Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...Aside from the curiosity of a tragic musical, and the appeal of the dark arts writ musicale, "Marie Christine" also is fascinating for its depictions of turn-of-the-century Chicago, its fat-cat denizens and its mercurial politics: Dante sings a song called "Nothing Beats Chicago" that, given the sardonic way it is placed in the show and the Kander and Ebb-like cynicism of the lyrics, won't be an official ballad of our tourist agency anytime soon. But it is, shall we say, a recognizable ditty of our town."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...The chemistry between Marie and Dante is instant, intense and explosive, and Marie, as wildly romantic as she is impulsive, gives herself to him with terrifying totality. She is betrayed from the start, as Dante seduces her beguiling young maid, Lisette (Katherine Bourne, a tiny beauty with a magnificent soprano, who is part of the remarkable Bourne family singers)."
Chicago Reader - Recommended
"...Set along the Louisiana bayou at the close of the 19th century, Michael John LaChiusa's 1999 musical reworks Greek myth into horrific tragedy, imbued with race and class tensions, against a creole backdrop. Euripides's Medea, dark-skinned granddaughter of a sun god, heiress to black magic and kindred bloodshed, is here transformed into Marie Christine (Kyrie Courter), a mulatto sorceress whose indiscreet affair with Dante, a white sailor (Ken Singleton), disgraces her before cruel patriarchal society."
Stage and Cinema - Recommended
"...Still and at best, these 130 minutes deliver a splendid showcase for corrosive chanteuse Barron as merrily malevolent Magdalena, Haskins as Marie’s cautionary mother, and, well, everyone in Brown’s unimprovable 13-member cast and six-person orchestra. Adding to the excellent illusions are set design Arnel Sancianco’s sepulchral French doors with their tropical “jalousies” and appropriate wrought-iron proscenium and Heather Gilbert’s neurasthenic lighting."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...Although this isn’t the kind of show that proffers tunes that send the audience out into the street humming afterward, it is a play that’s steeped in magic, mayhem and moodiness, and features characters that won’t soon be forgotten. And while perhaps not to every theatergoer’s taste, Michael John LaChiusa’s cult musical is a haunting story of love and revenge, with a beautiful score that ranks up there with his other Broadway works, such as “The Wild Party,” “Hello Again,” “Little Fish” and “First Lady Suite.” It’s most certainly another feather in BoHo Theatre’s cap."
Chicagoland Musical Theatre - Highly Recommended
"...It's a must for anyone who enjoys having some of Chicago's finest singing actors under one roof, as pieces of this scope demand. If Courter and Singleton haven't worked their magic, then perhaps Neala Barron as the saloon madam and Marie's unlikely ally? Pavi Proczko as a city boss? Emily Goldberg, Teressa LaGamba, and Nicole Michelle Haskins alone comprise the omnipresent women's ensemble, Marie's "witnesses.""
Chicago On Stage - Highly Recommended
"...There are times when a musical theatre presentation comes up and just grabs you, slithers under your skin, and will not let you go. Shows like Sweeney Todd come to mind, where the fate of the main character(s) is horribly dark and tragic yet you somehow can feel sorry for them at the same time, broken beings that they are or have become. In Boho Theatre’s Marie Christine, an operatic musical take on the Medea myth now playing at Theatre Wit, you’ll be introduced to another such character. Like Sweeney, she is capable of dreadful deeds; like him also, she is drawn to do them by the deepest love imaginable."
Picture This Post - Highly Recommended
"...Striking as the director’s touch is, Marie Christine would be nothing without its bedrock Tony Award-nominated musical score and lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa. Lyrics and music are sewn together with stunning perfection. Here too a signature quickly emerges of melody taking a half note detour to emphasize a mood or affect. You too may be a tad reminded of Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, but do not think you will walk away thinking this music is somehow derivative. This music has super-magnetic pull, and in this production, the cast brings vocal ability up to its challenge, which is not trivial."
Splash Magazine - Highly Recommended
"...Boho Theatre is currently producing Marie Christine through December 10th at Theatre Wit, 1229 W. Belmont, Chicago. Written by Michael Hohn LaChiusa, this dark and intriguing musical was inspired by the myth of the infanticidal Medea and “loosely” based on the life of Marie Laveau, a storied practitioner of Voodoo. Set in the last years of the 20th Century, the racially mixed Marie Christine spins a tale of tragedy and magic, shedding light on a life begun in New Orleans privilege, and recounting passion, betrayal and the wreaking of an awful revenge. This was an epic modern opera, fast-paced, beautifully sung, wickedly entertaining and filled with sex, passion, intrigue, humor, skillful dancing and terrific music."