“The Search is Over” for the Best New Musical of 2025…
“Always Something There…” is the best new musical of the 2025 season. Set in the year 1989 (one of my favorite times), this upbeat production is extremely well crafted – I love traveling back to this wild and crazy decade. I had big hair and sequin Madonna boots, met my future husband, was working for Estee Lauder, and teaching aerobics in ’89. Competed in Miss Pennsylvania, saw the Bangles and Miami Sound Machine in concert. It was a very good year for me personally, and this high energy musical brings back all those beautiful highlights.
“Always Something There…” is the feel good show of the decade – it is absolutely fabulous. A toilet company executive gets a do-over of her senior year of high school, with both heart-warming and hilarious results. She prays to God for her life to take a different path, and as she makes better decisions she should have before, it does. Rad 1980’s music, including two songs penned by Chicago legend Jim Peterik, is energetic and lively with very strong vocals. Colorful dance numbers are very well choreographed and excellently executed. The costumes and props are perfection. Starbursts and other era paraphernalia are mentioned to bring back even more fun memories. A giant Care Bear, Rubik’s Cubes, cassettes, and much more memorabilia grace the stage, as well as at the pop-up restaurant “Back to the Grill” at Three Embers.
I can’t say enough good things about the cast of this delightful production – the acting is absolutely exquisite. In the lead roles of teenage Samantha Craig and Cooper Roy are Christina Priestner and Ian Coursey, most respectively – they have amazing rapport, especially during the “Battle of the Bands” scene. The incomparable Heidi Kettenring as the adult Samantha plays the midlife crisis extremely well – she nails it. Genevieve Corkery as the put upon teen back up singer is hilarious and believable. Ty Shay and Logan Becker, portraying basketball star boyfriend Johnny Stevens and his sidekick Gavin Louis, both give excellent performances, authentically realistic. Shay’s character is certainly a quite credible man without conviction, whose father is a poor role model.
The “Rubber Band” members (Caleb Mathura, Gabriel Subervi) and Samantha’s BFFs (Marina Jansen, Tiyanna Gentry), all give very notable performances, especially Anna Louise Bramlett as Ella, a big hair blonde revealed to be an Elle Woods savant type, who is delightful to watch. Matthew Hommel, nerd Winston Lee, fabulously avoids the stereotype trappings. Anachronistic references such as Instagram and Harry Potter are very funny; a thank you to Marty McFly for the winning music selection that brings home the trophy in the band battle is well delivered.
No review of this theatrical work would be complete without a mention of one of Chicago’s finest actresses and Marriott fav, Leah Morrow. Leah proves there are no small parts – she portrays Samantha’s mom, the bored high school teacher, and hotel clerk with impeccable comic timing and complete authenticity. Her scene with a bedazzled backside will go down in Windy City theater history as one of the funniest moments onstage.
This magnificently written play is well directed by James Vásquez and ready to beeline to Broadway. Accomplished playwright Sandy Rustin, a former Chicago suburb native herself, gives life to an angst-filed era that means so much to so many of us. I am honored to have the opportunity to review this stupendous world premiere – we plan to see it again before it closes. Grab your spandex leggings, boom box, Trapper Keeper, and head over to the Marriott Theater Lincolnshire to enjoy this spectacular musical before the totally tubular tunes fade out August 10th. “The Search is Over” for the best new musical of 2025 – “Always Something There…” is it. For tickets or more information, cruise on over to www.marriotttheatre.com.
