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.

Blank Theatre Company’s THE MAD ONES burns like a roman candle.

“[…]the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue center light pop and everybody goes “Awww!”

Front: Rachel Guth (Samantha Brown); Back: Anne Sheridan-Smith (Beverly Brown), Karylin Veres (Kelly Manning), and Aiden Leake (Adam) photo by Elizabeth Stenholt

Garters – Pride & Romantasy

I must have been 10 or 11 when I first picked up Tamora Pierce’s The Song of the Lioness Series. It is a story of a young girl who wants to be a knight, and who’s twin brother wants to be a scholar. Neither role is socially acceptable, so they trade, each masquerading as the opposite sex. It became a favorite of mine, I read it over and over again. Over the series, the main character continues to grapple with gender roles and social expectations, as I myself did throughout my adolescence and young adulthood. In the press release for “GARTERS: A QUEER IMMERSIVE ROMANTASY PLAY” Tamora Pierce and Jacqueline Carey are both referenced as influences, and a love of the tropes of the Fantasy Genre resonates throughout the show. If you’ve ever dreamed of life as a bard, or in a caravan of tinkers and traders, or defeating a dragon, this show will feel in some ways like your dreams come to life.

Unlike those novels and many others from the 90s and early 2000s, the subtext has now become text. Writer Natalie Zutter uses familiar tropes and characters to explore gender identity, sexuality and power, and the intersection of social expectations and an individual’s need for self-expression.

Nearly every speaking role in this production reveals a perspective on the role of gender expectations in society and power in relationships. Heir to the throne, Varic (Jerome Michael Jones) spends most of his time on stage reconciling himself with his role as a powerful man, and how to use that power respectfully and responsibly. Lady Dagomar (Lauren Miller) Varic’s aunt and a royal advisor, uses sexuality, her own and that of her den of spies, to gain power. Sir Yvain (Kira Nutter) struggles to accept her childhood friend and lover, Hedy’s (Jenny Hoppes) choices when it comes to sexual expression, and Hedy struggles to understand Yvain’s need to adhere to their own gender identity, regardless of the consequences.

While all of this is going on, a classic fantasy quest for a magical object moves the plot: When Prince Varic’s father, the king, is injured on a hunt, Varic balks at assuming the throne. In an attempt to help, Yvain rushes off to find a magical jewel to help him. The jewel is said to be buried with a legendary heroine: Lady Clotilda, the first and only Woman-Knight. Yvain is joined by Hedy, who disappeared seven years earlier, after the meet in a brothel. As the two search for the jewel, they come across characters on the way, many of whom display a much more enlightened view on gender roles than usually expected in a stereotypical fantasy world. There are several rousing fight scenes, and a few sing-alongs: much like an afternoon at a Renaissance Fair, the ensemble often interacts with the audience.

The space is very small, the actors spent most of their time mere feet from the audience. This made for an intimate and challenging experience: without at least a little remove from the audience, remaining behind the fourth wall is a feat of concentration. At times, several actors seemed underprepared, as if they weren’t quite off-script. There was a struggle to encompass both the stylized, fantasy setting and the up close and personal space. Perhaps it was a character choice, but several of the actors were sometimes difficult to hear. Even a few feet from the audience, a low voice or hunched posture can make it difficult to follow the action. Any performance on a stage, regardless of how inward it might be, must always allow for outward expression.

Many of the best moments come from conversations between main characters, Sir Yvain, a non-binary Knight (Kira Nutter) and Hedy (Jenny Hoppes), a sex worker and former knight-in-training. Hoppes’ character was cast out from Knight Training for being a woman years before the action begins. Nutter’s character made it through training, and revealed themselves as a female knight, only to realize later that that identity no longer felt right. As Hedy and Yvain re-acquaint, Hedy struggles to understand her childhood friend and lover’s identity. Their conversations are frank and honest, and couched in a desire to understand and be understood, allowing the audience to engage with the ideas they present in a loving context.

Another stand out was the fight scenes. Sam Campos created intensity and action thoughtfully and used the available space very well. The cast also threw themselves into the action with abandon.

Ultimately, a fantasy setting felt perfect for exploring these themes. Fantasy worlds have often been places of refuge for kids who felt alone or misunderstood, and watching subtext become text was a refreshing and joyful experience. Theater and Fantasy are places where one can explore identity and ideas, and also a reminder that regardless of the trappings, we are all human beings, seeking to be seen and understood by those we love.

Somewhat Recommended

Reviewed by Alina C. Hevia

Presented at the Otherworld Theatre, 3914 N. Clark St. May 31-July 7, 2024, Fridays and Saturdays at 7pm, Sundays at 2pm. Tickets are $27 with a limited number of number of pay-what-you-can tickets available for each performance. GARTERS is thoughtfully crafted for mature audiences aged 18 and older; viewer discretion is advised.

Box Office: www.otherworldtheatre.org

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

On The 20th Century is a riotous, musical extravaganza.

