Chicago Tribune
- Recommended
"...Director Rachel Rockwell's production features a rich staging and skilled actors (the likes of Don Forston, Ron Rains and Liz Pazik) but it also needs to find the courage of its stylistic convictions. There are moments — especially during scenes involving the overly broad and jumpy Skyler Adams, the nonetheless promising young actor in the title role — when it feels like no one quite found the nerve to commit to the subtleties of the music and the nuances of this visual world, and instead felt the pressure to make a conventionally "up" daytime kid's show."
Chicago Sun Times
- Recommended
"...Featuring a topnotch cast stylishly directed and choreographed by Rachel Rockwell (“Ragtime”), this show deals with such complex matters as making choices, dealing with one’s conscience, balancing love with appetite, realizing the importance of education, learning about work and money and the chicanery encountered in the outside world. Yet it never forgets to have fun."
Chicago Reader
- Somewhat Recommended
"...this self-consciously artistic production—filled with gorgeous hand-carved puppets by Meredith Miller—lacks a playful spirit that engages children and keeps their attention. The middle drags, and almost all of the humor in Hill's book feels forced or falls flat."
Centerstage
- Highly Recommended
"...Much credit goes to Creative Producer Rick Boynton for fostering another new work for family audiences, this year tapping into the creative brilliance of Neil Bartram and Brian Hill. Add to this recipe for success the talented director/choreographer, Rachel Rockwell. Their collective work is enhanced by Rachel Anne Healy’s sumptuous costumes, Kevin Depinet’s Broadway caliber set design and Meredith Miller’s gorgeous wooden puppets (Pinocchio isn’t the only character portrayed by a marionette in this production.) Pinocchio sings “I Want What I Want;” but what audiences really want are more family works of this power and quality."
Time Out Chicago
- Somewhat Recommended
"...As in their grown-up collaboration, The Story of My Life, Bartram’s lyrics and melodies are kid-simple (perhaps appropriately here) and Hill’s book turns on some clunky devices (at one point the fairy magically whips up a pocket dictionary to read the definition of puppet). Still, the terrific cast enlivens the material. Newcomer Adams makes an appealing hero, and the rest of the ensemble proves adept at engaging young audience members. And the show is handsomely designed, particularly Meredith Miller’s enchanting puppets, which go strangely underused."
ChicagoCritic
- Highly Recommended
"...CST’s family productions are the best theater buy for the money in Chicago, providing an introduction for young and a renewed appreciation of drama for adult audiences. Pinocchio is a delight both for those who are initially seeing the classic tale (written by Carlo Collodi in 1883), and for those who will be revisiting it in this new, innovative version."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Highly Recommended
"...The entire ensemble dominated the stage from start to finish; even the performers with smaller parts gave incredible performances that we have come to expect when dealing with Chicago Shakespeare. Derek Hasenstab and Heidi Kettenring take the prize for most entertaining scene stealers; their portrayal of the quick talking con duo was superb. The only slight issue I had with the cast was the fact I thought the talented gentlemen playing the title role of Pinocchio was a bit too old. He gave a very genuine performance, mastering the mental state of a young child brand new to the world around him. I just felt he was a tad too aged for the role; his height was a constant reminder. Despite that minor complication, “The Adventures of Pinocchio” is an excellent production fit for the whole family, and with the low ticket prices and flexible time slots, Chicago Shakespeare’s latest family production is a hit."
Around The Town Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...The story is a little different in that Hill retells Carlo Collodi’s story about the woodcarver, Geppetto ( the always reliable Don Forston), who had never had a child, cutting down the tree that he had planted at his wife’s gravesite and carving it into something special, a boy. From the begining we meet “The Storyteller” ( Melody Betts ) who seems to always be where needed to take young Pinocchio ( deftly handled by Skylar Adams) on the right path- to teach him about “CHOICES”! That is one of the morals to this tale. Just because something is on the road before you doesn’t mean you have to take it. ne has to think it through and the choices they make will , in the end, determine their fate. We do fingout later that she is more than the storyteller, but I imagine most of the audience figured it our about half-way through this 70 sparkling minutes of magic on stage."
