Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...City Lit's original stage adaptation of Owen Wister's 1902 novel The Virginian focuses on the experience of two easterners adjusting to the rough-and-ready way of life in pre-statehood Wyoming in the 1880s. One is "The Virginian" (he has no other name), the foreman on a ranch owned by a wealthy cattle baron. The other is Molly Wood, a genteel schoolteacher from Vermont. Their friendship evolves slowly and shyly into romance, until the Virginian leads a posse to track down a gang of cattle rustlers. With no reliable legal system available in this far-flung territory, the men feel they must take the law into their own hands-and cattle theft is a hanging offense."
Talkin Broadway - Highly Recommended
"...Adapted by L. C. Bernadine and Spencer Huffman from Owen Lister's sweeping novel, The Virginian is the blueprint for the entire genre we call "The Western." With a superb cast, under the direction of Artistic Director Terry McCabe, The Virginian-A Horseman of the Plains is an emotionally charged and exciting story, and a brilliant artistic telling of the difficulties early settlers had to hurdle to help make our America what it is today."
Around The Town Chicago - Recommended
"...Despite having to track the relatively large number of characters (I counted well over fifteen), the audience can most definitely follow this action-adventure. But most of the adventure portion has to reside in our imagination because of the limitations of the relatively confined space. All that being said, the show is entertaining and cleverly drawn. It is well-acted, and the musical accompaniment is fantastic."
Chicago Theatre Review - Recommended
"...Although this performance could easily have been shortened with fewer scenes and scene changes, or with some judicious edits in the script, the overall result is an enjoyable story of the Old West. Kelsee Vandervall adds another element to this play with her cello. It’s fascinating to think that Owen Wister’s novel inspired the genre of books, films and television we call the Western. The author himself, together with Kirke LaShelle, even adapted the story for the stage back in 1904. Since that time, there have been no less than five feature films, one made-for-TV movie and a long-running television series that have been called “The Virginian.” It’s incredible that, at long last, this classic piece of literature has finally made its way to the Chicago stage."
Buzznews.net - Highly Recommended
"...The Virginian unabashedly celebrates the men who won the West with horses and six-shooters and opened the land to those who would come after with railroads and coal shovels. Terry McCabe's City Lit Theater production of Owen Wister's The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains, as adapted by L.C. Bernadine and Spencer Huffman, is an enjoyable, fast-paced, inoffensive step back into a time that never really was, but that inspired generations, now made available to everyone."
Chicago On Stage - Highly Recommended
"...If you are old enough (and I feel absolutely ancient some days), you might recall watching an NBC TV show called "The Virginian." Based on a novel by Owen Wister that had already spawned several movies, the series about a ranch in Montana run by a displaced Virginian cowboy ran nine seasons. Now, the latest incarnation of Wister's classic western comes from City Lit Theatre. L.C. Bernadine and Spencer Huffman's adaptation may feel choppy or rushed in places, but overall this cleverly done Terry McCabe-directed production works as a fine example of a genre one does not often get to see on stage."
Splash Magazine - Highly Recommended
"...An ensemble of 22, actors, puppeteers and a cellist bring this western to life. The play is a “rootin, tootin” good time and what I found delightful is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. If you’ve seen a western you know there’s a tone to them. Men are macho and women are damsels in distress. What I found interesting is this adaptation seems to buck that trend, which is why you should see the play."
NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...City Lit, which has been adapting classic literature for the stage for more than forty seasons, clearly knows what it are doing-this production is a wonderful treat for those in love with Western literature."
