Chicago Tribune
- Highly Recommended
"...Like a lot of Myler's work, "Fire on the Mountain" is notable for its whiff of total authenticity. I've seen a lot of Myler's shows, which he usually directs himself, in theaters in different parts of the country. Rarely do you see an actor with an affected sense or a lack of musical credibility. Rarely do you see an actor who looks like an actor. Myler's people look like workers."
Chicago Sun Times
- Highly Recommended
"...Director Randal Myler and co-creator Dan Wheetman, who previously collaborated on "It Ain't Nothin' but the Blues," have meticulously patched together three dozen traditional songs. With eight singer-actor-musicians bringing an unusual authenticity to the material -- and projections of archival photographs adding eloquence and gravitas to the production -- they have conjured all aspects of the mining life. The trick of it all is that it never feels like a civics lesson. "Fire on the Mountain" catches the heat of a very particular time, place and group of people."
Daily Herald
- Highly Recommended
"...Great theater transports audiences to a place they’ve never been. Randal Myler and Dan Wheetman’s heartwarming tribute to Appalachian miners did that Wednesday when a talented cast of singers/actors/musicians transported Northlight Theatre’s opening night audience to the mountains of West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee and introduced them to the men whose labor keeps them warm."
Chicago Reader
- Recommended
"...Thanks largely to a talented and energetic cast, this evening of folk tunes illustrating the many sorrows and occasional joys of Appalachian coal miners is both entertaining and mildly enlightening."
Windy City Times
- Highly Recommended
"...The nine-member ensemble, led by “Mississippi” Charles Bevel, playing an assortment of indigenous instruments—guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, dulcimer and mouth-harp—delivers an evening of down-home entertainment to delight pro-labor activists and folk buffs of all ages."
Chicago Free Press
- Recommended
"...Really, as long as you enjoy a good banjo, fiddle or guitar tune performed with gusto, or feel moved by more plaintive laments for a lifestyle doomed by technological progress or lives lost to the dangers of the mine, this Northlight production will prove an entertaining evening out."
Gay Chicago Magazine
- Highly Recommended
"...This is an emotional, passionate work full of countless stories of miners told in narrative and song. Set at one moment in Virginia and the next in Kentucky, the work jumps geography and character as it relays, through joyous and heartbreaking bluegrass, the trials of the American coal miner and his family. Employing a topnotch cast of versatile musicians and solid actors, writer-director Randal Myler (along with coauthor Dan Wheetman) gives us 90 minutes of truly stirring theatre, breathtaking in its ability to move us and eloquent in its reach to educate."
EpochTimes
- Highly Recommended
"...Northlight Theatre in Skokie is now presenting a marvelous 90 minutes of entertainment called "Fire on The Mountain" that with some wonderful music and storytelling will open your eyes to the history of the miner with dancing, banjos, fiddles, harmonicas, guitars and some solid singers, we get to see (through some excellent actual slides) and hear (actual songs from the area) what life was for these people and what they endured for the land they loved (and slaved at for the mine owners)."
Time Out Chicago
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Despite Myler’s static, often standstill direction, the guitar-, fiddle- and banjo-plucking actors work hard to invest these enjoyable folk songs with a down-home naturalness; the lyrics can stick: “Some blues are just blues; mine are the miner’s blues.” Mississippi Charles Bevel’s expressive voice conjures up long roads traveled, hard lessons learned. But what’s needed to mine these miners’ loam-rich history might not be a musical revue suggestive of a Southern theme park but a musical play with story, dialogue and characters..."
ChicagoCritic
- Highly Recommended
"...Nothing can capture the sound, the pain and the emotions of the real folks like their songs---truly folk music gives voice to the common man. Fire on the Mountain is a magnificent work of art featuring great performers capturing the essence of rural American life. It is so enjoyable to see and hear outstanding performers deliver the people’s music. Take your children to experience this part of the American experience. They’ll learn to love folk music."
