Newcomer Kelly Anderson follows up her Chicago dance theater debut “Message Me If…” with another evening-length show at Links Hall, this time inspired not by the trials and tribulations of modern dating, but by the campy variety shows of yesteryear. An eleven-member cast put on the big show: fourteen short comic numbers complete with sister acts, freak-show oddities, and water ballet. And like the best golden-era films on the subject (and five brilliant seasons of The Muppet Show), the backstage antics that find their way to the audience are the real entertainment. Anderson moved to Chicago from New York in 2012; her past choreographic stints in Milwaukee, Portland, New York and Minnesota are very much in the same theatrical, family-friendly, comic/dramatic vein: “Peter Pan,” a stage version of “A Wrinkle in Time,” an original opera, and several variety shows. Let’s give her a warm welcome folks! (Sharon Hoyer)
Kelly Anderson Dance Theatre at Links Hall, 3111 North Western, (773)281-0824. Friday-Sunday, October 16-18 at 7pm. $10-$20.
