In 2003, twin sisters Lynx and Lamb Gaede formed a pop group, recording the ballads and anthems of the white power movement. Their crude warbling received major coverage; they espoused their ideology on “Good Morning America.” “White Noise” is the thinly veiled dramatization of the Gaedes’ story that explores media manipulation with uneven results.
Morally bankrupt producer Max (Douglas Sills) manages Neo-Nazi sisters Eden (Emily Padgett) and Eva (Mackenzie Mauzy) and skinhead boyfriend Duke (Patrick Murney). Max recruits Jake (Eric William Morris) to code their music and take it mainstream. All goes well until Duke demands that they get their real message across.
Matte O’Brien’s book is dark and sharply funny, but the show’s “Broadway big” numbers and voices bog it down as it builds to a cliché climax. “White Noise” is loud and super-slick but that’s the point: It shows us how effective hate with six layers of shellac can be. (Lisa Buscani)
At The Royal George Theatre, 1641 North Halsted, (312)988-9000. Through May 15.
One Recommendation: Spectrum Dance Theater's SHOT Donald Byrd’s urgent piece deserves a spot on the lists of must-read/must-watch resources about racism, white supremacy and police violence in America.
The Beauty Myth: A Review of "School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play" at Goodman Theatre Set in 1986 in the Aburi Girls Boarding School in Ghana, five teenagers gossip and primp as they prepare for beauty pageant auditions the following day. The social hierarchy of "mean girls'' is quickly established, as Paulina, the prettiest and best singer, alternately boasts about her superiority and denigrates her classmates for what she considers their inferiority.
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