Escape from the Haltsburg Boys Choir presented by The Ruckus Theater at The Side Project

Chicago Reader - Not Recommended

"...The story, about a boy soprano in 18th-century Austria who flees his fabled choir to escape castration, is too dark to be funny but too improbable to be taken seriously. The actresses who play the preteen heroes are earnest but unconvincing, and the actors playing their villainous overseers--a campy kapellmeister and his whip-wielding enforcer--resort to lame caricatures straight out of a Vincent Price horror flick."

Centerstage - Somewhat Recommended

"...“Escape” boasts a well written script with great characters and dialogue, but suffers from an overwhelming, inexplicable flaw: The scenes are a jumble of flashbacks with no apparent rhyme or reason. This absolutely kills the emotional impact of several moments with excessive foreshadowing. In some scripts there’s reason to play around with chronological order, in this case it is arbitrary and baffling. The shift from realism to the fairy tale world is also handled abruptly and awkwardly."

Chicago Stage Review - Not Recommended

"...The Ruckus is a theater company not without a surplus of talent and brimming with fortitude. I can see where the promise of something strange and sinister or something silly and sensational drew them to Escape from the Haltsburg Boys Choir. Too bad the musical is neither. It needs at least a half hour shaved off the top. It needs to cut out the castration and become the children’s show that it is leaning towards or dare to delve deep into the realms of darkness instead of floundering on the fence of theatrical foolishness."

Time Out Chicago - Somewhat Recommended

"... Flashbacks show the boys suffering under the despotism of their preening, sadistic choirmaster and living in constant terror of “aging out” of the program—which you’d think wouldn’t be such a tragedy given how poorly they’re treated. The most intriguing aspect of Dean’s book is its treatment of puberty as a horror show, which it certainly is. But the script’s lack of momentum and focus, its odd serio-satirical-scary tone and the dragging pace of Caffrey’s staging push the whole thing off key."

Chicago Stage and Screen - Somewhat Recommended

"...Jeffrey Fauvner makes a strong and creepy Choirmaster, but Kevin Crispin was merely annoying as the child abusing Ingles, ranting monotonously about filthy boys and their filthy talk with little justification. This work still seems to be in the developmental stages, and I believe could benefit from some revamping. It is a courageous effort though that shows potential."

Around The Town Chicago - Somewhat Recommended

"...As I said earlier, this play with music has some potential and perhaps if they could remount it on a larger stage with some scenes snipped here an dthere, this could be a much stronger play, one that has legs and could be around for many years. Meanwhile, Ruckus has indeed mounted a worthwhile production that is worth a try. Many new plays, find themselves maturing as they perform, working off audience reaction and feed-back. I for one would be interested to see how it progresses as it also comes of age."

Chicago Theater Beat - Somewhat Recommended

"...Under the direction of Daniel Caffrey, the cast works energetically to escape disaster. The quartet of runaways crawl, croon and create an exit plan. Kate Black (Johanne) leads the singers with an enthusiastic chipper. Alyse Kittner (Nils) brings the sass as a rambunctious sidekick. Liz Goodson (Arthur) anchors the foursome as the stalwart quiet one. Heather Moats (Sebastian) endears as the timid lost boy. Megan Gotz (Victors) connives as the jealous wannabe soloist. These gals don’t need balls to hit the right melody. With the talented he-shes and a tighter script, Escape from the Haltsburg Boys Choir will take flight. Snip-snip! “It’s easy as A-B-C, 1-2-3…”"