Column: Marriott Theatre has delivered fun and escape for a half-century

Chicago Tribune

24-02-2025

There's nothing like spending an evening lost in a dreamy musical to take one far and away from today's bedlam. On the stage, one sees the human spirit stronger than our current ceremonial ministries and the despair they cultivate.
Such amusement is needed for many, and over the weekend they flocked to the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, which has served dishes of theatrical pleasure for half a century. As German playwright Bertolt Brecht pointed out decades ago: 'From the start it has been the theatre's business to entertain people … it needs no other passport than fun.'
Fun is what the Marriott, celebrating 50 years of live and award-winning theater, delivers annually. The fantastic cast, crew and orchestra of 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' certainly infected a packed house with their passionate renditions and stirring dance numbers.
The rousing offering injected new life into the visionary chestnut Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Sir Tim Rice first offered audiences in 1969. For the Marriott, it was the third staging of 'Joseph,' which first took the in-the-round venue in 1985, again in 2000 and lastly, until this month, 2009.
The production runs through March 30. As part of the year-long theatrical celebration, the resort's signature eatery, Three Embers Restaurant, which overlooks some of the grounds of the 175-acre Marriott Lincolnshire Resort, has introduced a rotating pop-up dining spot that is slated to be an extension of what's being presented on stage.
For example, during the run of 'Joseph,' Joseph's Dream Grill features menu items such as koshari, the comforting vegan bowl of lentils and chickpeas which happens to be the national dish of Egypt. Those familiar with the Biblical telling of 'Joseph' and the treachery bestowed on him by his brothers know why the meal is being served.
What other food delights the pop-ups have in store this theater cycle only the chefs at the resort know for certain. Other Marriott productions scheduled for this golden anniversary year include 'Titanic the Musical'; the world premiere of 'Always Something There,' an '80s-centric jukebox musical; 'Catch Me If You Can: The Musical,' based on the 2002 film of the same name starring Leonardo DiCaprio; and 'Million Dollar Quartet Christmas,' which should find Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley crooning yule favorites beginning on Nov. 5.
Nothing heavily dramatic here, but something to whet theater-goers' appetites to spend an evening or matinee surrounding the near-1,000 seat stage being entertained by Actors Equity union professionals. It's a formula that has worked for the producers and audiences since the stage first was christened in December of 1975.
The Marriott hotel clan, now Marriott International based in Bethesda, Maryland, eyed the once-rural property between Routes 21 and 22, and the Des Plaines River in the late 1960s. The luxury resort, which includes the 18-hole Crane's Landing Golf Club, opened in April 1975.
The Marriotts must have liked Lake County. A year later, they opened Marriott's Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, which since then has been owned by various entertainment entities.
When the resort opened, the village of Lincolnshire soon replaced unincorporated Half Day as the main government agency. Across the street from the resort was the Chicagoland Airport, once a satellite landing field during World War II for Glenview Naval Air Station. Concrete landing strips were unearthed and eventually turned into the sprawling Lincolnshire Corporate Center.
The Marriott is one of the most successful regional theaters in the nation, presenting close to 250 stage productions the past 50 years. The number of its subscribers, who purchase advance seats to all the annual productions, amounts to some 30,000, according to one estimate.
Many of those theater-goers span not only Lake County, but also Cook and McHenry counties, along with Kenosha County in Wisconsin. The resort and theater have become destinations for those seeking a bit of county culture.
Like other county attractions — the Historic Genesee Theatre in Waukegan, known for presenting global, national and regional music acts, and the iconic Volo Auto Museum — come to mind, the Marriott Theatre is a gem.
For 50 years, it has been the gift that keeps giving us top-notch productions, allowing us to see close-to-home entertainment. That lets us spend an evening absorbed in high-quality stagecraft, leaving behind worries about our national characters' propensity to ham it up.