News

Fireflies – Fails to Take Flight

Published

2 years ago

January 31, 2022

The old adage, behind every great man is an even greater woman, has never been truer than in the new play, Fireflies, now being staged at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie. A thinly veiled, fly on the wall look at a day in the life of Dr. Martin Luthor King, Jr. and his wife Coretta Scott King, this domestic melodrama unfolded amongst the racial tensions of 1963. Collapsing under the weight of an overpacked script, this 90-minute, one act play rapidly bounced between domestic drama, sanctimonious sermons, sexual abuse, abortion, rage, mental illness, lies & deception, volleyed back and forth like a Wimbledon tennis ball. Written by Donja R. Love, Fireflies is the second in a series of three The Love Plays focusing on “queer love through black history.” Perhaps not seeing part one and part three left this in a void that started strong but fell apart by the end, weighed down by its own hubris.

Chanell Bell

Al’Jaleel McGhee

Fireflies focused on a black couple living in the Jim Crow South. Rev. Charles Grace (Al’Jaleel McGhee) was committed to social activism, an in-demand face of the movement, not unlike Dr. Martin Luthor King, Jr. himself. If Charles Grace was the face of the movement, his wife, Olivia Grace (Chanell Bell) was both the brains and the heart behind the scenes. A talented and prolific speech writer, she crafted all of the powerful words her husband was credited with sharing. When four young girls were killed by a church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963, both sprang into action. Writer Love is known for working pivotal moments in African American history into his work, and this real-world bombing fit seamlessly in the narrative. Both McGhee and Grace made the most of the material they were given, tender at first, the tale quickly turned darker and meaner by the minute.

Chanell Bell, Al’Jaleel McGhee

Director Mikael Burke’s pacing turned from tender to traumatic on a dime. After receiving an anonymous box in the mail, Olivia Grace soon determined her husband was unfaithful to her while he was out on the road. These FBI surveillance recordings echoed similar treatment to the real-world Dr. Martin Luthor King, Jr. and his wife. In the 1960’s a sex tape destroyed a marriage or a career in an instant. By today’s standards, the same sex tape helped launch the careers of Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton, but that is another story for another day.

Al’Jaleel McGhee, Chanell Bell

While arguing in the kitchen (set by Scott Penner) this play morphed from domestic drama to a rage fest with more than a few unnecessary addons. Knocking his wife off of her high horse, this heavy drinking Pastor emerged with a stack of love letters written by his wife to a mysterious “Ruby” character. The homophobia of the day took over the narrative, but sorely lacked any real details of substance. Is it an affair if your wife is just writing letters to a same-sex crush she only met once? It wasn’t clear if anything actually happened between these women beyond a harmless infatuation, but the letters meant the world to Olivia. Next, add on an unwanted pregnancy storyline, where a clearly distraught wife pondered her baby “is that unpleasant present under the Christmas tree that you never play with, that you wish you could pass on to someone else.” Mother of the year she is not. For someone who said fireflies were “God’s children flying home to heaven” fifteen minutes earlier, she had compassion for every child except the one she was carrying.

Chanell Bell, Al’Jaleel McGhee

Added to the mix, a never fully fleshed out mental-illness subplot. Olivia Grace would have these episodes where the onstage action would stop, Eric Watkins’ stage lighting would flash and she would “hear bombs exploding” and would have “visions of fire” surrounding her. Were these just flashes of her imagination, the beginnings of mental-illness, an undiagnosed brain tumor or just a convenient plot device. It was unclear in this staging, but the fault here lies in a muddled script, devoid of that distinct clarification. What was clear is this is a couple that despite surface success, never should have been married. Their contempt for one another obvious to everyone but themselves. By the time Olivia grabbed a kitchen butcher knife to threaten her husband, who in return grabbed a chair to defend himself, this story had descended into the melodrama of a “Lifetime TV Woman in Jeopardy” film. Then to add a sexual assault and an additional murder to the mix was just too much. There is only so much trauma a character can face before it plays like the theater of the absurd. These awkward transitions lost any substantive powerful punch by the play’s end.

Al’Jaleel McGhee, Chanell Bell

Fireflies had real potential. Timed to run at the beginning of Black History Month was no small coincidence. A cast of two, strong and talented black actors, written by an Afro-Queer writer, I was so excited to follow this show’s journey. A story full of angry secrets, infidelity, mental-illness, juxtaposed against the concept of an affair of the body vs. an affair of the heart. It just fell short of expectations under its own need to pile on far too much to tell the tale of two people who never should have been together in the first place. The constant one upmanship surpassed any real connection to the drama. Lusty and playful at the beginning, dour by the end, Fireflies flailed to take flight.

