Monthly Archives: September 2024
Cry About It
Never Better
There are topics that were once considered taboo or simply inappropriate for the stage. But times have definitely changed. Subjects that might have shocked early 20th century audiences have become almost commonplace today. Seeing people being baked into pies, humorous Nazis in over-the-top production numbers, singing and dancing pussycats competing for an afterlife and young Mormons preaching Joseph Smith’s religion to Africans are examples of how musicals have come a long way. 21st century musicals are a far cry from shows about turning a Cockney flower girl into a princess, farmers challenging the cowhands in song and dance or teaching the Siamese King’s children.
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Love and Literature
Light Switch
In this, only my second visit to the secret gem that is the intimate Open Space Arts theatre, I once again became impressed with the consistent high quality of this company. I’m not just talking about the talented casting of their shows, although that’s a big part of my admiration for this theatre. It’s also about the excellence of the scripts, the consistency of the direction and this company’s ability to present captivating productions in such a modest setting. The venue, which can become stuffy, is about the size of small studio apartment. Add to this a couple of annoying pillars that become challenging for both the actors and the audience. But the sparse scenic design for each production always works around these problems and provides just the right suggestion of locale to make each play work.
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The Horrors of War
Henry V
In a limited, four-week run, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre has revived and reimagined one of the Bard’s most popular history dramas. The company’s sensational new, eloquent and rousing production is as stirring as ever. For theatre scholars, this is William Shakespeare’s final chapter in his tetralogy of historical dramas, which includes “RICHARD II and “HENRY IV,” Parts one and two. It’s also noteworthy in that this play was the company’s premier production on the rooftop of Lincoln Park’s Red Lion Pub, back in 1986. Naturally, time has brought changes to one of Chicago’s finest professional theatrical companies, but the Theatre’s ability to share the dramatic power of Shakespeare has only become stronger.
Read MoreJackalope Theatre Company’s 15th Living Newspaper Makes Art from Headlines.
“How to make a living newspaper: Pick and prod through current events from around the country, choose five. Pair stellar playwrights and directors and assign each pairing an article. Let sit for a bit, let a 10-minute play bake. Cast from Chicago’s talented actor pool. Rehearse for a smidge. Meet at the Armory to share our stories.”
Thus opens the program for Jackalope Theatre Company’s Living Newspaper Festival, and I couldn’t have described it better myself. Tucked away in a corner of the Armory on N. Broadway, The Jackalope space is warm and inviting. The theater itself is small, the backdrop a wall papered by newspaper. The stage is plain black, the sets or props for each short play simple and suggestive: A tool cart, a leather chair, a corner table, hot stones, and a picnic blanket. Ryan Emens’ thoughtful, specific scenic design suggested just enough of an environment to ground each story in its own reality. Sound Designer Anna Jackson filled each show with atmosphere that was engrossing and affecting. Each play opened with a tightly designed, humorous video intro by designer Tony Santiago.
This year’s memorable headlines included the retirement of the Chuck E. Cheese Animatronic Band (Out of this World by Rammel Chan and Directed by Wendy Mateo), the shocking loss of the Titan Submersible (The Depths by Paloma Nozicka and Directed by Gus Menary), the closing of many maternal wards in the rural U.S. (Into the Breach by Madhuri Shekar and Directed by Wendy Mateo) The Mi’kmat Nation’s choice to use opioid settlement funds to open a sweat lodge to treat addiction in Maine (A Drop in the Bucket by Ireon Roach and Directed by Sydney Charles, and the small movement of “pronatalists” furiously having babies to save the world (The Best of Us by Ike Holter and Directed by Gus Menary).
The headlines served more as a jumping-off point than content. This approach lent itself to an imaginative, sharp, thoughtfulness to each play. While it seems nearly impossible to find a headline these days that isn’t a at least a little bleak, it’s often mixed with a ridiculousness that clearly inspired each playwright. The night began with Out of this World, a slightly surreal, heartfelt story of an Uncle accepting his beloved niece’s transition to college, with the help of a nihilistic Chuck E. Cheese. Alex Hand made a particularly creepy Chuck.
