The Message Is In The Music
Black Ensemble Theater

Chicago Tribune- Somewhat Recommended

"...Certainly, it’s good to hear soulful arrangements of the work of some songwriters — Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Paul Simon — whom you don’t usually hear at BET. The audience-interactive treatment of Donna Summer’s psychedelic disco classic “I Feel Love” was a very, ahem, fully shared experience. And Rhonda Preston, another hugely talented BET veteran, knocks the Aretha Franklin classic “Ain’t No Way” straight to hell and back. But the vocal direction isn’t up to the usual standards of this theater, nor is all the playing from the band."
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Chris Jones

Chicago Sun Times- Highly Recommended

"...The show makes the most of both the temptations and terrors unleashed into the world by Lucifer, that destructive man with the burning tail and the propensity for chaos and war. But it ultimately sees to it that the forces of good prevail by way of a towering, self-assured black man named Ricky. And rarely has the battle between good and evil been quite so much fun, or come with such a blast of vocal and instrumental power behind it."
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Hedy Weiss

Time Out Chicago- Somewhat Recommended

"...The alluded-to battle between Heaven and Hell never besmirches Carl Ulaszek’s heavenly white set, but the audience can thrill to the gentle blasphemy of God’s tender canoodling with His other half, She; as He reminds us, God’s all about the love. Stellar vocalizing and great warmth foster complicity between performers and spectators; nobody complains when, in the second act, the cast throws off the yoke of plot altogether."
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Melissa Albert

Chicago Reader- Recommended

"...There's also room for some theology. We learn that demons can be redeemed, that God has a woman, that gettin' busy plays a role in salvation, and that the Almighty is a big Curtis Mayfield fan. The show is a heartfelt, hilarious, slightly heretical, completely crazy, hugely entertaining mess. Maybe you can resist a finale featuring angels and reformed demons singing Barry White, but I can't."
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Zac Thompson

NewCity Chicago- Recommended

"...It’s formulaic, for sure. And it’s got the problems that beset even the best of the jukebox genre musicals (and that could keep an unemployed dramaturg working): a skimpy plot; shallow characterizations; not always dramatically motivated vocal histrionics; contrived means by which random songs are inserted here and there. But who cares about “dramaturgy” when a show undeniably raises the roof as this one does, connects to its audience on an emotional and spiritual level and features some of the finest singing and dancing to be seen on a Chicago musical stage right now. What we have with this “Message” is a musical and theatrical “Chicken Soup for the Soul”—no more, no less and with no further aspirations than to find the message, not to mention the movement, in the music. On those terms, it unquestionably delivers."
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Fabrizio O. Almeida

Windy City Times- Recommended

"...The plot is as simple as it is timeless: Lucifer wants to ( yawn ) destroy the universe, and to that end, has promoted war, prejudice and general discord throughout the earth. Existential questions raised by this goal are dismissed as casually as the theologically muddy introduction of a She-consort for our heavenly patriarch, along with a mixed-blood—mortal and divine—executive assistant called Trinity. ( Christians can substitute their own titles for these characters, if they wish. ) Tactics still demand that the devil's entourage be turned toward the righteous path, but given the secular humanitarian leanings of its counselors, is it any wonder that compassion and forgiveness triumphs over selfish nihilism?"
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Mary Shen Barnidge

Chicago Free Press- Highly Recommended

"...Her cast is also outstanding. Professional dancer Carrie, as Demon Doubt, can communicate more with one wave of her hand than most can with a monologue. France Jean- Baptiste’s throaty rendering of “Imagine” is simply spine chilling from the first note. Meanwhile, as He, Rick Stone compels with boyish enthusiasm and joy. He is backed by the wise Rhonda Preston (whose mere glances are richer than million dollar bills) and the beaming, life affirming Dawn Bless."
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Brian Kirst

Steadstyle Chicago- Recommended

"...Yes, it is an old story and one that will always be retold, but Ms.Taylor puts it together with a cast of powerful singers (who can truly move as well), using 27 songs to tell the tale. Music from John Lennon, Curtis Mayfield, Paul Simon, Ray Charles, Paul McCartney and others fill the small, intimate theater on Beacon Street, which is soon to be replaced with a brand new state of the art facility. Songs like "Let It Be", "Tell Me What I Say", "Imagine", "People Get Ready" and "Bridge Over Troubled Water". There is also a great octette of musicians that make this building rock. They feel the music and play it as it should be played!"
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Al Bresloff