Author: Colin Douglas
One Inch From Terrific
Brooklyn Laundry
At the top of this one-act, a perky, attractive young woman named Fran drops off a bag of soiled bedclothes at her local laundromat/dry cleaners. The lady who usually greets her has the day off, but Owen, the owner of a modest three-store laundromat empire, welcomes her instead. Fran paces around, her mind clearly occupied with much more than dry cleaning, and the cheerfully optimistic Owen picks up on this. The amiable laundromat manager is, true to his character, masking his own hurts and heartbreaks. However, Owen choses to look at the positives in life. He observes that Fran reminds him of the fiancee who left him a couple years ago, a woman he describes as being smart, pretty and “one inch from terrific.” Despite gently chiding her for being so gloomy, Owen flirts with Fran and asks her out to dinner.
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A Musical Fable of Broadway
Guys and Dolls
More I Cannot Wish You. No, really! This perfect, professional production is a beautiful Bushel and a Peck of playfulness. Sue Me, if I’m not speaking the truth! If I Were a Bell I’d ring out the great news! They say that everything old is new again and Drury Lane’s resplendent revival of this “Musical Fable of Broadway” is proof positive of this old proverb. So please, do not miss this phenomenal production or, much like the marvelous Miss Adelaide, you’ll be Lamenting it for 14 years.
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An American Musical Classic
The Music Man
Meredith Willson’s very first musical, and his magnum opus, is undeniably one of the best-loved classics of the American musical stage. As one of the most perfectly written of all musicals, it doesn’t simply feature a few main characters backed up by a chorus of nameless, dancing singers who only appear during the big musical numbers. Each and every character in this show is unique individual with his own personality and backstory. And that alone makes this show very special, both as an actor and as a theatergoer.
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Composer, Instructor and Pianist
Monsieur Chopin, A Play with Music
It’s Paris, March 4, 1848, and class is in session. Sit comfortably and get ready for your masterclass music lesson provided by a gifted composer, instructor and piano virtuoso. For the next two hours, Frederic Chopin will offer a fascinating education in the creation and performance of his own classical music. However, lest you think that this class might be boring and too scholarly for the average audience member to appreciate, nothing could be further from what you’re about to experience.
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Change Partners and Dance
Cock
There was a popular song written by Irving Berlin in 1938 for the musical film, “Carefree.” It was sung by Fred Astaire and entitled “Change Partners and Dance.” The song referred to the indecision of dancer Ginger Rogers to accept a marriage proposal and she eventually ends up with Astaire. This Oscar-nominated ballad could also be used as the theme song for this bold battle of the sexes, now playing in a brilliant production on Chicago’s North Side.
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Confusion and Absurdity
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead
Sent for by Claudius to discover the reason for his nephew’s madness, Hamlet’s two childhood friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, find themselves in a world of confusion and absurdity. They’ve been told to find Hamlet, their childhood friend, and figure out what’s bothering him. The young men run into a troupe of actors who are playing roles in a production of HAMLET. A line between reality and theatricality merge and separate and, while there’s no real plot in this 90-minute performance, there’s a score of images that come and go throughout. Tom Stoppard’s fascinating and perplexing one-act explores free will, how fate plays a role in everyone’s lives and the inevitability of death that comes to each of us.
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Welcome to the Jungle
The Choir of Man
Step into the Apollo Theater and you’ll suddenly be conveyed across the Atlantic to a British pub called The Jungle. The stage has been totally transformed into a comfy locale that blends immersive theatre with a more traditional form of musical. Walking through the doors, theatergoers will immediately meet nine of the pub’s most faithfully devoted regulars who spend their nonworking hours telling jokes and stories, comforting each other, and downing beer and the occasional shot. The genuine bonhomie emanating from this amiable group of guys creates a family of choice, a “Choir of Man,” that extends all the way into the audience. Opening with the rousing Axl Rose hit, “Welcome to the Jungle,” the fun and festivities commences from the moment that the doors open.
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Happy Tastes Good
Inanimate
Your local Dairy Queen strives to show customers how “Happy Tastes Good.” The drive-in’s menu of mouth-watering hot foods and delicious treats are perfect for any occasion. Choosing from a variety of customized flavors, most patrons actually find the tasty Blizzard to be their favorite frozen treat. However, a 30-year-old loner named Erica has her own favorite DQ treat. You see, Erica only tastes Happy when she’s lingering in the drive-in parking lot. It’s there that the lit Dairy Queen sign radiates its warmth and affection upon Erica because she’s in love with the red and blue beacon, or at least sexually attracted to it.
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Oh What a Night!
Jersey Boys
“Who Loves You?” Chicago audiences, that’s who, because, “Oh What a Night!,” theatre history is being made here in the Windy City. The very first “built-in Chicago Production” of the multi award-winning musical, JERSEY BOYS, has opened with a bang. This highly entertaining production promises to be a very popular and long-running theatrical offering. The show is especially tailor-made for all those Baby Boomers who grew up with the music of the Four Seasons. And the professional quality of this show is just like a little bit of Broadway has dropped into the intimate North Southport Theater.
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Never Never Land
Peter Pan
A newly updated musical version of the boy from Never Never Land, who refused to grow up, has soared into Chicago for only two weeks. The title character in this version’s portrayed with adolescent finesse by a handsome young actor. But this is just one of the many differences in this newly modernized musical. The original production, based upon the novel and play by Sir J.M. Barrie, was adapted, directed and choreographed 70 years ago by the late, great Jerome Robbins. This new, updated version, directed by Lonny Price, sports an “additional book” credited to Larissa Fasthorse (the first female Native American playwright to have written a show for Broadway, THE THANKSGIVING PLAY). The libretto and most of the songs in this revised, non-Equity production, are based upon the original 1954 version, but everything is served up with a 21st century sensitivity and realness.
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