Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...I've heard the show sung with more sophistication, but I've never seen a "42nd Street" so in sync with what it's really supposed to be about - the thrill we get, especially as young people, when we come together as a team to work like crazy, under benign and highly competent management, on a big, high-stakes project in which we deeply believe."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
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Entertainment
DANCE 15 hours
Madly tapping out the beat of dancing feet in grand ’42nd Street’
A scene from the national touring production of "42nd Street," at the Cadillac Palace Theatre. (Photo: Chris Bennion)
A scene from the national touring production of "42nd Street," at the Cadillac Palace Theatre. (Photo: Chris Bennion)
Hedy Weiss
@HedyWeissCritic | email
From whatever step on the stairway to paradise he might be perched at the moment, Busby Berkeley, that legendary Broadway and Hollywood choreographer of the 1920s and ’30s, must be looking down at the national touring company edition of “42nd Street” that arrived at the Cadillac Palace Theatre on Wednesday night and cheering loudly.
From the moment this extraordinarily lavish production teasingly raises its curtain to show a fabulously percussive platoon of tap dancers (initially just from the knees down), in an audition scene that puts “A Chorus Line” to shame, this tap dance-motored sensation beats out steps with such precision, drive, variation and marathon-like aerobic brilliance that you can feel a rhythmic giddiness take hold in the theater. And the fun doesn’t stop until the knockout finale, set to the show’s title song."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...What's interesting is that they don't backbite to achieve those goals. Whenever they make a decision, they do it for the good of the group-even if that means stepping aside to help one of their number get her big break. So it's a nasty irony that the story is being told here in a non-Equity touring production. I guess the producers think solidarity is only for pretend. As for the show itself: moments of visual confusion in the staging, a few remarkably shoddy sets, and a wide range of skill levels-from serviceable to excellent-among the cast."
ShowBizChicago - Highly Recommended
"...Culturally, we can see 42nd Street as an unglossed look at the tough realities of backstage life. The crisp dialogue, street-wise cracks, charm, humor and a most likable cast of characters make us care about these struggling performers."
Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended
"...Peppy, perky, breezy and campy in the cutest way, Troika Entertainment’s 150-minute 42nd Street also preserves the film’s hungry edge and desperate-to-please energy. The big change from screen to stage is to downplay the chirpy Ruby Keeler-William Powell romance between plucky chorus girl and smiling juvenile and to play up–to please original producer David Merrick–Peggy’s fixation on her hard-boiled, control-freak driven director Julian Marsh. Regrettably, it mars the democratic and downhome romance between boy-next-door Billy and unassuming Peggy. It also gets in the way of the show’s chief interest: Peggy overcoming her shyness, discovering her undeniable talent and selling it–along with the show Pretty Lady–to Philadelphia’s Arch Street Theatre, New York’s 42nd Street Theatre, and the world."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...This fast-paced musical keeps the great tunes flowing; the eye-popping costumes and the humorous characters keep us engaged while the music keeps our toes-tapping. This show is a flawless, high-energy, wonderfully danced and sung fable that leaves audiences humming the songs long after the show's over. A big, bold and brassy musical is never out of style - especially a major tap dance show such as 42nd Street. Audiences love this cute tribute to those glorious musical comedies from the 20's and 30's. Who doesn't love an uptempo tap dance number?"
Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended
"...There aren’t a lot of shows that make me smile for days on end after seeing the performance or a lot of shows that I’ll replay in my head over and over. That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy the wonderful performances I see or that they aren’t memorable. There’s those handful of special shows that you recall with such fondness and 42nd Street has joined that short list."
Around The Town Chicago - Recommended
"... While there are many who love seeing the “quintessential backstage musical” known as “42nd Street”, it takes a solid ensemble and a brilliant Peggy Sawyer to make this toe-tapping show make the audience fall in love. The current cast on tour as part of the Broadway In Chicago season, at the Cadillac Palace Theatre does just that. This is a story that is based on a novel by Bradford Ropes and a Busby Berkeley film in the early 1930’s. I can see many of you shaking your heads wondering Busby Berkeley? This is one that Google will answer for you, but he was a filmmaker who always featured “big dance” numbers that the audience saw from a perfect angle, so that we saw the legs as one. If you have ever watched a number by the Rockettes, you will understand the value of dance as Berkeley felt it!"
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...Theatergoers looking for a show that’s just plain fun and entertaining needn’t look any further. This non-Equity production offers a large, talented cast singing and dancing their hearts out to a joyously infectious and familiar score. Decked out in beautiful costumes, staged in front of colorful scenery, this production enchants. It’s the quintessential backstage song and dance fable, adapted from the classic Busby Berkeley 1933 film and set during some dreadful economic times. But when everyone goes into their dance, this effervescent musical helps bring some much-welcome warmth and carefree brightness to end Chicago’s chilly winter."
Chicagoland Theater Reviews - Recommended
"...The enthusiastic audience reaction on opening night to the big dance numbers testifies to a hunger for this kind of extravagant song and dance show, a masterful exhibition of nostalgia enclosed in up to date creativity. A touring production can’t be expected to offer all the trappings of a permanent Broadway staging, but the one in town carries the “42nd Street” banners honorably. Veterans of previous revivals will be happy to welcome an old friend back. Newcomers will be exposed to musicals they way they used to be, empty headed maybe, but pure gold as musical entertainment. Whichever category you fall into, you win."
Third Coast Review - Highly Recommended
"...Director/co-author Mark Bramble and choreographer Randy Skinner both won Tony Awards for the 42nd Street revival in 2001, and it’s easy to understand why. A musical about musicals, set in the 1930s, has the potential to seem overly nostalgic today. But this Broadway in Chicago rendition hits exactly the right balance between fluff and vamp, chic and camp, resulting in a technically brilliant performance and a rollicking good time."