Archives for December 17, 2015

The weather in Chicago, which has been unseasonably warmish since my arrival last week, is finally starting to get disagreeable, and it rained yesterday morning. So what? Well, it happens that while rehearsals for the Court Theatre’s production of Satchmo at the Waldorf normally run from ten a.m. to four p.m., the specific starting and stopping times can change from day to day. That’s one of the reasons why Amanda Weener-Frederick, our omnicompetent stage manager, sends out via e-mail a call sheet after each rehearsal reminding us of when to show up and what we’ll be working on the following day.

Unfortunately, the call sheet doesn’t work if you don’t remember what it says, and so I marched out of Our Girl’s apartment sans umbrella (I neglected to bring one to Chicago) at 9:20 yesterday morning, having forgotten that Wednesday’s rehearsal started at eleven, not ten. I arrived shortly thereafter at the Court’s rehearsal hall, whose door, not surprisingly, was locked. As the rain pitter-pattered on my bare head, I emitted a twelve-letter word that is spoken out loud sixteen times in Satchmo. Then I turned around, stepped into a deep puddle, and repeated the word in question, only louder. Vexed well beyond belief, I made my way to a coffee shop two blocks away, only to discover that it didn’t have wi-fi. This time I kept my feelings to myself.

Having no good alternative, I sat down, ordered a café mocha, pulled out my MacBook Air, and started working on an essay about tap dancing that I’m writing for Commentary. Before I knew it, an hour had flown by. I paid my tab, went back to the rehearsal hall, told my tale to my greatly amused colleagues, and went back to work.

That’s how theater is made.

Here’s my list of recommended Broadway, off-Broadway, and out-of-town shows, updated weekly. In all cases, I gave these shows favorable reviews (if sometimes qualifiedly so) in The Wall Street Journal when they opened. For more information, click on the title.

BROADWAY:
• An American in Paris (musical, G, too complex for small children, reviewed here)
• China Doll (drama, PG-13, nearly all performances sold out last week, reviewed here)
• The Color Purple (musical, PG-13, virtually all performances sold out last week, reviewed here)
• Fun Home (serious musical, PG-13, reviewed here)
• Hamilton (musical, PG-13, all performances sold out last week, reviewed here)
• The King and I (musical, G, perfect for children with well-developed attention spans, reviewed here)
• Matilda (musical, G, reviewed here)
• Les Misérables (musical, G, too long and complicated for young children, closes Sept. 4, reviewed here)
• On Your Feet! (jukebox musical, G, most performances sold out last week, reviewed here)
• Spring Awakening (musical, PG-13/R, closes Jan. 24, reviewed here)
• Sylvia (comedy, PG-13, closes Jan. 24, reviewed here)

OFF BROADWAY:
• The Fantasticks (musical, G, suitable for children capable of enjoying a love story, reviewed here)
• The Flick (serious comedy, PG-13, too long for young people with limited attention spans, reviewed here)

CLOSING SOON OFF BROADWAY:
• Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps (comedy, G, ideal for bright children, remounting of Broadway production, closing Jan. 3, original production reviewed here)

CLOSING SOON ON BROADWAY:
• A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder (musical, PG-13, closes Jan. 17, reviewed here)
• Hand to God (black comedy, X, absolutely not for children or prudish adults, closes Jan. 3, reviewed here)

CLOSING SUNDAY IN LOS ANGELES:
• Guys and Dolls (drama, PG-13, remounting of Oregon Shakespeare Festival production, original production reviewed here)

CLOSING SUNDAY OFF BROADWAY:
• New York Animals (play with music, PG-13, reviewed here)

O Death, all eloquent! you only prove
What dust we dote on, when ’tis man we love.

Alexander Pope, “Eloisa to Abelard”