The second play, The Depths, is a dark fever dream about a billionaire who meets her reckoning after playing fast and loose with a submersible’s design. Actors Christina Gorman and Claudia Quesada had wonderful timing, occasional saying lines in unison that created an unsettling, skin-crawling feeling that is released with a horrific thrill at the end.
Into the Breach is a satirical, razor-sharp take on a dystopian future when AI assisted births through smart phone apps are the only option for some young mothers. It was funny, but it was also scary, because it came so close to the truth. So much so that the play felt more like a prediction than a fantasy. Claudia Quesada also managed to keep her face in a blank, unmoving smile that is exactly what an AI midwife’s face would look like.
Fourth, we were swept into A Drop in the Bucket; a complete immersion into a poor soul, detoxing not only drugs but inner demons. The cast, Ashli Funches, DeVaughn Loman and John-Payne moved around the stage in what felt like a blend of dance and poetry. The heady mix of emotion, politics, legacy, grief and love felt like story telling from inside the mind of the storyteller, rather than viewed as an audience.
The final play, The Best of Us, brought everything home on a lighter, if still stinging, note. Niko Kourtis and Liz Sharpe play a pronatalist, Silicon Valley power couple, hiding from their insufferable, eight children. They’re conversation runs like an unhinged Twitter rant by a certain billionaire even more insufferable than the fictional characters he has inspired. All five plays combined made for a sleek, polished, funny and incisive body of work.
The night served as a reminder that local, topical, immediate theatre can take the social conversation and make it into art. I am looking forward to seeing more of what Jackalope Theatre Company has to say next year.
Highly Recommended
Reviewed by Alina Hevia
Tickets are $15 – $30 and are available at www.jackalopetheatre.org or by calling 773-340-2543.
Show times are: Saturday, Sept. 14 at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 15 at 3 p.m. and Monday, Sept. 16 at 7:30 p.m.
Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.
The Power of Love
Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812
Writers Theatre has once again brought Chicago audiences a musical that’s both thrilling to the eye and ear, while remaining deeply and unbelievably moving. Harkening back to the theatre’s extraordinary musical productions of both INTO THE WOODS and ONCE, this show will be remembered for its sweeping, immersive spectacle contrasted with an intimate, almost personal love story. Exquisitely Directed and Choreographed by Katie Spelman (Choreographer of Broadway’s, THE NOTEBOOK) and sumptuously Musical Directed by Matt Deitchman (Musical Director for this company’s INTO THE WOODS), this talented creative team is remembered for making ONCE sparkle and explode with romance and spectacle on the Writers stage. Once again they have worked their magic.
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Wherever I Go, I Carry Your Glance
The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk
There are a number of excellent plays and musicals in Chicago right now that examine the nature of art and look at the forces that inspire an artist to create. Well, add to that list playwright Daniel Jamieson’s gorgeous 85-minute play-with-music, now being given a lush production by Northlight Theatre. This is a breathtaking, lyrical biographical sketch of painter Marc Chagall and the love of his life, Bella Rosenfeld.
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Elderberry Wine Laced Laughter with Sunset’s Arsenic and Old Lace
In the wide world of theatre, there are certain titles that stand the test of time—
Kaufman and Hart’s The Man Who Came to Dinner or Simon’s Barefoot In the
Park come immediately to mind. In Elm Grove, Wisconsin, Sunset Playhouse’s
season opener, Arsenic and Old Lace, is yet another timeless comedy of madcap
misbehavior.
South Pacific Still Sings
South Pacific is the second show in MadKap Productions’ 10th Anniversary Season, and the first Rodgers and Hammerstein show in the company’s history. Considered by many to be Rodgers and Hammerstein’s best work, South Pacific is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book “Tales of the South Pacific” by James A. Michener. The play won its own Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1950, along with 10 Tony awards for its original Broadway run.
Easily on anyone’s list of classics, South Pacific is set against the backdrop of World War II,
where parallel love stories blossom amidst the turmoil of war. Several popular standards written for the show include “Bali Ha’i”, “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair”, “Some Enchanted Evening” and “There Is Nothing Like a Dame,” among others. In fact, director Pat Henderson good-naturedly reminded the audience before the production began that we would have to refrain from singing along.
