http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com Chicago performing arts and other splendors -- best bets in music and theater reviews for cultural travelers and local enthusiasts Tue, 21 May 2013 05:31:21 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/2013/05/20/review-of-brighton-beach-memoirs-by-neil-simon-at-raven-theatre/ http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/2013/05/20/review-of-brighton-beach-memoirs-by-neil-simon-at-raven-theatre/#comments Tue, 21 May 2013 05:22:52 +0000 Lawrence B. Johnson http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/?p=12982 Review: Eugene Morris Jerome, age 15, has two things on his mind: baseball and girls. He knows baseball. This summer – it’s 1937 in Brooklyn – Eugene is seriously committed to learning everything about his latest subject of interest. This is the famously irresistible setup of Neil Simon’s quasi-autobiographical comedy “Brighton Beach Memoirs,” a heart-warming delight in its current staging at Raven Theatre. ★★★★]]> http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/2013/05/20/review-of-brighton-beach-memoirs-by-neil-simon-at-raven-theatre/feed/ 1 http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/2013/05/19/review-of-ganesh-versus-the-third-reich-by-back-to-back-theatre-at-museum-of-contemporary-art-cihcago/ http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/2013/05/19/review-of-ganesh-versus-the-third-reich-by-back-to-back-theatre-at-museum-of-contemporary-art-cihcago/#comments Mon, 20 May 2013 00:12:03 +0000 Lawrence B. Johnson http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/?p=12954 Review: If the title “Ganesh Versus the Third Reich” provokes more than the usual curiosity about fresh dramatic fare, the play itself -- presented by the ensemble that created it, Australia’s Back to Back Theatre – leaves one hardly less perplexed upon emerging from the experience. “Ganesh” displays a singular aspect of beauty, even sweetness, until it takes a bitter turn and dissipates as if into a vacuum, into nothingness. ★★★]]> http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/2013/05/19/review-of-ganesh-versus-the-third-reich-by-back-to-back-theatre-at-museum-of-contemporary-art-cihcago/feed/ 0 http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/2013/05/18/civitas-ensemble-joins-yo-yo-ma-and-friends-for-hospital-stage-performances-in-chicago-2013/ http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/2013/05/18/civitas-ensemble-joins-yo-yo-ma-and-friends-for-hospital-stage-performances-in-chicago-2013/#comments Sat, 18 May 2013 22:35:17 +0000 Nancy Malitz http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/?p=12910 http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/2013/05/18/civitas-ensemble-joins-yo-yo-ma-and-friends-for-hospital-stage-performances-in-chicago-2013/feed/ 0 http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/2013/05/16/andris-nelsons-named-music-director-of-boston-symphony/ http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/2013/05/16/andris-nelsons-named-music-director-of-boston-symphony/#comments Thu, 16 May 2013 19:02:45 +0000 Lawrence B. Johnson http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/?p=12873 Report: Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons was named Thursday as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Nelsons will become officially installed as the BSO’s 15th music director effective with the 2014-15 season, but meanwhile will act as music director-designate for the 2013-14 season.]]> http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/2013/05/16/andris-nelsons-named-music-director-of-boston-symphony/feed/ 0 http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/2013/05/15/interview-with-actor-eva-barr-about-playing-the-title-role-in-still-alice-by-christine-mary-dunford/ http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/2013/05/15/interview-with-actor-eva-barr-about-playing-the-title-role-in-still-alice-by-christine-mary-dunford/#comments Wed, 15 May 2013 21:24:14 +0000 Lawrence B. Johnson http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/?p=12813 Interview: To watch Eva Barr play out the progressive, early-onset dementia of the woman at the center of “Still Alice” at Lookingglass Theatre is to forget you’re looking at the subtle, skillful work of an actor. Yet hardly less remarkable is the way Barr arrived at the role: She began, in first readings with playwright-director Christine Mary Dunford, by taking a different part, an alternate Alice – a separate character Dunford identifies simply as Herself.]]> http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/2013/05/15/interview-with-actor-eva-barr-about-playing-the-title-role-in-still-alice-by-christine-mary-dunford/feed/ 0 http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/2013/05/13/review-of-by-the-way-meet-vera-stark-by-lynn-nottage-at-goodman-theatre/ http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/2013/05/13/review-of-by-the-way-meet-vera-stark-by-lynn-nottage-at-goodman-theatre/#comments Mon, 13 May 2013 23:31:55 +0000 Lawrence B. Johnson http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/?p=12780 Review: ★★]]> http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/2013/05/13/review-of-by-the-way-meet-vera-stark-by-lynn-nottage-at-goodman-theatre/feed/ 0 http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/2013/05/11/review-of-blood-and-gifts-by-j-t-rogers-at-timeline-theatre/ http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/2013/05/11/review-of-blood-and-gifts-by-j-t-rogers-at-timeline-theatre/#comments Sat, 11 May 2013 22:32:15 +0000 Lawrence B. Johnson http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/?p=12733 Review: ★★★★★]]> http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/2013/05/11/review-of-blood-and-gifts-by-j-t-rogers-at-timeline-theatre/feed/ 0 http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/2013/05/09/chicago-symphony-rivers-festival-explores-impact-of-waterways-on-human-history/ http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/2013/05/09/chicago-symphony-rivers-festival-explores-impact-of-waterways-on-human-history/#comments Thu, 09 May 2013 22:29:28 +0000 Lawrence B. Johnson http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/?p=12689 Preview: Literally and metaphorically, rivers seem to flow in every direction across our lives; indeed, across life. It's not hard to see how the Chicago Symphony Orchestra might have hit on the concept of its Rivers Festival, a multifaceted month-long exploration and tribute that opens musically May 9 at Orchestra Hall.]]> http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/2013/05/09/chicago-symphony-rivers-festival-explores-impact-of-waterways-on-human-history/feed/ 0 http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/2013/05/06/review-oklahoma-by-rodgers-and-hammerstein-at-lyric-opera-of-chicago/ http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/2013/05/06/review-oklahoma-by-rodgers-and-hammerstein-at-lyric-opera-of-chicago/#comments Mon, 06 May 2013 19:33:51 +0000 Lawrence B. Johnson http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/?p=12645 Review: ★★★★★]]> http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/2013/05/06/review-oklahoma-by-rodgers-and-hammerstein-at-lyric-opera-of-chicago/feed/ 0 http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/2013/05/04/review-head-of-passes-tarell-alvin-mccraney-tina-landau-steppenwolf-cheryl-lynn-bruce-david-gallo-2013/ http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/2013/05/04/review-head-of-passes-tarell-alvin-mccraney-tina-landau-steppenwolf-cheryl-lynn-bruce-david-gallo-2013/#comments Sat, 04 May 2013 12:16:24 +0000 Nancy Malitz http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/?p=12563 Review: ★★★★]]> http://www.chicagoontheaisle.com/2013/05/04/review-head-of-passes-tarell-alvin-mccraney-tina-landau-steppenwolf-cheryl-lynn-bruce-david-gallo-2013/feed/ 0