On May 14, the blank Theatre Company opened their production of ON THE 20^th CENTURY in the brand-new Bramble Arts Loft in Andersonville to a packed house.

Their venue was the intimate Berry, a black box with perfectly designed sound and lighting. On first glance, it seemed too small a space for a classic, larger than life American musical. The show debuted on Broadway in 1978, in the golden days of American Musical Theater. The book and lyrics are by the legendary Betty Comden and Adolph Green (On the Town, Singing in the Rain), and the music by Cy Coleman (Sweet Charity, Will Rogers Follies). It’s everything a musical should be: big, loud, silly and sharp. The Berry must be a magic clown car because somehow, a packed house and a boisterous cast of twelve all fit comfortably inside and had a rousing good time.

The staging was minimal – a large arch with red curtains graced one side of the room, and the audience lined along the other three sides. Props and costumes were carefully period creating a pared down yet distinct place and time. The only set changes were done with two chairs, some luggage, and a few handheld items like purses, posters, books, etc. Instead of fantastic, over the top sets, the cast filled the space with their song, their spirit and their obvious joy in their work.

The story is a classic Romantic Comedy, straight out of the birth of that genre: His Girl Friday meets I Love You Again meets at least half the movies starring Bing Crosby. Frankly, it’s a love letter to all of the above, and several of the classic tropes, like the warring couple who profess hate but secretly mean love, the eccentric millionaire and the bumbling sidekicks.

While there are no stand-out melodies, the songs are all well-crafted, funny and excellently sung. It is a modern Opera, with the requisite recitative, complicated quartets, counter melodies, bombastic duets and arias galore. The entire cast shares polished, operatically trained voices that really shined in this setting. A favorite recurring joke was a “holy chorus” that popped out of the wings and bathed us all in harmony, another was a recurring melody of random citizens pushing their plays on producer Jaffe.

The standout for this show however, aside from excellent, operatic voices and some truly hilarious physical comedy, was the choreography. Jen Cupani, Danny Kapinos, and Tony Pellegrino created a thing of beauty in what seemed an impossible space. Each scene was tightly choreographed, like a dance, but without much actual dancing; rooms changed, people came in and out, actors hid and surprised each other in a space roughly the size of a luxury walk-in closet. Somehow, it never felt crowded or impossible. The imaginations of the actors and the careful planning of the Creative Team transformed said closet into a moving train in the 1930s, and the precise movements around the space were overall a marvel of planning.

Karylin Veres especially shone as Lily Garland, an extremely difficult vocal role debuted by Madeline Kahn – who quit due to vocal exhaustion! Veres pulls it off perfectly, tossing out high C’s and trills like the pro she is – she even made it look easy – especially when singing seated, or lifted or draped. DeTogne as Jaffe also manages to sing a lovely operatic tenor solo while lying flat on his back: no easy feat. Rothbart and Arceo make a perfect comic duo and occasional straight men to DeTogne. Christopher Johnson, Rothbart and Arceo all met the challenge of playing straight men to the bombastic performances going on around them nicely; it’s easy to forget that without the straight man, we’re just watching a room full of nuts – those moments of disbelief and frustration they portray gives the audience something to relate to and laugh even harder when everything goes off the rails.

If gorgeous, trained singing, high physical comedy and sharp dialogue sound like a good time, you can’t go wrong with this production.

Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Alina C. Hevia

All photos credited to Kelsey Decker/Wannabe Studio

Presented at the Bramble Arts Loft at 5545 N. Clark St. Chicago, IL 60640 in Andersonville, and running Thursday – Sunday, as well as Monday, June 3, through June 9, 2024.

Tickets for ON THE 20th CENTURY are $15.00 – $35.00 and can be purchased online at www.blanktheatrecompany.com.

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

A Pared Down Hamlet Only Packs a Stronger Punch

I attended the Red Theater’s production of Hamlet with a special excitement: my partner, named Hamlet in real life, came with me. It was his first-ever live production of Hamlet. I’m happy to say, Hamlet exceeded Hamlet’s expectations.

The curtain rises on Bramble Arts Loft

On Saturday, April 6, 2024, the new Bramble Arts Loft officially opened, on the second floor of the old Capital Garage building on Clark Street. Their stated mission is: “to create powerful new theatre that both nourishes and challenges our community to explore the question of what it is to be Human. By fostering an Artist-first culture that inspires hope and innovation, we strive to be a leading voice in this emerging era of American Theatre.”

An 80’s Throwback and a Modern Musical

City Lit Theater’s new production, TWO HOURS IN A BAR, is a double bill of new one acts. They are the world stage premiere of a play by Kristine Thatcher (with material by Larry Shue) and the world premiere of a musical by Kingsley Day. It is a night of one acts with only two things in common: they take place in a bar and have the same roster of actors. They were both directed by Terry McCabe, Set Design by Ray Toler, Lighting by Mike McShane, Costumes by Andres Mota, Stage Managed by Hazel Flowers-McCabe and Musical Direction was by Shraman Ghosh.

