Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...Reviews of Theo Ubique shows always need to address the varying expectations of those who have entered its cozy confines before, and those who are neophytes. And since Sondheim shows come with a traveling audience, there is a better-than-usual chance you are in the latter category. In that case, you can expect to be surprised by the fullness, heart and competence of director Fred Anzevino's production, which somehow packs a cast of 11, an orchestra of four, and a grand Adam Veness design (replete with a bed and huge table that disappear into the walls) into a space little bigger than some living rooms. You likely will be struck by how well a theater where Fosca and Giorgio are writhing about two feet from your cocktail serves this particular title, which is, after all, about intimacy and its limits. You will for sure be moved by the quality of the singing; the ensemble work is excellent and, in this space, achieves the best kind of surround sound, which is the live kind."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...Love, sex, beauty, happiness, sickness, obsession, depression and death. Search for eight words to describe the elements at work in “Passion,” the 1994 Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine musical now receiving an intensely intimate yet high-powered revival by the ever-amazing Theo Ubique Cabaret Theater, and those would certainly be the ones."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...It may not sound like a difficult choice, but, as one of Sondheim's lyrics says, "Love within reason—that isn't love." Fred Anzevino's intimate staging for Theo Ubique doesn’t feel as claustrophobic as it should (tiny playing space notwithstanding), owing largely to Peter Oyloe's impassive Giorgio. In Danni Smith's Fosca, however, we get a powerfully raw depiction of erotic longing and lonely desperation. "
Centerstage - Somewhat Recommended
"...The production rides on the strength of its ladies. Todd and Smith both bring intense truth to their characters. The supporting men, who play a variety of characters, but mostly Girogio’s fellow army officers, are uniformly (pardon the pun) strong across the board. Sadly, there is one weak link within this production, and it is the male lead. Oyloe has the resume (3-time Jeff Award winner) to carry this production all on his own, but through a lack of character choices and vocal projection, Giogio becomes the triangle’s weakest side."
Time Out Chicago - Recommended
"...The non-traditional score, even for non-traditionalist Sondheim, is something closer to operatic, even if the composer claims to find opera tedious; he wrote in his second volume of collected lyrics that “the ‘songs’ in Passion lie somewhere between aria and recitative, with an occasional recognizable song form thrown in.” Sondheim drops his oft-deployed shield of irony; this is all deeply felt, roiling, naked emotion, and it sounds often chillingly beautiful in Theo Ubique’s new production. The immersive staging and intimate confines of the No Exit Café seem at first to be just what this small-scale, large-hearted show calls for."
Stage and Cinema - Recommended
"...Virtually as repellent and sickly as the part suggests, Danni Smith's neurasthenic Fosca definitely has Giorgio on her mind: Her dark lady is a marvel of monomania, perversely saintly in her all-sacrificing possessiveness, driven to destruction as she dares herself to die happy. Befuddled by an ardor that for once lacks any erotic inspiration, Peter Oyloe's Giorgio is as noble as good-looking, equally real in both as he joins Smith in the valedictory "No One Has Ever Loved Me (As You Do)." Colette Todd gives hapless Clara the brittleness of an Anna Karenina-without the train spoiling the spell."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...This journey of discovery has such a beautiful score, on such romantic words, sung with the emotional charged cast, making Sondheim's Passion a stunning art piece. Passion is a winning chamber operetta. Romantics, music lovers and the passionate will rejoice in this rapturously haunting music gem. Colette Todd, Peter Oyloe and Danni Smith should be proud of their performances. Seldom do you see such fervor in a musical. Their Passion becomes our passion. Kudos to Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre.for having the hutzpah to mount an operetta."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Magic on Glenwood- that is what Fred Anzevino and his cast are bringing to the intimate space, No Exit Cafe with their latests production, “Passion” a romantic “Chamber” operetta that surely shows the magic of wordsmith Stephen Sondheim. It is not often produced and for this, I am sorry , but now it is in the right place at the right time. For those of you who are unaware of The No Exit and Theo Ubique, this is a small storefront, where the audience sits at tables ( and dines) or in chairs on risers, depending on the particular show, with the actors also being the wait staff for the meal before the show, or the drinks and other beverages. For every production, the re-do the layout and for this particular production, Adam Veness has designed a set that is sparkling in detail allowing us to view changes of sets with very little in the way of pieces, but well done."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...It would be difficult to imagine a finer production of this difficult Sondheim musical. Fred Anzevino’s direction coupled with a terrifically talented cast and orchestra elevate Sondheim’s beautiful, romantic score to quite another level. Audiences who prefer their love stories bittersweet will revel in Theo Ubique’s sumptuous new presentation and will find warmth in this perfect escape from Chicago’s long, cold winter."
