The Ten Commandments: The Musical-World Premiere

Over the years, The Chicago Gay Men's Chorus has entertained crowds with their clever, campy performances, wild ensembles, and original musical showcases. Their latest undertaking, The Ten Commandments: The Musical, is an original production with book, music and lyrics by Patrick Sinozich and Bill Larkin, directed by Jay Paul Skelton.

For two nights, the audience was treated to the best performance the CGMC has brought to the Athenaeum Theatre. A monumental project to undertake, performers from the 150-member chorus rendered one catchy number after the next in between one-liners reminiscent of a Mel Brooks production.

Rich costumes, big hats, a smart tiered staging, and colorful sets recreate Old Testament times. Make no mistake, this is not Charlton Heston's Moses and as for Nefretiri, well, she's swinging a staff of her own.

Patrick Sinozich and Bill Larkin have created a wonderful vehicle using this epic tale to demonstrate how to be true to yourself when you discover that you're different from the people around you. Sometimes, as it was in Moses' case, being in conflict with societal "norms" may actually be in line with the will of God.

With a script that bursts with such rich material, it's hard to compact everything into a two-act production. A little less might actually be a good thing in the first act to keep the audience more focused on the story. The good news is that the script is really not far off from being at this point already.

An unexpected surprise was the choice to have a subdued Overture open the show instead of a more grand entrance into the production. Typically with the CGMC, the tantric method of building up to something greater serves their performances well. With the strength of the script and musical numbers that await the audience, there's no reason to be shy about letting the audience know right from the beginning that they're in for something bigger than they thought when they walked into the theatre.

Expect to see this production picked up and performed in greater venues in the near future. Congratulations on a winning show!

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