Beethoven. Chopin. Mozart. They are some of the greatest composers in the history of classical music. Yet they also received some of the worst reviews from critics when their works debuted.
That dichotomy is the basis of a new touring theatrical production, “The Music Critic,” coming to the Chicago Theatre on Oct. 26 and starring John Malkovich in a return to the Chicago stage. It’s one in which he reads some of the harshest words and biting criticisms for the baroque masters in his exceptional oratory delivery while an ensemble made up of show creator Aleksey Igudesman and frequent partner Hyung-ki Joo as well as cellist Antonio Lysy, violist Hsin-Yun Huang and violinist Claire Wells play from the musical suites.
Antonín Dvořák is noted as creating “ugly, unnatural music” while Beethoven is described as knitting together “both doves and crocodiles” and Johannes Brahms is simply “a giftless bastard.”
The role is actually quite on par for Malkovich, whose 40-plus-year history has been marked by zany, brilliant and unique portrayals, all of which have been loved and also reviled too. In fact, the end of “The Music Critic” cheekily adds in a brutal criticism written about the actor himself in the grand finale number, “The Malkovich Torment.”
But rather than just muse at inexplicable prose or banally criticize the critic, there is a point to the show, which effortlessly combines concert, theater and comedy into one. “When Aleksey proposed [‘The Music Critic’] to me, which is 14 years ago now, even then I felt this kind of movement or let’s call it a new development in society where criticism simply could not be accepted,” Malkovich opined in a recent interview alongside Igudesman.
The two originally met through a mutual friend, Lithuanian-born violinist Julian Rachlin, and first staged “The Music Critic” around Europe for a good decade-plus; this is its first time touring America after COVID derailed plans to bring it here in 2020, though the extension served to give the production time to “ripen and become the strong piece that we think this is,” said Igudesman.
It’s perhaps no more fitting than in the year 2023, when the idea of criticism has struck a chord on a more granular level. As Igudesman shared, the universal and timeless subtext of the production is “to show that some things that someone may think is horrible, someone else might think it’s beautiful … and to show that many things are really a question of taste.”
Malkovich agreed, adding, “You know, the world is sometimes an unkind place and that’s why it’s really important to keep a sense of yourself and know what you did or are doing well and question what you did or are doing poorly. … I think it’s unwise to be devastated by what the comments are on the internet or what the review you got in 1997 said.”
It’s a facet Malkovich has certainly overcome in a “lifetime of self-expression” — and in fact, he has come to appreciate the critic. He recalls the 2017 incident at his home company, Steppenwolf Theatre, in which former Chicago Sun-Times theater critic Hedy Weiss received backlash for her review of the production “Pass Over” that led to the forming of the Chicago Theater Accountability Coalition and a petition to limit her access to productions in response.
“That seemed to me the height of madness,” Malkovich shared. “Critics say what they say and so what? You have to make a piece what you want it to be. If you have done that, then be happy. If people love it, great. If they don’t, it’s very likely you know what’s wrong with it. I’m old and I’ve done a million pieces, I think all of the ones that weren’t successful I knew what was wrong with it.”
In fact, he believes local critics played an important role in the very foundation of Steppenwolf when it was founded in 1974 by friends Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry and Gary Sinise. (Malkovich joined in 1976 as a charter member.) “When Steppenwolf Theatre started, our lives were actually made possible by [Chicago theater critics] Richard Christiansen and Glenna Syse and Michael VerMeulen and Lenny Kleinfeld and on and on and on,” Malkovich said. “But that doesn’t mean they love everything one does.”
Although Malkovich has stepped aside from his active tenure with Steppenwolf, he remains an ensemble member and there is still good rapport. In fact, he was supposed to return to Chicago stages again in January with an Auditorium Theatre staging of “The Infernal Comedy” (presented by Steppenwolf) but it was canceled due to scheduling issues as the ongoing Screen Actors Guild strike put several productions Malkovich is set to be a part of on hold.
“My relationship [with Steppenwolf] is fine, I’m just doing other things now,” Malkovich offered. “A new generation of people are there and I wish them luck.”
