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Review: Take a Trip With the Greatest Hits Down Route 66
January 24, 2024, 12:25.31 am ET

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Photo: Hunter Canning

By Brian Scott Lipton

If the title of Michael Aguirre’s “The Greatest Hits Down Route 66,” now being presented at 59E59 Theaters, doesn’t immediately let you know what to expect from this show, I assure you the 105-minute project is possibly more than you bargained for!

On tap are a dysfunctional family drama, a meditation on the American immigrant experience, a “jukebox musical” of sorts using old folk songs compiled by the great American poet Carl Sandburg in his 1927 book, “American Songbag” as well as a too-extensive history lesson about that book shared by our narrator (an appealing Joel Acosta).

Moreover, it’s all told in a rather unconventional manner, reasonably well-handled by director Sarah Norris. While many audiences may wholeheartedly applaud this sort of innovation, I was often tempted – rather appropriately given that the entire show takes place during a road trip from Chicago to California –to stand up and yell “pick a lane.” Continue reading...


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