Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...The show is fun and escapist — it was so right from its start in 1944 — and there is a great deal to entertain in Bell's production, cast in New York and Chicago. The comedy is broad, clear and fast-moving, and the characters sharply defined, and there are an excellent pair of leads in Clayton, who plays Gabey, and Alison Jantzie, who makes a charming Ivy (Marya Grandy handles the comedy very well as Hildy). The choreography, by Alex Sanchez, is the show's strength; for it is fresh, detailed, athletic and, in several spots, narratively inspired. And it is executed with real charm by a top-rate (and admirably sensual) young ensemble of dancers. The set, as always by Thomas M. Ryan, is colorful, clever and relatively expansive; all in all, one of the best Marriott designs in quite some time."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...In “On the Town,” now in a rare and gloriously comic-kinetic revival at the Marriott Theatre, emotion arrives fully formed in the language of dance. The story is propelled by locomotion — a pure kinetic energy rooted in the manic motor of New York City, but more crucially, by a seize-the-day mentality that comes with wartime and the sense that any minute might be your last."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...The show isn't about much: While on 24-hour leave in New York, three sailors meet three women-a lusty cabbie, an anthropologist with a thing for Pithecanthropus erectus, and sweet Ivy Smith, the subway system's Miss Turnstiles for June. Tuneful, witty, occasionally balletic high jinks ensue. What makes the show signify, though, is the authors' recognition that their real subject is the pain and hope of being young in wartime. Under David H. Bell's direction, the central couple-Alison Jantzie's Ivy and Max Clayton's Gabey-are a little bland. But everything around them swings, especially Marya Grandy as the cabbie, Johanna McKenzie Miller as the anthropologist, Alex Goodrich as the anthropologist's hilariously hapless fiance, and Brandi Wooten as a girl with a bad cold."
Windy City Times - Highly Recommended
"...But it's the young and handsome cast ( and a few older veterans ) that really sells the show with indefatigable energy, smiles to spare and convincing delivery of even the most cornball lines. The only question about sailors Seth Danner, Jeff Smith and Max Clayton is which one is cutest in his sailor suit! Among their femmes fatales, Marya Grandy sings and clowns to scene-stealing perfection, Johannie McKenzie Miller supplies high society glamor and Alison Jantzie offers sincerity you can love. All six are deft-to-sensational dancers and singers with strong comedy chops, but just when you think it's all laughs they pull off a tender number such as "Lonely Town" and "Some Other Time" to give the show heart. Please, don't miss this long-missing treasure."
ShowBizChicago - Highly Recommended
"...When it originally premiered in 1944 it was a tremendous success. However it has not seen a major Chicago production since and Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire is the first to tackle this daunting show. What makes it so is that you need a cast of triple threats in the areas of acting, singing and dancing and Marriott has spared no expense in rounding up 24 of the finest triple threats in the country."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...I can't remember a finer production at Marriott Theatre (and I've seen many fabulous shows there). On The Town is a gem, a must see, and an another example what Chicago regional theatre con accomplish. Too bad it took 70 years to get this show mounted here. On The Town is one of the finest productions of 2014."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended
"...Musical theatre fans have a rare and wonderful opportunity this summer to enjoy a classic from the Golden Age of the American Musical Theatre that has not seen the light of a Chicago stage in nearly 70 years. In a season typically crowded with familiar titles and re-runs, the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire is turning its spotlights on Leonard Bernstein, Adolph Green and Betty Comden’s World War II valentine to the Big Apple “On the Town”. It is the first locally produced staging of the 1944 musical following its first visit by the national touring company at the long forgotten Shubert Great Northern Theatre a year and a half after making its successful Broadway debut. Only two principals remained from the original cast: the great singer/comedienne Nancy Walker and the ever versatile librettist/lyricist Adolph Green pulling triple threat duty as one of the three sailors on leave in New York City."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...I love an “old fashioned musical”! I start by saying this, because many people will look at the latest offering at Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, “On The Town”, Leonard Bernstein’s adaptation of his Ballet, “Fancy Free” (with book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green) as a “sappy” love story with dance. Oh, well! Perhaps it is a sappy love story, but it is one entertaining evening , filled with some incredible dance and gymnastics. Wow!"
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...Audiences looking for a light, frothy summer show, broad in its comedy and uncommonly strong in its music and dance, should tour up to Lincolnshire. Not only is this a wonderful, classic musical that’s seldom seen outside a Broadway revival, but it’s a simply terrific production in its own right. David Bell has staged his production with a sharp focus and plenty of old-fashioned energy; and Alex Sanchez has delivered a respectable homage to Jerome Robbins’ distinctive choreography. The look, the sound and the feel of this wonderful show truly shouts, “New York, New York…it’s a hell of a town!”"
Chicagoland Theater Reviews - Highly Recommended
"...The cast is a mix of familiar Chicagoland players and out-of-towners, the current Goodman Theatre production of “Brigadoon” siphoning off some key local dancing talent. The three sailors were all cast out of New York and they all bring the required singing and dancing skills to the Marriott stage. Max Clayton is the love-struck Gabey, Seth Danner the slightly silly Chip, and Jeff Smith the aggressive Ozzie. Their co-stars are Alison Jantzie as Ivy Smith, Marya Grandy as Hildy, and Johanna McKenzie Miller as Claire DeLoon. They are all outstanding, but perhaps the first among equals is Grandy, whose sassy Hildy is an ongoing scene stealer. She is funny without milking the role for laughs and she has a great voice. Indeed, Grandy, Jantzie, and Miller combine to deliver three of the finest singing performances I’ve heard on a local musical stage in a very long while."
