Put a Little Magic In Your Holidays With Chicago Magic Lounge

Chicago Magic Lounge celebrates the holidays with

additional performances, specialty cocktails, New Year’s Eve shows, and more!

Ring in the New Year with The New Year’s Eve Show

a special evening of magic and music with mind reader Mark Toland,

Trent James, Ryan Plunkett and band The DOT

Monday, December 31, 9pm - 2am

Child-friendly NYE Eve Family Show to be held Sunday, December 30 at 3:30pm

Chicago Magic Lounge, Chicago’s new home for close-up magic, celebrates the holidays with magical performances, specialty cocktails and more. Featured performers in December include Signature Show appearances by TC Tahoe, Francis Menotti feat. Lindsey Noel, Anna DeGuzman, and Nick Diffatte, and a late-night bar set by Frank Everhart Jr. Ring in the new year with The New Year’s Eve Show, a special night of music and magic featuring mind reader Mark Toland, Trent James, Ryan Plunkett and band, The DOT, Monday, December 31, 9pm-2am. A special, child-friendly, The NYE Eve Family Show will be held on Sunday afternoon, December 31 at 3:30pm.

This holiday season Chicago Magic Lounge will add more Signature Shows between Christmas and New Year’s. In addition to the regular schedule (Thursdays at 7pm, Fridays & Saturdays at 7pm & 10pm) extra performances will be held Wednesday, December 26 at 7pm; Thursday, December 27 at 10pm; Sunday, December 30 at 7pm.

In December and January, Chicago Magic Lounge will offer two specialty cocktails to get guests in the holiday spirit: Gift of the Magi (December) and The Levitation (January). Crisp and clean, just like the first snow, the Gift of the Magi is a gin-based cocktail with light citrus notes. The Levitation is Chicago Magic Lounge’s take on a classic champagne cocktail and the perfect way to start the new year.

Tickets for all Chicago Magic Lounge performances are available at the box office, (312) 366-4500 or online at chicagomagiclounge.com. Chicago Magic Lounge is a 21+ venue. Ages 16+ allowed to ticketed shows with a legal guardian. Ages 5+ allowed for The Family Show only.

Holiday season highlights include:

The Signature Show: TC Tahoe (headliner), Francis Menotti feat. Lindsey Noel (Featured Act), & Anna DeGuzman (654 Club)

 
       

December 6 - 8, 2018
Thursdays at 7pm; Fridays and Saturdays at 7pm & 10pm
Tickets: $39.50 (Main Floor), $44.50 (Premium Main Floor), $49.50 (Front Row), $54.50 (Mezzanine Experience)
Guests who purchase Mezzanine, Front Row and Premium Main Floor tickets are invited to an exclusive performance of close-up magic directly after the show in The 654 Club with Anna Deguzman.



Late Night Bar: Frank Everhart Jr.
December 7 - 8, 2018
Friday & Saturday: 10pm – 2am
No tickets required
Frank Everhart Jr. is Chicago-style magic royalty. His father, Frank Everhart Sr, was the magic bartender at the Black Knight Bar, later renamed ‘Frank’s Magic Bar,’ in Chicago’s Ivanhoe Restaurant and Theater for a record-setting, 21-years. He popularized the ‘Chicago Opener’ and the story-telling card trick, ‘Sam the Bellhop’ (our 654 Club was named for this routine). Everhart Sr. made appearances on Bozo’s Circus, as well as performing for Lyndon B. Johnson at his ranch.

Frank Everhart Jr. continues the family tradition performing classic, Chicago-style magic. A master bar magician in his own right, Frank Jr. broke his father’s record this year, having performed over 21 years at the iconic Schooner Wharf in Key West, Florida. Though Frank is most acclaimed for his magic bar, he has performed shows in Atlantic City, The Magic Castle, Reno, Lake Tahoe, and countless shows for both public and private affairs. 

The Signature Show: Nick Diffatte
December 20 - 22, 2018
Thursdays at 7pm; Fridays and Saturdays at 7pm & 10pm
Tickets: $39.50 (Main Floor), $44.50 (Premium Main Floor), $49.50 (Front Row), $54.50 (Mezzanine Experience)

Nick Diffatte returns to the Chicago Magic Lounge with his full one-man show! Nick is quickly becoming one of the most talked about and in-demand young magicians working today. He currently performs on luxury cruise ships for Disney, headlines at the world-famous Magic Castle in Hollywood, comedy clubs, multiple casinos across Las Vegas including Planet Hollywood, Harrah’s, and has even been seen on The Late Late Show with James Corden on CBS all at the age of 22.

Guests who purchase Mezzanine, Front Row and Premium Main Floor tickets are invited to an exclusive performance of close-up magic directly after the show in The 654 Club with Chicago Magic Lounge favorites Luis Carreon (Thursday) and Ryan Plunkett (Friday and Saturday) pictured below.

ADDITIONAL DATES!
The Signature Show
December 26 - 30, 2018
Wednesday, December 26 at 7pm; Thursday, December 27 at 7pm & 10pm; Friday, December 28 and Saturday, December 29 at 7pm & 10pm; and Sunday, December 30 at 7pm
Tickets: $39.50 (Main Floor), $44.50 (Premium Main Floor), $49.50 (Front Row), $54.50 (Mezzanine Experience)
The Signature Show was conceived in 2015 as an homage to the historic, Chicago magic bar scene. Experience close-up magic right at your table during the cocktail hour, followed by an hour of stage magic featuring two masters of their craft performing feats of prestidigitation and sleight of hand. Guests who purchase Mezzanine, Front Row and Premium Main Floor tickets are invited to an exclusive performance of close-up magic directly after the show in our 43-seat close-up gallery, The 654 Club.