Northlight Theatre’s Fireflies is now playing at North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie through February 20, 2022

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Stephen Best

Stephen S. Best is currently a freelance writer for the Times Square Chronicles, covering the performing arts scene in the greater Chicagoland area. He has been a theater aficionado for years, attending his first live production, Annie, at the tender age of six. After graduating from Purdue University, Stephen honed his skills attending live theater, concerts and art installations in New York and Chicago. Stephen's keen eye and thorough appreciation for both theater patrons' time and entertainment dollar makes him a valuable asset and his recommendations key. Stephen currently lives in downtown Chicago.

Cabaret

My View: IT’S TOUGH TO SWING LIKE FRANK….THIS TOUGH GUY CAN…..ROBERT DAVI

Published

2 days ago

December 4, 2023

Stephen Sorokoff

The atmosphere in The Boca Black Box was akin to The Sands Hotel in Las Vegas last night as movie/TV star Robert Davi (140 films and counting) swaggered onto the stage to sing and swing the songs of Frank Sinatra. His show, titled “My Kind Of Town” had all the elements of a Sinatra event thanks to Davi’s personality which radiates the same mystique and musical excitement that ‘Ol Blue Eyes” possessed. Robert Davi’s performance was not a great actor acting a role… this was Robert Davi, a great actor who started his career as a trained singer thrilling an audience singing songs made famous by Frank Sinatra, but with Davi’s own magnetism and vocal prowess. I don’t know if Sinatra ever played Boca Raton but Robert Davi turned Boca into ‘his kind of town last night” as he brought the musical substance and charisma of “the chairman of the board” to South Florida.

Davi’s had a long and distinguished career in show business and this Boca Black Box audience got to see a lot of the musical part of it last night. The tough guy movie actor sang the music of Frank swinging it “his way”

About Robert Davi:

Robert Davi, an American actor, singer, writer, and producer has played the roles of main villain and drug lord Franz Sanchez in the 1989 James Bond film License to Kill. He was FBI Special Agent Bailey Malone in the NBC television series Proflier. He played a Vietnam veteran and FBI Special Agent Big Johnson in Die Hard. Davi played the opera-singing heavy Jake Fratelli in The goonies, Hans Zarba in Son of the Pink Panther and Al Torres in Showgirls. His album, Davi Sings Sinatra—On The Road to Romance, hit #6 on the Billboard jazz charts. Praised for his voice, Davi debuted as a headliner at The Venetian, in Las Vegas.

ROBERT DAVI

BOCA BLACK BOX

SUNNY SESSA & ROBERT DAVI

SUNNY SESSA, EDA SOROKOFF, VALARIE CHRISTOPHER

Events

FreePalestine Protesters Tried To Ruin Thanksgiving and Black Friday, What’s Next?

Published

2 weeks ago

November 25, 2023

Suzanna Bowling

Today innocents were freed for terrorists. On Thanksgiving over 30 protestors halted the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade along Sixth Avenue, glueing themselves to the route. Several protestors were taken into custody, but with our DA Alvin Braggs, how long will that last?

On The New England Native American float one performer held out a Palestinian flag. How was that Native American?

Loud boos for both incidents rang out from the crowd, as the white jumpsuit-clad protestors poured fake blood over themselves and held up the parade for thousands.

As I was trying to get to Thanksgiving dinner, Anti-Israel protesters flocked to the New York Times building after the parade and if you were coming from Port Authority or any subway near there, your life was thrown into chaos. It took me over an hour to get from Port Authority to 55th and 6th.

The FreePalestine protesters also redecorated the Stephen Schwarzman building of the NY Public Library with pro-Palestine art & fake blood as well.

To make matters worse Anti-Israel protesters targeted Macy’s on Black Friday after disrupting the store’s iconic Thanksgiving Day parade screaming “Why are you shopping? Bombs are dropping!” They also stopped the traffic on 34th street and 6th avenue in Manhattan with a massive Palestinian flag, causing traffic delays.

They also went after the PUMA flagship store as they sponsor the Israel’s football association.

These protestors are hijacking NYC, time and time again. They are hijacking tax payer dollars for their protests? Why aren’t we doing something to stop this and getting mad as hell over this? WHY?

Events

Count Down To Thanksgiving: Watching The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloon’s Come To Life

Published

2 weeks ago

November 22, 2023

Suzanna Bowling

Photo courtsey of Corine Cohen broadwayshowbiz.com

On the day before the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade visitors can get a behind-the-scenes glimpse as the balloons get inflated.

