A Very Shakespearian Buddy Comedy

Helena and Hermia in the Enamored Odyssey at the Den Theater

The Imposters Theatre Company works out of the Crosby Theatre Space, tucked away at the top of the Den Theater on Milwaukee, and most commonly known for comedy. As you walk up the steps to the upstairs lounge, the noise of the clubs and bar below fades. In the case of Helena and Hermia in the Enamored Odyssey, walking into the space is like leaving the world behind, because the company has transformed the little space into a Magical Wood: filled with creeping vines, bright flowers, shadowed corners and birch trees. It’s an appropriate setting for this musical re-telling of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The show follows the general plot of Midsummer, but with way more singing, and a healthy dose of Shakespeare-nerd jokes and fourth wall asides: In Harken’s Hold, England, a Duke (Gabriel Reitemeier) prepares for his grand wedding to the future Duchess (Tessa Marie Hoffman). Local law states a daughter must obey her father’s every command, and that does not sit well with saucy Hermia, (Shannon McEldowney), whose father insists that she give her hand in marriage to pompous Demetrius (Zachary Riley), who she does not love. In defiance, Hermia sets off with her boyfriend; the slightly delicate Lysander (Ethan Gasbarro), into the neighboring Far Forest, intending to marry him outside of their region’s jurisdiction. She swears her dearest friend Helena (Anna Roemer) to secrecy along the way. Helena, lovelorn and desperate, immediately turns around and tells her true love what her bestie is up to, the problem being that her true love is the aforementioned Demetrius.

The gaggle of lovers take off into the trees and soon cross paths with the faeries, embroiled in a battle between the Fairy King and Queen, (Reitemeier as Oberon and Hoffman as Titania) and an amateur acting troupe (traditionally known as The Mechanicals), rehearsing for their big show at the Duke’s wedding. As anyone can guess, hijinks ensue.

Composer and Librettist Dominick Alesia sticks to the plot for the first half of the play and even throws in a few references to other classics. In fact, The Bard is referenced frequently, like a god. There are frequent throwaway comments from the actors on the action, or some aspects of the play that haven’t aged as well in the past four hundred years. The Duke even steps out to explain plot points a few times. This creates a sort of tongue in cheek effect, where the actors are at once bringing the audience in on the joke but also living out their stories in real time. It’s a hard line to toe and mostly worked. McEldowney and Roemer, as the titular besties, do a nice job with it, giving the impression that Helena and Hermia are a little too smart for this, but alas, what’s a girl in a play to do but say her lines? Reitemeier also toes the line well, his performance as the stiff Duke, much more fluid Oberon and occasional narrator gives him the space to play with multiple characterizations infused with silliness and weariness – a good-natured, slightly flamboyant, midwestern dad, if you will.

The Mechanicals, Nick Bottom (Ian Rigg), Petra Quince (Annika Andersson), Francis Flute (Sam Martin), Robin Starveling (Bruce Holtman) and Tamsin Snout (Maya Reyna). Do their best to steal the show and almost succeed. They are raucous, ridiculous, and having arguably way too much fun. Rigg came out hot in the small role of Hermia’s father, a bit cartoonish and over-the-top to start with, but his Bottom is a self-satisfied ham whose confidence is so vast he’s not even thrown off by the donkey-head, and that’s a lot of fun to see. He also has a rich and versatile voice that he used to the hilt and managed to build Bottom’s ridiculousness from scene to scene. His final death scene as Pyramus, along with Martin’s slightly confused Flute as Thisbe, was next-level silliness, and had the audience in stitches. All the Mechanicals deserve a mention here. Since they double as Titania’s faery escort, they work their pants off: costume changes and group dance numbers and stagehands galore. Bruce Holtman’s Robin Starveling was a delightfully dainty try-hard. He managed a slightly more low-key performance and still held his own against the stomping, tromping, 10 decibel Bottom, Flute and Quince. You got the impression that he deserved his petulance, surround by all those oafs. Anderson’s Quince was a passionate, if not very talented writer. My favorite bit of hers was a new addition to the play: she wanders about lost in the wood till she stumbles on Helena and Hermia, and her silly helplessness helped keep things moving along at a time it had begun to slow down just a bit. Reyna’s Snout has a solid singing voice, and a cameo as another famous Shakespearian character that left me wishing for a play where she could have joined in the action a bit longer.

Titania is arguably one of the key roles in this show, and Tessa Marie Hoffman plays her with a ton of energy. Her story is also one of the biggest departures from the original play. You can understand why Alesia made the choices he did: Titania’s humbling by Oberon is an ever more difficult pill to swallow as the years go by. She’s a powerful, intelligent, demigoddess who comes off as a generally good force in the world, while Oberon is a petty, jealous and controlling man-baby. That said, making Titania an all-powerful, all-knowing mastermind who is always three steps ahead leaves us wondering why she would put up with Oberon in the first place. As charming as Gabriel Reitemeier is, there weren’t many moments in this production where it was obvious what Titania saw in him at all.

The second half of the production takes several departures from the original play. Helena and Hermia are given much more agency to solve their own problems and have a delightful run-in with Puck. Lysander and Demetrius are mostly useless, schoolboys, but both actors are useless school boys with panache. Rachel Borgo’s Puck drives the action along in the best accent of the night, a thick, Scottish brogue. Her look is markedly different than the rest of the cast, she creeps about and around the stage in dark rags and paint, an emo-fairy laughing at all the vibrant color around her. Borgo has a commanding stage presence and is creepily well-suited to the role.

