Monthly Archives: February 2012
‘Ameriville’ at Victory Gardens: Did it deliver?
By Devlyn Camp
The first production of new Artistic Director Chay Yew is quite a statement, as the work is somewhat of an indefinable genre. Ameriville, performed by Universes, is a kind of dramatic performance art, featuring music, poetry, stand-up comedy, and flamenco, among several other forms of entertainment. Like most jobs, the task of delivering a message from the stage can be done with many tools, and this dramamusicaldanceshow utilizes everything it can get its hands on. The four actors, three men and a woman, have more than enough tricks of their sleeves ranging from outrageous character voices to strong a capella numbers and high-powered footwork.
These talents are put to work explaining the difficult lives of natural disaster victims and the indirect results. Through several perspectives, some sad, some brilliantly funny, most arresting, families still suffering from Hurricane Katrina make their cases known and question God’s place and the government’s work in the years following the storm. On the raked stage, backed by projected newspapers and American statistics, the stand-alone scenes question whether the country will be prepared for more disasters.
While it is emotional and vocally impressive, there’s no way of skirting the problem with the theatrical work: plot. Every aspect of the production is fantastic, from acting to lighting to set design and back, except for the hole that “purpose” usually fills. Yes, it informs on Katrina. Yes, it implies the possibility that we, as a community, are not prepared to face another tragedy like the hurricane. But stepping out on Lincoln Avenue beneath the bright marquee, the audience has no thought on how this presentation changes them. There’s no redeemable result, as there is hardly a story. The emotions exist only for a moment while the lights are still down. Tone should be the result of a show that delivers an entertaining work – not a direction forced upon a production.
AMERIVILLE
Victory Gardens Theater
Through February 26, 2012
Tickets $20-$50, available at victorygardens.org
Mildred Ruiz-Sapp and cast; Photo courtesy Michael Brosilow
Contact critic at devlynmc@yahoo.com
MARRIOTT THEATRE IS IN THE PINK
By: Gayle Kirshenbaum and Frank Meccia
“Oh my God,” two snaps for Marriott Theatres production of Legally Blonde. With a book by Heather Hach, music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin this snappy lively show is fun from the beginning. And all of this begins with Marc Robin. From his flawless casting to direction to choreography this show is everything you can ask for in musical theatre. This is a great kickoff to the 2012 season.
Based on the 2001 movie which starred Reese Witherspoon it tells the story of party girl/homecoming queen Elle Woods. When her Harvard Law School boyfriend dumps her she decides to follow him to Harvard. This means getting accepted and serious. The movie became a Broadway sensation and went on to win several awards including the 2007 Drama Desk and a 2007 Outer Critics Circle Award.
Chelsea Packard shines as Elle. She makes the role her own with a rich voice, adorable smile and highly contagious personality. I have always enjoyed Christine Sherills work especially her comedic timing. This role is no exception. And Summer Naomi Smart jump ropes her way into our hearts as the falsely accused (I have a secret) Brooke Wyndham. Gene Weygandt is the professor you love to hate. Cole Burden has just the right amount of arrogance and David Larsen is sweet as Emmett, the man who finally wins Elle’s heart. One of the funnier moments in the show comes when they are trying to prove that the perfectly poised pool boy is gay. Scott Alan Jones works the audience while the question arises is he gay or European? While the men in the show keep the pace, Legally Blonde really belongs to the women. And least we forget Chico and Nellie who’s short time on the stage as Bruiser and Rufus garnished more ooh and ahs from the audience. I would be remiss if I did not say this ensemble cast works so well together, it reminds us of what it means to be part of a show.
I have always said if I had to pick one theatre to have a subscription to it would be Marriott. And after seeing Legally Blonde you will quickly see why pink will become your favorite color and Marriott one of your favorite theatres.
MARRIOTT THEATRE LINCOLNSHIRE
LEGALLY BLONDE
THROUGH APRIL 1
847-634-0200
The art of viewing art: The Hypocrites, ‘Six Characters’
By Devlyn Camp
On three stages surrounded by swiveling chairs, The Hypocrites, in their newest production, make an overwhelming and energizing attempt at explaining the intellectual creation and staging of a story. To the untrained eye, actors are men and women playing people by learning lines, wearing costumes and mocking physical gestures, but underneath is a mind churning away at executing the difficult art of storytelling (and imagine the effort a writer must put in, needing to understand all of the characters!). The untrained eye may not even completely follow the strand of puns, points, and debates in The Hypocrites’ production of Luigi Pirandello’s 6 Characters in Search of An Author. The non-theatre folk aren’t exactly in the Hypocrite’s demographic anyway, as the audience generally consists of actors off for the evening, those dang theater critics, and regular theatergoers. Viewers of the show are almost in that non-sarcastically, actually enjoyable script text analysis class in college, as the layered storytelling cuts and weaves drama and comedy among two starkly different stories almost seamlessly.