Enter the viewing lineup on 72nd St at Columbus Ave. Bring proof of vaccination and photo ID.

The balloons start to come to life starting at 12 p.m. Wednesday and expect crowds. The best time to really see the balloon is later but the crowds are less the earlier you arrive. One you enter at 72nd and Columbus, you will head to West 77th and Columbus, move along Columbus, around the Natural History Museum and end up on Central Park West and West 81st Street.

Photo courtsey of Corine Cohen broadwayshowbiz.com

Admission to the balloon area is free and stops at 6p.m.

Public transportation is the best way to get to the inflation area as they’re restriction on parking and taxi access.

If you have never done this, it is treat for both young and old.

Columns

My View: Who Knew Broadway and 42nd Street Ran All The Way to Boca/Delray…The Wick Theatre

Published

2 weeks ago

November 19, 2023

Stephen Sorokoff

Who knew 42nd Street and Broadway ran all the way down to Boca/Delray and end at The Wick Theatre and Museum Club! In an event yesterday afternoon that rivaled any Broadway Opening Night Party, Marilynn & Kimberly Wick celebrated the opening of The Wick’s 2023/2024 season with a spectacular immersive exhibition of “Dancing Feet” The Experience, 42nd Street. They also had in attendance none other than the star of the original Tony Award Winning Broadway show (42nd Street) Lee Roy Reams on the Museum Club’s Stage to add commentary, sing, and have a fun filled talk back with the audience. Lee Roy, who starred as Billy Lawlor in the 1980 production, shared many anecdotes about the musical during the video presentation, including insights about renowned choreographer Gower Champion and his untimely death on the day of the show’s Broadway opening. The legendary show went on to win the Tony Award for Best Musical and Best Choreography. While Reams continued his illustrious career in musical theatre, starring in numerous Broadway shows including The Producers and La Cage Aux Folles, and at The Wick, he created a sensation with his role as Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly!

“The Wick is breaking new ground in both entertainment and technology by creating these immersive experiences that both entertain and educate audiences about the history of Broadway,” said Kimberly Wick, curator. “As the owners of the largest Broadway costume collection in the nation, we are thrilled to add this innovation as another way to preserve the incredible artistry of our past for generations to come.”

Last year, The Wick Costume Museum underwent a dramatic high-tech transformation, resulting in a stunning new venue, rechristened The Museum Club at The Wick. The completely renovated space thrilled guests with 360-degree immersive video experiences, historic costume displays, dining, and entertainment.

LEE ROY REAMS

LEE ROY REAMS & MARILYNN WICK

MARILYNN WICK & KIMBERLY WICK

LEE ROY REAMS

KIMBERLY WICK

DANCING FEET

LEE ROY REAMS

MICHAEL URSUA & LEE ROY REAMS

THE MUSEUM CLUB

JOHN McDANIEL, EDA SOROKOFF, LEE ROY REAMS

THE MUSEUM CLUB

EDA SOROKOFF & MARILYNN WICK

COMING ATTRACTIONS

COMING ATTRACTINS

Broadway

7 Autistic Performers Are About To Win The Heart of Broadway As They Break The Norm in How To Dance In Ohio

Published

3 weeks ago

November 16, 2023

Suzanna Bowling

Broadway broke new ground last night as seven openly autistic actors took to the stage to play seven autistic characters and they were fantastic.

Also the book and lyrics by Rebekah Greer Melocik music by Jacob Yandura

Jacob Yandura

choreography by Mayte Natalio and direction by Sammi Cannold are also all making their Broadway debuts and seriously are about to show Broadway veterans how its done. I know the season is early, but I expect this show to swept the Tonys.

Sammi Cannold

The new musical I am talking about is How to Dance in Ohio, inspired by Alexandra Shiva’s Peabody Award-winning documentary of the same name. It begans previews on Broadway tonight and will officially open at the Belasco Theatre on December 10, 2023.

The cast of How To Dance In Ohio

I have never seen an audience so in tune with a show the moment it started. They were there for the cast and the cast gave back in spades.

Producers Tom and Michael D’Angora

How to Dance in Ohio is a heartfelt new musical about the desire to connect and the courage it takes to put yourself out into the world. At a group counseling center in Columbus, Ohio, seven autistic young adults prepare for a spring formal dance—a challenge that breaks open their routines as they experience love, stress, excitement, and independence. How to Dance in Ohio is a story about people on the cusp of the next phase of their lives, facing down hopes and fears, ready to take a momentous first step…and dance. And we could all use the lessons this show tells us with soul.