Chicago Tribune
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Overall, the execution is a notch below the concept and it never feels like the performers fully inhabit the roles or completely deliver the show to the audience. It looked on Saturday like the show had taken a toll on the mostly young, 27-strong cast."
Chicago Sun Times
- Highly Recommended
"...Director-choreographer David H. Bell (who turned up the heat in "The Hot Mikado," his hip reimagining of a Gilbert & Sullivan classic), has worked every one of his considerable tricks in this production. He also has created a show that probably is the next best thing to an instant weight loss regime for its two dozen actors, nearly all of whom are in a state of perpetual animation from first moment to last. And that galvanic energy -- which reaches its hilarious climax in the second act's Keytone Cops routine for a police sergeant and his brilliantly goofy force of ten officers (all decked out in enormous mustaches and fez-like hats) -- is almost enough to keep you fully enthralled."
Daily Herald
- Highly Recommended
"...Bell's staging is filled with romantic and hilarious flourishes that alternately has the audience sighing with awe or roaring with laughter. The passionate choreography for the pas de deux dancers Jarret Ditch and Cara Salerno oozes sexuality and longing, while a zany chase and brilliantly staged slow-motion fight between Antipholus of Ephesus and a cadre of fez-wearing Keystone Cop-like policemen leaves everyone in stitches."
Chicago Reader
- Highly Recommended
"...Rodgers and Hart's 1938 musical version of Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors gets a new book from director David H. Bell, but the attitude is old school. Bell's lavish anything-for-a-laugh staging celebrates the inherent idiocy of the story--especially in a glorious Keystone Kops homage in the second act--while mostly allowing the score to swing and soar."
Windy City Times
- Somewhat Recommended
"...The set and costumes are bright, colorful and fun; the choreography is slick and sometimes sensual; the athletic knock-about comic business is genuinely laugh-inducing; the performances all are strong; and the show is a rollicking good time ... that is, if you don't know anything about The Boys from Syracuse. But then there are curmudgeonly purists such as me."
Chicago Free Press
- Highly Recommended
"...The slippery setting notwithstanding, this hepcat revival delivers fun by the minute, its sterling, young cast unstoppable in their comic timing, period perfection, inspired reactions and deft physical comedy. As the identical twins who keep missing each other until the happy ending, Ryan Reilly and Rod Thomas play every crazy moment with scary conviction. Likewise, their adorable and easily switched servants, Devin DeSantis and Andrew Keltz, are bewildered brothers always one step away from a crucial reunion."
Gay Chicago Magazine
- Highly Recommended
"...The show is a true ensemble effort, with the entire cast turning in solid performances, powerful singing, terrific dancing and great comedic timing. The real stars, however, are the fantastic Rodgers and Hart songs (with three others borrowed from other of their shows), re-orchestrated in jazz and swing idioms of the era, and David H. Bell. Long a champion of forgotten musical treasures, Bell is a terrific choreographer, whose showmanship rivals some of Broadway’s best, with the high-spirited energy of a Danny Daniels tap routine or the storytelling fluidity of a Gower Champion showstopper."
EpochTimes
- Highly Recommended
"...There is "magic" taking place on stage at The Drury Lane Theatre Oakbrook! Pure Magic! And the magician is David Bell, who has taken the Richard Rodgers and Laurence Hart 1938 musical " The Boys From Syracuse" to a new level of brilliance."
Copley News Service
- Recommended
"...Bell has assembled a talented and exuberant ensemble and they are in good shape as long as they sing and dance. But there is too much pratfall comedy, climaxed by an interminable chase scene in the second act. Physical comedy is always tricky, and the sight of one man jumping into the arms of another man in fright is a tiresome way to dredge laughs from the spectators, though the audience at my performance seemed to enjoy the rough and tumble well enough."
Centerstage
- Highly Recommended
"...David H. Bell's sparkling new, cleverly executed revision of Rodgers and Hart's 1938 musical would be reason enough to see it, but shrewd casting, slick direction and choreography and spectacular, imaginative technical support add up to a thoroughly wonderful evening of theater for mature audiences."
ChicagoCritic
- Highly Recommended
"...Kudos to Kyle DeSantis and David H. Bell for mounting this wonderful material. Many theatre fans will discover the genius of Rodgers & Hart and David H. Bell in the rarely mounted “The Boys from Syracuse.” This is one ‘must see’ musical."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Highly Recommended
"...Drury Lane Oakbrook continues a recent winning streak that is really amazing to behold. Producer Kyle DeSantis is not just continuing the family legacy his grandfather Tony began 59 years ago, he is improving on it. You can feel it in the outpouring of talent onstage, in the band, in the design and at the helm. Musical Director/Arranger Keith Dworkin has reinvisioned the already masterful Rodgers and Hart tunes with a syncopated 1930's jazz beat. There's a hilarious homage to the Keystone Cops complete with a slow motion brawl that is a scream to watch. Physical slapstick and stunts abound and are deftly performed. And the go-for-broke cast appears to be having the time of their lives as they execute Bell's inventive staging and fearless choreography."
