Chicago Tribune
- Somewhat Recommended
"...William Osetek’s production makes for quite a spectacular show. The rise in production values at the Drury Lane has truly been meteoric. And in this most recent example, the gifted designer Brian Sidney Bembridge has created huge, dazzling, art-deco murals that decorate the rear of Mame’s New York apartment. The cast is nearly 30 strong, and the orchestra is generously sized. Tatjana Radisic’s costumes are witty and gorgeous. All that said, the show didn’t look fully comfortable on opening night."
Chicago Sun Times
- Recommended
"...Director William Osetek's big production, with its high-energy choreography by Kenny Ingram and its music direction by Ben Johnson (with several musicians perched onstage as part of Mame's "house band"), is uneven but it's got three terrific performances."
Daily Herald
- Recommended
"...Robertson ranks among the Chicago area's very best; her deliciously droll performance as boozy diva and best friend Vera Charles confirms it. Good as she is, she has formidable competition from the redoubtable (and unrelated) Barbara Robertson who stars as the titular eccentric in William Osetek's timely, handsome production."
Chicago Reader
- Highly Recommended
"...put a fine actor like Barbara Robertson in the lead role--a performer capable of revealing the deeper layers of her character even as she blows the roof off with her singing--and it becomes possible to see the power hidden behind Herman's talent to amuse. Robertson doesn't do it alone. Director William Osetek has cast the show with talented character actors and triple threats."
Windy City Times
- Somewhat Recommended
"...as the show progresses one notices that the men's costumes aren't nearly as pitch-perfect as the women's; indeed, some of the men's suits are entirely of the wrong decade. Then, the choreography by the usually-impressive Kenny Ingram is standard-issue. It kicks high on occasion but it never struts, never excites. It's pleasant rather than exuberant. Also, the nine-piece band playing punchy original orchestrations is appropriately brassy and big, but was sloppy—far too many dropped notes—at the matinee I attended."
Chicago Free Press
- Highly Recommended
"...Ben Johnson’s musical direction of the excellent upstairs orchestra would make Herman proud. Ingram’s time-tripping choreography nicely evokes styles as varied as vaudeville, the Charlestons, Lindy hop, jitter bug and the all-essential kick line. Tatjana Radisic’s costumes span the decades with Mame-ian vulgarity."
ChicagoCritic
- Highly Recommended
"...As you might expect, Mame prevails with all of her ‘projects.’ This hilarious story of the Manhattan socialite turned guardian unfolds as a whirlwind high energy musical treat. There is fine 20’s & 30’s style dances and a wonderfully thrilling act one finale dance number praising Mame. Kenny Ingram’s choreography here is first-rate and Ben Johnson’s orchestra did Jerry Herman’s score justice."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Barbara Robertson is one of Chicago's most accomplished dramatic actresses who might have been a perfectly fine choice for the original non-musical play "Auntie Mame". Her vocal equipment, however, isn't much of an improvement over Lucy's, and the painful, flat and scratchy performance she is giving should give one pause before booking tickets to see the show."
