Chicago Tribune
- Highly Recommended
"...As joyously directed and deftly cast here by Daryl D. Brooks, and creatively choreographed by Christopher Chase Carter, this experience felt very much like classic Theo: A whole team of fresh young talent with stellar voices, a rich collective sense of humor, and the perennial sense, thanks in no small part to Carter’s ambitious work, that everyone here is doing clever things that you don’t typically see done in a space this intimate. Not done this cleverly, anyway."
Chicago Reader
- Recommended
"...There are some lags in the pacing (just as in a real baseball game) from time to time, but particularly on opening night, the cast and crew overcame a ninth-inning setback in the form of a partial power outage. Conductor and music director Ryan Brewster (the four-piece band does terrific work) was unable to play keyboards for the final song, “A Man Doesn’t Know.” If it was another late-breaking trick from a theatrical Applegate, he failed in his aim: Shea and Hoyt sang their hearts out a cappella, sending us into the warm summer eve with appreciation for the pluck and spirit of Brooks’s charming ensemble and the nostalgic appeal of the show itself."
Stage and Cinema
- Highly Recommended
"...Christopher Chase Carter’s choreography is delightful and occasionally very cheeky—witness the baseball-bat bit in the Act II opener, “The Game”—and, as is now expected of them, Theo Ubique and director Daryl Brooks have assembled a top-notch ensemble. Nowakowski has an impressive set of pipes and brings an appropriately aw-shucks quality to Joe Hardy. He also shares a gentle chemistry with Hoyt, and their scenes together are rather sweet."
Around The Town Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...The ensemble of this production truly shines. Theo always has great talent. Alex Madda is a glorious Gloria Thorpe, the reporter who needs to get the goods on this player who’s shoes didn’t fit. The “Shoeless Joe” number is powerful and shows what can be done on a small stage with “A Little Brains, A Lot of Talent” ( the actual song is a little talent), with an emphasis on the later."
Chicago Theatre Review
- Recommended
"...But for a nostalgic trip back to the more innocent days of Ozzie and Harriet and Leave It to Beaver, Director Daryl D. Brooks has staged a funny, generally fast-paced musical comedy from Broadway’s Golden Age that coincides perfectly with the opening of the Spring baseball season. With just a few missed catches and a couple of foul balls, DAMN YANKEES is an All-Star show that’s filled with talent and miles and miles of heart."
Curtain Call Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre’s Damn Yankees revives this Golden Age Classic Musical (by Adler & Ross and Abbott & Wallop) with charm, force, and clear affection. What could be more appropriate during our nation’s 250th birthday celebration than an all-American blend of Faustian fantasy with All-American optimism and grit…led by a fully committed and talented cast."
BroadwayWorld
- Recommended
"...If you’ve ever been so invested in something — particularly sports — that it starts to dictate your mood, consume your everyday life, and affect your relationship, then you might be able to relate to Damn Yankees, now playing at the Theo’s Fred Anzevino Theatre."
