Redmoon Theater

Boneshaker… great Halloween party. Not all my expectations came true but in general will recommend it to all my friends.
Open bar, entertainment, music everything was great. A lot of free parking on their private lot. The only one thing that made me upset was food. Pretzels wasn’t recently baked its for sure, the amount of donuts was so small that not even each guest try them.
In general I dont regret that I spent time and money there, cause all event was good organized and bring to the guests Halloween spirit.

I went to the Devil’s Cabaret last night and am so sad to have caught it on its last night. I would spend every Saturday there! Amazing performances unlike anything I have ever seen AND free beer. I can’t wait to see what they do next.

Saw The Devil’s Cabaret on May 8^th. Outstanding! Great Vibe & Awesome Show. Will keep an eye out for future shows and return to the area just to attend. Thanks Redmoon Theater!

I recently went to the Seven Deadly Sins performance and it was AMAZING. There were giving Lagunitas beer all night for free, every single performer has great energy, even if the spot light was not in them at the moment they would act like it was, dancing and laughing. I recommend Redmoon, check them out you will not be disappointed. it is mind blowing. I loved it so much that im actually going to go this coming friday to see the show again and im taking my coworkers and friends.

We saw «The Devil’s Cabaret» a couple of weeks ago. It’s an experience beyond description. Beautiful and jaw dropping and provocative. Everyone needs a Redmoon experience.

The red moon has gone commercial. Plastic slide whistles instead of art. Vendors in the lobby. Not the best anymore. Current show is a cacophonous mess. Please stop the whistles

You’re average warehouse meant for events, not just storing things. The space is huge and open, it’s a raw space meaning that anything can be done to it — you just need to dress it up.

I didn’t know what to do this Halloween and in the RedEye they mentioned the Boneshaker (21+ only) event that they had. It looked fun and I’ve never done it before and I’m glad I decided to go. It was so much fun. Tickets were $ 75 for early bird and $ 100 at the door. Food (Home Run Inn pizza, Wao Bao, smores, skinny pop) and alcohol (beer or cocktails) were provided.
They had a lot of activities to do such as a photo shoot area, swat the fly (like whack a mole but with people) game, a movie area and a upstairs area that had psychic, a massage area, a cuddle area, fake tattoo area and a hair dresser. You did have to pay for the upstairs area however while walking around a worker gave me and a friend a card to go up there for free.
Another plus was that they offered free shuttle rides to and from the loop. This seems like a fun theater group and I’m excited to see what other events they have.

In general this is a great indie theater company with real vision and commitment. I have seen a number of productions and events produced by them, and they all feel like a Terry Gilliam movie come to life on stage, with puppets, specially designed mechanisms, strange scaffolds, and bizarre sets. It is all so truly inspired.
My favorite work of theirs was a staging of The Hunchback of Notre Dam. The vitality was palpable. And the audience (including me and my family) was memorized.
Their schedule is often erratic, so keep an eye open. If they are doing a show… go see it. This is real, cutting edge, and entertaining theater.
You can get discounted tickets at the hot tics desk in the old water tower pumping station.

Review for «Bellboys, Bears and Baggage»:
Only three times does Shakespeare give stage direction other than «stage left”– and one of them is «exit, pursued by a bear». This simple note seemed to give enough creative trigger to the creatives at Redmoon to derive a large scale play (also loosely based on «The Winter’s Tale»).
I tend to see theater the most often because of two men: Daniel Craig (Betrayal on Broadway was AH-​MAY-​ZING) and my brother. My brother (one of the bears in «Bellboys, Bears and Baggage») was the reason we bought tickets during our latest trip– and what a trip it was.
Although, I was there with three other people, our experiences were radically different. Being dropped off at the VERY large warehouse for the show, our driver didn’t want to leave us until we waved him off at the door. Once inside, I believe that the entry (and the whole interactive show) was meant to be a maze… a «choose your own adventure». Intimidated by one of the first rooms I was in, I quickly needed to get my bearings, so I went wandering. My husband decided to dig deep and try to figure out that room, so stayed and watched scene after new scene play out.
What I loved was the industriousness of it all. Even though there were times where I was the only person in a room with several performers, they were still completely committed to the scene. Men and women in masks that all looked the same were playing out cycles of jealousy and rage, bears acted as guides through the different levels of options, and bellboys (and girls) encouraged you by saying that you were right where you needed to be added to the intensity and singular nature of each person’s experience. (The dance numbers, where all of the performers danced, provided a nice connection amongst all of the story lines.)
By the end, my husband was laughing and dancing– and I found that I was a little sad, but couldn’t isolate why. The final choreographed dance sequence? The tiny teddy bear being held by one of the larger costumed bears Lion King-​style. I don’t know, but it is an experience I would definitely recommend, even if you didn’t read Shakespeare or see Eyes Wide Shut.