The show opens on keyboardists Jeremy Ramey and Andrew Milliken, who attack the overture with bombastic flair. Given the size of the space, the two keyboards were a great choice by Music Director Jeremy Ramey. And, as the show unfolds, Mr. Henderson was right! It was difficult not to sing along to songs I, and likely most of the audience, have known since childhood. When Tony Calzaretta’s Emile Debeque began his first rendition of Some Enchanted Evening, in my heart, I could hear my grandmother serenading me with it as a child, and yes, it was difficult not to sing along.
The set was a simple affair: an oceanic backdrop, a small porch, and a platform with dried grasses about it. I did find myself wishing there was some hint of the mountains and palm trees of the South Pacific, even just the suggestion of them painted on the backdrop. That said, given the size of the theater and the vastness of the show, there were some creative uses of the space to give the feeling of more room than there actually was.
Even after 70+ years, the score is beautiful and soaring, and the cast were clearly relishing their chance to perform the classic songs. Willow Schneider makes a convincing and chipper Nellie and Calzaretta’s Emile is elegant and just a little stiff, as you’d imagine an “older” Frenchman might be, when in love with a lovely young woman from Arkansas.
Mariel Saavedra was a standout as Bloody Mary, played with humor and resilience. Another standout was Luis Del Valle, who played the French “Manny” and Stewpot. He brought a lot of personality and charm to smaller parts. Andrew Buel ‘s Luther Billis was also perfectly sleezy and added an element of physical comedy to his role that was much appreciated by the audience.
Overall, the cast was made up of strong singers, but the best number of the night goes to “There Is Nothing Like a Dame” sung and danced with unbridled enthusiasm by the men of the cast. They got a spontaneous round of applause from the audience and several laughs. Max Perkel’s (Lt. Cable) delivery of “Younger than Springtime” was also lovely and heartfelt.
After 70 years, the book feels abrupt at times and relies heavily on atmosphere and the chemistry of the actors to sell the instant love stories. It’s a tall order for a pared down cast, a simple set and a small space. Rodgers and Hammerstein are celebrated for a reason, however, and the music elevates everything around it. This production is for anyone nostalgic for the old days of Broadway. In a lovely theater moment, Calzaretta’s father once played Lt. Cable and was in the audience the night I attended, a reminder that this show has delighted generations, and will likely continue to do so. Perhaps a night or two set aside for a sing along would be the cherry on top.
Somewhat Recommend
Reviewed by Alina C. Hevia
Presented by MadKap Productions at the Skokie Theatre, 7924 Lincoln Ave in Downtown Skokie. Sept 6 thru Oct 6, 2024. Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, and Sundays at 2:00 pm, with one Wed. matinee on Sept 25 at 1:30 pm.
Tickets are $48 general admission, $42 for seniors and students and and can be purchased online at www.SkokieTheatre.org or by calling 847-677-7761.
Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.
Standing Up For the Little Guy
Royko: The Toughest Man in Chicago
Mike Royko is a name known by anyone who grew in or around Chicago between the mid-1950’s into the late 1990’s. His name is synonymous with uncompromising journalism. Although he sadly left us in 1997, Mr. Royko is remembered today for being a tough and prolific reporter, a humorist and a man who always stood up for the little guy. Mike Royko was also a Pulitzer Prize-winner for Commentary, as the famed columnist for the Chicago Daily News. In this informative, very funny and sometimes poignant one-man performance, written and presented by Mitchell Bisschop, audiences will get to know the fellow called “The Toughest Man in Chicago.”
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A Tribute to a Great Leader
The Audience
Back in the 1980’s, British TV sported a popular political situation comedy. This hit show was titled “Yes, Prime Minister.” Set within the private offices of Jim Hacker, a fictional British cabinet member working at the made-up Department of Administrative Affairs, the show satirized the inner workings of the government. But another, more seriously biographical work of art would eventually come along that would examine the relationship between the Monarchy and several of Britain’s actual Prime Ministers.
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