Home » Archive by Tags

Articles tagged with: Susan Stroman

In ‘Bullets Over Broadway,’ that rat-a-tat-tat could be tommy gun or sound of tap shoes

Apr 19, 2016 – 1:39 pm
Feature 1

Interview: Cheech is just a garden variety thug, a gangster, a hit man – who proves to be the creative genius behind a hapless playwright in the musical “Bullets Over Broadway.” And Jeffrey Brooks, who plays this heavy with the fine dramatic touch, says Cheech is also “the most real character of them all, the one with the most heart.”

‘The Merry Widow’ at Lyric Opera: Slow start, then Pop! – bubbles and, mais oui, grisettes

Nov 23, 2015 – 2:53 pm
11/11/15 1:21:27 PM -- 
The Lyric Opera of Chicago Presents
"The Merry Widow"
Renée Fleming, 
Nicole Cabell, 
and Thomas Hampson

© Todd Rosenberg Photography 2015

Review: If it had been opening night for the Lyric Opera production of Franz Lehár’s “The Merry Widow,” one might have understood the stark contrast between the dismal walk-through of the first act and the sustained vivacity suddenly on display post-intermission. One might have chalked it up to a calming of collective nerves. But as this was the second performance, the first-night excuse hardly applies. I daresay the show is what it seemed to be: egregiously uneven. ★★★

From ‘Romeo’ to ‘Figaro,’ love rules as Lyric plans eight operas, ‘King and I’ for 2015-16

Feb 11, 2015 – 10:34 am
Thomas Hampson and Renee Fleming to star at Chicago Lyric Opera in Nov. -Dec. 2015.

Report: You know that Valentine’s Day is just around the corner when the romantic couplings planned for the Lyric Opera’s 2015-16 season are the stuff of headlines. The game of love becomes a delicious frenzy when lots of money and a very attractive widow are at stake: Soprano Renée Fleming will be playing her “Merry Widow” title role to the hilt with baritone Thomas Hampson beginning Nov. 14 and into the holiday season. We provide details.

Cue cameras: Metropolitan Opera Live in HD, come of age, is playing at a cinema near you

Dec 16, 2014 – 12:06 pm
Michael Volle, Hans Sachs in Wagner's 'Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg.' (Ken Howard, Metropolitan Opera)

Feature review: The Metropolitan Opera is the most international of houses, but there is something quintessentially American about the Saturday afternoon HD cinema broadcasts that are now part of its marketing arsenal. After attending a performance of “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg” at the Met, I caught the same production, broadcast live to cinemas on Dec. 13, starring German baritone Michael Volle as Hans Sachs, the master shoemaker, cobbler of poems and mender of hearts.

New musical ‘Big Fish’ could be a whopper, but still lacks pizazz to make a real splash

Apr 20, 2013 – 4:56 pm
Kate Baldwin as Sandra and Norbert Leo Butz as Edward in "Big Fish" Broadway in Chicago 2013 credit Paul Kolnik

Review: ★★★

‘Big Fish’ star Butz calls the fanciful story-teller his dream role — and that’s no exaggeration

Apr 15, 2013 – 1:00 pm
Bobby Steggert as Will Bloom and Norbert Leo Butz as Edward Bloom in Big Fish Broadway in Chicago 2013 photo Paul Kolnik

Preview: Norbert Leo Butz plays Edward Bloom, a Herculean story-spinner who supersizes his own legend in the musical “Big Fish.” We caught up with Butz at the Oriental Theatre, where the two-time Tony winner is trying this fabulist father-son story on for size. Butz talks about his role in the Broadway-bound musical, now in Chicago previews. We sneak a listen, too.

Broadway in Chicago, riding high, sets stage for ‘Jekyll & Hyde’ in a spring season splash

Jan 1, 2013 – 4:38 pm
Constantine Maroulis and Deborah Cox in the national tour production of Jekyll and Hyde

B’way bound ‘Big Fish’ starts here