The NYE Eve Family Show
Sunday, December 30 at 3:30pm
Tickets: $15 (children 5-16), $25
The NYE Eve Family Show will feature fun and family-friendly magic that will delight children and adults alike. Guests will be treated to a glass of sparkling grape juice to toast the end of the year and greet the new one.




Mark Toland

The New Year’s Eve Show
Featuring Mark Toland (Headliner), Trent James (Featured Act), Ryan Plunkett (654 Club) and Band, The DOT
Featured Act:
Monday, December 31 at 9pm (Doors at 8:30pm)
Tickets: $65 (Main Floor), $70 (Premium Main Floor), $75 (Front Row), $80 (Mezzanine Experience)
Say goodbye to 2018 and hello to 2019 with a night of magic! This one-of-a-kind event will feature bar, close-up and stage magic, live jazz and a champagne toast at midnight. The show begins with close-up magic right at your table, followed by an hour of stage magic, starring two masters of their craft performing feats of mentalism, prestidigitation and sleight of hand. Immediately after the main show, the night will transform into a music-and-magic-filled, cocktail party, as guests are invited to move around the space and enjoy walk-around magic and live jazz as we swing into the New Year.

Headliner Mark Toland is an award-winning mind reader and TEDx Speaker. He was recently named the "Top Booked Mind Reader in the US & Canada" and "Audience Choice" at the NYC Fringe Festival. Currently, he performs 150+ shows each year for corporate and private events around the world.

Featured act Trent James brings a fresh new feel to the “classic magic show”. Trent combines mindboggling magic and offbeat comedy for a new generation. He is the winner of over twenty awards, including The Society of American Magicians International Stage Contest- People’s Choice Winner, International Brotherhood of Magicians Stage Contest-Silver Medal, and was named The Most Promising Young Magician by the Milbourne Christopher Foundation. Trent’s performances have left audiences raving from Las Vegas to New York. His unique sleight of hand magic and hip vibe come together to form an unforgettable thrill ride!



Guests will also enjoy music from The DOT (Dillard Organ Trio). Justin Dillard was born and raised on the west side of Chicago and attending both Vandercook College of Music and The Velvet Lounge. His studies at both institutions gave him the honorable privilege to work with innovators locally and globally performing/recording with and/or receiving tutelage from the likes of: Branford Marsalis, Robert Irving III, Ornette Coleman, the late jazz master Von Freeman and Roscoe Mitchell to name a few. Justin has performed on national television (ABC) and has played in various genres spanning Avant Garde with the late tenor master Fred Anderson to a Dave Matthews tribute band (Crash).

Guests who purchase Mezzanine, Front Row and Premium Main Floor tickets are invited to an exclusive performance of close-up magic directly after the main stage show, and prior the New Year’s countdown, in our 43-seat close-up gallery, the 654 Club with Ryan Plunkett. Ryan is a Chicago-based, close-up magician who has been performing for the past two decades. Ryan is also a highly sought-after magic consultant and magic creator. He is a published author, a regular performer at the Magic Castle in Hollywood California, as well as a resident magician & Founding Ensemble Member of the Chicago Magic Lounge.

Doors open at 8:30pm, with seating and table-side magic starting at 9pm. Guests are welcome to stay until closing at 2am. Cocktail attire is encouraged.

For a complete schedule of performances and more information about Chicago Magic Lounge, as well as resident and guest performers, Chicago Magic College classes, the Chicago Magic Round Table, and more, please visit chicagomagiclounge.com.

About Chicago Magic Lounge
Chicago Magic Lounge reinvents the classic "magic bar" that once dotted Chicago's nightlife landscape, bringing cocktails and card tricks back together again. Shows include magic performance at the bar, on the stage and in true Chicago-style Magic form, at the tables of the guests, providing the classic "Close-Up" tradition Chicago-style Magic is known for. Chicago Magic Lounge is also the home of the Chicagoland magic community, showcasing over 30 local professionals, and serving as a networking hub for working magicians from all over the world. 

The newly constructed theater at 5050 N. Clark St., designed by Morris Architects Planners, has ushered in a new wave of entertainment, bringing back “Chicago-style Magic” under the leadership of Donald C Clark, Jr. and Joseph (Joey) Cranford. Converted from a 1940s-era, commercial laundry building, the Chicago Magic Lounge is a 7,200 square-foot, Art Deco, state-of-the-art theater and lounge complete with secret doors, elegant performance areas and a magic bar – all dedicated to the art of sleight of hand, prestidigitation and Chicago's contribution to the magical arts. From magicians to mind readers, Chicago Magic Lounge provides guests the unique, one-of-a-kind experience of seeing wonders up-close and personal in a venue unlike anything else offered throughout the country.

NEW RELEASES: WHOLE NEW LIFE, REVEREND HORTON HEAT'S FIRST ALBUM IN NEARLY 5 YEARS OUT NOW!

REVEREND HORTON HEAT RELEASE

FIRST ALBUM IN NEARLY 5 YEARS 

WHOLE NEW LIFE

DEBUT NEW VIDEO “HOG TYIN’ WOMAN”

Midnight, Texas TV Performance Airs December 7

On Tour Now

Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we're celebrating the new album release. We got a press preview link and it's been in heavy rotation on our play list this week. I'm shooting live show photos at REVEREND HORTON HEAT'S Chicago Metro show as well as reviewing the new tunes, so check back soon for our full recap. 

