Chicago Tribune
- Recommended
"...Jeffrey Hatcher’s new adaptation keeps that Hollywood gender swap and director BJ Jones has played along by casting the real-life married couple of Kate Fry and Timothy Edward Kane as Johnson and Burns. They’re a terrific pair of actors, as most everyone in Chicago knows, and it’s all rich entertainment and perhaps an acknowledgement by all parties that “His Girl Friday” is more remembered than “The Front Page.”"
Chicago Sun Times
- Recommended
"...this show works because it’s fun. And it places an ensemble of well known, and highly talented, Chicago actors center stage in a production that centers something Chicagoans absolutely love: Chicago. This is a great way to welcome area audiences into one of the local theater community’s newest playhouses."
Daily Herald
- Highly Recommended
"...Describing Northlight Theatre’s premiere of “The Front Page” in its chic new Evanston home poses some challenges. For starters, there’s the matter of coming up with superlatives that do justice to director BJ Jones’ exceptional production of Jeffrey Hatcher’s adaptation."
Around The Town Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"..."Stop the presses"! That is what you will want to say when you view the new adaptation of "The Front Page" by Jeffrey Hatcher. Many of us recall the original Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur play that was also turned into several movies of the same name and another, "His Girl Friday", that tells the Chicago newspaper story of the 1930's. The entire play takes place in a press room. Back in the day, there were places where reporters could hang out so they could get the story. I had a buddy who worked at City Press back in the 60's. They would be able to find information and get it to the reporters for the next edition of the newspaper. I imagine younger members of the audience will find this to be ancient history, but that was the way it was!"
Chicago Theatre Review
- Highly Recommended
"...Northlight Theatre triumphs once again, this time in their gorgeous, brand new home. Featuring a terrific cast of comic actors, staged and guided by the brilliant BJ Jones, this new production in their new theatre, plays out on Jeffrey D. Kmiec's gorgeously detailed scenic design, lighted by JR Lederle, with a lifelike sound design, courtesy of Andre Pluess. And each and every actor fits nicely into their character, because of Izumi Inaba's perfect period costumes. THE FRONT PAGE is both enjoyable and exciting, in Northlight's maiden voyage at their stylish new theatre. Do not miss the chance to enjoy this beautifully produced, effervescent and entertaining American comic classic."
Third Coast Review
- Highly Recommended
"...Those timeless bits of journalist gab continue to be highlights of the century-old story, The Front Page, set in the press room of Chicago's old Criminal Courts Building (the building still stands at 54 W. Hubbard St.). The play, written by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur (both Chicago journalists) and now adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher, opens the new season for Northlight Theatre in its new building in Evanston."
PicksInSix
- Highly Recommended
"...Without missing a beat, Hatcher has winnowed the original script down to two highly entertaining acts with a fast-paced run time of just over 100 minutes. The action flies by with the likes of the exquisite duo of Kate Fry as ace reporter Hildy Johnson and real-life husband Timothy Edward Kane as her dominating editor Walter Burns, and a press room that includes Guy Swearington (Endicott), Kelan M. Smith (Kruger), Joe Dempsey (McCue) and Mark David Kaplan (Bensinger) caught in the middle of an escalating crisis involving Earl Williams (John Drea), an escaped man convicted of murder and destined for the gallows the following day."
NewCity Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...Even in its world premiere adaptation by Jeffrey Hatcher, it’s clear that the nearly one hundred-year-old play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur was written by a pair of journos. The classic play is rife with grumbly, sardonic reporters who clearly love what they do but come to the gruesome bits with a deep sense of much-needed dissociation. They’ll clamor over each other for the scoop, eager for that front-page byline. It’s a trophy, of sorts. It’s a game this former city beat reporter knows quite well, the dissociation not so much—hence the “former” city beat reporter."