Opening on a late-starting put-in rehearsal for the touring cast of The Hypocrites’ recent production of Pirates of Penzance, delightful Laura McKenzie jabs at mockable annoying qualities in actors, playing a fictional version of her self. The “late start” to the rehearsal is rather believable. For a moment the audience flutters through their programs thinking they may have come to an open – and hilarious – rehearsal. During this rehearsal, six developed characters trapped in their own unstaged story intrude, asking the actors to present their play. The people are classic, dramatic horror story-style characters doomed forever in a moment’s tragedy.
The story then follows the 6 retelling their untold story as the Hypocrites try to act it out. While simultaneously engaging the audience in the story, the play also allows the viewer to step back and see it from the outside in: actors playing actors watching people play themselves as characters while trying to play those people’s characters… simultaneously maintaining an actual suspension of disbelief in the audience. The Hyprocrites make a great point for the paradox of theatre: There is a drastic difference between an actor onstage and a person offstage, and an actor’s onstage interpretation of those people as characters. The 6 characters become extremely agitated at the Hyprocrites for retelling their story with word-for-word dialogue and movement, while still relaying a different tone and tale. When a person becomes a character, and their story becomes the play, their actions’ intentions change in every storyteller and actors’ interpretation.
Remember when I said “the untrained eye may not even completely follow…”? The Hyprocrites very successfully execute this intricate and advanced pair intertwined of stories. Where one set of eyes might see a mess of people relaying lines, another set will see frantic and funny, methodically planned points on how to view art.
SIX CHARACTERS IN SEARCH OF AN AUTHOR
The Hypocrites at Chopin Theater
Through March 11
Tickets $28-36, available at the-hypocrites.com
Contact critic at devlynmc@yahoo.com
Steppenwolf’s “Time Stands Still” is Not to Be Missed
Time Stands Still, Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Steppenwolf’s Upstairs Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St.
January 19-May 13, 2012
Tickets $20-$78, student discounts available
Highly Recommended
Time Stands Still is not what you expect; it is much more.
Review by Darcy Rose Coussens
I expected this to be a play about the war in Iraq. I was prepared for politics and horror. I supposed I would leave with that self-indulgent feeling that I am supporting and experiencing art that promotes awareness of some injustice (a feeling one character denounces in an ironic diatribe against theatre). I expected this play to be about pictures, the photographs taken by a photojournalist in a war zone.
I was wrong. This play is not about Iraq, and it is not about pictures. These topics are certainly important to the story, but Time Stands Still plunges past them and investigates the heart of any story: the people.
“I live off the suffering of strangers,” admits Sarah (the bold and commanding Sally Murphy, Steppenwolf ensemble member), a photojournalist home from Iraq where she was injured by a roadside bomb. Devoted to her work, she believes she is helping the world by recording and sharing the graphic results of global conflict. The audience is transfixed by vivid descriptions of photos we never see, but we don’t need to see them. Instead, we see how Sarah resolutely refuses to be affected by them, keeping a lens between herself and the world as she fuels her addiction to the drama of war.
The detailed and realistic set of Sarah’s apartment is revealing about her life, and the sound and makeup design were notable, as well. Completing the remarkable and often quite funny cast are Randall Newsome, Kristina Valada-Viars, and Steppenwolf ensemble member Francis Guinan. A writer who also covers perilous situations in the world, Jamie (Newsome) has been Sarah’s significant other for several years, though they never married. His heartbreaking compassion and forgiveness intimately reminded me of my own loved ones, those who take care of me and love me even when I don’t understand how they can.
Their relationship is a comfortable but painful one as they each develop contrasting desires for their lives. Sarah unbelievably wants to return to the Middle East once she recovers, while Jamie has adjusted to a life at home. “I don’t need to dodge bullets to feel alive anymore, watch children die,” he explains, and you can’t blame the man. “I want to watch children grow.”
The writing is extremely articulate and sprinkled generously with witty humor. Little gems of truth are casually delivered, usually by the couple’s friend Mandy. In this role, Valada-Viars pulls off a loveable balance of the simple-minded genius, making us reconsider our judgment of others and offering a relatable viewpoint for most of us in the audience. Mandy alone finds it disturbing that Sarah does not help the people she photographs, but such is the reality of photojournalism: “The camera is there to record things, not change them,” Sarah states without emotion.
This play considers media, art, egos, gender roles, motherhood and most of all, relationships. Playwright David Margulies and Director/Steppenwolf ensemble member Austin Pendleton expertly weave these important themes together without overloading the audience. You will leave this show in discussion, even if you do not stay for Steppenwolf’s free post-show discussion. You will ponder it, consider it, sleep on it, and continue to be affected by it. Time Stands Still offers plenty of tough questions without hard and fast answers, forcing us to face problems that are removed from our daily lives and to ask ourselves: what can any of us actually do about them?
