America: All Better! *** 1/2
The frightening, funny revue on the Second City mainstage is called “America: All Better!” — but that doesn’t stop the cast from delivering a darkly comic show about these yin-and-yang times in Chicago, where one day we’re flying high with the federal eagles and the next we’re all rolling in the gubernatorial muck with the federal investigators. Open run at Second City, 1616 N. Wells St.; $20-$25 at 312-337-3992.
Brother, Can You Spare Some Change? ***
The presidency of Barack Obama is still in its infancy, but his comedic muses at the Second City e.t.c. are raising expectations. “Can he really turn Guantanamo into the next Six Flags?” sings the hopeful cast on Second City’s second stage. “Can he turn every gun into a gumdrop?” This revue isn’t an e.t.c. classic, but a thoroughly enjoyable insight into the comedic zeitgeist. It has twin obsessions: Recession and race. Oh, and Mayor Daley, whose follies forge a full-blown Italian opera. And Bruce Pirrie’s revue showcases Christina Anthony, who might soon find herself on “Saturday Night Live,” playing Michelle Obama. Open run at Second City e.t.c., 1608 N. Wells St.; $20-$25 at 312-337-3992.
Desire Under the Elms ***
No elm trees shelter the Cabot farmhouse in Robert Falls’ colossal, unabashedly sexual and overtly expressionistic revival of Eugene O’Neill’s American tragedy about a father and son feuding over the same woman. Instead, the Goodman stage is strewn with boulders — the rough-hewn character of patriarch Ehpraim Cabot externalized and writ large. He’s played here by Falls muse Brian Dennehy — in a way that can overemphasize age over power. But Carla Gugino turns in a career-making performance as the woman desired and possessed by two generations of inadequate Cabot men. This is a depressing play that some in the audience won’t want to grasp, but it’s powerfully told. Through March 1 at the Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St.; $36-$82 at 312-443-3800.
Don’t Dress for Dinner *** 1/2
The good times are back at the Royal George Theatre. I wouldn’t claim this commercial production of the Marc Camoletti farce, starring Patricia Kalember of TV fame, qualifies as an economic stimulus package. And if you demand social purpose for your theater-going dollar, look elsewhere. But it’s a terrific show, cheerfully retro and un-P.C., definitely a stimulus for the funny bone. Through March 1 at the Royal George Theatre, 1641 N. Halsted St.; $49.50-$59.50 at 312-988-9000.
Great Falls ***
This new drama by Lee Blessing is the story of a less-than-successful stepfather and his teenage stepdaughter on a car trip to the Great American West, trying and failing to re-create one of those iconic road trips favored by more functional families. The themes and motifs are surely familiar, and the various crises come a bit too thick and fast, but Blessing is an elegant writer, and this little piece has a pleasingly poetic quality and a strong whiff of authentic experience. If you’ve ever tried to communicate with a teenager, or struggled with families affected by divorce, I think you’ll find yourself moved. This is Profiles-regular Darryl Cox’s best acting in years; he’s still young enough to play his long-honed specialty of adult characters reluctant to embrace their adulthood, but is now old enough to evoke that time in life when regrets overwhelm opportunities. Through March 1 at Profiles Theatre, 4147 N. Broadway; $25-$30 at 773-549-1815.
I Gotcha **1/2
Early in Act 2 of ” Gotcha,” the entirely predictable and wholly entertaining new Black Ensemble Theater show in tribute to the late Joe Tex and the Soul Clan, the cast invites the audience on stage to assist in the choreographic performance of “Ain’t Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman).” That’s the emblematic 1977 Tex hit with the immortal lyric, “Then she did a dip/almost broke my hip.” Much bumping, and no apparent hip-breaking, ensues. And there is a smile on every face in the joint. If you can get through Jackie Taylor’s well-sung night without humming along to “634-5789 (Soulville, USA)” or tapping a pudgy toe to “Skinny Legs and All,” then you’re in the middle of one deep personal recession. Through March 28 by Black Ensemble Theater, 4520 N. Beacon St.; $40-45; 773-769-4451 and blackensembletheater.com.
