[title of show] Reviews

Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended

"...The quartet has marvelous energy, flawlessly shifting emotion and affect with the same precision they shift the furniture to indicate the passage of time as their deadline draws nearer. Choreographer Britta Schlicht’s dances are especially compelling throughout, and thanks to Jay Españo’s direction, the confines of Hunter and Jeff’s apartments seem boundlessly energized by the characters’ imaginations."

Windy City Times - Highly Recommended

"...Anyone who enjoys exploring the sweet agonies involved in the creative process or diving into fascinating minutiae about musical theatre will find much to subjectively enjoy in Pride Arts’ latest, incredibly inventive production. Nicely, this local take on [title of show], which debuted on Broadway in the summer of 2008, is also fresh, funny and inventive, on the production end as well."

Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended

"...Smoothly directed by Jay Españo and music directed by Robert Ollis, today’s musical begins with the friendship between two gay men Jeff (Jonah Cochin) and Hunter (Casey Coppess), who enlist their friends Susan (Lexi Alioto) and Heidi (Shannon McEldowney) to be fellow collaborators on their nascent musical project. By means of very cleverly written and poignant songs, the characters describe the various steps involved in getting from Square One all the way to achieving their Broadway goals (or what they once thought were their goals)."

Chicago Theatre Review - Recommended

"...As Sondheim wrote in his song, “Putting It Together,” Art isn’t easy. And if there was ever a musical that illustrates and supports this adage, it’s [title of show]. Overflowing with laughs, winking references to dozens of other popular musicals, and filled with intelligence, wit and respect for each of its characters, Jay Espano’s excellent production is a winner. The show is a funny, warmhearted look at what it takes to create, collaborate and live the Dream. This modest little production honestly and lovingly portrays the art of making art."

Buzz Center Stage - Highly Recommended

"...If you have any friends of the theatrical persuasion, you will find them depicted in [title of show] by Jeff, Hunter, Susan and/or Heidi; not surprising, as all four characters are (were?) (have been?) real people. I don’t know about Larry … we don’t get to learn much about Larry, who the Union prohibits from speaking any lines. But he sure knows his way around the eighty-eights!"

Third Coast Review - Highly Recommended

"...The true brilliance of (Title of Show) is in its messaging: it tells the audience that each of us has a story to tell. It gives us a rock ballad to combat our inner critic and feelings of worthlessness: “Die Vampire Die.” The vampire in question is “The person, feeling, or thought that is standing in the way of your creative expression.” And though it’s tempting to try and please everyone when we tentatively let our art out into the world, these players find that fitting the mold doesn't necessarily mean success. They boast that they’d rather be “nine people’s favorite thing than a hundred people’s ninth favorite thing.” This production may just be Chicago audiences' new favorite thing."

Chicago On Stage - Highly Recommended

"...Pride Arts’ production of [title of show], the musical by Jeff Brown and Hunter Bell about two guys writing a musical about two guys writing a musical, is a whimsical, inventive play that is the best showcase yet for the directorial talent of Jay Españo. Not content to create a bare-bones production, Españo fleshes his show as much as it allows with plenty of projections and fold-out walls that help to tell the story of a couple of struggling artist friends who write this show within three weeks in order to enter a contest and then nurse it through years of revision and workshops before it finds its way to Broadway."

City Pleasures - Highly Recommended

"...The best things in life really can come in small packages and [title of show], a little musical about making a musical fits that bill to a tee. Now playing at PrideArts in Lakeview, the show originated nearly twenty ago when two friends got together to do something they always dreamed of but never mustered the courage to tackle. One was a writer and the other a composer who knew they had the combined talent to create their own first-rate, go all the way musical. Hobbled by procrastination and unspoken self-doubt, they never progressed further than the point of wistful musing."