Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...Eric Simonson’s self-penned, self-directed and mostly very pleasurable project succeeds magnificently in making the vital point that the Kansas City jazz scene of the 1930s revealed a town that wasn’t a pit of heartland homogeneity but a place where race, art, money, power and ethnicity all wrestled in the ambiguous urban mud."
Chicago Sun Times - Somewhat Recommended
"...There is some sassy writing in "Carter's Way," and some superb acting, particularly by the three black actors who are part of the Steppenwolf Theatre ensemble. And Darrell Leonard, the Grammy Award-winning trumpet player, arranger and composer, has devised a clever score (expertly faked by the actors) that channels the music of the time without directly quoting it. But the play, directed by the author, has nothing new to say. And the cliches often reverberate more loudly than the music."
SouthtownStar - Somewhat Recommended
"...From the very beginning of this tale about a black musician and a white woman who become lovers, we know how the story is going to end. And, if one expects a story about racial problems, one will be disappointed because race is of little importance here."
Chicago Free Press - Recommended
"...The Planet Mars is definitely on the planet Earth, thanks to the author’s well-grounded staging and acting too strong for these stereotypes. Meredith is perversely pure in his frantic desire to keep his music untainted by his love life. Among the supporting roles, Robert Breuler reinvents quiet menace as a Kansas City mob boss who prefers peddling drugs to records, while the five musicians sizzle in every song."
EpochTimes - Recommended
"...This is a well written story that will
open your eyes to situations that were real during this period showing that the choices we make are ours to live by and while they may not always work out as planned, each of us has our own dreams and desires and paths that we feel we must follow, no matter the outcome. Yes, a story of love, lust, betrayal, music and the times- a pure delight for all your senses and emotions."
Copley News Service - Recommended
"...The Steppenwolf production is outstanding, both visually and aurally. Neil Patel’s scenic design features an accumulation of authentic looking props to place the audience realistically back in the music joints of Kansas City during the Great Depression."
Time Out Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...Although Simonson is dogged in his devotion to the most underrated of America’s jazz meccas—he deliberately draws characters analogous to the city’s notorious personalities in the emerging black-and-tan culture— Carter’s Way mostly relies on boilerplate bromides."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...Carter’s Way is filled with scenes of cool jazz and a sizzling romance in a compelling story of a subculture where musicians, club owners and mobsters interplay in a dynamic ruled by power and profits. Simonson’s tragedy is a first-rate production with a tragic ending that just had to be yet realistic given the era."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Recommended
"...Meredith is stellar as the saxophone playing composer bent on retaining control over his music and its money-making potential in an age when musicians - especially Black musicians - made nothing at all while white moguls got wealthy selling their songs. Adams is quite believable as the moll and her tender voice is a delight to listen to. K. Todd Freeman, as club owner Pewee Abernathy, heads a veteran supporting cast that includes other familiar and popular faces from the local stage."
