Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...Most fans of this show love songs like "I Will Never Leave You" and "Who Will Love Me As I Am?" (which could just as well have been in "Dreamgirls" or recorded by Whitney Houston) and appreciate the distinctive dilemma of the central protagonist - er, protagonists. "Side Show" isn't at all freakish when you care about the twins, each looking for love with a sister willing to close her eyes."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...As it happens, “Side Show” has had a rather rough go of it on Broadway, where its initial 1997 run was brief, and then, despite much hype, it garnered only another short run in its 2014 return. The revised version now on stage in a lavishly produced and expertly performed Porchlight Music Theatre production could easily hold its own on a Broadway stage, but it flourishes from its intimacy. Strongly and inventively directed (as well as impeccably cast) by Michael Weber, with soaring music direction by Aaron Benham, and choreography by Andrew Waters that is a perfect pastiche of period styles, the production goes right to the heart of every emotion without ever becoming sentimental."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...But nothing in the sentimental, pop-inflected score—with its predictable melodic riffs and often banal rhymes—approaches the best material in Krieger's Dreamgirls. This complex tale deserves a better spin than Russell and Krieger's pedestrian meditation on the cliche that everyone yearns for someone to "love me as I am"—flaws, oddities, and all."
Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended
"...Director Michael Weber found the correct folks with the right stuff to drive home this bittersweet success story. Colleen Fee and Britt-Marie Sivertsen turn resemblance into reality, their divergent differences as palpable as their non-negotiable double body. Their duets, “Like Everyone Else” and the vaudevillian “Stuck With You,” sardonically testify to the Hiltons’ lifelong clash between wishes and facts–and a bond they refused to break when they finally could."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...This emotionally charged show is dedicated to the strength, determination, and sheer will of the Hilton sisters and all those "different" folks who enrich humanity with their spirit. Side Show is one of the major triumphs of 2015. Don't miss it!"
Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended
"...Once again, Porchlight gives us the gift of a signature rendition of a Broadway work that allows the audience to experience the best of musical theatre up close and personal. And here is a show that is all the more resonant for the intimacy."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Porchlight Music Theatre's new production, "Side Show", is a beautiful yet profoundly sad musical based on the lives of conjoined twins, Daisy and Violet Hilton. Although "Side Show" - in either version - didn't do especially well on Broadway, it is well-suited to the more intimate space at Stage 773."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...If this brilliant, honest and wholehearted production is any indication, Porchlight Music Theatre’s new season will be nothing short of spectacular. Because of Michael Weber’s magic, this company simply gets better and better every year. And a cult musical, that has had a tough time succeeding in the Big Apple is, in Mr. Weber’s hands, perfectly cast, insightfully staged and slickly produced here for Chicago audiences. The intimacy of this venue lends itself so well to this deeply personal story of society’s outcasts and the love and respect they each humbly seek and deserve. Come Look at the Freaks and appreciate that this may be the best production of this lovely musical that audiences will ever see."
The Fourth Walsh - Highly Recommended
"...On the surface, SIDE SHOW entertains as two shows in one. It has both the high-spirited acts of a circus and the zesty stepping (choreographer Andrew Waters) of vaudeville. Below the freaks and shticks, SIDE SHOW beats strongly as two hearts in one. This SIDE SHOW is unforgettable as a production and a love story."