You will reach one conclusion, however. After seeing Time Stands Still, you will have no doubt that this play is important. With this production, Steppenwolf proves that theatre is a social service, one that motivates and challenges its audiences to fully experience life, both the horror as well as the beauty and the joy. “Otherwise,” as Mandy tells us, “what’s the point?”
“Bachelorette” – Sex, Drugs, and Comedy!
By Lazlo Collins
In the Profiles Theater newest offering, “Bachelorette”, the champagne flows, the shouting is often loud, and the relationships are complicated. It could be an episode of a “Housewives” reality show. But what sets this show apart from reality TV is that “Bachelorette” is people we actually know AND sometimes love.
The characters in this 90 minute hotel room romp by Leslye Headland are the girls and guys that we have all known in our lives. Everyone seems to be in some kind of pain and trying to make the pain go away with varying devices. There are reasons that after ten years’ time, people no longer stay friends, or even enemies. What happens when girlfriends of the past just show up? Well, with the right ingredients and the right setting you have “Bachelorette’! This play is second in a series by Ms. Headland themed around the seven deadly sins. “Bachelorette” is the gluttony play.
It is the eve of Becky’s (Rakisha Pollard) wedding, Gena (Amanda Powell) and Katie (Linda Augusta Orr) show up in a suite at the Peninsula Hotel in New York. (Kudos to set designer Scott Davis for making me feel fancy then claustrophobic as the play unfolded.) They are the uninvited. Unbeknownst to the bride-to-be, they are asked to come to the suite by the maid of honor, Regan. (Hillary Marren) They hate the bride for what she is and seemingly has, but are willing to overlook their feelings for a fun night out at the bride’s physical and emotional expense. But of course they shouldn’t even be there in the first place.
Gena and Katie waste no time; well, getting wasted. The girls make themselves right at home exploring their cozy situation and the rooms beyond. With the booze and cocaine in hasty consumption, the truths of these three woman’s relationships and heartaches boil to the service.
Ms. Powell as Gena is explosive as the bitter and coke fueled rebel. Always seeming to get the short stick, and yet she longs for control of her life. She was excellent in her portrayal as a woman all too happy to escape, but accepting responsibility of a life that she did not want. Ms. Powell’s transition from sober to somber to roaring tiger was well crafted.
Her BFF in crime, Katie, played by Ms. Powel, was also played sharp and with stinging reality. Moving from the screeching of “why me?” to passed out rag doll, Ms. Powell captures the sensitivity of someone who does not understand what happened and how they arrived where they are in life.
If we know anything about Regan from the start is that she is a troublemaker with a capital “T”. Ms. Marren plays the manipulative “good girl” with searing astonishment. Not until the end of the show do we understand why her staying in control is so important. Her portrayal of this complicated character is a winning one.
Of course adding to the emotional boil is the entry of the two men in the show. Regan’s invitation to the men is a dangerous calculation on her part, not thinking through what could possibly happen. Joe (Eric Burgher) and Jeff (Adam Soule) have only arrived for an adventure. Part curious passerby’s and part sexual predators; these gents won’t know what hit them after a night with the “Bachelorettes”.
Mr. Soule’s pursuit of Regan, the master invitee, was played deftly. His standing up to Regan and calling her out on her hijinks along with trying to woo her in the bedroom was great. With his true character revealed at the end, you somehow hoped he would be a decent guy.
In sharp contrast was Mr. Burgher’s character of Joe. It is clear his love of weed and following his friend Jeff is what may get him into many of the situations he does, including this one. He is a reluctant troubadour. His pathos for the girl that catches his eye clearly comes across to the audience, as well as his strange innocence. He is a follower on the surface, but in the end his valor wins out and reason takes the day.
As the night winds down (or up?), the arrival of the bride herself with cake in hand is moment the audience has dreaded from the start. She is sweet and overbearing, but quickly there are hints of her own struggles with the female guests that have come to celebrate in her suite. Ms. Pollard’s seemingly stately control is a breath of new hot air that makes the audience feel her pain and position well. Her discovery of the suite’s uninvited guests; as well as, physical condition of the room itself, lends for some uncomfortable moments for the audience.
Darrel Cox has done well to weave a layered, gilded web to trap all the characters in this pleasing ensemble piece. His actors are committed to the roles and never seem false or pretending. With the realistic dialogue, perhaps that is why I think all who see “Bachelorette” will be able to find themselves in at least one of the characters, or if you’re honest with yourself, maybe two.
“Bachelorette” continues through 11 March at Profiles Theatre at 4147 N Broadway in Chicago. For tickets call 773-549-1815 or profilesbachelorette.org
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