T. Charles Erickson News

Though Julie Wilson was certainly not the first and by all means not the last great singer to have her heart stomped upon by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht's 'Surabaya Johnny,' there is no one I can name more deserving to claim it as their signature song.  (Okay, maybe Lotte Lenya, but you know that's a special case.)  Though for many years now the 83-year-old beloved cabaret star has been singing songs less and less and speaking them more and more, there are few who can match her for painting vivid word pictures and bringing complex dramatic subtext to a lyric.  With pianist Christopher Denny doing a marvelous job of softly supporting her many pauses and tempo changes, Wilson's crushing performance of Marc Blitzstein's translation, played to a pin-drop silent crowd on opening night of her new show at The Metropolitan Room, is an emotionally striking portrayal of a woman who can explode with anger at the mistreatment she endures from her faithless lover while moments later barely control a sob at the admission that she still loves him.  Through the years I've seen Julie Wilson sing 'Surabaya Johnny' many times but her performance that night was the best I've ever seen or heard from anyone.  (And as is typical of her modesty, she actually introduced the song by complimenting Donna Murphy's performance of it on Broadway in LoveMusik.)  She follows it with a devilishly humored 'Mack the Knife' (also Blitzstein's translation) that builds so slowly and precisely that she goes through the entire song twice in order to hit the climax.  I heard no complaints.

The very first snowflakes of Chicago?s coming winter season started to fall on me this past Sunday afternoon, as I made my way out of Steppenwolf Theatre Company?s Near North Side complex and a press performance in the Upstairs Theatre of Conor McPherson?s ?Dublin Carol.? That is the most Christmasy thing that happened to me the entire afternoon. Well, there ARE a few decorations strewn about the set.

This Veteran's Day, as America takes a moment to remember those brave men and women who have served our country, Roundabout Theatre Company opens David Rabe's award-winning and stirring play, STREAMERS. Brad Fleischer stars as Billy, a wide-eyed and sentimental young man, struggling to understand his new army-life as the Vietnam conflict escalates. Tensions rise over race, sexuality and class, culminating in an explosive act that changes them forever...

Steppenwolf Theatre Company continues its 2008-2009 season, an exploration of the imagination, with a special engagement of Dublin Carol, by Conor McPherson, directed by ensemble member Amy Morton. The production, featuring Stephen Louis Grush, William Petersen and Nicole Wiesner, runs November 6 - December 21, 2008 in Steppenwolf's Upstairs Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St. The press performance is Sunday, November 16 at 3:00 p.m.

Westport Country Playhouse (Joanne Woodward and Anne Keefe, artistic directors, Jodi Schoenbrun Carter, managing director) will stage John Steinbeck's classic drama, 'Of Mice and Men,' directed by Mark Lamos. Peformances began October 7th and will run through November 1. Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962 and the Pulitzer Prize for his 1939 novel 'The Grapes of Wrath.' The production will honor the late Paul Newman, who was married to Westport's Artistic Director Joanne Woodward and who participated in many Westport Playhouse productions.

From the director of the 2006 Off-Broadway production. Set in Edwardian London, England, Tryst is a wonderfully dark thriller.

Westport Country Playhouse will stage a romantic thriller set in Edwardian London, 'Tryst' by Karoline Leach, August 5 - 23.

Westport Country Playhouse will stage a romantic thriller set in Edwardian London, 'Tryst' by Karoline Leach, August 5 - 23.

Westport Country Playhouse announces playwright-in-residence David Wiltse's 'tour de farce' office comedy, 'Scramble!, will be staged July 9 through 26.

Director Michael Wilson and the Hartford Stage bring their 10-year Williams marathon to an end with a stunning portrayal of a dynamic heroine by one of Broadway's consummate actresses

HOT 'N COLE at Westport County Playhouse directed by James Naughton playing through June 28th

Westport Country Playhouse has announced that a song-filled adaptation of Charles Dickens' holiday classic A Christmas Carol will be staged for the second year in a row, November 23 through December 29. The dynamic, annual family event for ages six and up is adapted and directed by Tazewell Thompson, Playhouse artistic director.

Tongue-in-cheek homage to Alfred Hitchcock is also a madcap celebration of theater as Broadway-bound British comedy turns suspense movie send-up into outrageous vaudeville

The Westport Country Playhouse proudly presents 'Sedition' by David Wiltse, now playing through August 18; directed by Tazewell Thompson.

Westport Country Playhouse presents the comedy Relatively Speaking, written by Alan Ayckbourn and directed by John Tillinger, July 12 - 28.

Westport Country Playhouse presents 'an award-winning love story with unexpected twists,' Mary's Wedding, directed by Tazewell Thompson

Lisa Kron's delightful autobiographical comedy about mothers, daughters, and the special ties that bind combines the theatricality of life and the dynamics of theater to explore health, wellness, and the ways in which we deal with both

Our Town, directed by Brian McEleney, opened in previews at Trinity Rep on January 26th and runs through March 4th

A Christmas Carol is now playing through December 23 at Westport Country Playhouse

Trinity Repertory Presents its 30th Anniversary production of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, adapted by Adrian Hall and Richard Cumming