Review: Ricardo Rosenkranz rides a wave of magic with ‘Physician Magician’ at Rhapsody Theater
Ricardo Rosenkranz is a Chicago neonatologist with a passion for magic. He’s also the relatively new owner of the beautiful 1912 theater in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood.
This jewel box of a space, renovated some years ago by Jennifer Pritzker as a swanky concert venue, was formerly known as the Mayne Stage (and, long ago, the Morse Theatre). Rosenkranz has renamed the place the Rhapsody Theatre, coinciding with the opening of Rosenkranz’s own show, “Physician Magician.”
Magic, obviously, is having a moment in Chicago. A few blocks away in Andersonville, the Magic Lounge is doing such boffo business it can be hard to snag a table for its ever-changing array of magicians. And in Wicker Park, a new operation known as The Cauldron is arriving in May from New York, offering potion-like cocktails and promising “to make magic real with science, technology and design.”
Chicago has a long history of affection for prestidigitation, often performed by multi-tasking bartenders in the heyday of Chicago taverns. But why the rebirth? Maybe it indicates our city’s ongoing search for security and belief. Or, perchance it reflects a renewed craving for analog entertainment performed by vulnerable humans in an increasingly ChatGPT world.
Rosenkranz, who grew up in Mexico and sometimes performs shows in Spanish, is no frenetic, over-polished magician. He has no comedy patter — beyond saying that, as a doctor, he was tempted to make the audience wait 15 minutes to see him — and he saws no one in half. Nor does he embarrass volunteers. Rather, his boutique show focuses on the relationship between magic and healing.
His pieces not only have intellectual and philosophical underpinnings but are designed to end with solutions: an audience member gets to solve a Rubik’s Cube, something broken is made whole, and a worry is assuaged. This current stand at the Rhapsody is not his first show; I reviewed his prior runs at the Royal George Cabaret, now sadly defunct.
But Rosenkranz now has control over his physical surroundings and he is better able to exploit the retro elegance of this venue. He has long been compelled by tabletop-type mechanical illusions of the kind often favored by great Victorian and early 20th century magicians. Several of these beautiful creations, which Rosenkranz mostly bought at auction, are part of his show. One especially appealing collaborator is Balsamo, Rosenkranz’s Yorick.
It’s that kind of show: smart, moving and refined. A thinking person’s night out, you might say. With bespoke cocktails.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
Review: “Physician Magician” (3.5 stars)
When: Open run
Where: Rhapsody Theatre, 1328 W. Morse Ave.
Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Tickets: $20-$75 at rhapsodytheater.com
