Barbara Vitello
-
Northlight's 'Ella' captures iconic songstess perfectlyDec 06, 2007 10:00 pm - If E. Faye Butler wins the 2008 Jeff Award for lead actress in a musical, she has Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn to thank. Butler plays Ella Fitzgerald in...
-
Holidays herald music, comedy and a couple of new nightspotsDec 06, 2007 10:00 pm - Good for the Jews, a rock 'n' comedy duo made up of David Fagin and Rob Tannenbaum, bring their holiday show, "Putting the Ha! In Hanukkah," to Chicago's Double Door, 15...
-
Engaging cast energizes 'Philadelphia Story' revivalNov 29, 2007 10:00 pm - Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart loom large over "The Philadelphia Story," George Cukor's 1940 big-screen version of Philip Barry's 1939 comedy-of...
-
'Is she or isn't she?' That is the questionNov 29, 2007 10:00 pm - Sigmund Freud would have had a field day with Henry James' "The Turn of the Screw." The psychosexual undertones of James' 1898 novella about a governess who believes dem...
-
Well-loved film gets modest stage revival at Steel BeamNov 29, 2007 10:00 pm - "A Christmas Story" didn't exactly rake in a sleigh full of cash when it opened just before Thanksgiving in 1983. Despite critics' praise, the film based on Jean Shepher...
-
'The Rat Pack' brings Vegas to HemmensNov 29, 2007 10:00 pm - Former Batavia resident Nicholas Brooks plays Sammy Davis Jr. in "Direct From Vegas: The Rat Pack," today at the Hemmens Cultural Center, 45 Symphony Way, Elgin. The 27-...
-
Whimsical 'Umbrella' worth catchingNov 23, 2007 10:00 pm - "> An astonishing piece of conceptual theater opened this week at Chicago Shakespeare Theater as part of its world stage program. A pan-cultural specta...
-
Signal's take on search for passion comes up solidNov 22, 2007 10:00 pm - "Old Wicked Songs" makes for a pleasant, if predictable duet. Jon Marans' two-character play about a hotshot American piano prodigy who's lost his passion and the aging...
-
Fast-paced sex farce raises director's profileNov 22, 2007 10:00 pm - Let's all do director Sean Graney a favor and dispense once and for all with the "wunderkind," "auteur" and "up-and-comer" tags. For years writers described h...
-
Musical choreography makes the most of 'Seven Brides'Nov 16, 2007 10:00 pm - Choreographer Michael Kidd had an MGM soundstage on which to work his magic in the 1954 movie musical "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers." Director/choreographer Kevin Be...