Chicago Sun Times
- Recommended
"...The altogether splendid cast -- Ross Lehman, Larry Yando, John Reeger, Jonathan Weir, Rob Lindley and Tim Rock -- play the endless assortment of Johanns and Georgs here. And they must surely have nightmares about keeping their focus in this word-crazed play. But they are pitch perfect, and send the rest of us home reeling."
Daily Herald
- Recommended
"...Writers' Theatre drafted all-pro director Nick Bowling and assembled an all-star cast for this astutely paced, brilliantly executed Chicago premiere of Itamar Moses' comedy about rival musicians and the lengths to which they'll go to secure a coveted position."
Chicago Reader
- Highly Recommended
"...The recent recipient of an MFA, Itamar Moses has written a play that's ostentatiously gimmicky, assertively academic, and chock-full of amusing quirk. It's also lovely, wise, tender, strong, and the best play I've seen--or can imagine--by a young playwright. Centered on the intrigues of seven organists vying for a post at Leipzig's Thomaskirche in 1722, Bach at Leipzig combines Larry Gelbart's vaudeville instincts with Tom Stoppard's metatheatrical intricacies."
Windy City Times
- Recommended
"...Even if the ensemble hadn’t fully gelled or wrung out every single laugh from the script on opening night, there were enough standout moments from each cast member that showed signs of a tighter comic ensemble in the future. Ross Lehman certainly reveled as the comparative moral and artistic central character Fasch, playing against Larry Yando’s wickedly wry conniver Schott."
Gay Chicago Magazine
- Recommended
"...Director Nick Bowling presents a technically attractive and theatrically charming, albeit uneven, production of this impressive play. “Bach at Leipzig” will beguile the classical music enthusiast and satiate anyone who enjoys exceptionally clever and frenetic humor."
EpochTimes
- Highly Recommended
"...Director Nick Bowling has cast some of Chicago's finest talents to make this all happen and it does happen. Ross Lehman (he of the great rubber face), Larry Yando (with his bellowing voice), John Reeger ( who handles character roles with perfection), Jonathan Weir, Michael Aaron Lindner,, Tim Rock and Rob Lindley (who almost steals every scene he is in) make up this stellar cast of actors."
Time Out Chicago
- Recommended
"...So thoroughly literate are the references and language, so bloody clever are the jokes and self-assessments, so satisfied with its own structural accomplishment is it, that it leaves you wanting to stab your eyes out with a conductor’s baton."
ChicagoCritic
- Highly Recommended
"...You’ll laugh yourself silly as you admire the smart wordplay and manic farcical situations in this unique comedy. Classical music lovers will respond to the musical form references. Kudos to Writers’ Theatre for selecting this vibrant new work."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Recommended
"...with A-list actors such as Ross Lehman, John Reeger, Jonathan Weir and Larry Yando (alongside Rob Lindley, Tim Rock and a wasted Michael Aaron Lindner) at the helm Director Nick Bowling really needed only to step aside and keep the talent from tripping over itself."