I’m an old phuckin grouchy peter panda man who lost his happy place once not too long ago.
I hate it all. i hate bacon fests for the long lines, for the amount of choices, for the crowds, for the parking fees and even after 3 nips even for the bacon.
This is how lost I am.
until last night.
lost in a room.
alone with a person in a bear costume I let go of the fear of the reaper.
and let it go I did.
I looked through those rosed color glasses and I saw the world behind the world
behind the music and the songs.
The place where stuffed bears go to unload the countless hugs they’ve collected and filled a bigbadaboom of a room with such a warmth and song.
Redmoon captures a glimpse into the pieces of us that make us worth saving and reflects back with a clever radiance.
This asshole of a Nikki C found a smile at the end of a long corridor.
Serenaded by the spirits of hopeful dreams.
There is a light at the end of the chunnel.
Bellboys, bears and baggage is a success worth witnessing.
Bring a friend in yourself.
Come early to feast on the cake balls and lagunitas IPA’s.
Shoot a game of billiards and prepare to let go.
or not.

Having recently moved into their new 57,000 square foot home in Pilsen, Frank Maugeri and Jim Lasko, the creative geniuses behind Redmoon Theater can now go full throttle in blowing us away with their endless imagination, creativity and immersive spectacle performances. Their is nothing like them and Redmoon, and last night’s Lunatique 2014 annual gala did just that with a thrilling new bigger and more intense spectacle for almost 1,000 of their closest friends including the Mayor and other Chicago dignitaries. This annual fundraiser event raises funds to support Redmoon’s broader mission which is to help people from Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods celebrate themselves, their talents, culture and diversity. Their efforts break down barriers, enrich us all and makes our city great.
The food, sponsored by the likes of Shwa, Vera, Embeya, Flemmings, 90 Mile Café, Jellyfish, Sunda, Two, Pizano’s, was delicious, but… that’s not why one goes to Redmoon!
Best in game Mixologists from Naha, Brindle, Double A, the Frontier, Jimmy, Cask & Courtesy and Sixteen got us quickly in party mode with their craft, but… that’s not why one goes to Redmoon.
The event was filled with crazy Redmoon stuff like life size bears playing billiards with you, playing ragtime piano and classical violin in front of their new toilets, aerial drones serving delicious desserts made by the French Culinary School, haircuts, tattoos, hot shaves, foot rubs while laying in a clawfoot bathtub, giant swings, confetti cannons all added to the unique Redmoon experience as did the aerial dancers hanging and performing from ceiling length silk fabrics, dropping down every so often to serve you a drink or nibble. but,…that’s not entirely why one goes to Redmoon.
The evening signature event, a massive percussion spectacle kicked off with 12+percussionists on a 30 foot steel tower banging away while a parade of 30+ drummers marched in or rode in on the Redmoon «Percussion Mobile» followed by a giant 30+foot long locomotive/​candelabra device headed by a DJ spinning electronic dance while a drummer with a full drum set rocked us as balls of fire burst into the air from the giant candelabra underneath the drummer. Eventually the percussion tower, percussion mobile, marching/​dancing percussionists and fireball percussion candelabra and electronic dance DJ all synced into a giant electronic dance“percussion bomb” performance for the crowd, who was screaming and cheering on the percussionists who left it all out there for the crowd while giant video screens rolled appropriately bizarre imagery throughout the 20,000 square foot performance space. Revelers partied on until 2:00 am!
And that folks, is why you go to Redmoon!

saw a show here tonight. I have to say the space is huge, and has a lot of potential. Unfortunately Redmoon doesn’t seem to care. There’s no attention to details, and the sound system SUCKS. Whomever started this place is long gone. No wonder the government decided to fund them.

Spent NYE ²⁰¹³⁄₂₀₁₄ here… had the most amazing time! I’m not a fan of clubs and bars, but I do enjoy art and dancing. Redmoon Theater is the perfect culmination of both. I should also add that I am married, and this place is wonderful as it caters to both singles and couples. I highly suggest checking out their facebook page and sorting through their various event photos for a true taste of the magic that their events encapsulate. There were confetti bombs, and stilt walkers, swings and trapeze artists. DJ’s and a live band, wild DJ booths with flames spurting from the pipes! One thing that I enjoyed was I never once felt like people were being creepy or belligerent, there were no people that were so wasted as to throw up, pass out, etc. It was a great communal night of fun.
We will certainly be spending as much time here as we can in the coming year!

From production to customer service, these guys are top notch. They always have something interesting happening in this space. The burlesque show last Saturday was one of the highlights of my summer.
Burlesque shows are great because its obvious that the women there do not walk around in their underwear in front of strangers very often so the subtle levels of embarrassment are significantly more disarming.
And its good to be disarmed.
They also do plays and kids vaudevillian style shows that were popular in the 50s. Unfortunately my daughter and her friend were the only ones in the audience & they were incredibly shy, but I enjoyed the singing of Alice & I forget the male lead name.
Fun.
Wholesome. Goodness. Thats where the healing begins. Inside of your soul, the things beyond the internet, beyond phones & hi fi sound entertainment consoles. Conscious entities embracing the human spirit. What was I talking about?

