Theater Review: Chicago’s City Lit Stage ‘The House of Ideas’

Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 11, 2024 - 7:31pm

CHICAGO – Excelsior! Comic book legend Stan Lee’s famous exclamation puts a fine point on the third and final play of Mark Pracht’s FOUR COLOR TRILOGY, “The House of Ideas,” presented by and staged at City Lit Theater in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood. For tickets/details, click HOUSE OF IDEAS.

HollywoodChicago.com Comedy/Tragedy Rating: 5.0/5.0

Play Rating: 5.0/5.0

The story’s centerpiece is iconic comic book creator Stan Lee (Brian Breau) and his journey within the burgeoning industry, which began when he was a 17-year-old in 1939 at Marvel’s root company, Timely Comics. At Timely he meets artist Jack Kirby (Brian Plocharczyk), a street wise post-Depression hustler who has to admit the skinny teenager has enthusiasm. They are published by owner Martin Goodman (Brian Parry) who develops Timely through the World War II years – with Captain America as an anchor – and hands the creative keys of the newly named Marvel Comics to Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in the 1960s, when they create the superhero legends Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, The Hulk, Iron Man, the X-Men, Thor, Doctor Strange, Ant-Man, Black Panther and many more … now so familiar, cultural and billion dollar profitable for Marvel/Walt Disney Studios.

At the City Lit Theater in Chicago’s Edgewater Neighborhood
Photo credit: CityLit.org

Audio Theater Review of “The House of Ideas” by Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com …

”The House of Ideas” is presented by and at the City Lit Theater, 1020 West Bryn Mawr Avenue, Chicago. Featuring Bryan Breau, Brian Piocharczyk, Brian Parry, Kate Black-Spence, Carrie Hardin, Megan Clarke, Ben Veatch, Sean Harklerode, Jimmy Hogan and Chad Wise. Written by Mark Pracht. Directed by Terry McCabe. For more information on City Lit Theatre, click CityLit.org.