Jersey Boys ****
As the music and biographical stories of the members of the Four Seasons and their rise from the street corners of Newark to the top of the pop-music charts, this Chicago production delivers a smash-hit adult night out for a city that understands Jersey better than most. Open run at the Bank of America Theatre, 18 W. Monroe St.; $30-$150 at 312-902-1400.
The Little Foxes ***1/2
“The Little Foxes” might be a throbbing Southern melodrama, but Lillian Hellman knew how to link her villains to the timely dangers of greedy men and unfettered capitalism. And Brandon Bruce’s Shattered Globe revival is a very impressive piece of work from a young director. As Bruce clearly understands, much can be accomplished with this play in a tiny theater. This beautifully paced production allows us to see the whites of their beady eyes. Through March 8 at Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 Lincoln Ave.; $25-$35 at 773-404-7336.
Macbeth ***
In Barbara Gaines’ rollicking, restless, R-rated production of “Macbeth” at Chicago Shakespeare, the action bounces from press conference to airport to strip club to a video-conferencing room where ghosts fly across the Internet. Stay away from this cheerfully overcooked show if you need your Shakespearean tragedy lean, subtle or simple — or if you think the best directorial concepts are seen little and heard less. But this is “Macbeth,” the most stylistically inconsistent work of Shakespeare’s greats, a drama that blends politics, poetry and paganism, awesome insights and witches. As long as it’s in service of a potent point of view, then play on, Gaines, I say. Through March 8 by Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier; 800 E. Grand Ave.; $44-$70 at 312-595-5600.
The Maids ***
Jean Genet is steaming up the North Shore. In “The Maids,” two role-playing servants fantasize and fetishize their desirable and detestable mistress. This isn’t so much an edge-of-your-seat thriller as a highly stylized exploration of ritual and ceremony. Jimmy McDermott’s Writers’ Theatre production, which uses the fresh Martin Crimp translation, is 100 intermisson-less minutes, and it isn’t for all tastes. As the two fantasy-loving maids, Helen Sadler brings a cheeky, feral, fully invested quality to Claire. And Elizabeth Laidlaw, a perpetually mysterious thespian, forges a wound-tight Solange. Through April 5 at Writers’ Theatre, 664 Vernon Ave., Glencoe; $40-$85 at 847-242-6000.
Million Dollar Quartet *** 1/2
Great balls of fire! Here’s a hit. This commercial musical has the kind of jaw-dropping performances that lift your feet from the floor. It’s based on an actual night in 1956 when Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash showed up at Sam Phillips’ Sun Studios for a jam session — and contains two dozen musical numbers. The artful director Eric D. Schaeffer doesn’t go for fake celebrities — the actor-singers evoke the essence of their guys, but are also great performers. Open run at the Apollo Theater, 2540 N. Lincoln Ave.; $49.50-$69.50 at 773-935-6100.
Miss Saigon ***1/2
The remarkably transformed Drury Lane is producing a no-holds-barred “Miss Saigon,” the Vietnam-era retelling of “Mad
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Dying City ***
The title of Christopher Shinn’s “Dying City” is a reference to Baghdad, the city where one of its three young characters dies, thereby destroying a portion of his wife and his twin brother.
But as this dense, dark, disturbing play unspools, you realize Shinn also is talking about New York in the aftermath of Sept. 11. This is a very fine, sophisticated and penetrating piece of writing that captures the restlessness of depression, the persistence and confusion of collective loss.
Jason Loewith’s well-paced and genuinely emotional production for the Next Theatre uses two very smart and sophisticated actors in Nicole Wiesner and Coburn Goss, who skillfully mine the richness of Shinn’s language. One actor, Goss, plays both twins. But that gimmick doesn’t hijack the show. Rather, it makes one meditate on how two brothers often grow up so completely differently and with so many secrets. Through March 8 at Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes St., Evanston. $23-38; 847-475-1875.
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cjones5@tribune.com
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