Friday, May 17, 2013
Northlight's comedy-drama takes us on a masterfully acted, well written tale of two people who have experienced loss but are finding the courage to open their hearts again. It features Rhea Perlman and Francis Guinan.
When life and love have punched you in the heart and left you sprawled on the sidewalk, is it really possible to pick yourself up and expose your tender feelings again to the possibility of new love? Though it's cloaked in comedy, that's the central question in Northlight Theatre's Stella & Lou. This beautifully-constructed play, in which playwright Bruce Graham tempers his musings on loneliness and courage with quick-witted comedy based on human vanities, is a marvel in itself. With Rhea Perlman, formerly of the TV show Cheers, bringing out Stella's warmth, wise-cracking and down-to-earth compassion, and Steppenwolf Theater Company veteran Francis Guinan exploring the nuances of Lou's reticence to leave the past behind, it's clear 10 …
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Evanston aldermen reviewed a study that says Evanston needs bigger theater spaces—and Northlight Theater might return for the right venue. But there’s no obvious funding source at the time.
Evanston needs bigger theater spaces, and Northlight Theatre might return to town for just the right venue, according to a recent study commissioned by the city. But there’s no obvious source of funding for the study’s recommendations, which call for nearly $150 million for three separate theaters. Consultants presented the conclusions of the city-commissioned study to Evanston aldermen on Monday. The study cost $100,000, and funding was split between city dollars and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. “What we found were successful artists working in small venues—like Next, Piven, Mudlark and Piccolo,” said consultant Todd Hensley, a partner with Schuler Shook Theater Planners. “They need a space that would allow them to …
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
THEATER REVIEW. This show about writing a show could have been more tightly edited, but at times seems so spontaneous it creates an in-the-moment feel. It's playing in Skokie at Northlight Theatre.
THEATER REVIEW When all the members of an ensemble cast pull their own weight and play off their characters' personality differences, they create a pleasure for the audience to watch. The four actors in Northlight Theatre's [title of show] nailed it on that count. Yes, [title of show] is the title of the show. It's a bit confusing until you learn the characters are writing a show to enter into a theater festival, and they don't have a ready answer for the part of the entry form that says [title of show]. So-- in this show about writing a show, Matthew Krowle lets his demons and his creative juices all hang out as he plays Hunter, the main scribe, and that's balanced nicely by the way Stephen Schellhardt plays Jeff, his composer-…
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Northlight Theatre cast milks the comedy in British farce.
In England, the Christmas feasting and drinking continues for three days, from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day. That's a long time to be closed in with relatives, especially if you don't get along all that well. Alan Ayckbourn mines the comedy that scenario presents by taking one family's tensions from a simmer to a boil in "Seasons Greetings," playing at Northlight Theatre in Skokie through Dec. 18. The cast, an assortment of Chicago theater pros, nimbly portrays the oddball family members, who include a hypochondriac, a weapons freak, a mousy young woman, a doctor obsessed with putting on a boring puppet show for the kids, an unfulfilled wife, two slacker husbands who won't lift a finger to help and a visiting single man who injects sexual …
Jim Osburn
2:26 pm on Saturday, February 2, 2013
Let's think outside the box, folks. Downtown seems to be doing just fine without another gov't project, how about the now vacant former Osco at Asbury & Oakton? Granted, there are no trendy restaurants nearby, but they spring up after a destination attraction anchors the area. Or, what about Doge & Dempster Plaza, now a TIF area that could help with funding. There is already an Italian themed … more ›