You Can't Fake The Funk (A Journey Through Funk Music) Reviews

Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended

"...The space-age possibilities of funk, as embodied by George Clinton (also Neal), also appear in the homage to the PFunk Mothership at the center of Denise Karczewski's set and lighting design. You Can't Fake the Funk creates a unity of style and message consonant with the genre itself: This is music designed to open you up to possibilities-carnal, spiritual, and ideological. Johnathon Lee's Sly Stone takes us higher into progressive funk. The genre's geographic diversity comes through with a tribute to the Gap Band-three brothers from Tulsa who performed hits like 1982's "You Dropped a Bomb on Me" in cowboy garb."

Let's Play Theatrical Reviews - Highly Recommended

"...This is an absolute must-see musical experience! It's captivating from start to finish. If you like funk soul, be prepared to be blown away by an unforgettable show that combines stunning visuals with an energetic atmosphere, leaving you longing for more!"

Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended

"...Vibrant, energetic, and highly entertaining, “You Can’t Fake the Funk: A Journey Through Funk Music” is a spectacular musical revue in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of Black Ensemble Theater. Presented from the perspective of the “mothership” blasting off from Earth, this musical revue makes people like me remember how old we really are! Written and directed by artistic director Daryl D. Brooks together with associate director Qiana McNary, the show is narrated by Dwight Neal as Dr. Funk."

Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended

"...YOU CAN’T FAKE THE FUNK is one of Black Ensemble Theater’s finest musical productions ever. Written by newly named Artistic Director Daryl D. Brooks, and directed with sophisticated style, this show is the most excellent, exciting and exhilarating show that’s guaranteed to bring audiences to their feet. No theatergoer will be able to sit quietly when in the company of this magical, magnetic salute to Funk music. If the music doesn’t set your feet a-tapping, your hands a-clapping, and your body a-swaying, with every theatergoer “Bustin’ Out,” you might want to check your pulse: You may not be alive!"

Splash Magazine - Highly Recommended

"...28 terrific numbers in 2 well-spaced sets present the memorable best of a genre incepted in the clubs and on the streets of 1960’s USA. With its roots in African rhythms reborn in New Orleans, via a James Brown revolution and innovators like Sly Stone, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Rick James and Earth, Wind and Fire, the focus shifted from the guitar solos of the past to a bass-and-drum conversation and hot hot horns. Clad in tight colored bell-bottoms with plenty of sparkle and bling, outrageous wigs to remind us of the extravagant Afros of the 60’s-80’s, the wonderful musicians and excellent stage performers gave us polyrhythms, percussion, extended chords, call-and-response, and cyclical grooves. Falsetto voices over rich baritone spiced with women’s altos carried forth lyrics of sexy love, while the beat BEAT ON!!!"