Horton's Holiday Hayride is coming to a stage near YOU and features an amazing lineup! Including Reverend Horton Heat, Junior Brown Fan Page, The Blasters and Big Sandy of Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys! 

The foot-stomping hellfire roots of REVEREND HORTON HEAT’s rock 'n' roll stylings are louder than ever with Whole New Life, the brand new album available worldwide today. The band also delivers the second video in the form of the sexy and sultry “Hog Tyin’ Woman.” 

As the album hits shelves, the Texas rebels have traveled thousands of miles, playing 13 countries in front of over one million people since the release of 2014’s Rev. Watch the band perform “Hog Tyin’ Woman” on the NBC thriller Midnight, Texas on December 7.

Watch “Hog Tyin’ Woman” Music Video:



“It’s the most positive album I’ve ever done, admits ringleader Jim ‘Reverend’ Heath. “Some of my stuff in the past was dark, maybe too dark. I guess I’m not the awful vindictive jerk I thought I was!”

Recording the album in their hometown of Dallas, Heath says that “Creating Whole New Life brought out something more positive in my storytelling and guitar playing. I also saw a vocal coach to reach notes unheard to the average fan. It's got some Southern feel to it, a bit of gruff and a crooning style to it. Write what you know, that’s what they tell ya in school, right?”

The artwork was created by a pair of rock ‘n’ roll sisters called The Mad Twins, Olya and Vira. These creative designers from the Ukraine also animated ‘Hardscrabble Woman,’ the bands final video from the previous album. “Jim Heath is a real old-school gentleman with a precise taste of 1950’s retro style and an excellent sense of humor,” Vira professes. “Jim gave us a good guide of the songs meanings lyrically and musically so we visualized a 1950’s color style from that era. Call it globalism but isn’t it wild that two Ukrainian female artists are doing American 50’s graphics for a Texas band thirty years into their career? The design, art and music of that time are so powerful because people were doing it all by hand - paintings, clothing, cars, instruments - there were simple and naïve emotions, less vulgarity, straight honesty and sincere love. All that makes up the musical tornado of REVEREND HORTON HEAT.”

Undoubtedly one of the most important and popular rockabilly artists of all time, the legendary Texas troop have genre-hopped their fan base in front of audiences from the Sex Pistols, Johnny Cash, Soundgarden, ZZ Top, Motorhead and tons of other heavy-hitters.

“This tour started around 1986,” Heath chuckles dryly. Performing nearly 200 shows a year, REVEREND HORTON HEAT officially kicked off the Horton’s Holiday Hayride Tour on November 27 in Omaha, NE and will wrap up the year in Birmingham, AL on December 22. As more riotous shows are booked for 2019, Heath cracks, “I’m afraid I’m on the Willie Nelson retirement program, which means I’ll never retire!”



All REVEREND HORTON HEAT Tour Dates.

“In your face, rip-snortin’ bust out the windows rock and roll” - NO DEPRESSION

“A throw-back, old-fashioned good time” - CBS

“Upbeat, optimistic spirited rockabilly” - BILLBOARD

“Great American rock & roll” - MUSIC CONNECTION

“Zesty, infectious and timeless” - BIG TAKEOVER

“RHH’s engine refuses to stay idle” - GOLDMINE

“An upbeat stomper” - NEW NOISE

“The pace of a race horse gallop and twang of cowboy campfire, a ball-busting, beer-swillin’ rocker - INNOCENT WORDS

“A solid stomp of blues with hillbilly, garage rock” - UK ROCK & ROLL

“Glorious wave of exuberant, tightly constructed, wonderful songs” - AMERICANA UK

“Authentic, upbeat rockabilly” - VIVE LE ROCK UK

“Powerful, cathartic and triumphant return of the godfathers” - HYSTERIA

“The best album of their career” - VOID REPORT

“Infectiously fun” - CRYPTIC ROCK

“Fun, twangy and vibrant. A memorable album with infectious singalongs” - ILLINOIS ENTERTAINER

“Colorful rockabilly with reliable pro chops” - DETROIT FREE PRESS

“High-octane tempos, mixing rock and classic R&B” - MILWAUKEE SHEPHERD EXPRESS

“RHH is the real deal when it comes to psychobilly blues and country” - CLEVELAND.COM

“Turbocharged pedal-to-the-metal rootsy cornucopia of rockabilly, feral country, hard-wired blues, honky-tonk and punk’n’roll” - MINNEAPOLIS CITY PAGES

REVIEW: Hell in a Handbag Productions' World Premiere of SnowGirls – The Musical Through December 30, 2018 at Mary’s Attic

ChiIL Live Shows on our radar:

World Premiere!

Hell in a Handbag Productions Presents 

SnowGirls – The Musical

Book by Derek Van Barham

Music by David Cerda, Scott Lamberty & Jeff Thomson

Directed by Jon Martinez

Music Direction by JD Caudill

(pictured) Harper Leander in Hell in a Handbag Productions’ world premiere of SnowGirls – The Musical. All Production Photos by Rick Aguilar Studios.

November 15 – December 30, 2018 

at Mary’s Attic

Guest Review:
by D'Arcy Mies

If you are looking for looking for an adult-themed holly-jolly good time this holiday season, Snowgirls will not disappoint!  Not your mama’s Christmas show, this raunchy, silly, and high-spirited musical features all your favorite yuletide characters:  pole-dancing reindeer, foul-mouthed elves, and a horny Santa.

