Chicago Tribune
- Recommended
"...I appreciate this show's honest look at depression, grief and illness, as well as the way it offers hope without relying on easy platitudes. It also makes me fear for the people who don't have the support system that Davy does, or who sink into the quicksand of medical debt due to an unreliable health insurance system - a problem that gets a nod in several of the ensemble's vignettes."
Chicago Reader
- Highly Recommended
"...Samuelson captures the mournful vibe of a young adult trying to play her role in life in defiance of her illness. Carter, played by Shawn Smith, is the endearing boyfriend patiently working to connect with an avoidant Davy. Roommate April (Melody Murray) shifts from a seemingly vacuous online personality to a person trying to make a difference in the world while living with her own trauma, toggling back and forth from masked confidence to unmasked vulnerability in that role."
Stage and Cinema
- Recommended
"...Preston Max Allen's new musical Never Better at Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre is an emotionally raw folk-punk musical. It sometimes struggles with forward motion but makes up for that shortcoming with overflowing heart."
Around The Town Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...It isn’t often that one of our “Black Box Theatre Companies” gets to bring a new work to its stage, but the staff at Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre are just the right people to pull it off. In fact, this is the third season in a row that this company has opened the season with a production by an emerging writer with a new work."
Chicago Theatre Review
- Highly Recommended
"...Preston Max Allen's new musical is a powerful piece that doesn't shy away from real life, and some theatergoers may even "Cry About It." It deals with dark subjects such as terminal illness, sexual violence and suicidal tendencies, which may make some theatergoers uncomfortable. But these topics aren't sensationalized in this musical. They're faced head-on. They're real and, like it or not, are a part of our lives today. Featuring an excellent musical score and strong characters, Landree Fleming's delicate and emotionally charged production is guaranteed to leave audiences incredibly moved."
Chicago On Stage
- Recommended
"...Playwright Preston Max Allen states in the author bio for his musical Never Better, now playing at Theo, that he had to prioritize his own mental health when he put the script away in 2017 after working on it for three years. That thought-that we all should prioritize our own mental health-is, as it happens, at the core of this provocative musical work-in-progress. Many of the characters have learned or need to learn that message, very much akin to the standard flight attendant's admonition to put on your own oxygen mask before tending to others."
Evanston Roundtable
- Recommended
"...Grief, sorrow and mourning … mighty raw emotions and themes for a musical. Never Better, a work in development at Theo, the cabaret-style theater on Howard Street, takes those topics on sensitively and creatively."
NewCity Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...This is truly an exceptional production that is often greater than its already pretty darn good parts. Emma Samuelson as Davy appears as comfortable as a worn hoodie in playing the lead role. Her performance, as well as her powerful singing voice, exhibits all the vulnerabilities and nuances of a young college student. We learn quickly, often via soulful ballads delivered perfectly into the theatrical space, that she is navigating through a lot more than just her mortality."
