most groups that even attempt to put this production together are likely to cut and carve and snip away to make it easier for either their cast, or the audience wouldn’t think that this was such a long show to bear through. This is such an intensive dancing and singing production that it requires a very strong cast that can do both efficiently and brilliantly. This touring production did just that.

Continue reading →

Review: Once the Musical – Original Broadway Production

2 Replies

I’ll admit, I was a bit hesitant about this particular musical. I have never really been a huge fan of musicals that were based off of straight movies (Catch Me If You Can, Legally Blonde, Ghost, Shrek, Footloose), moreso if the movie never really had songs in them except for background. However, once in a while there would be a musical that is based off a movie that I may be willing enough to see (State Fair, The Bodyguard, Newsies) mainly because in a way those movies were seemingly made for musical theatre. Once on the other hand teetered at a knife’s edge for me. I wasn’t entirely sure what to make of it or how it would be staged, so when a co-blogger of mine from PureSYTYCD.com got tix to see Once the Musical, I went… with reservations.

Walking into the theater, you automatically realize that this particular show is not going to be like anything you’ve seen before. Think of it this way, when you’re first walking into the Jacobs Theatre the atmosphere is festive, joyous and at first you think it’s music playing in the house. However, it’s not coming from the speakers and it’s not a record, instead you to the stage and realize that the cast is actually doing a kind of pre-show for the audience… a warm-up act if you will. Not only that, but those audience members sitting up in front or even if they have time to run to the stage are allowed to come on stage and join the cast! I haven’t seen or heard anything like it.

Continue reading →

Review: Disney’s the Newsies, the Musical – Original Broadway Production

3 Replies

When The Newsies first came out to movie theaters in 1992, it was well known as a massive financial and commercial flop. The star of the movie, Christian Bale, was said to have hated the movie so much that he reportedly wouldn’t talk or even acknowledge its existence in his acting career (but between you and me Christian should thank his lucky stars that the Newsies was a flop otherwise it wouldn’t have given him the drive to improve himself as an actor and therefore be an Oscar winner today – but that’s a different story).

Fast forward a couple of decades and the Newsies became a massive cult classic… what started as a flop in movie theaters across the country became a cult classic when put on VHS and DVD (I know I’m guilty of that). So when it came out that Disney Theatrical was working on a musical version of the beloved movie, the general consensus was cautiously positive and with just cause because the movie did not do well how would a stage production fare?

So Disney got smart, they tested the show out of town to positive reviews, reworked a few things here and there and brought it to Broadway on a limited but open ended engagement. Next thing you know it has been a packed house ever since.

Being a Newsies fan I was intrigued with the concept of the stage production and so far liked what I saw. However, knowing that some pieces of the storytelling got changed or rearranged, songs got cut others got added in, I was reasonably apprehensive. Was Disney selling out the integrity of the story in favor of catering to a larger audience? I didn’t quite know what to think, so originally I decided to wait until the soundtrack came out to make my decision of whether to see the show live or not… originally.

Continue reading →

Review: U.S. Tour of In the Heights – Chicago

Leave a reply

In mid January, I took my Mexican friend to see In the Heights when they stopped in Chicago for obvious reasons, as in, with so much Spanish included in the book I wanted to bring someone that would understand and appreciate the Spanish… turns out I was right.

This production sparkled, there was chemistry in places that I didn’t believe there would be at first glance, the singing was spot on and emotional. The comedic moments shone through and the dancing was more than just amazing, the choreography was absolutely perfect, if not exceeded the first U.S. Tour when it went through Chicago a few years ago. The central character: Usnavi seemed a bit breath-y in a few of his bits… not the same silky smooth rhythm of Lin-Manuel Miranda, but he did a respectable job overall.

Nina was a bit younger looking than I expected her to be in comparison to the other “young” characters in the cast. Although this was at first was a distraction, eventually her singing won out as well as her chemistry with her romantic opposite.

Continue reading →

REVIEW: Theatre-on-the-Hill’s God of Carnage

Leave a reply

As posted in the TribLocal, the following is my review of Theatre-on-the-Hill‘s production of God of Carnage written by Yasmina Reza.