(left to right) Amelia Bell, Harper Leander and Sharon Rae Ryan 

Mary’s Attic, aglow with pink and red lights, serves up hot toddies and other holiday spirits to a laughing and appreciative crowd. 

Photo Credit: D'Arcy Mies

Photo Credit: D'Arcy Mies

Photo Credit: D'Arcy Mies

The show opens with an energetic musical number introducing small-town reindeer Snowmi Malone. Snowmi hitchhikes her way to the North Pole to become a dancer, and sexy hilarity ensues!  Snowgirls delivers catchy musical numbers, clever one-liners, and a sexy villainess who wouldn’t be out of place as the wicked queen in a (very twisted) Disney movie.

(pictured) Erin Daly

Don’t expect any plot-twists as Snowgirls closely parodies the 1995 movie Showgirls, but do expect full-frontal reindeer nudity, theatre-in-jokes, and a scene-stealing Mrs. Claus. References to “Saved by the Bell:”, Rankin and Bass Christmas specials, and even a bit of puppetry round out this naughty-but-nice addition to the Holiday theatre season.


Photo Credit: D'Arcy Mies


Photo Credit: D'Arcy Mies


Photo Credit: D'Arcy Mies

D'Arcy Mies is a Montessori teacher, mom, and long time theater lover who lives in Chicago burb, Franklin Park. She drives a "Tardis Blue" car decked out like Dr. Who's time machine and can often be found at pop culture events.

(left to right) Brittani Yawn, Marissa Williams and Patrick Stengle

(left to right) Brittani Yawn, Harper Leander and Grant Drager 

Hell in a Handbag Productions rings in the holidays with the world premiere of SnowGirls – The Musical, a parody of the classic cult film Showgirls. Featuring a book by Derek Van Barham, music by Artistic Director David Cerda* with Scott Lamberty and Jeff Thomson, direction by Jon Martinez and music direction by JD Caudill. SnowGirls will play November 15 – December 30, 2018 at Mary’s Attic, 5400 N. Clark St. in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood. Tickets are currently available at brownpapertickets.com or by calling (800) 838-3006. 

(clockwise from left) Sharon Rae Ryan, Amelia Bell, Sydney Genco, Marissa Williams and Patrick Stengle 

SnowGirls – The Musicalfeatures Ensemble Members Sydney Genco*, Grant Drager* and Terry McCarthy* with Amelia Bell, Erin Daly, Harper Leander, Max McKune, Sharon Rae Ryan, Patrick Stengle, Marissa Williams and Brittani Yawn.

Snowmi Malone is a rebel who dreams of becoming a dancer. Her quest leads her to the cold cruel world of the North Pole, where she’ll stop at nothing to fulfill her fantasy. SnowGirls explores what happens at the North Pole the other 364 days of the year – and it isn't always pretty.

Harper Leander and Brittani Yawn 

The production team for SnowGirls – The Musical includes: Kate Setzer Kamphausen (costume design), Cat Wilson* (lighting design), Keith Ryan* (wig design) and Drew Donnelly (stage manager).

*Denotes Handbag ensemble member.

Cast (in alphabetical order): Amelia Bell (Ensemble, Dancer), Erin Daly (Mrs. Claus), Sydney Genco* (Ice Krystal), Grant Drager* (Zip), Harper Leander (Snowmi Malone), Terry McCarthy* (Santa, Tony), Max McKune (Rudolph, Ensemble), Sharon Rae Ryan (Ensemble, Dasher), Patrick Stengle (Ensemble, Herbie), Marissa Williams (Gay, Ensemble, Dance Captain) and Brittani Yawn (Jolly). 

(left to right) Sydney Genco, Brittani Yawn and Harper Leander

Location: Mary’s Attic, 5400 N. Clark St., Chicago

Dates:Previews: Thursday, November 15 at 7:30 pm, Friday, November 16 at 7:30 pm, Saturday, November 17 at 7:30 pm and Sunday, November 18 at 6 pm.

Regular run: Sunday, November 25 – Sunday, December 30, 2018

Curtain Times: Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 6 pm. Please note: there will not be a 6 pm performance on Sunday, December 2 due to the Handbag Gala.

Tickets: Previews $17. Regular run $27 in advance, $30 at the door. Group rates $24 for 10 or more. $20 senior and student rates. 


About the Artists    

Derek Van Barham (Book) is the Associate Artistic Director of Pride Films & Plays and a member of the Red Tape Theatre ensemble. For PFP, he has directed Perfect Arrangement, Angry Fags (Steppenwolf Garage), Songs from an Unmade Bed (Jeff nomination), and (co-directing) PRISCILLA, Queen of the Desert: The Musical. He also wrote BITE: A Pucking Queer Cabaret and Kill Your Boyfriends. Other directing credits include The View Upstairs (Circle Theatre), Three Days of Rain (Boho), Miracle! by Dan Savage, Skooby Don't (Hell in a Handbag), and HOT PINK (New American Folk Theatre). Choreography credits include The CiviliTy of Albert Cashier (Permoveo/PFP), Nevermore, Shockheaded Peter, Coraline (Black Button Eyes) and Salonathon. He was named one of Windy City Times 30 Under 30, recognizing Chicago's LGBTQ+ community. Up next: directing When Adonis Calls and Poseidon! An Upside Down Musical and choreographing Evil Dead the Musical.   

