Chicago Tribune
- Somewhat Recommended
"...If you're interested in the gestation of ambitious new rock musicals, "White Noise" might be worth a look. Certainly, the composing team will lodge some of its work in your head. It is a stimulating 110 minutes. Paul Tazewell's costumes are eye-popping. And this talented cast works like crazy on Robert Brill's multi-tiered set. But the show still needs to find its central core and point of attack. It should. We could all use a credible cautionary tale."
Chicago Sun Times
- Recommended
"...“White Noise” opens in full throttle, with stormtroopers in glittery quasi-Nazi regalia serving as the “backup” chorus for Eva (MacKenzie Mauzy), the sexy young blonde and true believer. Along with her sister, Eden (Emily Padgett), the real songwriting talent of the two, Eva was “discovered” by record producer Max (Douglas Sills), who realized that he could repackage the girls and turn them from overtly offensive to secretly seductive chart-toppers. And so he does. Mauzy and Padgett have sensational voices and spectacular legs, and each makes her particular and very different emotional transitions with seamless brilliance. Sills would do well to play the villain with more understatement, and O’Brien might help him with some rewrites."
Chicago Reader
- Somewhat Recommended
"...There are other peculiarities, like the way this supposedly hard look at hate pussyfoots around Max's ethnicity even though every nonverbal signal assures us he's Jewish. That White Noise still manages to retain a good deal of entertainment value is a testament to the kickass skills of its cast and live band. All plausibility aside, Douglas Sills is a charming, frightening monster as Max. Eric William Morris projects an appropriately diffident sweetness compounded with sharp intelligence as Jake. Emily Padgett makes us believe in her ambivalence as Eden, the Siller sister who starts to grow away from the party line. And far, far over on the other end of the spectrum, Patrick Murney is way disturbing as Duke."
Examiner
- Somewhat Recommended
"...White Noise certainly knows how to get your attention. And it’s not just the infectiously titled pop songs with titles like "Welcome to Auschwitz" (sample lyric: “it’ll be so hot/you’ll wanna take your clothes off”). The sound, fury and eye-candy in the Broadway-bound, Whoopi Goldberg-produced musical rivals that of a slickly produced Britney Spears concert. Unfortunately, there’s just not a lot of significance, depth or insight beneath all those glossy production values."
Talkin Broadway
- Somewhat Recommended
"...White Noise has had an unusual history, starting with a production under the same title but written by an entirely different team of writers, presented at the New York Musical Theatre Festival in 2006. Apparently, when commercial producers got hold of it, they fired the original writers and brought in O'Brien, Morris, Morris and Shane to come up with a new show inspired by the original concept. The new piece had a reading in New Orleans in 2008 and this Chicago production is its first commercial engagement. I don't imagine the likes of Whoopi Goldberg and Sergio Trujillo sign on to a project if their ultimate ambition is a production on the great white way of North Halsted in Chicago (though the Royal George and Steppenwolf across the street do make it a vibrant theater block), but they in no way have a show ready for Broadway."
Centerstage
- Somewhat Recommended
"...The songs are catchy (especially the nonracist “White Trash Fairytale”) and the actors are all giving this their best shot but there’s not much substance here. For a satire this is a notably unfunny show. I laughed very little and I find racism hilarious!"
Time Out Chicago
- Recommended
"...There’s a cognitive dissonance between the rock-concert stagings of the two groups’ chart-climbers (amplified by Raj Kapoor’s impressive multimedia design) and the character songs for others such as Max and the girls’ mother, Laurel (Broadway trouper Luba Mason). But White Noise grows increasingly engaging as the evening progresses and our reflexive wincing wanes; things really start to spark once the neo-Nazis and the rappers meet midway through, and O’Brien sets up some undeniably interesting juxtapositions. With a bit of tinkering and a little more genuine emotion, this Noise could be well worth making."
ChicagoCritic
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Eva and Duke’s suppressed racists beliefs win out as they decide to challenge their audience to hear their racist message while doing a shared show with the Blood Brothers. White Noise infuriates Dion & Tyler with their song “Master Race.” Racial fighting ensues onstage ending with the shooting of Eden. The show ends with Eva singing “I Am America” – her rock anthem that expresses her white supremacist views. The show clearly ends with a pessimistic message that white racism dominates America. I reject that notion and I believe this show will only fuel black and white racism. I believe that the election of Barack Obama is proof that we are a more tolerant nation. I’m amazed that Whoopi Goldberg is involved as a producer of the controversial show."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Not Recommended
"...White Noise” needs a bigger warning label than a tiny little spot on the program that reads “a cautionary musical”. It can be argued that this is a generation show, but I feel like I can speak for my fellow younger audience members when I say this show is not entertaining. It’s just one failed rock spectacle. If you were going to spend money on a show, why not go see your favorite rock band? Then at least you can walk out happy that you couldn’t hear the lyrics over the extreme loudness of the band."
Around The Town Chicago
- Recommended
"...This play or rock musical almost begins as if it is a concert, but director/choreographer Sergio Trujillo quickly turns the corner in getting us to see where the play is headed. They call it a “cautionary musical” because it deals with topics that will make one think- free speech, the right to express one’s views, and the power of music in today’s world."
Chicago Theater Beat
- Recommended
"...I have to give props to this show – which has Broadway-level production design – for for not shying away from the vile language. The show may be as blunt as Nazi propaganda. It presents racism in a polarized manner that doesn’t speak to the insidious, quieter racism that we see today. But White Noise still asks some relevant questions. The Hitler salute-inspired choreography in the video of White Noise’s hit single, “Mondays Suck,” inspire rounds of fan vids on YouTube, a la “Single Ladies.” At the end of the night, I was wondering how stupid all those kids must feel after they realize they posted videos of themselves goose-stepping."
