Ghost Quartet
Black Button Eyes Productions
A Chicago Premiere
Recipient of an Individual Artist Grant from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events
Joseph Jefferson (“Jeff”) Award Recommended
Nominated for six non-Equity Jeff Awards for the 2019-2020 Season, including Best Director of a Musical, Best Production of a Musical and Best Ensemble.
Reviews for Ghost Quartet
“Marvelously Macabre…one wild, madcap romp…They may wanna be ghosts, but these apparitions are guaranteed to liven up your summer.”
-Kris Vire, Chicago Sun -Times (Read the Full Review Here!)
“This utterly absorbing show (directed by Ed Rutherford) manages to name-check Edgar Allan Poe, Thelonious Monk, Little Red Riding Hood, the Arabian Nights, and untold other poetics of the human condition while hardly breaking a sweat….It’s an often astonishing tightrope walk that manages to be heartfelt, hilarious, and deceptively resonant for our overstimulated ADD age.”
-Dmitriy Samarov, Chicago Reader (Read the Full Review Here!)
“Immensely pleasurable…Under the guidance of director Ed Rutherford and musical director Nick Sula, the cast of this Chicago premiere production brings Malloy’s score to dazzling life….Malloy’s singular dramatic flair and impatience with cliché are well-served.”
-Alex Huntsberger, Time Out Chicago (Read the Full Review Here!)
”Kudos to Edward Rutherford for skillfully and artistically directing this difficult piece. He’s been at the helm of so many musicals in the past five years, but has outdone himself for this production.”
-Colin Douglas, Chicago Theatre Review (Read the Full Review Here!)
”Joyfully eerie...It is without a doubt the most inventive and unusual show of the year so far. Rutherford’s four-person cast completely sucked me in from the get-go...Rutherford gets the most out of it, finding numerous ways to vary his stage pictures in a small space.”
-Karen Topham, Chicago On Stage (Read the Full Review Here!)
“I don not understand the plot of Dave Malloy’s song cycle Ghost Quartet. And I do not care: I just want everyone to go live it, and be as beguiled and confounded as I was. And I want to see it again. And again…..perfectly directed by Ed Rutherford…I can’t explain it, I can only recommend it.”
-Angela Allyn, Chicago Stage Standard (Read the Full Review Here!)
”It’s such a pleasure to see four such gifted young performers...Ghost Quartet deserves an extended run.”
-Jonathan Abarbanel, Windy City Times (Read the Full Review Here!)
”A hauntingly bizarre delight...the level of musicianship present in this space is mind-blowing...these four voices in combination are a musical match made in heaven.”
-Anna DeNoia, Chicagoland Musical Theatre (Read the Full Review Here!)
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