David Cerda (Music) is the Artistic Director and co-founder of Hell in a Handbag Productions. Cerda has written or collaborated on POSEIDON! An Upside Down Musical, Caged Dames, Sexy Baby, Lady X: The Musical, Christmas Dearest, Rudolph the Red-Hosed Reindeer, SCARRIE-The Musical, and many others. He has also worked as a songwriter with Amazon Studios and as an actor around Chicago. In 2016, Cerda was in inducted into the Chicago GLBT Hall of Fame and in 2017 he received a Lifetime Achievement Jeff Award for his contributions to the Chicago theater community and philanthropic efforts.

Jeff Thomson (Orchestrations) is a recipient of the Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation Award as well as the Dramatist Guild Musical Theatre Writing Fellowship. Jeff’s original musical Trails was performed in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle and Tokyo, winning him the NYMF award for Best Music, as well as the Stage Entertainment Development Award. Other projects include Virtually Me for TheatreworksUSA, and a club musical adaptation of the cult film Jawbreaker, an arena rock musical adaptation of Allan Moyle's Pump Up the Volume (book and lyrics by Jeremy Desmon). He was commissioned by Broadway Across America to compose the music to the children’s musical Mad Libs Live!, which premiered Off-Broadway. Jeff was selected by Amazon Studios to write the music for the animated movie musical, Midnight with lyricist David Cerda. Most recently, Jeff was selected by Simon & Schuster to pen the score to a new Broadway musical based on the iconic and beloved sleuth, Nancy Drew. www.JeffThomsonMusic.com 

Scott Lamberty (Arrangements, Tracks) has collaborated with David Cerda on several Handbag musicals including Rudolph the Red-Hosed Reindeer, POSEIDON! An Upside Down Musical, SCARRIE – The Musical, Sexy Baby and Lady X The Musical. Scott has also worked extensively with Corn Productions on the Tiff and Mom shows, The Bad Seed The Musical and Jesus Camp – The Musical, among many others.

Jon Martinez (Director) is excited to make his Handbag debut! Credits include: The Buddy Holly Story (American Blues Theatre), The View Upstairs (Circle Theater), In The Heights (Civic Theatre), On A Clear Day… (Porchlight Music Theater), It’s Only a Play, Priscilla Queen of the Desert (Joseph Jefferson Award nomination) (Pride Films & Plays), Rock of Ages (Timberlake Playhouse), Tonya & Nancy The Rock Opera (Chicago Premiere – Underscore); 3C (Red Orchid); We’re Gonna Die (Haven Theater/Steppenwolf). Jon also directed the Theater On The Lake remount of Bailiwick Chicago’s Jeff Award-winning production of Murder Ballad. He also has served as assistant/associate director/choreographer on LIZZIE (Firebrand), Xanadu (American Theater Company); Carrie, Murder Ballad (Bailiwick Chicago). His first ballet, Le Apache, premiered in 2016 at The Harris Theater in Chicago. Jon is a company member of Underscore and Firebrand Theatre. 

JD Caudill (Music Director) is a Chicago-based director, music director and performer. Since coming to Chicago in 2014, JD has performed onstage with The New Colony, Hell in a Handbag Productions, New American Folk Theatre, Forks and Hope and Hobo Junction, and directed for over 15 companies, including Broken Nose Theatre, The New Colony and Haven Theatre. JD is a company member of Hell in a Handbag and Haven Theatre (where they are also marketing director), and an associate company member of Broken Nose Theatre.

(left to right) Harper Leander and Grant Drager

About Hell in a Handbag Productions
Hell in a Handbag is dedicated to the preservation, exploration, and celebration of works ingrained in the realm of popular culture via theatrical productions through parody, music and homage. Handbag is a 501(c)(3) Not for Profit.

REVIEW: “Il Trovatore” at Lyric Opera Through December 9, 2018

ChiIL Live Shows on our radar

IL TROVATORE

by Giuseppe Verdi

Sung in Italian with projected English translations

Approximate Running Time: 2 hours and 40 minutes, including one 25-minute intermission.

Verdi’s IL TROVATORE Now Playing at Lyric Opera of Chicago November 17-30 & December 3-9

Review of Opera “Il Trovatore” at Lyric
By Catherine Hellmann, guest critic

Everyone remembers their first time...no, not that...at the opera. The adorable father-daughter duo seated next to us said her first opera was in Detroit. Her dad deliberately took her to see Puccini’s “La Boheme” in the Lincoln seats since it is such a classic and so lovely. Dad saw his first opera at the Lyric, being a Chicago native. His was “Mozart’s “Cosi fan Tutte.” Mine was at Cincinnati’s gorgeous Music Hall, courtesy of my father, a classical music fan. “The Student Prince” by Sigmund Romberg.

And so I was honored to bring my daughter to her first opera at the stunning Art Deco Lyric Opera House on Saturday night for Giuseppe Verdi’s “Il Trovatore.” I assured her that she could read the English subtitles above the stage since the opera would be sung in its native Italian.

“What’s it about?” she asked me on our way to Wacker Drive. “Not sure exactly,” I answered, “but someone will die in song.”  

Getting interested in an opera is kind of like what a professor told me about reading Grimm’s fairy tales: you have to suspend belief and just go with it. If a character has a magic mirror in a fairy tale, it makes no sense logically; just don’t question it, and enjoy the ridiculous premise. So if a mother in “Il Trovatore” gets confused at a bonfire and accidentally throws her own baby into the flames instead of the boy she is supposed to be avenging, oy, just accept this plot development.

