Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...I'd say that "8-Track" probably delivered as much sustenance to the audience as any production in this company's history, at least based on what I saw happen to people's faces and breaths. The revue, conceived 20 years ago by Rick Seeber and previously produced all over the country, is made up of more than 60 songs from that most pliable of musical decades, containing material first made famous by Marvin Gaye, The Emotions, The Carpenters, Cat Stevens, Chic, Donna Summer, Ray Stevens, Three Dog Night, Barry Manilow, the Bee Gees, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Elkie Brooks and the Village People, to name but a few. There's no narration, no invasive framing device - only vague theming and thus, as they used to say on those K-Tel commercials, the hits just keep on coming."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Director-choreographer Jamal Howard's effervescent and earnest staging of 8-Track brings in queerness (including polyamory), along with shout-outs to feminism (Helen Reddy's anthemic "I Am Woman" makes an appearance). And while this musical revue is more a good-time celebration than a political investigation, Howard and his cast do a decent job suggesting that music-even seemingly apolitical music-carries social messages in its DNA."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Titles like "Everything is Beautiful" done my Mia Nevarez, a new-comer to Theo with a voice that will leave you spellbound. Another newbie, Jasmine Lacy Young, fills the theater with music and a range that is undefineable- wow! "Her "I Am Woman" will take your breath away. Chamaya Moody and Alli Atkenson are the female ensemble members ( and understudies for the other women). The men are Wesley Anthony Clerge ( another newbie to Theo) and Patrick O'Keefe with the male ensemble made up of Matt Patrick and Roy Samra. There is some confusion on the "coupling" as in some cases, the ensemble is the coupled person with the lead performer."
WTTW - Highly Recommended
"...In fact, "8-Track" is a formidable work of theater - a multifaceted musical portrait of a turbulent period in American history. And its power-voiced, dance-savvy cast of eight - backed by the vivid direction and choreography of Jamal Howard, and the ever-brilliant musical direction of Jeremy Ramey - set Theo Ubique's intimate space on fire to the point where you might easily believe you are watching Broadway stars."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...Fred Anzevino's much accoladed and highly popular Theo Ubique has done it again. Not particularly a holiday show, this absolutely wonderfully musical revue manages to bring joy to the hearts of every audience member and a smile to their lips. Wonderfully directed and choreographed and professionally performed with vim and vigor, this magical musical revue is guaranteed to make audiences "Shake, Shake, Shake" their Booty and make them "Feel Like Dancing." "Ooh Child," do not miss this production because Chicagoland is "Takin' It to the Streets.""
Buzznews.net - Highly Recommended
"...If one has musical memories of the 70s, 8-Track: The Sounds of the '70s will provide a joyful trip to the past, with the talented cast breathing life into even the most moribund hits of the decade. If one is too young to recollect the times, many of the hits may still ring a bell, and the show will provide an energetic introduction to those that don't. If you are looking for complex plots and characters, this is not your show, but director Jamal Howard and the exuberant ensemble have created a respectful but not too reverent time capsule that provides a nice break from the winter weather as well as a reminder that every decade has its own struggles and celebrations."
Chicagoland Musical Theatre - Highly Recommended
"...This upbeat gem of the very definition of "jukebox musical"-hell, call it jukebox opera because there's no dialogue-further exemplifies the musical theatre magic of Theo Ubique. Led for many years now by ebullient artistic director Fred Anzevino and fabulous music director Jeremy Ramey, they're now joined by the best friend of everyone connected with Chicagoland theatre, Christopher Pazdernik, as the company's managing and casting director. Whatever their secret is to helming this favorite non-Equity company, they attract the top (typically young) talent in town and give them a supportive stage on which to shine."
Chicago On Stage - Highly Recommended
"...This music is nothing less than the soundtrack of my life. Every song takes me back and conjures specific memories. I listened to them all through high school and college, and-though the physical copies of the records and CDs are gone now-I still listen to them today both online and in the evergreen K-Tel compilations in my mind. So let's just say I was pumped for this show."
TotalTheater - Highly Recommended
"...The hazard in this brand of anthological arrangement is its propensity for drops in energy level between segments, but musical director Jeremy Ramey has orchestrated key-changing segues as swift and agile as the actors who flutter like moths through the intricate corners of Theo Ubique's cabaret storefront under the direction of Jamal Howard, to keep the stage picture vibrant and mobile at every moment. (Playgoers old enough to recall the era depicted may also find historical precedent in unexpected places: the synchronized hand-jive employed for "One Toke Over the Line" is clever but also serves as a reminder of a time when smoking cannabis was a communal ritual.)"
Picture This Post - Recommended
"...Devotees of Porchlight Music Theatre's New Faces Sing Broadway series, and especially streams during the shutdown, will recognize many of the cast members. There are dozens of songs that remind of the 70's lexicon embodied in song titles when we were urged to Shake, Shake, Shake Your Booty, explore the 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, do The Hustle, Get Down Tonight, and find fun in an Afternoon Delight."
Splash Magazine - Highly Recommended
"...I enjoyed the excellent musical direction by Jeremy Ramey, with the exception of something I wish wouldn't ALWAYS happen: a singer with a big voice who starts out soft, then belts as hard as they possibly can at the end of the song: so predictable. We know they have big voices very early on, so surprise us! However, there were great harmonies and blends."
NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended
"..."8-Track: The Sounds of the '70s" is exactly what it sounds like, a fun, light musical revue directed and choreographed by Jamal Howard that plumbs the breadth of a transformative decade in music. If you love, or merely like, the songs of that era (unless seventies for you signifies the birth of punk rock and hip-hop), you're in for a treat with a show that is like one of those old Christmas TV specials with musical numbers only slightly less worn than holiday songs. Over the course of two hours, a cast of four leads with four backup singer-dancers, wearing wigs and a semblance of period-appropriate fashion, coasts through a vast songbook, fifty songs in whole or part."
