Daily Rehearsal: Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus’ new season starts up

Daily Rehearsal: Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus’ new season starts up
Daily Rehearsal: Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus’ new season starts up

Daily Rehearsal: Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus’ new season starts up

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1. A review is in for Urlakis & Cusick, described by Steve Etheridge as “good, frenetic fun, but definitely not for the pure of heart. Set your conscience to standby and enjoy.”

2. Hubris Productions has All Childish Things at Greenhouse. It’s about a high-stakes robbery, but these stakes are not the normal ones, because what this group of friends wants to steal is Star Wars merchandise. “[W]hen the heist goes wrong, lives are threatened, secrets are revealed and the ultimate temptation threatens to tear these friends apart forever.” Is it fair to assume this is a comedy because it’s about stealing Star Wars memorabilia. 

3. The Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus’ new season starts up this weekend; see them at the Athenaeum. The new show is called Holly Follies, and while you can sing-along to some tunes, expect Aretha Franklin, Sammy Davis Jr. and…Straight No Chaser’s “Who Spiked the Eggnog?” Nothing if not diverse.

4. Zac Thompson agrees with our Dueling Critics about The Jackie Wilson Story. “Black Ensemble isn’t known for its spirit of experimentation,” he writes in his review of the group’s latest production. However, he takes it one step further, crediting that decision to executive director Jackie Taylor’s leadership. “Taylor long ago discovered a workable formula and, by gum, she’s sticking to it. Most of the shows in the company’s 35-year history have been upbeat, biographical jukebox musicals about R&B singers, and nearly all of those were written and directed by Taylor. (For a theater with the word “ensemble” in its name, BE looks an awful lot like a one-woman operation.)”

5. Among the shows closing this weekendThe 13 Clocks from Lifeline Theatre; A Behanding in Spokane from Profiles Theatre (read this article by Mary Shen Barnidge about the gruesome props they’ve got), The Great Fire (beautiful set), and The Witches.

Questions? Tips? Email kdries@wbez.org.