Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...Certainly, the piece has real strengths. One little scene involving Chamberlain (Michael McKeogh) chatting with his brother Tom (Zach Livingston) is extremely moving; indeed, the entire show is strong when it comes to exploring the philosophical aspects of the Shaara novel, its explorations of the extent to which the Civil War was an inevitable consequence of, maybe even a replaying of, the War of Independence. And, for sure, one has the sense of how the Civil War cut across families, communities and lives."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...Karen Tarjan's superb stage adaptation of Michael Shaara's 1975 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about the Battle of Gettysburg was first staged by Lifeline in 2004. It has been remounted this season to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the conflagration - the battle that, over the course of its four days (June 30 to July 3, 1863), not only resulted in the largest number of casualties of the war, but also is widely seen as its turning point. And on all counts this production is a stunner."
Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...There’s not a lot of backstory or the deep character development some other Civil War stories include. Wives, sweethearts and children are mentioned only in passing, or in the familiar, haunting ballads played between scenes by a narrating troubadour (Matt Fletcher). This piece is about war and the game-changing battle itself—both its tactical planning (or lack thereof) and its jarring, inherent drama. It would be easy with such legendary material as the fighting at Little Round Top and Pickett’s ill-fated Charge to go too big or too hard, but director Matt Miller’s interpretation is restrained and thoughtful. When you’re talking about tens of thousands of people killing each other in the hills and orchards of Pennsylvania with the fate of a nation at stake, a little goes a long way."
ShowBizChicago - Highly Recommended
"...Fr Civil War buffs, Lifeline Theatre’s, “The Killer Angels” is a play they will not want to miss — for everyone else, it is a play they need to see. They need to see it not only as good theatre, but as an important lesson in how far men will go in the name of their beliefs. Going into this show, I had a hard time imagining how such long and historically-detailed story could possibly transfer to the stage — I was pleasantly surprised at how well it did."
Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended
"...The Killer Angels works well and hard to humanize the carnage that sprawled over a Pennsylvania countryside in high summer as General Meade's Union troops accidentally blundered into Gen. Robert E. Lee's Rebel horde. (When a bunch of Confederates seeking shoes in the town of Gettysburg met their enemy, an accident became a holocaust from July 1-3, 1863.) Seldom has the eloquence of energy been so palpable: This swirling Lifeline stage pulsates and detonates with its revolving scaffolding, portmanteaux that double as barricades, and busy wardrobe of rapidly changed costumes in blue and gray."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...The game cast of ten double and triple up to depict both sides. The use of era music played on guitar and banjo while singing "Dixie" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" effectively underscored the mood and emotion of the piece. Mounting a battle on stage can be a tricky endeavor yet Miller's staging and use of the shedding of uniforms to depict fallen soldiers was profoundly moving. The production values including the powerful sound design (by Stephen Ptacek) together with the fine dialect coaching (by Elise Kauzlaric) added authenticity. Don Bender, Tom Hickey and Michael McKeogh led the fine cast. This show is a theatrical gem not to be missed."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended
"...Troubadour Matt Fletcher keeps the story moving with haunting renditions of what seem like clichéd tunes that we all know. He also provides the battle details we need to make sense of the action. Don Bender as General Lee is sad and heroic, honorable and doomed. Tom Hickey’s Longstreet is loyal and prescient. Michael McKeough’s Chamberlain is a revelation—but there isn’t a weak link in this entire cast. This ensemble brings to life the fatigue of General Lee, the bravado of the boys from Maine, the deep misgivings of the southern generals, and the horror of a suicide mission. This is a show that demands tour de force physicality and characterization and split second morphs from Northerner to Southerner complete with accents (props to dialect coach Elise Kauzlaric). This all male show makes me wish a writer would tell the woman’s side of a story where the battle lines rip apart families and leave a generation missing limbs. In this play, each character is willing to die, not for bread and water, but for an esoteric ideal: be it land, rights of black men they have never met, for tradition or for honor—whatever that is."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Lifeline Theatre, for 31 years, has been adapting novels into stage productions. They do Children's theater productions as well as adult. Over the years. I have witnessed several blockbuster productions in a less than comfortable setting, which by the way gets more comfortable if the production is well done. This being said, you will be very comfortable in viewing "The Killer Angels" an adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize novel by Michael Shaara, by Karen Tarjan. Smoothly directed by Matt Miller, this production is a remount of their original done almost ten years ago. One of the beautiful things about live theater is that a different director can take a play that enjoyed minimal success and reshape it it into one that will be mind-boggling for each spectator. This particular story is about the third year of the Civil War as General Robert E. Lee leads the army of Northern Virginia into the North and we get to see three days of the war."