Author: Colin Douglas
Racism, Homophobia and a Happy Ending
Sweet Texas Reckoning – Artemisia Theatre
The word that keeps coming to mind, while watching Traci Godfrey’s story about a family reunion in Texas, is “cliched.” The hour-and-forty-five minutes spent with these four characters offers glimmers of brilliance but ultimately feels like a special Pride Month movie on the Lifetime Channel. Had this dramedy been written by a playwright who could offer some honest, new insights into what makes people tick, especially in small, conservative towns, it would’ve been a far more honest portrayal. There’s a germ of a good idea here. But, in the hands of Horton Foote, Preston Jones or Tennessee Williams, this story wouldn’t be nearly as banal and stereotyped.
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Time to Get With the Times
The Ballad of Lefty and Crabbe – Underscore Theatre
Just as free broadcast television was blamed for the weakening popularity of the motion picture and theatrical industries, the less expensive ticket to the more readily available silent films and early talkies is believed to have been the final blow that killed vaudeville. In former vaudeville venues, already established as entertainment palaces, motion picture projectors were being installed as early as 1910. Lured by more lucrative work, greater salaries, better working conditions, fame and fortune, many vaudevillian performers, such as Al Jolson, W.C. Fields, Fanny Brice and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, began jumping ship and heading off to Hollywood. In less than four years, a half century of vaudeville tradition was wiped out by the motion picture industry.
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Give Them What They Want
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels – BrightSide Theatre
It seems unbelievable that this crackerjack professional theatre company, which only began producing plays and musicals in Naperville, back in 2011, is successfully completing its eighth season of quality entertainment. Over the past seven years, BrightSide has been dynamic. Incredibly, the company has reinvented themselves. They’ve upped their game, nurtured and increased their season ticket base and wisely added a fully-cast children’s production each season. With the new season on the horizon, another new addition to their already busy calendar has been announced: a concert version of another musical, presented with full orchestral accompaniment. This is a theatre that’s always moving and changing, continually learning what works best and growing with the times.
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Playing It the Company Way
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying – Music Theater Works
The bouncy overture winds down, the curtain rises and we find a young man in coveralls descending from above. J. Pierrepont Finch, an ambitious young window washer, is discovered reading Shepherd Mead’s tongue-in-cheek instructional book of the same name, while dangling from scaffolding above Madison Avenue. Narrated for this production by NPR news quiz host, Peter Sagal, the book progresses chapter-by-chapter, charting the recommended course for Ponty’s rise to power in the business world. Now, bear in mind that this how-to manual, a 1952 best-seller by Shepherd Mead, subtitled “The Dastard’s Guide to Fame and Fortune,” was written as a parody of the popular self-help books of that era. Between this book’s unfailing advice and Finch’s pluck and pizzazz, this likable kid is undoubtedly destined to rise to the top…or is he?
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The Monsters Within Us
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein – Lookingglass Theatre Company
This magnificent new production, suitably housed within Chicago’s Gothic-inspired Water Tower Pumping Station, is the most recent of four Windy City adaptations of Mary Shelley’s classic horror story. The novel, which just celebrated its 200th anniversary, has been read, reinvented and enjoyed for generations. Each theatrical variation has been unique, offering Chicago audiences a quartet of compelling, valid retellings of this impressive literary classic, the work of a young writer who had not yet turned 20 when it was created. As with Court Theatre’s 2018 production, Lookingglass’ beguiling original adaptation begins with, and continually returns to its source, reminding us how Mary Shelley came to write her remarkable story. But, more than that, this production focuses on the monsters that lie within each of us.
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Yearning for Fame and Fortune
Queen of the Mist – Firebrand Theatre
Tired of living from hand to mouth, 63-year-old Anna Edson Taylor decided that, in an early twentieth century world dominated by men, she would be the one woman who’d achieve celebrity and fortune with a single unconventional act. Mrs. Taylor desperately wanted celebrity and her own piece of the pie. She yearned for her share of fame and fortune, while also striking a blow for feminism. Convinced that with careful scientific research she could become the first person to successfully go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. After hiring Frank Russell, a smooth-talking, wheeler-dealer of a manager and promoter, she carefully researched and drew up detailed plans for a barrel-like vehicle that would allow her to safely take the fateful plunge.
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A Tight Knit Family
Falsettos – Broadway in Chicago
You’ll need a deep intake of oxygen before the opening number of this manic, accelerated musical. Why? Because you’ll be left breathless by the waves of emotion rolling in, and that’s only by the end of Act I. Then, get ready for the stirring roller coaster ride that’s Act II. This show packs more levels of the human condition into its first hour than in any other play in recent memory. It’s peopled with seven multilayered, unflinchingly realistic characters who are always dissatisfied with their lives, for various reasons. The musical is tightly packed with 37 songs, a number of finely choreographed interludes, a countless amount of scene changes and a tsunami of emotions.
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Somewhere in Time
Bloomsday – Remy Bumppo Theatre Company
Steven Dietz may be one of the most-produced playwrights in America, simply because he’s written so many comedies, dramas and literary adaptations. In this 2015 romantic drama, he bends the concepts of time and space to weave an interesting tale of the road not taken, or a riff on the one true love who got away. In its Chicago debut, under the astute direction of JR Sullivan, a cast of four, talented actors, led by the luminous Annabel Armour, breathe life into this play. It’s story of Robbie/Robert, an American tourist visiting Ireland, and Caithleen/Cait, a guide employed to take fascinated travelers around the James Joyce’s Dublin, specifically to the various locations from his 1922 literary masterpiece, Ulysses.
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Fireworks for a Summer Night
The Crowd You’re in With – Aston Rep Theatre
It’s July 4th, and in the typically tiny back yard of Jasper and Melinda’s north side apartment a cookout is taking place, as a prelude to the evening’s holiday fireworks. The young couple’s invited their friends over for burgers and booze. The guests include young, married couple Dan and Windsong, who’s pregnant with their first child, their middle age landlords from upstairs, Tom and Karen, and their single friend and fellow band member, Darcy. It soon becomes clear that the pyrotechnic display that they’re planning to watch won’t be the only fireworks on this summer evening.
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The Show Must Go On
Into the Breeches! – Northlight Theatre
It’s been said that War is hell. On the front, the men and women serving their country can testify to that statement. But back at home, private citizens in communities everywhere were having their own problems. Forced to tighten their belts, women were sacrificing a great deal for their men in uniform. Females, like the famous icon, Rosie the Riveter, left their homes to join the workforce. Scrap metal drives helped recycle materials necessary for making all kinds of war vehicles and weapons. The USO was established around the world to create a home away from home for GIs stationed far from their loved ones. But how did WWII affect small town social organizations, like community theatres?
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