The second collaboration between choreographer Julia Rhoads and Leslie Buxbaum Danzig, co-founder of 500 Clown, earned the creative duo another National Dance Project award. The first, from 2011 and entitled “The Better Half,” blended dance and theater in a thoughtful and funny examination of domesticity—specifically how the characters we play in our daily lives grapple with identity and dance around and with the ones closest to us. “The Queue” takes us to an airport in an exploration of the intersection between private and public spaces. Rhoads and Buxbaum Danzig again use a script as source material—in “The Better Half” it was the 1944 film “Gaslight”—starting with a mid-eighteenth-century farce about a mad scramble for an inheritance as a departure point. The movement material is inspired by farce as well: vaudeville, slapstick and choreography from film’s golden age. Don’t expect to see these elements overtly; Rhoads examines, deconstructs and rebuilds her material with the rest of the company by creating movement and motivation through real-time interaction. The resulting realness, humor, nuance and humanity makes Lucky Plush productions worth multiple viewings. (Sharon Hoyer)
Lucky Plush Productions at Links Hall, 3111 North Western, (773)281-0824. May 8-18, $15-$25.
A Fan’s Gotta Do: A Review of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog at Black Button Eyes Productions “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog,” the quirky three-part musical web series about the sad machinations of a supervillain, displayed an early example of what entertainment on the Internet could look like. Now, with Black Button Eyes Productions that 2008 “classic” has hit the stages of Chicago to benefit Season of Concern.
RECOMMENDED
