Chicago Tribune
- Highly Recommended
"...I wouldn't claim Butler channels Fitzgerald, and it goes without saying that she can't fully re-create her distinctive scat. But in shows like this, one craves only a big, creative, full-throated, seemingly spontaneous interpretation underpinned with emotional truth and pleasing to the ear. And—backed by glamorously retro production values—that's exactly what you get in one of the best star performances of the year."
Chicago Sun Times
- Highly Recommended
"...Conceived by director Rob Ruggiero and Dyke Harrison, "Ella" comes with a book by Jeffrey Hatcher that efficiently connects the dots and songs. More crucially, the placement and pacing of the show's two dozen numbers is ideal, beautifully tracking Ella's complicated, pain-streaked life and career through songs that tap precisely the right emotion for the moment."
Daily Herald
- Highly Recommended
"...The strength of this show rests with the music, arranged by Danny Holgate and played by a razor-sharp quartet comprised of conductor/pianist Anderson Edwards, trumpeter Ron Haynes (who does a terrific Louis Armstrong impression), drummer Walt Kindred and bassist John Whitfield, each of whom plays a significant man in Fitzgerald's life."
Chicago Reader
- Highly Recommended
"...Jeffrey Hatcher's script, based on a concept by Dyke Garrison and director Rob Ruggiero, explores the complex personality of a workaholic more comfortable onstage than at home with the nephew she adopted as her own son. David Parkes plays Ella's pioneering manager, Norman Granz. Husband Ray Brown, mentor Chick Webb, and other characters are voiced by the guys in the crack quartet that accompanies Butler as she croons and scats her way through classic songs by Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, Hoagy Carmichael, and the Gershwins."
Windy City Times
- Highly Recommended
"...Despite signs of strain on the cold and snowy evening, E. Faye Butler’s voice never faltered over two hours of warbles ranging from Cole Porter and Hoagie Carmichael to such rare classics as the Carter-DePaul-Raye ditty Cow Cow Boogie and Sam Coslow’s Mr. Paganini, backed by a quartet of musicians alert to her slightest nuance, with trumpeter Ron Haynes standing in for Louis Armstrong on a free-wheeling rendition of Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off. However wintry it might be in Skokie, audiences of all ages can warm to le jazz hot at Northlight Theatre."
Chicago Free Press
- Highly Recommended
"...To this jazz layman’s ears, there’s not a false note in this scintillating show. Butler belts out song after song with full-throated “scattitude,” accompanied with no-sweat intensity by a four-man ensemble: Anderson Edwards on piano, John Whitfield on upright bass, Walter Kindred on drums and, matching Butler in lung power, the smoking Ron Haynes on trumpet."
EpochTimes
- Highly Recommended
"...Conceived by Rob Ruggerio and Dyke Garrison, with a book by Jeffrey Hatcher, "Ella" is a marvelous evening filled with some great music and marvelous memories. Imagine hearing over 20 of her greatest hits sung by the very strong E. Faye Baker who will mesmerize you with her range. I have seen her in a great number of area productions and while I always found her to be a solid performer, she rocked my world with this performance (she is ELLA)."
Time Out Chicago
- Recommended
"...were it not for Butler giving one of the year’s finest performances—a truly virtuosic turn—Ella might rank among the year’s worst plays on professional stages. Instead, Hatcher’s book takes on the quality of a soda or car commercial in a movie theater; we can clench our butt cheeks through this as long as the real previews start soon."
ChicagoCritic
- Highly Recommended
"...This show, a revue actually, is filled with signature standards that Ella loved. We hear “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” “Blue Skies,” “Flying Home.” “Night and Day,” “Lullaby of Birdland,” “S Wonderful” among others. I was in heaven listening to Butler bring home Ella’s music. E. Fay Butler gives a grand performance in this show."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Recommended
"...This is more a theatrical event that weaves myth and memory, mystery and music to make the evening entertaining for all. It is truly a show about an American legend performed by one of Chicago's living legends, E. Faye Butler."