Director Stefan Roseen and Costume Designer Toria Olivier went with a vaguely Regency era look. Umpire waists and men in short pants are what we generally expect from Shakespeare, but seeing how the Bard himself set the play in ancient Greece, I found myself wondering how the play would look if they’d dropped any pretense at the English style. The set design was lovely, as were most of the clothes, but I occasionally found the anachronisms distracting. Borgo in particular, despite her accent, felt wilder than the English countryside of the Regency era could have withstood. McEldowney and Hoffman both went with a parody of posh accents, that left me wondering what they could have done if they hadn’t had to spend so much time on how to shape their “a”s. That said, McEldowney was the standout here. She played Hermia with a clumsy grace and a great eye for physical clowning that played up her damsel in distress beautifully.

Dominick Alesia also did a bang-up job as the band: he played piano, guitar and even interacted with the players a few times. He and Roseen made the right choice to keep the arrangements simple and the actors un-amplified. Though again, I wonder how the music would have felt in a slightly less “formal” setting than Regency England. The score was challenging and ran the gamut from operatic, to show tunes, to “ye old drinking song.” For my part, it was the older, folk styles that worked best, both for the space and for the actors singing them.

Though the night runs long, I find that The Imposters Theatre Company is consistently ambitious, creative and entertaining. They will never go home when they could go big.  They also keep ticket prices affordable, and their location means you can grab a drink at intermission. I was glad to be a part of their latest work and look forward to seeing what they try next.

Recommended

Reviewed by Alina C. Hevia

Presented in the Crosby Theatre space at the Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave, Chicago. March 28-April 12 Thursday – Sunday at 7:30 PM and Sunday April 6, 3pm.

Tickets Helena and Hermia in the Enamored Odyssey can be purchased online at:  www.theimposterstheatre.com and range from $26.00 – $31.00 (including fees).

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.

Based on a True Story (about False Facts)

The Lifespan of a Fact is a witty, fast-paced, comic journey into the nature of truth; or rather factual accuracy versus the big Truth. Based on real events, the script by Jeremy Karekan, David Murrell and Gordon Farrell is written to send sparks flying in a thought-provoking debate about the meaning of truth, and exactly what amount of creative license belongs in a work of non-fiction. This production by Oil Lamp Theater, under the direction of Elizabeth Mazur Levin, undoubtedly achieves Levin’s goal of leaving audience members primed for discussion.

La Bohème seduces at the Chicago Lyric Opera

The story of Mimí and Rodolfo falling in love in a garret in 19^th century Paris, has captured the hearts of audiences since its debut in 1896. Puccini knew what he was about: the Opera was inspired by a hit play, La Vie de la Bohème by Théodore Barrière and Henry Murger, in turn the author of an earlier collection of short stories, Scènes de la vie de Bohème. Puccini believed in banking on a known hit. He was right. La Bohème is still one of the most popular Operas of all time, in fact, this is the 20th production mounted at the Lyric Opera since its inception in 1954.

This production is set in late 19^th century Paris, right about the time the original production debuted. The set, designed by Gerard Howland brings the rooftops of a wintery Paris to atmospheric life. Washed in shades of blue and silver, the Eiffel Tower reaches for the heavens above the action, promising a future our doomed lovers will never see. The garret apartment of Rodolfo and Marcello is exactly the sort of shabbily romantic spot it should be, and the scenes at Café Momus capture the lively Latin Quarter perfectly. Director Melanie Bacaling makes good use of the supporting cast – the group scenes are a joyful counterpoint to the central tragedy.

In brief, La Bohème is the story of a group of “starving artists” living in Paris. Rodolfo, a poet, falls in love with sickly silk-flower maker Mimí. Painter Marcello has a tempestuous affair with escort Musetta. Both stories end as one would expect but love and laughter is shared along the way.

Rodolfo is sung by Samoan Tenor Pene Pati, who shines from the first note of his first aria. His soaring, powerful voice is filled with all the energy and passion of a young artist, seeking his muse. Hot-tempered Marcello is brought to life with the rich baritone of Will Liverman. Mimí is sung with the soft, pure tones of Soprano Ailyn Pérez, and Soprano Gabriella Reyes absolutely stops the show with her rendition of Musetta’s Waltz, arguably the most famous aria in the piece, or at least, the one you leave humming!

The supporting cast is equally strong. Ian Rucker as Schaunard and Peixin Chen as Collinne add levity, while keeping their characters grounded. Chen in particular has a lovely, heartfelt moment near the end. The chorus of young children, Uniting Voices of Chicago, are great in the Café Momus scene, but more importantly, clearly having a blast. The lightness they and the rest of the cast provide keep the tragedy from feeling overwrought.

One of the reasons La Bohéme has remained a foundational story in the Western imagination is how simple and easily digestible the opera is. At barely two and a half hours, it flies by. During the pre-Opera talk, Dr. Harris Saunders explained that Puccini enjoyed attending theater in languages he couldn’t understand, including several in English that went on to inspire compositions. That kind of attention to the more universal and easy-to-follow aspects of the dramatic arts is another reason La Bohéme has remained a timeless favorite. The score, whether you speak Italian or not, is composed to carry you along on the emotions of the characters. There isn’t a single moment that goes on too long, or a note that feels unnecessary. The movement of the plot is also easy to follow. The characters are all archetypes: The Poet, the Delicate Damsel, The Escort with a Heart of Gold, the Passionate Artist, the Care-Free Friends. The talented cast tells us everything we need to know with their bodies and their singing. If you are new to Opera, or want to introduce someone to it, this would be the perfect production.

Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Alina C. Hevia

Presented at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Shows run March 19, 22, 25, 28, and 31 and April 3, 6, 9 and 12. Tickets range from $42-$239. For more information and tickets, visit lyricopera.org/shows/upcoming/2024-25/la-boheme/or call 312.827.5600.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.