Goldstar

• Rated 1.0
• Written on Feb 08 2008

The show was very slow. The two leads kept messing the lines. Costume design was good. Not much use of Vicki Lewis and Michael Urie made this show dull and boring. One block away from the 2nd Stage, there is a musical version of the same Leopold & Loeb's story, "Thrill Me," at the Hudson Backstage. It is a much better show -- fast-paced (done in 80 mins.), thrilling and captivating. The two leads, Stewart Calhoun and Alex Schemmer are much better actors (and better looking too) than Aaron Himelstein and Nick Niven in this drivelling play.

• Rated 4.0
• Written on Feb 04 2008

My husband and I really enjoyed the show. Extremely well researched, good casting, good pacing, clever staging. The dark subject matter might drive some away, but there were plenty of light moments throughout the production.

After seeing the show I immediately went home to research the subject. It was nothing short of brilliant the way Daniel Henning (writer, director) integrated the facts into his narrative. In addition, the atmosphere created by this show was intensified by the intimate size of this theatre.

Highly, highly recommended.

DM

• Rated 4.0
• Written on Feb 04 2008

Terrific performances! Not just the leads. All the supporting roles were very effectively acted and incorporated into the story! Inventive stage & costume design, period photography enhances the story on a screen above the stage, and strong, creative direction and vision from Daniel Henning. Mr. Henning also researched and wrote a script that reveals and fleshes out a story that most of us have never known about these men, the trial, and Chicago and the nation at a certain time in our history. Kudos to All!!!

• Rated 2.0
• Written on Mar 10 2008

having seen THRILL ME, i was looking forward to seeing a non-singing version, from which i might LEARN something about the people and events. i was not disappointed in that aspect. HOWEVER, i found the actor playing DICKIE so incredibly FORCED and SUPERFICIAL and ONE-NOTE and, ultimately, AMATEURISH, that i found it difficult to overcome my ANNOYANCE and enter the world of the play.

also: i understand needing to keep the show MOVING, with so many half-page and quarter-page scenelets (which were well-enough handled) -- BUT, i found the pace consistently FRENETIC; there were NO actual moments of REST and CONTRAST or REFLECTION or SAVORING. the relationship between the two boys (i thought BABE was very good) was TOLD to us, but i never felt any real CONNECTION between them (perhaps greatly because dickie was so busy being BIG and LOUD and FALSE; perhaps because the boys were always running from one scene to the next). and even the occasional beats of "romance" between the guys -- AT MOST -- resulted in a quick, perfunctory (network TV) KISS -- and then they were dashing off to get into the next scenelet.

when the lights came up for intermission, i felt fairly PUMMELED, and decided that i'd had ENOUGH. as i walked to my car, i realized that this show made me want to read a BOOK about leopold and loeb.

my disappointment/dissatisfaction aside, i still applaud the BLANK THEATRE for its effort and am looking forward to seeing other shows there.

• Rated 1.0
• Written on Feb 15 2008

I went in with high hopes, but the show was very long and needed major editing. The cast was excellent but wasted in a production that needed a lot of work prior to being produced. All five of the people I went with agreed and one audience member slept and snored through some of it. I have very much enjoyed productions at the Blank previously and will go again in the future but this is not their finest hour.

• Rated 2.0
• Written on Feb 08 2008

Very interesting and detailed portrait of two young misguided "supermen" and how things went very wrong for them. Standout performances by the actors portraying Nathan Leopold, Loeb's elder brother/the prosecutor, and Clarance Darrow. An intriguing companion piece to THRILL ME which delved more into the emotion and why they did what they did where DICKIE & BABE presented more detail and background.

• Rated 4.0
• Written on Mar 10 2008

This was my second time seeing this show. What a great cast, and so well presented. I saw "Thrill Me" as well ( the other Leopold and Loeb show). This was a far superior experience.
a. shafer

• Rated 2.0
• Written on Feb 08 2008

The week before I went and saw "Thriller" which I enjoyed very much. I was looking forward to Dickie & Babe to see another version of the story. I found that the play was a bit too long. The acting was wonderful!

• Rated 4.0
• Written on Mar 17 2008

The Blank Theatre is one of the gems of our city.
Top notch in every way.

• Rated 4.0
• Written on Mar 10 2008

The venue is a small black box theater with 53 comfortable old movie theater type seats, well raked so that there was no bad seat. And the acting was incredible, especially the young man who played Babe. Daniel Henning is to be commended for his telling of this horrific pair's exploits so that you could grasp their humanity under all their gruesome actions. Without much scenery other than a few wooden chairs on rollers and a large wooden table, the action shifted from intimate indoor settings to car rides to the courtroom. Quite an accomplishment and totally believable. And with just the fastening of one button, the only female in the cast went from town tramp to religious mother in the blink of an eye. It was obvious that the character development done by all the actors was specific down to the slightest eye movement. Bravo to all.

• Rated 3.0
• Written on Mar 03 2008

Overall, intruiging and convincing. The actor who protrayed Nathan Leopold was stunning; the actor playing Richard Loeb was kinda over the top. Some of the scene transitions were somewhat clumsy and the end went on a bit long, but otherwise very worth seeing.

• Rated 4.0
• Written on Feb 07 2008

An Amazing Night of Theater! A fast paced well acted, thoughtfully directed, and superbly written. An interesting look at the lives of two young men. It runs a little long but you hardly notice it. The audience or at least 95% of them stayed after and watched a brief slideshow after the play. Thats how much this production makes you interested in this story. After seeing the musical across the street it doesn't even compare to this production. WELL DONE BRAVO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• Rated 3.0
• Written on Apr 16 2008

Fascinating complement to "Thrill Me: The Leopold & Loeb Musical" which I'd seen in San Francisco a few weeks previous. Excellent attempt to depict the very complicated relationship between these two misguided boys. Acting and script were first-rate, the direction might have been a little tighter. All-in-all an enjoyable (dare I use that word in this circumstance?) evening of theatre.

• Rated 4.0
• Written on Apr 14 2008

Intelligent, well-acted, and well-directed. A little gem about two brilliant but disturbed young men who end up being defended by the most brilliant legal mind of the 20th century.

• Rated 2.0
• Written on Apr 07 2008

the show was good for the most part but it felt a bit long.

• Rated 4.0
• Written on Apr 07 2008

Excellent production -- superb acting!

• Rated 3.0
• Written on Apr 07 2008

Really very good production.