Jackie Taylor’s created a magical place up on Beacon Street with musicals that have the congregational energy and spiritual uplift of a religious revival meeting—without the religion. It would require a very dark soul to leave one of these shows in a bad mood. This latest work, written, produced and directed by Taylor, as so many Black Ensemble shows are, follows her successful formula of a fairly thin plot built around show-stopping songs backed by a rockin’ live band, in this case mostly the creations of Luther Vandross. “All In Love Is Fair” tells the story of six romantic couples (including a love triangle) in the fictional town of Love, Illinois. Rhonda Preston and Zachary Boyd are particularly compelling as the fiftieth-anniversary celebrants who start confronting mortality, and the supersized Vasily Deris brings the house down—and a tear to a few eyes, including mine—with his robust renditions of a couple of Vandross classics. Katrina Miller once again stands apart for her comic poise as Katie, the busybody narrator. In many ways, the experience is like an intimate concert; your level of enjoyment is predicated on your passion for the slow jams that make up its offerings.
At the press opening, the front row was populated with a group who went crazy over the songs, hands in the air, singing along and conveying a pure joy that we rarely see in the theater. Sure, the shows can be a tad shaggy, with mics cracking at times, and storylines a bit thin, but there’s no avoiding the “Power of Love” unleashed in this intimate space. (Brian Hieggelke)
At Black Ensemble Theater, 4520 North Beacon, (773)769-4451. Open run.
Fields of Love: A Review of "As You Like It" at Chicago Shakespeare Theater A pastoral comedy is just what the doctor ordered to ease our way out of our recent confinement. Chicago Shakespeare Theater obliges with its bright, energetic tale of souls fleeing death and duplicity and finding peace and love in the woods.
