Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...This is not the easiest title do to in a hyperintimate setting (for obvious reasons), but actors at Theo Ubique are used to hitting the limbs of the audience and adept at navigating nooks and crannies (Jesus crouches under a cocktail table when facing Tommy Bullington's ebullient Herod), but Anzevino preserves dignity where needed. I think there were a few missed opportunities here — this kind of setting allows the work to function differently from every other production, especially in an acoustic environment without the full orchestrations (music director Jeremy Ramey leads a small band)."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...The Theo Ubique version not only captures the full meaning of the story, but brings a unique level of clarity and believability to it all as it homes in the personalities and motivations of its many larger-than-life characters. This theater may have a small stage, but it knows how to exert an epic impact. And the combination of Fred Anzevino's insightful, detailed direction, the resplendent music direction and piano accompaniment of Jeremy Ramey (whose band, including Kevin Brown, Jacob Saleh and Justin LaForte, could easily compete with any full orchestra), the hard-driving choreography of Brenda Didier, and the performances of an ensemble whose clarion voices and onstage personae are of Biblical proportions, has finally pierced the heart and soul of this show. This is a thrilling, altogether impressive rendering on every level."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Music director Jeremy Ramey takes all sorts of funky, inspired orchestral liberties in this production for Theo Ubique, which posits Christ as a scruffy, frightened idealist at the center of a movement beyond his control. Though this 1970 rock passion play is one of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's earliest collaborations, it easily holds up musically; entire stretches of "Hosanna" and "Everything's Alright" sound like they could have been ripped from one of the more theatrical albums by U2 or Arcade Fire."
Time Out Chicago - Recommended
"...Hosanna, Heysanna, Sanna-Sanna-Ho—let’s acknowledge up front that for all the glory of its concept-album score (still among the few of Lloyd Webber’s I can not just stomach but genuinely love), it’s difficult to Sanna-Sanna-Stage Jesus Christ Superstar without wrestling with its inherent kitsch. Theo Ubique’s new production manages it surprisingly well, largely by dint of adapting the arena-rock stagecraft down to the No Exit Café’s tight constraints; the actors manage their performances, here including Danni Smith’s beautifully empathetic Mary and Max DeTogne’s clarion-voiced Jesus, without the assistance of body mics."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...This show has loads of heart, swift pacing and slick staging, that together with the fabulous harmonies and rich solos makes for a stunning opera. This production of the 1971 rock opera has become the standard for the genre. We’ll be hard pressed to witness a finer cast that respectfully dedicated themselves to presenting this classic rock opera with gusto."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...The Miracle on Glenwood Avenue! That might be the best way to describe what Fred Anzevino has created at The No Exit Cafe in Rogers Park, with his TheoUbique Company. This troupe just keeps getting better and Fred, with his staff, Jeremy Ramey (Musical Director) and Brenda Didier (Choreographer), just keeps proving that size "does not matter!"."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...Everything about this newly-imagined, vest pocket production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s first big hit is glorious. The look of the show is precise and spot-on."
Splash Magazine - Highly Recommended
"...Also impressive was the cabaret experience that is the No Exit Café (a space consisting primarily of crammed together tables and a no-nonsense bar to the side). Food is a possibility and is served by cast members before the show. At intermission the cast mingles and refreshes drinks although no one was willing to turn my water into wine. Unlike that other 1970s gospel inspired play Godspell, Jesus Christ Superstar is not often performed in such a small space. Give Theo Ubique credit for taking the chance in doing so."
