Mary Wisniewski

1 week ago | newcitystage.com | Mary Wisniewski

RECOMMENDEDDespite being a lifelong fan of musical theater, I’d somehow never seen “Pippin.” I remedied this shameful knowledge gap last week, with a show at BrightSide Theatre, in Naperville. Directed by Jeffrey Cass, BrightSide offers a fine introduction to this comic and touching musical, with outstanding singing and an inventive set. With music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (“Godspell,” “Wicked”) and a book by Roger Hirson (“Walking Happy”), “Pippin” was a Broadway hit in 1972.

2 weeks ago | newcitystage.com | Mary Wisniewski

RECOMMENDED“Iraq, But Funny,” a new play at Lookingglass Theatre, is a marvel. This semi-autobiographical satire by ensemble member Atra Asdou is hilarious—audience members on opening night were doubled over with laughter. It’s also intensely moving, infuriating, powerful and profound. “Iraq, But Funny” will join “The Arabian Nights” and “Metamorphoses” at the top of the Lookingglass canon. It is not to be missed.

2 weeks ago | newcitystage.com | Mary Wisniewski

RECOMMENDED“Golden Leaf Ragtime Blues,” now playing at the American Blues Theater, is a warmhearted and funny play that celebrates both vaudeville and the possibility of friendship across cultural and generational divides. Like vaudeville itself, the jokes can be corny and the situations predictable. But the two lead performers are so strong that your cynicism will get the hook.

3 weeks ago | newcitystage.com | Mary Wisniewski

It’s not clear what Lifeline’s new adaptation of “War of the Worlds” wants to be. It’s a show of wildly shifting tones—going from 1950s-style sci-fi drama to satire to camp—that doesn’t settle comfortably anywhere. It’s too jokey for drama, and the jokes aren’t funny enough for comedy. Longtime Lifeline ensemble member John Hildreth adapted the script from H.G. Wells’ 1898 novel about a Martian invasion of Earth. Directed by managing producer Heather Currie, the show starts promisingly enough.

1 month ago | newcitystage.com | Mary Wisniewski

It was the summer of 1980—the first season for American Players Theatre in rural Spring Green, Wisconsin. The company was performing “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” on the hilltop stage. William Borth, who hated Shakespeare, had been dragged to the show kicking and complaining. It had rained all day, but stopped before showtime. As Puck made his entrance, a mist rolled over the stage until the fairies were “knee-deep in a swirling, firefly-lit fog,” Borth remembers.