In My Day…

The Undeniable Sound of Right Now – Raven Theatre

Kids today. With their haircuts and their music.

That’s a probably a line that has been spoken by every generation about the next as long as there have been haircuts or music. Raven Theatre’s new production, The Undeniable Sound of Right Now picks up that eternal lament in 1992 in a dive bar in Chicago. Hank, the owner and namesake, has spent 25 years being the launchpad for some of rocks greatest acts, big and small. His bar has also been home for him and his now grown daughter, Lena. If asked, Hank would probably say he hopes everything can stay exactly the way it is forever. But times are changing. The neighborhood is changing. Tastes in music are changing. Change takes the form of Nash, Lena’s new boyfriend and aspiring DJ. Hank thinks playing other people’s music isn’t really art, and Nash thinks that while Hank is a legend to be respected, his time has past.

Thinking back on the show, I think what impressed me most is how vital and alive the show is, given how easily it could have felt creaky. The core story of a young woman who falls for a man who her father thinks is terrible but with whom he actually has a great deal in common is by no means a new one. The themes of growing up and getting old certainly aren’t, either. But the writing does such a good job giving every character depth and life that, coupled with some excellent acting, no character ever veers into trope.

Jeff Mills as the gruff and occasionally lovable Hank anchors the show well. There are a lot of layers to his grouchiness and it helps keep his half of the story from falling flat. It’s not mere nostalgia, a word he hates, that drives his connection to the bar and the acts that have come before. Lindsay Stock as Lena also manages to keep the character from slipping into cliche as a rebellious daughter. She wants her own life, but doesn’t reject her father’s. She loves him and having been raised by him. The actors together also have a great rapport as a parent and child whose unorthodox life has left them closer to friends than a traditional parent and child.

I also want to separately praise Dana Black as Bette, Hank’s ex, and the woman who helped raise Lena. As the stand-in mother figure, it would have been extremely easy for this character to get lost or for her to be nothing more than a caretaker. Black walks a very fine line, supported happily by a script that gives her more to do than merely clean up the other characters’ messes, in creating a character that was felt vital and alive. She did an amazing job portraying a long and complicated history with Hank, and the pair’s friendship was a highlight of the show for me.

For a show about music and musicians, how well the show portrays that music comes with some pretty high stakes. Too much, and it’s essentially a jukebox musical. Too little, and the music is too far away to feel really important to the characters. I think the show hits the nail squarely on the head. The classics are limited to few snippets here and there in transitional moments, and the times we see Hank with a guitar in his hands, the moments of him playing feel like an extension of the character thinking or working through something. The result is that music is infused in the show rather than just a thing the characters talk about a lot.

I’m also going to single out set design for praise here. Jeffrey Kmeic’s set is extremely on point for a very specific kind of Chicago dive bar. Covered in graffiti and flyers for shows, it managed to achieve that thing that all such venues (both on stage and in real life) strive for – being the thing rather than just looking like they are trying to be the thing. There are a lot of real dive bars that don’t look this charmingly seedy. Lacie Hexom’s prop work was also specific and delightful. The broadsheet versions of the Chicago Reader and the green Marshall Field’s gift box were perfect little notes that any Chicago native in the audience could spot a mile away. It’s the kind of detail work that even if it doesn’t directly bear on the story, certainly helped immerse me in it.

The show is about the familiar cycle of growing up and growing old and passing the torch (willingly or not) to a new generation. The show fuses the personal version of that story of Hank and his daughter with the musical one of classic rock being supplanted by electronic music. Supported by a stellar cast and crew, on and off stage, the result is a moving mediation on getting older that manages to never veer into being syrupy or maudlin.

Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Kevin Curran

Presented May 2 – June 16 by Raven Theatre, 6157 N. Clark St., Chicago.

Tickets are available by visiting www.raventheatre.com.

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