=====

This past weekend, Bolingbrook’s Theatre-on-the-Hill introduced another amazing comedy to the suburbs, and didn’t disappoint. God of Carnage is an ambitious, hilarious and very difficult story about two affluent couples who come together because their sons got into a fight in school that resulted in one of the boys getting two teeth knocked out. What starts out as a very civil and reasonably open minded meeting unravels into an in-depth look at the human psyche and how these people are nowhere near as civil as they appear to be, finally asking the question: “What do we know, really?”

So what do we know, really? Well, the small and stellar cast is comprised of Theatre-on-the-Hill alums Bill Smith and Erika Enigk Grotto, who play the elitist Raleighs, as well as newcomers Leann Hoffrogge and Zachary Johnson-Dunlop as the more working class Novaks. Each performer brought to life a vibrancy to characters that are not only relatable as individuals, but as the show progresses, create the realization among audience members that a situation like this could very well happen (or already had) in their own lives.

Continue reading →

Review: Spotlight Theater’s Jake’s Women

Leave a reply

So last month (January) I went to New Lenox, IL to see a friend of mine in Jake’s Women by Neil Simon as produced by Spotlight Theater. Now this was directed by first time director: Nicole Fleming. Now if you remember, a few months prior I saw Spotlight Theater’s production of The Deadly Game which I really enjoyed… this show, however, brought out a very different perspective.

Essentially Jake’s Women revolves around Jake, a writer, who is at a crossroads in his life, his second marriage is failing, he’s slowly losing his sanity, and he’s trying to hold on to the only piece of light to get through the darkness. However, the women that he talks to aren’t in his reality, they are versions of the women in his reality that have a permanent residence in his head.

Continue reading →

Review: Shaking Spears (a conglomerate of Shakespeare’s tragedies set to the music of Britney Spears)

Leave a reply

Yes you read that right… one of my theater acquaintances wrote a stage play taking four works of Shakespeare’s tragedies
– Macbeth
– Romeo & Juliet
– Hamlet
– Julius Ceasar
taking various aspects, storyline lines, and characters and created a singular storyline. Not only that, she had various characters (including two of the male leads) sing Britney Spears songs…

Now upon first glance this shouldn’t have worked, Shakespeare and Britney Spears? I could hear Shakespeare rolling in his grave. However, the truth of the matter is that somehow, someway it did and I will be the one that would grudgingly admit that I was wrong in my original take of this particular ditty (and I really don’t like having to eat my words).

Let me explain:

Continue reading →

Comparison: TOTH’s Den of Thieves (three weekends later)

Leave a reply

So by the time of this writing I have seen seven (and a half) out of eight showings of Bolingbrook’s Theatre-on-the-Hill‘s production of Den of Thieves. One would think that after the first one or two shows, or even three in this case I would be sick of seeing this show already. The truth of the matter is, I’m not.

For someone with a little bit of theatre background, I can honestly say that seeing shows multiple times does not bore me as one would probably expect. More often than not it is a combination of a good script, with fantastic direction, and amazing actors that would typically drive the average theatre goer into seeing a production multiple times.

In the case of Den of Thieves, not only were there three versions of the show to watch but live theatre brings to the table an element of unpredictability that you can’t find anywhere else.

Where else would you find Hugh Jackman blowing up at an audience member for a cell phone going off in the middle of A Steady Rain? Where else could you find mishaps go wrong and watch an actor really show off their acting chops AND improv skills at a drop of a pin?

Continue reading →

Comparison: TOTH’s Den of Thieves (Boochie and Little Tuna)

Leave a reply

One of the reasons that I enjoy watching productions at Theatre-on-the-Hill is the cast, more specifically when shows are double cast for whatever reason.

In the case of TOTH’s production of Den of Thieves, two of the roles are split between two actors. The role of the exotic dancer/stripper Boochie is split between newcomer Seneca Lee Evensen and musical theatre veteran Jacqueline Schultz. On the male front the role of Lou “The Little Tuna” Pescatore is split between stage veteran Joseph Mennella and the latest protege, Cameron Nowicki.

Continue reading →