Going Bacharach at Chicago’s Apollo Theater Dazzles Musically but Stumbles Under a Glossy Cabaret Sheen

CHICAGO, IL — BurT Bacharach’s songs are famously tricky to perform well, and Going Bacharach makes a strong case for the challenge. At Chicago’s Apollo Theater, the band and music direction deliver the evening’s sharpest moments, even as the production around them leans hard into an artificial showbiz gloss.

The result is a tribute with real musical polish and a performance style that often feels at odds with the elegance of the material. The band earns praise for clarity, swing, and precision; the staging, by contrast, keeps pushing the show toward a campy, lounge-act vibe.

Adrian Galante’s arrangements give the revue its real backbone

Music director Adrian Galante emerges as the production’s key strength. His arrangements are described as rhythmically alert and harmonically smart, with choices that help reveal how Bacharach’s compositions actually work.

Galante, who moves between piano and clarinet, is credited with shaping the evening’s musical architecture. The Chicago-based players follow his lead closely, and the band is singled out for giving the score the kind of definition and lift the songs demand.

Strong singers are hampered by sketch-comedy style banter

The vocalists include New York cabaret performer Hilary Kole, Broadway singer Ta-Tynisa Wilson, and John Pagano, who toured with Bacharach for 26 years. All three are judged capable, but the production directs them toward patter and persona work that feels imported from another kind of show.

Instead of letting the songs breathe, the revue leans on winks, nudges, and Vegas-lite banter. That approach undercuts the emotional precision and light rhythmic touch the music needs, leaving the evening split between serious tribute and camp cabaret.

The show runs through May 17, but the review says the music outshines the staging

The review’s central complaint is that Going Bacharach never settles on one clear identity. The band argues for a musically serious Bacharach celebration, while the staging keeps drifting into decorative excess that adds more cheese than craft.

Going Bacharach is scheduled through May 17 at Apollo Theater, 2550 N. Lincoln Ave. The production runs two hours with one intermission, and tickets are available through the theater’s website.

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