As a former Lyric subscriber and opera major in college, I just expect this lack of logic. But to teen-ager Camelia, the plot was insanity.

“Okay, so the first half was great like, wow, but the second half, what even was that. You’ve got this woman for 30 minutes talking about how much she loves this guy, like okay, we get it, you miss him, and then she gives herself up for him, which is so sweet. AND THEN FOR 30 MORE MINUTES THIS DUDE IS SO UNGRATEFUL! Like, ‘I hate you! You’re giving your love to someone else!’ Dude. She’s giving up her virtue and her life for you and all you can do is complain. You literally throw away the key, why didn’t you release your mom. AND THEN IN THE LAST TWO SECONDS, she dies, he dies, and ‘Hey, surprise! You just killed your brother.’ ‘What? NOOOOOOOOOOO!’ And scene. Like, um okay, bitch.” - ------Camelia         

   

The Anvil Chorus from IL TROVATORE at Lyric Opera of Chicago. 

Photo by Michael Brosilow

While the plot is typical opera-crazy fare, the singing and performances are top-notch in this hot mess of a story. Tamara Wilson in the lead role of Leonora was divine. What a voice! Simply mesmerizing. Obviously, her acting was also effective, as Camelia was so upset by her generosity to the ungrateful Manrico, her lover.

Jamie Barton amazed us with her incredible range as Azucena, the daughter of the accused witch and adoptive mother of Manrico. Artur Rucinski was also noteworthy as the calculating, but sexy, Count di Luna with his marvelous voice and acting.

The Chicago Lyric Opera Chorus was fantastic, especially in the very-recognizable “anvil song” set in the Gypsy camp. (As an added bonus, some of the workers were swinging their anvils without any shirts on. Oh, I long for those days of Samuel Ramey playing a half-naked devil…)

The set design was cool, but at one point, the turntable spun slowly to switch scenes in a drawn-out silence. It seemed weird to not have any music or singing at that part. It is a credit to opera audiences that there was complete silence during this awkward scene change.

But that is a quibble. It is always a treat to see the Lyric in its fabulous home. The downstairs area has great framed photographs of past productions lining its walls as well as costume ball gowns. Coffee is available for sale throughout the lobby areas, if a three-hour opera tests your attention span.               


Catherine Hellmann is a teacher, writer, and theater junkie. She has tried to inspire urban and rural middle schoolers for over twenty years. A mother of three, she is thrilled to once again claim Chicago as home.  



IL TROVATORE
by Giuseppe Verdi
Sung in Italian with projected English translations


FOR THIS HOT-BLOODED TALE OF LOVE, JEALOUSY, AND RETRIBUTION, VERDI CREATED MUSIC THAT TRULY BURSTS WITH EXCITEMENT!

And what wonderful characters—bold and courageous Manrico, his beloved Leonora, the vengeful Count di Luna, and the wild, obsessed gypsy Azucena. Each has thrilling music to sing as the drama unfolds in the smoldering atmosphere of darkly mysterious 15th-century Spain. The “Anvil Chorus,” Leonora’s “Miserere,” Manrico’s stirring call to arms—these are just a few of the fabulous highlights that make Il trovatore a feast of sumptuous singing.


PRODUCTION SPONSORS:
HENRY AND GILDA BUCHBINDER
FAMILY FOUNDATION
EARL AND BRENDA SHAPIRO
FOUNDATION

A coproduction of Lyric Opera of Chicago, The Metropolitan Opera, and the San Francisco Opera Association.

Lyric Opera of Chicago’s production of Verdi’s Il trovatore opens Saturday, Nov. 17, at 7:30 p.m. There are seven performances November 17 - December 9 at the Lyric Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Dr., Chicago. Tickets start at $39 and are available now at lyricopera.org/Trovatore or at 312-827-5600.

Lyric’s Il trovatore boasts a terrific international cast of new and returning artists to play the vividly drawn characters in this hot-blooded tale of love, jealousy, and mistaken identity, and terrible retribution.

American tenor Russell Thomas is Manrico, the titular troubadour, while American soprano Tamara Wilson (Lyric debut) plays his love, Leonora. American mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton portrays the tortured gypsy Azucena, and Polish baritone Artur Ruciński (Lyric debut) sings the dastardly Count di Luna, who covets Leonora’s affections. Serving as narrator for this twisted tale is Ferrando, sung by Italian bass Roberto Tagliavini (Lyric debut). 

Conductor Marco Armiliato and the Lyric Opera Orchestra bring terrific collective experience to the thrilling blood-and-thunder score. The original director of this production, Sir David McVicar, has created a visually powerful production set in tumultuous early 19th-century Spain. Roy Rallo (Lyric debut) directs the revival, with set designs by Charles Edwards, costume designs by Brigitte Reiffenstuel, original lighting design by Jennifer Tipton, and revival lighting design by Chris Maravich.

The Lyric Opera Chorus, prepared by Lyric’s chorus master Michael Black, sings one of the most famous pieces of music, the stirring and hearty “Anvil Chorus.”

Performance dates for Il trovatore are Nov. 17, 21, 25, 30 and Dec. 3, 6, and 9. Performance times vary. For tickets and information call (312) 827-5600 or go to lyricopera.org/Trovatore.

