'Tis the season to look back on 2008 and pronounce what was great and what was awful. But the problem with doing a "best of/worst of" list for the Chicago theater scene is that it's virtually impossible. That is, unless you have the time, money and wherewithal to see every single production in Chicago and its outlying suburbs.
Since nobody can be everywhere at once, here are multiple looks at 2008's theatrical highlights and lowlights from each of the Windy City Times' critics. Don't be surprised if our picks are duplicated or conflict with each other. As the clichés go, everyone is a critic and different strokes do things to different folks.
On the up and up:
—Best at keeping opera au courant: In 2008, Chicago Opera Theater ( COT ) showed once again how it keeps the art form theatrically relevant. COT not only presented a visually stunning Midwest premiere of John Adams' 2006 opera A Flowering Tree, but its swanky nightclub/sex-club updating of Mozart's Don Giovanni, courtesy of director Diane Paulus and conductor Jane Glover rightfully, shocked the blue-hairs out of their seats.
—Best tribute to Edward Gorey and Charles Addams: Usually a long title like The Mysterious Elephant and the Terrible Tragedy of the Unlikely Addington Twins ( *Who Kill Him ) would denote something pretentious or long-winded. But The Strange Tree Group's production of Emily Schwartz's macabre comedy was a whimsical delight. Kudos to its stylish production design of a moldering house and its decaying denizens.
—Best leading ladies: You can bet that there will be a major showdown in the category of best actress in a musical at next year's Jeff Awards. E. Faye Butler conveyed all the pain and resentment in the title role of Caroline, or Change for the Court Theatre. Then there's Hollis Resnik's dynamic double turn as an eccentric mother and her grown daughter in Grey Gardens: The Musical for Northlight Theatre. Let's pray that the Jeff vote ends up in a tie.
—Best slam-bam musical: Die-hard theater purists were no doubt outraged by David Bell's major overhaul of the 1930s Rodgers and Hart musical The Boys from Syracuse for Drury Lane Oakbrook. But the majority of audiences probably didn't care since the jazzy end result raised the roof with farcical laughter.
—Best Chicago-to-New York export: Lynn Nottage's Ruined is a play filled with rape, genital mutilation and murder in the civil war-plagued Democratic Republic of Congo. Yet far from being a self-important downer, Ruined at the Goodman Theatre proved to be a funny and admirable portrait of women who continue to live despite the horrors inflicted on them. Hopefully the New York critics will be as kind as the Chicago ones.
On the down side:
—Best intentions gone awry: Elgin-based Janus Theatre Company tried to highlight the genius of German expressionist playwright Bertolt Brecht in a revue called The Greatest Story eBertolt: A Brecht Review. If that cutesy and punned title made you cringe, then consider yourself lucky that you missed out on director/creator Sarafina Vecchio's scattershot show with oddly chosen excerpts and misguided direction. The performers' execution of the material was just that: a sad slaughter.
—Concepts best not to conjoin: I finally got to see Shakespeare set in outer space when The Bricklayers and Collectif Masque collaborated on Twelfth Night. While the futuristic outfits and sound-designs were top-notch, the space-age setting didn't mesh with the bard's romantic comedy. The cast also acted the costumes more than the characters.
—Best reason to save on gasoline: My first experience with Theatre-Hikes at the Morton Arboretum left me disappointed and resentful. True, I probably should have picked a Shakespearean drama instead of a clunky children's play like Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. I also should have waited for the price of gasoline to drop, since this poorly acted performance didn't justify the amount of fuel it took to drive to Lisle and back.
—Best wishes next time: Sandhill Theatre Company certainly has a noble mission to produce plays exclusively about the Midwest. Too bad that the Chicago premiere of Nathaniel Wright's dysfunctional family comedy Faith was such a dire mess.