What an amazing spot for bizarre theatre! I saw «The Cabinet» here on Saturday with my date. It’s a wonderfully macabre story of altered consciousness, sleepwalking, and murder, with writing and first-​person narration that reminded me of Poe. The visuals were stunning in their simplicity, darkness, and precision execution.
The atmosphere at Redmoon is pure industrial chic. They appear to have a full bar (we arrived too late to grab a drink).
I would not hesitate to go back for any production. The attention to detail is astounding. Truth be told, I did not have high hopes for what I only knew to be a «puppet show» before we arrived, so I was obviously very pleasantly surprised. It is a great date spot, but was thankfully our fourth date. But given the darkness of «The Cabinet», if my date had brought me there on our first date, I might have wondered about her!

Lately, I’ve been finding the theater in Chicago to be a bit stale. The last Steppenwolf show I saw was tired and boring. Broadway in Chicago seems to be mostly about staging movies so the suburbanites come out and listen to bold and brassy singers and I’ve even been disappointed in some of the smaller theaters lately.
But then I saw Redmoon’s «Last of My Species; the Music of Lornaa Cortaan» on Saturday and it was … joyful! We brought a cooler and lawn chairs and chilled out with a couple of glasses of wine.
As dusk drew in, the spotlight came up on a tuxedoed acrobat atop the scaffolding and then the chorus entered draped in beige and surrounding the titular lead. This show was fresh — I especially enjoyed the piece about the Angel and the Fist Shakers vs. Lornaa and the Cymbal Heads. The costume and sets looked great and I felt very classical watching a play outside, along the lakeshore.
I’m looking forward to some of the other productions they have planned this year (such as «Frankenstein» at Rockefeller Chapel!!!) and I’m even considering becoming a member for $ 100/​year.

Ever hear yourself thinking you just want to see a theater company that truly reinvents it’s own thoughts on theatricality every production? Are you tired of the ‘staged’ theater in Chicago and crave for something different and wish to be surprised and delighted? Redmoon has an experience for you. This is not conventional theater and I am so thankful. Redmoon manages every time to transport my melancholy into mind stretching happiness. This theater manages to consistently broaden my emotions, produce technical and creative elements into one experience that lingers in my heart. LOVE everything about this theater and it’s open arms to the audience! Have seen so many performances at Redmoon, and last night’s Winter Pageant Redux was awesome fun — think Vaudeville Vivaldi (Four Seasons)!!!

Not for the bipolar, but perfect if you’re hoping to escape a Hesse-​type state of ennui.
Redmoon captures many highs/​lows in a single production — love and hate, beauty and repugnance, and sweetness and horror. They do it with puppets, masks, live actors and video. Expect acrobatics. Look for literary and artistic references.
I’ve attended two shows: «The Secret Language of Birds» with my daughter, and «Hunchback» with other adults only. Both were stellar. Very different from one another. Hunchback’s themes were much darker, more sexual, and the physical demands on the actors were noteworthy. Birds was puppetry with narration. The puppeteers wore clothing reminiscent of Magritte, bowler hats and white coats (I thought it was a reference to «a Clockwork Orange» actually).
The audience is invited on stage to mingle with the actors and observe the fascinating sets up-​close.
Highly recommended. If you’re considering bringing children, check first.

Sitting in the theater at Redmoon last night, I asked myself why more theaters don’t do this kind of work. Much of our theater is still rooted in realism — movies or TV for the stage. While I have no problem with realistic performance, something — language, form, structure — hell, sheer size — has to take it out of the ordinary and into the theatrical. I think one of the reasons audiences are drawn to musicals is because they are large, in sound, spectacle, and emotion.
Redmoon is theatrical. The company uses all of the techniques of theater — movement, music, puppetry, projections, stage machinery — to tell tales in a way that engage their audience. Yes, you have to do some work. The productions are often non-​linear, and develop their sense from how scenes build and gather, rather than strictly plotted storylines. What I take from a production may be very different from what you take — even in terms of «what happened» — because of the difference between what resonates with me versus what resonates with you. No, it’s not Neil Simon. (Not that there’s anything wrong with Neil Simon!) But it has the potential to create a more moving experience, because scenes and images strike you in a way that bypass your thoughts and go straight to your heart.
Redmoon’s work reminds me of Chicago theater in the «glory days» of the 70s and early 80s, when companies like Organic and Remains were throwing everything against the wall to see what sticks. It’s vigorous, evocative, often moving and always intellectually stimulating. It’s the exotic dinner you have to rouse your palate from a steady diet of comfort food. But less expensive.