The first play, WAITING FOR TINA MEYER is the only collaboration between Kristine Thatcher, City Lit’s resident playwright, and Larry Shue, the late playwright of the farces THE NERD and THE FOREIGNER. Written while they were best friends and resident actors at Milwaukee Repertory Theater in the 1980s, it concerns a pair of best-friend actors sitting in a bar because one of them is expecting to be met there by Tina Meyer, a woman he doesn’t know who sent him a note backstage earlier that evening.

The script is sharp and funny, the one-liners, observations, and banter smack of Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld but with a warmth and kindness that the former have never captured.  In fact, it is so reminiscent of a well written sitcom of the 80s and 90s, that I wasn’t surprised to learn it had begun as a spec script for Norman Lear’s One Day at a Time. The set is a simple bar, much like any you might see in Chicago. However the costume design and props trended a bit odd; for example, it took quite a while to figure out the leads were supposed to be actors, as they were dressed like 80s businessmen also, a tequila bottle that played a prominent role was inexplicably a ceramic fish – lending an incongruous air of the absurd.

In supporting roles, Music Director Shraman Ghosh played a good-hearted pianist who’s a bit slow on the uptake and Kat Evans the sarcastic and poker-faced bar owner. The best friends are played by Jimmy Hogan, a sleezy, over-confident leading man type, and Freddy Mauricio as a gentle, romantic. Hogan and Mauricio were stilted at first, the words didn’t feel natural coming out of their mouths. Then came veteran actress marssie Mencotti, who commanded the stage the minute she entered it. She exuded a warmth, wry humor and gentle wisdom that seemed to gather everyone, cast and audience, around her. Her presence elevated the performances of both leading men, creating a sincerity in them that had been missing at the start. Then they in turn delighted with an unexpected climax: a hokey, ridiculous musical number from a Richard III musical that Hogan and Mauricio are meant to be touring with. Both actors went all in and it was a delight to see. The ending has a bit of a twist, that will leave you smiling.

The second play, TEXT ME, is a world premier by Kingsley Day. This time, Jimmy Hogan plays a hopeless romantic meeting a potential new boyfriend at a bar. Kat Evans plays his best friend and support – she’s there to save him if the date goes south. Mauricio plays their waiter, and Mencotti is in a much smaller role as the bar manager. This time Ghosh stayed off stage, but played the music and was the voice of most of the texts that Hogan and Evans received.

In many ways, TEXT ME is an example of why local theater is so vital: it is a classic musical that takes place in the modern day, with cell phones, text lingo and emoji. How to incorporate this integral part of modern life is something theater, television and cinema have been grappling with for a few years now. Some of it worked, some of it didn’t, but larger, national productions have reached the financial point of “too big to fail,” leaving the smaller companies, the local artists, to experiment, an invaluable aspect of any living art form.

The shining moments: Evans has a classic, lovely soprano, and Hogan is a solid musical theater singer as well. This was especially evident as both of them sang nearly every note while seated – no easy feat once you’re an octave above middle C. They also acted out all the emojis with choreographed movements and facial expressions that were creative, funny and impressively recognizable. Both Hogan and Mauricio seemed to fit their roles a little more comfortably in this play, and Evans’ character was a complete 180 from her role in TINA MEYER; she was every bit the warm and loving best friend.

The moments for pause: In order to demonstrate when they were texting (either each other, or Hogan’s potential date and Evans’ boyfriend) a spotlight would center them and the stage would go dark. However, as mentioned earlier, with only one exception, they stayed in their seats for every song. This led to a rather static staging, and I couldn’t help but wonder why not have them act out their conversations a little more broadly. As it was, in a peak moment, when Hogan finally did get up to sing and dance his feelings, it was startling.

Overall, both shows elicited several laughs, and in the case of WAITING FOR TINA MEYER, a moment or two of real pathos. Not a bad way to spend an evening.

Somewhat Recommended

Reviewed by Alina C. Hevia

Presented at City Lit Theater, 1020 W Bryn Mawr Ave, Chicago, IL 60660, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Sundays at 3 pm. Mondays April 1, 8, 15 at 7:30 pm through April 21^st.

Tickets for TWO HOURS IN A BAR are $34.00, seniors $29.00, students and military $12 (all plus applicable fees) are now on sale, online at www.citylit.org and by phone at 773-293-3682.

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

Magician Andi Gladwin Presents Shuffled at Chicago’s Rhapsody Theater

The two-year-old Rhapsody Theater’s unique, versatile space provided a wonderful backdrop for English Magician Andi Gladwin’s first-ever solo show, Shuffled. The already intimate, 200 seat theater was reconfigured for only 44 audience members in order to showcase Mr. Gladwin. The set felt like an homage to a game room, with cards, family pictures and games on display on shelves and bits of furniture. Gladwin’s unassuming air made it easy for audience members to feel like they were part of the magic, rather than simply viewers. What he created was a special, interactive experience, and a casual, welcoming atmosphere: much like a game night with friends or family might feel.