REVIEW: “Iolanta” at Chicago Opera Theater

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar:

CHICAGO OPERA THEATER PRESENTS 

TCHAIKOVSKY’S “IOLANTA” 

IN SEASON-OPENING PERFORMANCES 

AT HISTORIC STUDEBAKER THEATER

Review of Opera “Iolanta” at Chicago Opera Theater
By Catherine Hellmann, guest critic

Chicago is blessed with two professional opera companies. Who knew? We are all familiar with the heralded Lyric Opera, and those accolades are very well deserved. But there is also a scrappy little opera company that has been around since 1973, Chicago Opera Theater. The singing of their principal players is just as exquisite, and their company is less pretentious and, therefore, more accessible.  

With a short season of three shows, there are still two more lesser-known shows to be produced by COT in the spring: The Scarlet Ibis on February 16, 21, and 24, 2019, and Moby-Dick on April 25 and 28, 2019. Chicago Opera Theater prides itself on featuring operas that are outside the traditional canon; they are to be commended for that. All three shows in their repertoire this season are Chicago premieres. The company brings in “new contemporary operas for a 21st century audience,” according to their website. The opening show of Iolanta was impressive.

It was a performance of “firsts,” as described by General Director Doug Clayton in his welcoming remarks. Iolanta marked the podium debut of Maestro Lidiya Yankovskaya, the only woman with the title Music Director at a top 50 opera company in the United States. (Wow. That is actually really impressive for COT, but sad throughout the music world.) Maestro Yankovskaya gave the pre-show talk, and her passion for this piece was evident. The performance marked the company debut of international stage director Paul Curran. And finally, Iolanta was the last operatic work by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, with a libretto by his brother Modest, and was being brought to life in our beloved Windy City 126 years after its debut.

With a mostly Chicago-based cast,  Iolanta is sung in the original Russian and stars Katherine Weber in the title role as a blind princess who isn’t aware that she’s blind. (Hey, it’s opera, which historically is goofy as hell in terms of plot.) Weber’s voice is stunning, as is Mikhail Svetlov as her father, King Rene, who has kept her blindness as a big secret. Chicago tenor John Irvin is wonderful as Duke Vaudemont who falls in love with Iolanta. She is betrothed to someone else, but fortunately, that dog Duke Robert, sung by Christopher Magiera, conveniently falls in love with another girl. Also of particular note is bass-baritone Bill McMurray as the physician Ibn-Hakia who advises the skeptical king that the only way to cure his daughter’s blindness is revealing to her that she is unable to see.

Chicago Opera Theater currently performs at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance at Michigan and Randolph. Iolanta was performed at the Studebaker Theater at Michigan and Congress in the old Fine Arts Building, built in 1898 to host vaudeville shows! (My pal Mary and I were amazed to discover this charming venue, recently restored, in such a historic facility.) Originally built in 1885 by architect Solon S. Beman (who designed Pullmantown for George Pullman) to house the Studebaker Corporation’s Midwest buggy sales and repair facility, the Fine Arts Building is worth the trip for exploring. And you can catch a great, under-appreciated opera in a fabulous setting as well.

This was my first Chicago Opera Theater performance. I was entranced. It won’t be my last.

Catherine Hellmann is a teacher, writer, and theater junkie. She has tried to inspire urban and rural middle schoolers for over twenty years. A mother of three, she is thrilled to once again claim Chicago as home.  

Conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya Leads Chicago Premiere of Tchaikovsky’s Final Opera

Chicago Opera Theater (COT) will kick off the 2018/2019 season with “Iolanta,” a Chicago premiere of legendary composer P.I. Tchaikovsky’s final opera. Internationally renowned and award-winning conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya will make her conducting debut as Chicago Opera Theater’s Staley Music Director and set the tone for the season to come. Acclaimed stage director Paul Curran, known for his work at Santa Fe Opera, Lyric Opera Chicago and more, will shape the retelling of this joyous love-story, featuring an almost entirely Chicago-based cast including soprano Katherine Weber as Iolanta, and renowned Russian bass Mikhail Svetlov as Rene. The opening night and press performance takes place on Saturday, November 10 at 7:30 p.m. at the historic Studebaker Theater (410 S. Michigan Ave.) Additional performances will take place Thursday, November 15 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, November 18 at 3 p.m.  

“After 18 months of planning and preparation behind the scenes, I’m thrilled to finally be jumping into the COT orchestra pit,” said COT’s Staley Music Director Lidiya Yankovskaya. “I’m particularly gratified to have the opportunity to bring the sounds of my homeland to my new home, as this opera – Tchaikovsky’s last – has never before been staged in Chicago. ‘Iolanta’ is a very personal work, written by Tchaikovsky at the height of his compositional powers, alongside the person closest to him – his brother Modest. Perhaps because it examines the transformed worldviews of characters in dramatically different life stages, I find that the work resonates in a new way each time I conduct it.”

“Iolanta” tells the story of a princess, with Weber starring in the titular role, who has been blind since birth. She is unaware of her condition and her privileged social status thanks to the actions of her overprotective father, King Rene. When the well-meaning Duke Vaudemont falls in love with her, she learns of her blindness and true love offers her a chance at a cure. Iolanta must choose between the life built for her and one she’s never seen.

The opera is based on the Danish play “Kong René Datter” by Henrik Hertz, a romanticized take on the life of Yolande de Bar. The opera premiered on December 18, 1892 at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, sharing a double bill with Tchaikovsky’s last ballet, “The Nutcracker.”

