Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...Ultimately, what Echoles has crafted is a show-within-a-show that captures the ethos of Black Ensemble Theater: the best way to bring people together to confront injustice is through music and stories that accentuate positivity. "Last Dancer Standing" shows that, when everyone dances at the revolution, everyone wins."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...The show, which features 20 multitalented performers, also suggests the sort of personal dramas played out backstage in such shows. It serves as a terrific showcase of dance in a wide variety of styles, from hip-hop and break moves to modern and even a bit of ballet. And it features a wide-ranging songbook, from hip-hop to hits by Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Madonna, Michael Jackson and more, all played in bravura style by music director Robert Reddrick's four-piece onstage band."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...And you have. The panel of judges on the side. The contrived group challenges. The public confessions. The mean girl, the underdog, the sassy gay man, and the others, who have little function beyond protracting the process. Just when you dismiss it as mere entertainment, the show makes a stunning salute to Black Lives Matter, minorities in the arts, and your mama-but if you like dance contests, you'll have fun too."
Windy City Times - Highly Recommended
"...This is still a lot of intrigue packed into two-and-a-half hours. Playgoers can perhaps be forgiven their attention wandering during the soapy romantic/domestic complications or the excellent vocals ( though Shari Addison's cover of "Ain't Nobody" will make your blood tingle ). Dance demands to be witnessed in the moment, however, so don't you be reading your playbill during the Stravinskian ballet vs. orchesis duel, the popping-percussive drill-formation set to Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" or the full-company finale featuring the Beyonce-Lamar arrangement of "Freedom" that reveals the true purpose of the venture we have just witnessed."
Stage and Cinema - Recommended
"...As always, Echoles’ painstaking and pleasure-giving dance moves turn 17 solo and ensemble numbers into leaping labors of love, showcasing to glory a terrific 21-member ensemble and 4-man band. Aaron Quick’s sound, projections, and video (complete with video confessionals and rolling credits) join Denise Karczewski’s scenery and lighting to create a very convincing TV studio for WBET. We enter as audience members but we leave as fans."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...Smartly, the songs were catchy but relatively unknow but were dancable. There is a reasonable mystery as who will be the last dancer standinng. But, that went to the stronest dancer (in my view). There is a touch of politics, some TV racism issues that give the show credulity. But it is all about dance and these dances deliver."
Around The Town Chicago - Recommended
"...In the current production, “Last Dance Standing (More Than Hip-Hop)”, Rueben has written, directed and choreographed this amazing story into the behind-the-scenes of a fictional “reality television show”. There are many talent shows on TV at present, some dance related, others musical and even others that are any type of talent. Each week, we the viewers get to watch the talented people, from all walks of life, do their thing in hopes of getting their chance at stardom. This show takes this a step further."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...Rueben Echoles' writing, direction and exciting choreography challenges his gifted company but never demands more than they're capable of achieving. This is an especially unique version of what Jackie Taylor's Black Ensemble Theatre does so well. The show offers a high-octane, winning musical revue filled with a variety of music and choreography, interesting and amusing characters and brilliant theatrical artistry suitable for audiences of every age. And, what's more, the theatre audience gets to vote on the final winner! This excellent production is an entertaining homage to our current era of reality TV. It's a fun evening that both shows and tells with perfection."
Chicagoland Theater Reviews - Somewhat Recommended
"...“Last Dancer Standing” is frustrating to watch. There are enough good things in the show to make the viewer wish the problem areas, some of which seem obvious, had been addressed during the creative process. I missed a larger helping of those rousing female vocalists who provided so many stirring musical moments in the past. And more could be done with the racial element that provides the most dramatic, and even most comic moments in the current production. But work needs to be done."
Chicagoland Musical Theatre - Highly Recommended
"...So how successful is Black Ensemble Theater's experiment with blending theatre and reality television? Well, an audience member with an immense distaste for reality television might not be moved by the central conceit of the competition. However, the rest of the plot and thematics might be enough to overcome that. From the other side, what Black Ensemble Theater has created might well be a perfect introductory point for audiences already predisposed toward reality television but away from a more traditional evening at the theatre. That in and of itself seems like a pretty successful experiment."
Picture This Post - Somewhat Recommended
"...The music is fun, featuring hits such as Boogie Wonderland by J. Lind and A. Willis, Vogue by Madonna, and Freedom by Beyonce Knowles, et al. Levi Steward Jr.'s solo of Motherless Chile by D. Tozer and J. Stephens is breathtaking. The Black Ensemble Band supported all the performances flawlessly and the backup singers were first rate. Shari Addison's solos and duets leave you wanting her to have more stage time."