In addition to Weber and Svetlov, the cast includes John Irvin as Vaudemont, Christopher Magiera as Robert, Bill McMurray as Ibn-Hakia, Emma Ritter as Marta, Katherine Peterson as Brigitta, Annie Rosen as Laura, David Govertsen as Bertrand, and Kyle Knapp as Almeric.

Creative Team for Iolanta
Composer: P.I. Tchaikovsky
Librettist: Modest Tchaikovsky
Conductor: Lidiya Yankovskaya
Stage Director: Paul Curran
Lighting & Projection Designer: Driscoll Otto
Scenic Design: Alan Muraoka
Costume Design: Jenny Mannis

Performance Schedule
Saturday, November 10, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, November 15, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, November 18, 3 p.m.

Subscriptions to the 2018/2019 season of Chicago Opera Theater are on sale now for $95 - $435. Single show tickets for “Iolanta” are on sale now at chicagooperatheater.org for $45 - $145.

About Lidiya Yankovskaya
Russian-American conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya is a champion of Russian masterpieces, operatic rarities and contemporary works on the leading edge of classical music. This season, Yankovskaya conducts Heggie’s “Moby-Dick” at COT, Kamala Sankaram’s “Taking Up Serpents” at Washington National Opera, and Ricky Ian Gordon’s “Ellen West” at Opera Saratoga. She debuts with Mobile Symphony in “Carmina Burana,” leads Laura Schwendinger’s “Artemisia” at Trinity Wall Street, and returns to New York’s National Sawdust for its Hildegard Competition Concert.

As Music Director of Harvard’s Lowell House Opera, she conducted sold-out performances of repertoire rarely heard in Boston, including Tchaikovsky’s “Queen of Spades,” Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” and the U.S. Russian-language premiere of Rimsky-Korsakov’s “The Snow Maiden.” Her commitment to exploring the breadth of symphonic and operatic repertoire has also been demonstrated in performances of Rachmaninoff’s “Aleko” and the American premieres of Donizetti’s “Pia de’ Tolomei,” Rubinshteyn’s “The Demon,” and Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Kashchej The Immortal” and Symphony No. 1. Yankovskaya is founder of the Refugee Orchestra Project, which performs this season at the United Nations. She has served as Artistic Director of the Boston New Music Festival and Juventas New Music Ensemble, where she led operatic experiments with puppetry, circus acts, and robotic instruments, as well as premieres by more than two dozen composers. A recipient of a 2018 Solti Foundation Career Assistance Award, Yankovskaya is also an alumna of the Dallas Opera’s Hart Institute for Women Conductors and Marin Alsop’s Taki Concordia Fellowship. She has been featured in the League of American Orchestras Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview and Cabrillo Festival for Contemporary Music, and will assist Vladimir Jurowski via a London Philharmonic fellowship this spring. Other future engagements include performances in Arizona, Chicago, New York, and Minneapolis.

About Paul Curran
Award winning Scottish director, Paul Curran, was born in Glasgow, Scotland and studied dance in London and Helsinki. After a serious injury stopped his career, he retrained as a director at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney, graduating in 1992. His first job in opera was as assistant director to Baz Luhrmann, after which his own international career took off with productions at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Teatro Dell’Opera Rome and the Covent Garden Festival, then directing Borodin’s “Prince Igor” with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Theatre at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Curran has directed productions in many of the world’s leading opera houses and concert halls including ROH Covent Garden, Metropolitan Opera, La Scala Milan, Teatro La Fenice, Kennedy Centre Washington DC and Berlin Philharmonic. In addition to opera, Curran has also directed several musicals including “My Fair Lady,” “Man of La Mancha,” “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” and “A Little Night Music.” A keen linguist, Curran speaks 9 languages and has also translated several plays by Moliere, Chekhov and Ostrovsky.

About Katherine Weber
Described as “a confident singing actress with a magnetic stage presence” by Opera News, Katherine Weber is a rising star in the Chicago opera scene. She debuted for both the DuPage Opera and Boulder Symphony during the 2017/2018 season as Violetta in “La Traviata” and is set to return to DuPage Opera this season as Rosalinda in “Die Fledermaus.” She was a featured soloist with the Winona Oratorio Chorus and Orchestra in performances of Beethoven’s “Mass in C,” Vivaldi’s “Gloria” and Mozart’s “Requiem.” She also covered Nedda in Virginia Opera’s performance of “Pagliacci.” She has been a regional finalist at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2015 and 2017.



About Chicago Opera Theater

Chicago Opera Theater (COT) is a nationally recognized opera company based in Chicago, now in its 45th season. COT expands the tradition of opera as a living art form, with an emphasis on Chicago premieres, including new contemporary operas for a 21st century audience.

In addition to its programmed mainstage season, COT is devoted to the development and production of new opera in the United States through the Vanguard Initiative, launched in the Spring of 2018. The Vanguard Initiative mentors emerging opera composers, invests time and talent in new opera at various stages of the creative process and presents the Living Opera Series to showcase new and developing work.

Since its founding in 1973 by Alan Stone, COT has staged more than 125 operas, including 66 Chicago premieres and 36 operas by American composers.

COT is led by Stefan Edlis and Gael Neeson General Director Douglas R. Clayton and Orli and Bill Staley Music Director Lidiya Yankovskaya. As of fall 2017, Maestro Yankovskaya is the only woman with the title Music Director at any of the top 50 opera companies in the United States. COT currently performs at the Studebaker Theater (Michigan & Congress) and the Harris Theater for Music & Dance (Michigan & Randolph).

For more information on the Chicago Opera Theater and its programs please visit chicagooperatheater.org.